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| - Very odd and disappointing early morning ride.....
I departed Mandalay Bay at 4:30am for my flight, and the taxi driver was friendly and chatted a bit (didn't get his name), and asked if I wanted to go "quickest route or surface roads".
Thought that was interesting phrasing, but selected quickest route, with no additional comments from me.
As we approached the terminals I realized I had a $100 bill and no smaller cash and said I'd be using Amex, when he asked for payment method.
He then tallied up the charge and directed me to the C.C. machine for swiping my card. The machine offered a choice of 20% tip, and increases on upward, or "Other". The driver suggested that I be "generous" with the tip because tips are an important part of his income. I selected 20% and completed the transaction with my card.
In the meantime, though, we had not yet pulled into the curb area, and I realized we were not going to!! He said he'd stop the vehicle in our center lane, at the crosswalk, and I could "jump out quickly" and be careful not to get hit, since I was exiting on the right side of the vehicle into a traffic lane!
On a previous visit to Vegas I had a similar experience with a driver who said due to "congestion" he'd drop me "not far" from the check-in counters, and I ended up having to walk twice as far. I thought that was a fluke, but see now that it's SOP for taxi drivers to do whatever is most convenient for them, without courtesy toward the customers - and ironically, we're the ones "supplementing their income" with tips.
Some customer service training is definitely needed by the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
I paid $31.34 for a 13 minute cab right (see receipt photo) at 4:54AM, and couldn't get dropped off at the curb.
Are we surprised that Uber is making inroads?
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