Bad taxi service
Bad taxi service
The poor distribution of reliable taxis in Jakarta is one
thing that never ceases to cause me stress. Take the Soekarno-
Hatta airport, for example. Trying to find a decent taxi there is
like trying to find a needle in a haystack, with most of the
taxis refusing to use their meter and demanding astronomical
prices.
One would think that in an international airport, the taxi
service would be at least satisfactory. Don't we want to create a
good first impression for foreigners? Alternatively, one can take
the AC express bus, but it is unfortunately so poorly advertised
and hidden away that many people don't even know that it exists.
So on arrival, foreigners must endure the inevitable haggling and
harassment by aggressive taxi drivers. Having just set foot in
the country, a bad impression of it has already been formed in
their heads.
Finding a reliable taxi is a strenuous task not only at the
airport, but also at many other places around the city. Two
examples include Pondok Indah Mall and Carrefour Lebak Bulus.
Most of the taxis outside the entrance doors look as if they were
salvaged from a rubbish dump, and the Air-Conditioning is usually
long gone. Many shoppers who cannot afford to pay the ridiculous
fares here are forced to lug their shopping out onto the main
road in search of a reasonable cab.
Most of the taxi stands at these places are actually reserved
for more reliable companies, such as Blue Bird. However, once
again the problem boils down to corruption, with the "anti-meter"
taxi drivers paying bribe money to some of the security officials
on duty. This allows disreputable drivers to monopolize taxi
stands, canceling out chances of customers finding a decent cab
to travel home in.
At times, even when using "reputable" taxis, I have come
across drivers with serious attitude problems towards their
paying customers. When given directions, some drivers will refuse
to listen, insisting that the road is macet (congested), or that
they know a short cut. A few of them will even rip off naive
western tourists by taking advantage of their lack of knowledge
about Jakarta's roads. In order to bump up the meter, the driver
will take the passenger on an unnecessary half hour city tour,
when really the trip should have taken less than 15 minutes.
I understand that many people, including taxi drivers, are
struggling to make ends meet in these days of economic hardship.
Drivers especially must feel the pressure of these hard times,
but must remember that they are hard for all of us. Everyone
should strive to practice fairness and good business ethics.
Paying customers deserve good service from drivers. If the
drivers cannot give this, then they do not deserve the customer.
ELIZA ALLAN
Jakarta