Power to the People

When the taxi driver immediately backed down and offered to let me pay whatever I wanted, I knew that I was being cheated. And I wasn't going away quietly.

Here's how it went down.

Having just flown home from Arizona on a late flight, I was trying to stay awake on a chilly March evening. A guy stood about 25 feet down the road from me, also waiting for a taxi. Being a good traveler, I offered to let him share the ride (he was there first, after all).

So two strangers piled into the taxi van and headed east. After only a few blocks, my fellow traveler got out. I noticed the meter read $4.95 + 1.00 (for the extra passenger). The stranger handed the driver $5 and said his goodbyes.

Without re-setting the meter, the driver continued on and reached my destination a few miles down the road. Imagine my surprise when the driver asked me for the full fare.

"What about the $5 he gave you?" I asked.

The driver started to explain that since the other traveler and I didn't know each other, it wasn't a true shared ride.

"Excuse me?!!"

That's when he immediately offered to let me pay whatever I wanted. Something in me snapped and I knew I wasn't going to put up with another dishonest taxi driver. If Chicago gets the Olympics, I didn't want a-holes like this giving my city a bad reputation.

So I filed a complaint with the city.

After testifying over the phone (a truly stressful thing, lemme tell ya!), we WON! The taxi driver was fined $140 for attempting to overcharge me.

Justice!