Scammy taxi drivers

1. Time & Location - where you took the taxi from AND your destination.

2. ask for his Employee number. They always wear ID tag

3. Ask for the receipt - all the details are there: driver/employee number, time and amount, etc.

4. Get the license plate number - that's important too.

WHY?

Taxi drivers have shifts and when you have all 4 (see above)information, it would be easier for the concerned people in Karwa management/admin to determine THE DRIVER.

From what I know, they do impose HEAVY FINES or pernalties for these offenses. Some get suspended, or sent home.

1. All taxi drivers were ID tags colored RED & BLUE.

- if it's RED, they are those drivers whom they called "boundary scheme" wherein they have to tunr in 270riyals a day NET.

- Those who have BLUE ID TAGS are Call Center taxi fleet and those plying the streets of DOHA

Most likely than not, those wearing RED ID tags will not use the meter and tells you an amount to pay to go to your destination.

2. 9:00Pm till 6AM and outside DOHA, they charge different rates.

http://yadiin.blogspot.com/

This week was OK . No one driver tried to take me on a city tour or keep the change . It is true that I kept telling them from the beginning where to turn and where not . It made them irritated "this is not shortest way" - but I told them not to worry since I am the one who will pay ...

http://yadiin.blogspot.com/

Also they send all the driver details to your mobile so in case the driver tries to cheat you you have his details to complain.

I like that . I ' d rather Qatar imported that thing from India and not the old Mumbai style.

In Mumbai the old Yellow cabs were notorious of doing a lot of frauds on the Customers...like tampering the meter, bogus tariff cards, having switch-on-the-dashboard (hidden) to enable them to switch off the engine... when they wanted to and say "engine problem"..etc

But with the arrival of the Cool Cabs or MeruCabs taxi rides are really fun. The Latest ones are the Tata Indigo, Manza sedans with good leg space for a 6footer in the rear. Tata Indigo also has rear A/C which even most mid to high level Japanese sedans dont have.

These Merucab guys understand English and are very courteous. Its a Call Cab Service like Karwa but they are perfect and on time.They are able to arrange a cab sometimes within 15 minutes...and one time it was down to 10 min!!!

Charges are like QR1.6 for the 1st Km and QR1.12 every subsequent km. That they are able to do this when petrol costs QR5 Per Litre in India is lovely.

Also they send all the driver details to your mobile so in case the driver tries to cheat you you have his details to complain.

Source:

http://getaway2india.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/mumbai-the-shining-jewel-of-india/

wow. thank you for posting your concerns. I will definitely look out for those karwa taxis and avoid them as much as possible.

Karwa gets a bad rap and for good reason. I've never been able to get a Karwa driver to come out to my neighborhood to pick me up. But they are not the only ones who deserve public scorn. I took a private car service from the Sheraton one evening. I understood that I would be paying a lot more for a Land Cruiser, and the price wasn't the issue. The driver took me on a scenic tour of the entire city before taking me to my destination and the whole time he just talked about sex and his...endowments. Then he tried to charge me double the agreed upon price!

DOha is not that bad. check out this report

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1971835,00.html

they should be working with police, for police cars we understand that they need to move always in hurry but the karwa bus drivers i never understand why they are always in hurry. i think they should be flying the plane and the bus. lol

What about the bus drivers? the less said about them the much better.

even we call karwa nothing is going to be happend, if anyone notice that the karwa drivers are even driving inproper way. they dont know even the traffic rules. one time one karwa driver stopped the car on the third track and was picking passengers and if that time i was not carefull may be me and karwa driver were in the hospital. on that i stopped my car and asked this person so he reply to me this is karwa and i can stopped any where. lovely right.... i think this organization should take these matter very seriously.

You cant justify cheating for having small salary, they should be grateful for there are people here who receive wages far below those cab drivers, and what's worse is they need to work under the heat of the sun while those cab drivers are complaining inside the comfort of their cars (plus the AC)

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"BEER! Helping ugly people have sex since 1862.."

