Korean Taxi Drivers

Taxis are supposed to be the ultimate in convenience in inner city
transportation for people who are in a hurry. Considering that their fares are much
higher than buses or subways, people expect them to take them wherever they want
to go more quickly and in the most comfortable possible way.That maybe the way it works in most places around the world, but
unfortunately, in Korea, that’s not the way it is. In fact, in a 1995 survey of Seoul
residents, over 90% complained about the poor service which they had received from
taxi drivers. And the most common complaint given by foreigners visiting Korea is that
they were cheated or received rude treatment from taxi drivers.Here are some of the most commonly-mentioned complaints about Korean
taxi drivers:“THEY DRIVE TOO FAST”. The customer is paying for a safe and
comfortable ride. He doesn’t expect to be racing around the city streets hanging on
for dear life.“THEY DRIVE RECKLESSLY” Weaving in and out of traffic lanes wildly makes passengers want to stop an get out.“TAXI DRIVERS BREAK ALL THE TRAFFIC LAWS.” This makes passengers
used to obeying the law feel very uncomfortable.“THEY WON”T STOP TO PICK US UP.” Some taxi drivers are afraid to pick
up foreigners because they think they won’t be able to speak Korean, but that leaves a very bad impression of Korea on the visitors.“THEY REFUSE TO TAKE US WHERE WE WANT TO GO.” One major reason for going by taxi is to be able to go where buses and subways can’t take you, so it’s
nonsense when a taxi driver says he won’t go a certain place.“THEY OVERCHARGED US.” Some rude taxi divers try to take advantage of
foreigners who don’t know what the fares should be, so taxi drivers can turn off the
meter and charge them whatever they want.“THEY PICKED UP ANOTHER PASENGERS AND MADE THEM RIDE WITH
US.” This practice called “hap-song” in Korean, is strange to foreigners and they can’t
understand why total strangers are riding in their taxi.For years, taxi companies have been trying to “clean up’ their image by
disciplining their drivers, but the problem doesn’t stop. Many people in the Korean
tourism industry believe that poor taxi service is at least partly to blame for the decline
in the number of tourists coming to Korea in recent years.