Tourists in Miami have been charged more than $ 700 for a taxi ride.

A couple of tourists in Miami paid more than $ 700 for a trip from the airport to the hotel by taxi.

Фото: Depositphotos

After waiting in line at Miami International Airport (Florida) and getting into 13 taxi on September 2017, Carol and Eugene Barrington paid no attention to the car license plate or driver’s name because they flew to Miami on vacation and wanted to relax on their way to the hotel, writes Miami Herald.

The trip lasted about 45 minutes and the couple did not even realize that they would have to pay 35 dollars per mile or about 17 dollars per minute. (The standard rate is 2,40 dollars per mile and 0,40 dollars per minute of waiting.)

Before that, Carol and Eugene had already faced setbacks. Hurricane Harvey damaged their home in Houston, and then Irma, sweeping through Florida almost canceled their vacation. But in the end their cruise to Celebrity Equinox was not canceled, and they had a day to explore Miami before setting sail.

It was only after the vacation that Barrington checked his credit card information and noticed that on September 13, he had been charged $777,44. It was a taxi ride - fare, tip and sales tax. Travel between Miami Airport and hotel Crowne Plaza Hallandale Beach was supposed to cost around 70 dollars and not include sales tax.

The couple's story is unique in its scope, but it fits a pattern of 114 other complaints filed by passengers against taxi drivers in Miami-Dade County from January 2017 to the present day. Many of them disputed small amounts - from 5 to 15 dollars, but some said that they overpaid the driver quite large amounts, sometimes more than $100. Only 9 complaints resulted in refunds, totaling just over $600. But more often than not, cases were closed due to “lack of information.”

According to the representative of the Department of Transport of the city of Luis Espinoza, without a car number or at least the name of the company, it is difficult to get a refund due to lack of evidence.

In Miami-Dade County, there are 2 121 licensed taxis, and twice as many drivers. At least 38 companies use almost indistinguishable yellow sedans to operate. Six of them have the word "Yellow" (Yellow) In the title. Therefore, if you do not fix the car number during the trip, in the case of fraud, finding the same taxi again will be very difficult.

According to the Barringtons, at the end of the trip, it turned out that there was no terminal for payment of the trip near the back seat, and the man handed the card to the driver to make a payment transaction in the front of the car. According to the law, the absence of a terminal near the back seat is a violation - the driver should not touch the customer's credit card - but the tourists did not know this, so they took the incident calmly.

As a result, the pair managed to find the driver, file a complaint and get the money back, but it was worth a lot of effort and emotion.

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