So where did this driver's attitude originate from - Hungary?

http://yadiin.blogspot.com/

I am agreed too . I wrote every two or three is trying to cheat the rest is ok .

the other day I went to the hospital and the driver did not have small change . Then I thought ok it is again 40 % tip ... but he stopped and talked to other Indians nearby - he quickly had small change and everything was just perfect ...

I was pleasantly surprised when this should be the norm .

http://yadiin.blogspot.com/

I never told you that it is all India problem - I told the taxi driver's attitude was originated from India and I think Indian expats living here hate it as much as non Indians do ...

I am not new expat as I mentioned I have been living here long enough to be able to remember the other system of orange taxis which resulted in honest drivers Indians or not Indians ...

I know the city .I know the traffic jams . I think that before choosing a longer way the driver should ask me if I accept it or not ... What upsets me very much is that they cheat with such big confidence that I suspect they control the karwa and not the karwa controls them...

I do not protect cheaters whether they are from my homeland or not ...

I am not a welfare office to help them to build their business back in their village but i can contribute with

a tipof 10-15% but many times they take 40 -50% tips as they have no small change ...

And finally - this attitude is not the attitude of the poor but the swinlders

i agree, there are still a few honest taxi drivers, few of them we know and call everytime we need a taxi..

SS right...and MK Gandhi's policy (of 3 monkeys) comes to help to survive n prosper!!!

Dont see bad

Dont say bad

Dont listen bad

,yella......I'm signing off this thread!!

Not all Karwa drivers are that way. Some are real good. But you need to be in their shoes to understand the problems they face.

When they are sick also they are deducted the amount they are supposed to pay everyday.

the silent rule goes like this....if they sense that u're not well-versed with the streets of the town,they WILL by default take you by the longest route possible.and then when you complain of the atrocious bill,they blame it on bad roads or complicated routes or even higher fuel prices....duh!

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How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception. - Alfred de Musset

I've been ripped off in nearly every country I've

used a taxi, Qatar is no exception :-(

*****If you haven't got anything nice to say, don't say anything at all*****

for some,QL is just an exit port to vent out built-up frustration/irritation/consternation/constipation/etc.let them be....else we'll have quite a load of nervous wrecks walking/driving the streets of doha.... LOL :-D

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How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception. - Alfred de Musset

yes SS; in my opinion QL gives chance to even intellectually bankrupt losers to poke their nose (read spread hatred) and somehow get oxygen for their survival amidst all sort of problems they are living with !!

as usual,eh painther?sigh!QL won't ever change......

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How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception. - Alfred de Musset

Even if you complain to Karwa office, most of the time they are not doing anything. The reason is that, they are now lacking of drivers in their company and its not practical to send them back to their countries and recruit a new one and take them for training and giving driving license again, its a waste of time and money on management side..

MO RIN...YUN LANG!!!

Why Indians??

I mean does it massages FALSE egos of some QLers to bash indians???

I see the original post does not say anything but the Hate mongers made it as another indian bashing...!!

Only a loser can assume that all the drivers are Indians and this problem is an Indian problem!!!

Are QLers IQ gone so low ???

lol!

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"BEER! Helping ugly people have sex since 1862.."

eww,poorman....that's grosse!

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How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception. - Alfred de Musset

i dont complain the charge bill, what i've complained that indian drivers are farting inside the cab everytime during on my way home..

yup,so when it come to public transport wage haggling,i'd go be the age-old adage,"better be safe than sorry" and "speech is silver but silence is golden"

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How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception. - Alfred de Musset

Karwa doesn't take any action to their drivers. how many times it happens and sometimes even if they are free they will selecting customer either or ask you first where to go. how come this kind of bad attitude/situation couldn't resolve by the managment of KARWA. where are those beautiful image that they are talking about transportation.

Oh Wow! In that situation I would run away and cry....horrible! And shame on them!

@ alma wad,if i were to visit Budapest & have a bad experience with the cab drivers there(as you mentioned yourself "there is too much problem with cab drivers in Hungary".) & come back here & post implying that ALL Hungarians are like those cab drivers & that is a Hungarian attitude,would you like it or accept it?...Absolutely not,you'd probably be pretty pissed off & say so...so i'm saying it to you now,your assesment of "India/Indians/Indian attitude" SHOULD NOT be based on some desperate,miserable cab drivers OK?...

