Having arrived at the Barcelona Nord autobus station at 2am my wife son and I tried to get a cab to our hotel I knew the hotel was only about 1.7 miles from the bus station when a cab stopped I told him where I wanted to go . his reply was that it would be 30 euros I said that the normal fair was 10 euros he then went to the persons behind me in the queue and said the same I then agreed to pay what he asked as there were some shady looking men roaming about the station we put the luggage in the cab and off we went as we set off i asked him to start the meter he threatened to stop the cab and throw us out opon arrival at our hotel I was forced to pay what he asked . Surley there must be a law against this practice can any one advise.Hi Ron,
yes there is a law against this type of activity for the official taxis which are black and yellow. You should have taken down the Taxi number plate and the Taxi driver's ID number. You then call the taxi firm and give them all the details. They would refund you your money and repremand the taxi driver concerned. The taxi firms often have attendants that speak English but you may have to ring at different times of the day to catch an English-speaking attendant.
You should only ever pay what is on the taxi meter. If the taxi driver doesn't start the meter ask the driver to stop and then get out and flag down another taxi - they are all over the town at all times of the day and night. Most cab drivers are honest and trustworthy but there are some taking advantage of tourists and it looks like you fell vicitim to a dishonest driver. By law they have to start the meter when you get in the taxi and they have to charge you what is on the meter plus surchages for luggage and any extra cost for travel from the airport or port area or baggages etc. All the surcharges are itemized in the back of the taxi.
In future refuse to take a cab from someone like this. You always have a choice but make sure you take down their number first and the taxi driver's number (inside the cab).
I would chalk this down to experience and put this into prespective otherwise you could allow this event to ruin what would otherwise be a great holiday. Yes you did get ripped off, if it is any consolation I have as well! But now you know what to do it needn't ever happen again.
By the way for a 1.7 mile journey you should have paid around 4 to 5 euros maximum!
Also see the article below on what one site visitor did when a taxi driver tried to cheat him. Remember to keep this in prespective however. Many taxi drivers are very helpful and will go out of their way to help you, it's only a handful of unscrupulous ones that you will have to watch out for.
John (Editor BTG)
