While walking to Ben Thanh Market from our hotel this morning, we were approached by a trishaw rider to use his service. Considering the hot, humid weather and crazy traffic, we took it. Before we got on, we asked how much to Reunification Palace. He said %26#39;15,000 dong for 2 people.. no ploblem, no ploblem%26#39;. So we hopped on. When we got there, he said he will wait till we finish to take us to the War Remnants Museum, with no extra charge. We thought that was too good to be true but we took it anyway, thinking we will tip him later. But then we decided to use his service for the whole day so we asked for a price. He said 200,000 dong whole day for 2 people. OK, that sounded reasonable so we hopped on again. We asked him to take us to a restaurant for lunch which he did and then, he and his other rider came sat down with us at the restaurant!!! Feeling awkward, we told them to give us 30 minutes to have lunch and politely asked them to leave us alone. After lunch, we went to them, and their tone had changed. He said when he told us the price, it was 200,000 dong PER HOUR PER PERSON!!! This is clearly a scam and a rip off!!! We argued and they wouldnt let us go unless we pay up. We said we will ring the police and yet they were not backing down. In the end, I ran back to the restaurant (cant remember the name but the food was excellent by the way) and the waiters and waitresses came out to shield us from the 2 scammers. We paid them 100,000 dong in total (for half day) and told them to bugger off. In the end, with the help of the restaurant staff, they left, not before shouting and screaming at us. So, please be careful with these trishaw riders. And for us, never again!!!!
Beware!! Saigon Trishaw Ride a Scam!!
Dear Magnum78
So sorry for your trouble and thank you for speaking it out so that other guests will never make the same trouble/ mistake again
That makes Vietnam Tourism down due to these trishaw riders and taxi drivers
To other guests who read this post,
Please never take any trishaw ( we call in Vietnamese XICH LO )because at the end you will be riped off and receive an unhappy ending story due to luggage difference. They seem to make you good from beginning and they will turn crazily at the end. You will have nothing to do except paying them to get rid of them
Recently, I have noticed that VINA METER taxi drivers are more smart. They copy the same number of VINA SUN Taxi ( 08. 8 27 27 27 ) but their first numbers are 54. not 08
Please look closely for the name VINA SUN taxi with the logo ( not VINA METER ) and the number must be (08). 8. 27 27 27 not 54. 27 27 27
Have a safe and great holiday in HCMC without any troubles
Best regards
Jason SSS
Beware!! Saigon Trishaw Ride a Scam!!
Dear Magnum78
So sorry for your trouble and thank you for speaking it out so that other guests will never make the same trouble/ mistake again
That makes Vietnam Tourism down due to these trishaw riders and taxi drivers
To other guests who read this post,
Please never take any trishaw ( we call in Vietnamese XICH LO )because at the end you will be riped off and receive an unhappy ending story due to luggage difference. They seem to make you good from beginning and they will turn crazily at the end. You will have nothing to do except paying them to get rid of them
Recently, I have noticed that VINA METER taxi drivers are so very smart. They copy the same number of VINA SUN Taxi ( 08. 8 27 27 27 ) but their first numbers are 54. not 08.8
Please look closely for the name VINA SUN taxi with the logo ( not VINA METER ) and the number must be (08). 8. 27 27 27 not 54. 27 27 27
Have a safe and great holiday in HCMC without any troubles
Best regards
Jason SSS
My husband and I were in Saigon last Feb.22-24,2009, our first time. We were also victims of this trishaw scam. We were also walking by Ben Tranh Market on our way to Notre Dame Church and Post Office. We were approached by trishaw driver, offered 15,000 dong for 2 people to take to ND and PO, will wait and be returned to BT Market. We were hot and sweaty, so we said why not. At the end of the trip, the riders demanded loudly that it was 15,000 dong one way each person so we owed 30,000 dong each. They became loud and unfriendly, my husband expressed disgust, paid and left quickly. We felt it was unsafe to argue. So BEWARE!!! All in all our other experience with the city was positive. Saigon is a beautiful city, we enjoyed everything-food was cheap and wonderful, people were friendly and hardworking, our hotel was cheap (Red Sun, $20/night), very clean, free breakfast and internet, friendly owner and staff; souvenirs were cheap and plentiful
I was approached by 2 Ozzie women outside the New World Hotel in Dec. saying they took a Xich Lo ride and the driver was screaming for $40USD for the hour ride. i told her to give him 5usd and walk away. The driver was giving me the eye also for intervening but these 2 women were distressed. 5USd for the hour was plenty but not enough people make it clear before hand what they want to pay and then get taken. Also the drivers get irate and loud to intimidate you....give them what is fair and walk away.
Drifter
30,000VND is less than $2US, for that I wouldn%26#39;t get too bitter and twisted.
Write the amount down on a piece of paper and don%26#39;t go with them till they agree that is the price quoted. It happened to us twice as well. Once with a rickshaw and once with a moto. Last time we visited we only used the metered taxi%26#39;s or walked so save the hassle.
Coop
Oh how I wish I had read this before yesterday. This happened to us as well...right outside Ben Than Markets and we weren%26#39;t even planning on taking a trishaw! We happened top ask the rider for directions to the electronic market just down the road and then he wanted to take us and I felt obliged after hinm giving directions and it went exactly the same as the experiences outlines here. He said 15000 dong each or so we thought and when we arrived he wanted 150 000 dong each and because we then querstioend ourselves about what we had heard ion the beginning we gave it to him - wish we hadn%26#39;t after reading the prevsiou posts. we knew we had been scammed but we put it down to experience and will never do it again. We had all good experiences with taxis - espec Mai Linh and Vina sun. The trishaws obviously make a good living from unsuspecting tourists. We had a great day in HCMC though which I will put in another post.
They sound like the men that bullied us into paying alot of money to them for 2 hours from same spot,same scenario,cathedral,lunch etc.except they dropped us with a 400000dong an hr,and got very aggressive,so beware!...that was in mid feb.
Dear all,
So sorry for the wrong number of Vinasun taxi
It must be 38. 27 27 27
Vina meter 54. 27 27 27
Same same 27 27 27 but not the same 38 # 54
Best regards
Jason SSS
One of the times they tried to scam us the driver quoted 50,000 dong to go from A to B. We felt that was fair, but he kept diverting and drawing out the journey so we decided to pay more than the agreed price. Imagine our shock when he said the price was not 50,000 dong, but $50US! As if! We ended up having a verbal argument in the middle of the road with him and he was very aggressive, but we stood our ground and only paid him the dong amount plus a tip. He cursed %26amp; screamed at us as we walked away and the whole experience left a bitter taste in our mouths.
Never again will I put myself through this unpleasant experience and have warned many others of the scam.
Coop
No comments:
Post a Comment