Now let me explain the situation to you,those cab drivers are offered a contract wherein they have to pay X amount of riyals to Karwa EVERYDAY,irrespective of weather they earned it & how they earned it...when they enquire here before coming from signing on & coming from India,of course they are told,"population growing,cabs ALWAYS in short supply,business GUARANTEED" so of course they come,what they are NOT told is the pathetic state of the roads,the complete lack of it in some places & the ridiculous traffic jams...of course,once they're here,they're stuck,they've signed the contract which means they have to pay up,weather they get customers or not,& by the time they get through the traffic @ the end of the day & pay back Karwa,there's hardly ANYTHING left for them which is why some of them try & maximise a ride when they feel the passenger is new to the country & unaware of the roads...

ANY person(even a Hungarian) in that situation would be tempted to do the same,why blame the cab driver's nationality for it?...The traffic jams,the road works,the lack of roads ARE NOT the cab driver's fault...get the full picture before doing the typical "new expat" thing & coming & whining here on QL,please & thank you...

Welcome to Doha!

SS, got it, communist zindabad !!! (not really :D)

alma wad,

I find almost all south asians here are termed as indians, so indians have to carry the baggage of attitude (good , bad , ugly, whtever)of their neighbours too!!

nope,i come from india's very own 'Down Under',u know :-D but our culture is very much like Kolkata :-)

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How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception. - Alfred de Musset

There are three phone numbers for you to lodge your complaints as indicated above by Qataritwin. Please let us have your feedback after you have made the calls. Good luck to you.

http://yadiin.blogspot.com/

so it seems that qatar exports some of these attitudes

"made in india " ...

SS, i guess you're referring to Kolkata (in ur exp)???

exactly Oryx,

Solution for all this to have Many more Taxi (PvT) services,..it'll improve serives, reduce prices.....like in case of QTel & Vodafone..:)-

it not easy for some women to stand up and talk in equal terms against say 12-15 burly men talking in a language that so foul that we just might have to go wash our ears with chlorine to make it clean :-S ugh!oh and did i mention that a bigger crowd of onlookers also gather around the scene?

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How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception. - Alfred de Musset

I rarely take a taxi - except coming home from the airport and its just EVERY time something happens... not putting on the meter, no change. long route etc..... thats why I think the system is corrupt because it just seems endemic.

I appreciate QW's attempt to help but I think you are right - until the monopoly is broken then this will continue.

Actually i have heard drivers who are not Indian complain about the 'mafia' at Karwa

I do feel that some nationalities (not ONLY Indian) feel they can bully women more. But then it is up to us girls to stand up for ourselves and show them they are wrong.

I prefer that someone dislikes me rather than they get away with bullying me because I am female.

You may be right, Oryx, to accuse that the whole system is corrupt but are commuters having any other choice to voice up? Just call one of the guys there and let's see their reactions.

There is no government authority at the moment in Qatar to regularise the taxi industry and not even the availability of enforcement by any government-controlled agency. Karwa is having some untrained QC personnel who are trying to catch errant drivers at random but as you have rightly said, the whole system is corrupt -- so no guarantee of transparancy or fairness. Right?

Qataritwin is trying to help and this is encouraged. Don't ever dream of bringing back the scabby orange cabs as Karwa is now having the monopoly on Qatar's taxi and bus businesses unless a new Decree is passed to break it and allow another operator to join the competition. If this not possible, then dream on and continue the sufferings till the whole system is less corrupt ......

painther,yes,it's just my personal experience....and generally we are told to try and avoid getting into verbal tiffs with them....maybe they think they can bully women more than men :-( it's different in mumbai....there the women are not meek and soft-spoken.but it's different where i come from.

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How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception. - Alfred de Musset

Here i think corruption has infacted Karwa, and if it grows, we'll see many such problems....

Drivers are not the problem , system is problem!! why same kindaa drivers behave better in Dubai??

