Don't bet on getting a fair ride in Las Vegas cabs

[pandybat]

I've had this happen to me while on a layover in Vegas on my way to Canada. The cabbie took us the long way to our hotel. Then griped me out for not tipping him enough! Never tell a cabbie you have never been in Las Vegas before. Ripoff artists!

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Don't bet on getting a fair ride in Las Vegas cabs
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Margaret Mentecki became suspicious when a cab ride from the airport to her off-Strip hotel took longer than in past visits.

When the cab finally arrived at the hotel-casino, the 66-year-old retiree's fare was $43.10, about twice what it had cost on other trips.

"I was real mad, but I paid him and told the guy that I was calling his boss," she said.

Mentecki went a step further and filed a complaint with the Nevada Taxicab Authority. The cabdriver eventua|ly was fined $50 for turning a 7½-mile trip into a more than 15-mile run-around.

The case is just one of 174 in which Las Vegas cabdrivers were caught ripping off tourists last year by taking them on indirect routes to boost the cost of a ride, according to Taxicab Authority records.

The illegal scheme, called long-hauling, was detected in only a tiny fraction of the nearly 23 million taxi rides given by Clark County's 4,800 cabbies last year.

But those statistics are misleading, according to interviews with cabdrivers and law enforcement officials.

They say the numbers don't reveal the widespread nature of long-hauling. The citations issued by the Taxicab Authority represent only the instances in which the agency's officers personally observed the crime during limited enforcement operations or cases in which tourists filed complaints.

"These are just the tip of the iceberg," Taxicab Authority Administrator Yvette Moore said.

Overall, cabbies collectet about $230 million in fares last year, up more than 10% from 2002.

Although no study has been conducted to determine how much of that money was earned illegally through long-hauling, state regulators say the practice probably results in the bilking of untold millions of dollars from unsuspecting tourists each year.

Long-hauling citations in 2003 indicate that egregious cases, such as the cabdriver who victimized Mentecki by doubling a $22 cab fare, were rare. Far more common was the practice of long-hauling passengers over shorter distances, typically leading to an extra $3 to $10 in fare each time.

Records show that the most common long-hauling scheme occurs between McCarran International Airport and the Strip. Taxis travel the Interstate 215 tunnel beneath the McCarran Airport, which lengthens trips into the city.

The hundreds of pages of long-hauling reports for last year, and recent interviews with victimized tourists and with cabbies in the moments after they were caught, offer a glimpse of the practice.

Earlier this month, Taxicab Authority officers pulled over Checker cabdriver Borislav Glavas and ordered him out of his taxi.

Officers confirmed Glavas was long-hauling by interviewing the tourists inside his cab. Upon learning Glavas was taking them on an indirect route to the Rio hotel-casino, the two passengers inside were furious.

"I hate getting ripped off," Carol Brosnan of Long Island, N.Y., said. "I told him I wanted to go the cheapest way. I'm glad they caught him because I never would have known."

Glavas did not attempt to dispute his guilt.

"It's easier to make money if I go this way," the 33-year-old cabby said. Glavas admitted to using the scheme daily for the 5-½ years he has been driving a cab, but said this was his first citation.

Cabdrivers say the financial windfall of long-hauling outweighs the minimal risk of getting caught and having to pay a fine that can range from $50 to $200.

"A lot of us do it," said Mahan Washington, a 29-year-old cabby who admitted to scamming passengers daily. "It's adding about five more bucks to your fare."

Washington said he has never been cited for long-hauling, despite doing it for the year-and-a-half he has been driving a cab.

Many of the cabbies also were combative with police, according to the reports and interviews.

"Some of them tell us they're the ones driving, they can go whichever way they want to, which isn't true," said Sgt. Rick Piert, a supervisor at the airport. "They'll spit and cuss and yell. And then they'll get a ticket."

In Nevada, cabbies must be caught long-hauling five times in 12 months to lose their cab permit. No driver lost a permit that way in 2003, according to the records. When caught long-hauling, some cabbies shift the blame.

"A lot of them blame it on the company," said Ken Smith, the Taxicab Authority's chief of enforcement.

Bill Shranko, director of operations for Yellow-Checker-Star Cab, said the company disciplines drivers for long-hauling, whenever they learn of it from customers.

But there is no mechanism to notify the cab companies that a driver has been cited.

Moore said her understaffed agency can ferret out only a negligible number of the long-haulers. Only nine Taxicab Authority officers are assigned to the airport.

"We prioritize cases where cabbies are rude, or if people say the cabby was drunk," or where they say their life was in danger, Moore said. "We only have so much time to conduct long-haul stings. ... and the only way to really catch them all would be to have an army and stop all the cabbies."

She stressed that the vast majority of cabbies regulated by the authority are conscientious, law-abiding and hardworking.

"But this industry, just like others, draws unscrupulous people."

[eldo]

Gosh, I guess I should consider myself lucky.
When I took a cab from the airport to my hotel about 3 years ago, the driver couldn't have been nicer. He shared funny stories and informative info with me during the ride. With tip the fare came to $10!

[3tbear]

Sorry to hear that. I guess I was lucky too. I knew where our hotel was as far as the other casino I was visiting one day, so when he drove me back to ours I knew exactly where he was going. A real nice cab driver, from Jamaica I think, well, one of those places, he had a cool accent. I guess crooks are everywhere. That's too bad, doesn't make for a pleasurable time in Vegas.

[mrbowler]

If they take you thru the Tunnel then you know your getting taken. I've stayed at middle strip and the rate was $12-$14, but had additional passenger(s). Actually had a Taxi Cab cop bust a taxi driver for jumping the line when picking us up-he flashed the guy his badge and the taxi driver was very surprised-he had to take us to where we were going then had to come back to officer, and pay some fine-$50-$75. Sometimes the taxi drivers will try to tell you that they are going to take the interstate to avoid traffic-maybe on weekends that's good advice, but during the weekdays(no way).

[pandybat]

Yep....we did the tunnel thing on our ride, Mr. B. Funny thing is, when we got to the hotel and looked out the window, we realized we could have almost walked to our hotel and got there faster. But since we hadn't been to Vegas before, we didn't know any better. It's quite overwhelming the first time you have been there. The hotel was only a couple blocks away from the airport. Chalk it up to a lesson learned the hard way.

[crazytimes]

Same thing happens here in Providence! I was so pissed. I had to be at work at 4:00 and the bus leaves at 3:50. It was about 3:47 so I just hopped in a cab. The guy took me the long way and then when we go to work he started driving around the parking lot.

Ugh cab drivers piss me off to no end. The only good ones I've ever been in were in NYC.

Everywhere else I have found they rip you off and just drive too slow and take the long routes.