It is near impossible to flag down a cab on Maxwell Road after work!
Except if it is non-peak, just before 8pm (end of peak hour surcharge) or past midnight (midnight surcharge), or if you call for a cab (call surcharge). Which means, the hours between 8pm and midnight are crap.
I was very tired just now, and carrying a bag full of corporate gifts to pack into my suitcase. A cab would have been nice. But no, cabs were on call (who knows if they are real?) or hired (sometimes this isn't even real!) or empty but not stopping!
Once, a kind one actually stopped. In our conversation, which inevitably started with my complaints of how long I waited, I learnt that some cabbies would actually circle the area or hide in some carpark until a call from nearby! Terrible...
Some time after that, I saw a cab parked along the street across. Empty. No on-call sign. I dashed for it and climbed in. Then the cabbie tried to hold me off, saying "wait" or something but I just stated my destination. As he reluctantly drove off, he came up with some lame excuse saying he was trying to confirm a call.. Come on, I have seen it being done before; taking a call takes one click on the screen! And he was parked there long enough for me to notice and cross a two-way street to reach him! Horrible..
I won't have another cabbie complain to me about poor business
i so totally empathize with you! i remember the days when i was trying to flag down a cab after work, day before mission and laden with work crap too :(
ReplyDeletedays like these, i tink even china's public transport system is better than us. at least the buses come like once every 5mins, and cost max $0.40 flat fee!
I've encountered the same problem many times! And I always dial for a cab in the end. But even so, it is extremely hard to call for a cab at the cbd area! I always end up waiting and listening to shitty music only to be informed that there're no available cabs in the area! Now I have all the cab hotlines in Singapore stored in my phone just in case.
ReplyDeletetotally understand how you feel...especially when its a tired and bad day and you can't wait to get a cab and go home.but YET no cab wants to stop!!!
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