SS, you are right but PARTLY only,

There are Very Good & Honest Taxi services ALSO being operated in India. In case of Mumbai, i'd say services of new taxis like easycab/ quickcab etc are excellent; There is Meter installed and you pay what comes in Meter and drivers are generally fine with their passengers, i'm just sharing my experience using them quite frequently in mumbai.

(perhaps u referred old yello black taxis)

http://yadiin.blogspot.com/

thank you ! I will try it for some cases . But as oryx mentioned - the system should be changed .

indian taxi drivers are more like thugs back home....if you don't know how to handle them properly,they can practically loot you.and if ever (God forbid!) you fall into some kinda verbal tiff with them,expect no less than 10 other drivers who will immediately arrive on the scene from God-knows-where and join in the argument talking his side....leaving you with no choice than to pay up quietly and leave before they get rough....i prefer buses anytime.... :-S

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How glorious it is - and also how painful - to be an exception. - Alfred de Musset

http://yadiin.blogspot.com/

Bring back the honest drivers !

http://yadiin.blogspot.com/

you are right ... most of them are Indian and they think the customer is totally stupid ... so it seems that an Indian maffia took over karwa ..

is the taxi service good in India ?

I am from Hungary and in the capital there is too much problem with the cab drivers .

So when we moved here we were so happy to find out that here the drivers are honest ...

that is the past ...honest drivers ? just a memory ...

I know you are trying to be helpful - but seriously have you ever ever tried complaining about the taxis?

And it happens ALL the time - the whole system is corrupt.

Bring back the scabby orange and white taxis!!!!!

calling police should scare them

Hi Alma Wad,

You have my understanding and support. Call one of the following phone numbers to lodge your complaints:

1) Mr Ali Bahzad -- Taxi & Limo Business Unit Director

Tel: 458-8686

2) Mr. Amr Kamel -- Call Centre Manager

Tel: 458-8699

3) Mr. Ahmad Ansari -- Business Development Director

(Monitoring service quality & customers feedback)

Tel: 458-8901

Don't keep silence if you think you are a victim of poor taxi service. Make your noises loud and clear with one of these senior personnel at Karwa (Mowasalat). If any of these still not responding then let me know and I will help you find other VIPs' phone numbers or e-mail addresses. Good luck and happy riding again.

hay i hate these taxi drivers some times thay will put extra charge before 9pm last time i was in taxi and we were going to abu hamour from matar kaddem when i was in the way i noticed the bill was going high at 8pm i asked hay man when the bill is going high he told yes its on extra charges i asked why its 8 pm he told yes extra charging starts from 8 i told him NO extra charge is from 9 i travel everyday he told ok sorry then he offed the extra charge from that red butten i mean like wtf? why are these guys up to? its not fair for the costemer.

peace :)

no meter, no pay......simple really.

lol the only tip a scammy driver would get from me is a whack on the head.. :P

Yes Uk they have such a target. I sometimes take them along for the full day Since I don't have a license and my job involves a lot of travelling.

"Live with passion, Die with style"

Had a similar experience when taking a cab back from the Industrial Area. I even posted a thread on it..A QR20 journey on the meter costed me QR45 plus he wanted a self imposed QR5 tip saying that he was poor and trying to meet the daily target that Karwa had set them..Which is around QR280

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Can We Fix It?

Yes We Can!

It is better to use a limo taxi or a driver that is recommended by a friend. I dont drive so I have to use Taxi´s but I do avoid the Karwa taxi. When I have used them, with my children, they drive way to fast and kids get scared. They maybe cheaper but safety comes first.

They are paid really low painther and fined very heavily by karwa.

"Live with passion, Die with style"

I wish that driver is a QL member, I'd have "flagged" him for a BAN. ")- :D

I experinced this a few times only and find there is lack from karwa side, either they r really paying these guyz less or there is corruption involved in system.

I can even not assume Karwa to listen being having monopoly.

I think, like vodafone did to Qtel , same shud happen to Karwa now- get the competitor!!!

sometimes its happend,,like if i come from Matar Qadeem and going to Binmahmoud, so if i take cornich rout so it will charge me high (21QR) but there no traffic jam but if i cam from c ring road so its charges is very low (16QR) but lots of traffic jam....

Maybe he was actually avoiding a traffic jam.

Plenty of times I myself ask the Taxi driver to take the longer way to reach quickly and avoid the jam.

"Live with passion, Die with style"

Why assume it was an indian

[img_assist|nid=50852|title=hmm|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=|height=0]

ask them for a bill....the fare is free if there is no bill.

I am an Indian and I know these Indian drivers well. They know the routes too well and take you deliberately on the longer route. They assume they are smart and the passenger are dumb...and if things go wrong they can raise their level of voice and try to get away with it!

They also try to get friendly with you.

By Village level ....I am saying the Standard of Public Transport (Bus & Taxi) of Qatar is of Village Level of a backward country!

http://yadiin.blogspot.com/

as a woman I do not chat with them ...I do not think I should .

today again a guy took me to the tour of doha which resulted in very high bill " he just wanted to avoid traffic jams"

what number should I call to make a complaint? and how to identify the driver ? inside the cab there is no any number of customer service ...

but regarding the high number of cheaters I should call them every time ...

What those drivers are doing is not new to the populance and authority. I withness it first from the air port, secondly, on my way to the medical high commission with my friends who are new in Qatar. Many more i discovered after i got familiar with Qatar.What i do now when i am going on a long distance is to negotiate with the cab driver or tell him to follow my instruction,if he agreed good, if not, i wait patiently for another cab or private cab..I think the morale of these cab drivers are very low. You can actually win them over by chatting with them about poor salary, family and a better tomorrow. if you do this, he will take you through short cuts to your destination and if you pay less, he would mind cos he believed you are just as poor as himself.

The worse part about travelling is the taxi ride home from the airport!

Alma 1,2 and 3 plus a few others! EVERY time! What a bad image for Qatar.

i didnt pay anything, i complain on the spot but taxi driver is request me so i just pay half amount.....actually they know the route but just to increase the bill they pretend that they dont know the routes....

http://yadiin.blogspot.com/

village level yes - that is what i told to the driver " you are not an India in your village to talk to women this way"

and what about family friendly buses ? they have family sections everywhere but on their buses . they promised that double deckers will be for families - then it is males alone again ...

http://yadiin.blogspot.com/ I like that . And how the driver answered when you refused to pay ?

http://yadiin.blogspot.com/

the karwa limo is ok -usually they select guys who know the city and it seems that they know basic rules on treating customers

but many karwa taxi driver really do not know doha well - they are coming and going - salary package is not attractive qatar is not welcoming - they go rather to other country to try their luck

that is why they do not know the city -

karwa taxi sucks, orange taxi better, the driver knows the road inside out. My friend came from Dubai and suppose to had lunch with me in Applebees City Centre, first the driver took her to Applebees in C ring road, then they make detour to wakra before in the end sending her to city centre.

The level of Public Transport is of Village level of an undeveloped country here....

Calling for taxi 24 hrs ahead etc...

No proper bus connectivity from Important Destinations like Wakrah/Messaid and Dukhan or Dukhan and AlKhor and Al Khor to Messaid.

alma wad...usually the driver knows the route but takes the wrong route on purpose just to increase the bill.

The progress of a country can be determined from its Public Transport connectivity.

Guess where Qatar lies!

Not flagging down the meter.... I already experienced it more than 10 times. But only twice I did paid the cabbies, the first cabby when he explain his circumstances. And the second when I was with my wife.

In 2007, there were still those stickers inside the cab which say you don't have to pay if the meter was flagged down. That's what I did, I don't pay.

But today, I don't see those signs now in the cab.

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Spent third of my life Away From Home

hehehe i like it call karwa and make a complain. :)

there were also times when the taxi driver will tell you how much to pay going to a certain place and that he will not use a meter because he is renting the taxi from karwa and he is not actually a karwa driver. it's as if you are talking to a carlift driver

simple

http://yadiin.blogspot.com/

probably I was in a hurry to make a complaint on the spot ... but when the number of scammers is so high then it is not possible ..

why dont you just call up Karwa on the spot and make a complain.