Why taxi drivers are so helpless

"-keedere?"

(taxi driver greeting!)

Last year a taxi driver drove me home real fast, when I was done paying my bill, he told me; that I was singing very good in Urdu, that I should be acting in bollywood.

I was very drunk and thinking of Eddie murphy and his movie the golden child.

i am really suffering this ... i don't know nothing about Doha roads so far ... i spoke to Karwa call center asked for a taxi and the agent asked me where i wanted to go .. i told him its a multistop trip ... i got the taxi asked him to stop me in somewhere where i can have my hair cut, and beard shaved he got confused like its the first time he is on doha roads he kept driving passing by gents' saloons like they are not the thing i wanted .. until i told him to stop somewhere and wait me and i went walking to a saloon had my things done

then wanted to take a picture and it was more confusing to him he asked if i wanted to buy a camera!!! i said no i have one already i want to take a picture of myself then he stopped me at a studio where i could take that photo ... the last stop was Villagio which luckily he knew

i think taxi drivers here know the most famous places like malls, hotels, airport, and this kind of places but they are not prepared yet to answer questions like where can i have a hair cut???? what is the shortest way to get to certain place??

my main problem with them is the lack of english im ok with say turn left turn right but when they dont know left from right i wanna scream!!

they should implement a geographical test before they become taxi drivers. Will help out a lot so they know where to go

Jack Mohan got it right. It's a hustle. Don't believe the hype. Whether its because they have to meet a quota, they feel their salary is too low or whatever, they purposely try to get more money by taking the scenic route.

the problem is that a lot of streets either have no any names or for sure are not enetered in GPS. Again, if we are talking about the main streets - yes, it's not really a probelm...but even with that, if you read my previous thread you could see that the LIMO DRIVER from the INTERCON couldn't find the Al-Emadi building at Cinema Traffic Lights intersection on C-Ring Road!!!!

... so what about if he has to find some building which is lost somewhere inside of Muntazza or Mansoura districts?? Forget about it! No Numbers, no Street names.. GPS is helpless here...

I feel they do that to earn more.. as i believe karwa has set targets for them.. they have to get a min. amount everyday elz it will be deducted from their account or something.. i remember one fren of mine took a cab to al khor.. and surprisingly the karwa guy asked for something lower than the normal fare.. and then they realised that he had disconnected the meter showing that the car was parked somewhere..

They know one address "Airport" . They will get a passanger starting Qr.29 Its cool for them.

GPs...You tell them a street name...they start to punch in the alphabets it starts listing the address of the alphabets that have been punched in.

So if he puts in even the initial street address he should find it.

Its not like you tell him take me to Dafna & he ask you where is Dafna!

These taxi drivers are infact spoiling the name of Qatar, by asking the passenger the address!

I am sure these guys must have bamboozled a thousand tourist during the Asian Games....Imagine what kind of image they took back home.

if THERE ARE NO ADDRESS SYSTEM IN DOHA? Can you tell your exact address of your villa/apprtment? like a Street number and Street name? so? what this poor guy has to enter GPS? GPS will put out exactpy what you put in. It means, only landmarks which are ENTERED in GPS system could be found in there!

If you want taxi driver to take you to City Centre, yes GPS will show the location and gives the direction, because this LandMark is IN the system. If you want to find one of tens identical buldings somewhere in Mansoura, which have NO numbers or streets names,forget about it.. it is NOT in GPS...

All adress system in qatar is built this way that you have to explain how to reach your place.. The given direction to the point is actually the address..

I remember how i was confused when i first came to Doha. i asked the guy what is his address.. and he did...he said: go straight, then turn second right, then after 200 m turn left, then you will see the mousqe, pass it and make u-turn, then take a service road, first right, second left.. then you will see the Fish store, stop there and call me, i will come and pick you up!!!!

EH???

i said: can i just have the address, pls?

he said: IT IS THE ADDRESS!!

so my point is...the taxi drivers are expecting from you to give them THE SAME type of addresses (see above)

Karwa...

Every Single KARWA taxi HAS A GPS. It doubles up as the Meter. Most drivers very conveniently minimise the GPS and the screen shows only the meter.

Its very easy to reach Destination with a GPS especially if the screen is so BIG!. At least he/you can stop somewhere and decide which Roundabout to turn!

Its pretty obvious the Govt is not doing anything to stop this loot.

Karwa Drivers....They do it on purpose. I have told it many times on QL.

I can understand if you take a cab to Khor, or Dukhan , or Ruwais...but Doha? Is there a city smaller than Doha?

1. Doha is a pretty small place? How long does it take them to learn about doha ?

2. That too when they drive the cab for 12 hrs a day.

3. Add to that 3months or at least 1 month training.

4. Their plain refusal to use the GPS is proof enough that they know the place very well.

They lie that they dont know the way. Just to charge the passengers more.

Next time someone tells you he doesnt know the way ask him his name and pretend to note it down. If he inquires tell him you will complain that Karwa has drivers who dont know Doha well and that it is very inconvenient for you. Then he will take out one of his sob-story. Tell him to keep quite & you dont want to hear "gir-gir".

they always get me home after a night out, i suppose i gotta be thankful for that.

hopeless not helpless,need to be trained ,so annoying,they not got a clue were u want to go,

take out your high heel sandal and bang it on their head and tell them you are the taxi driver you should know better about the routes here and the shortest routes. or else go park you taxi and go home

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What I really hate is when they try to charge you more just 'cause of your colour... They give you a price over the phone and when they see you, the price all of a sudden changes!

Still this is a part of their job to be well oriented around the city. Doha is not that huge. I am nice and very polite to them apart from the situation where I spend an hour for trip that should take not less than 20 minutes and then I have to pay all of those km's they spend hovering around!

THIS IS SAME AS QATARISUN'S STORYhttp://www.qatarliving.com/node/111387YOU ARE NOT ALONE.. HAVE A TIGHT SLEEP OK?

BY THE WAY, DO YOU KNOW HOW TO GAIN WEIGHT?

are paying is including the pointing service that you provide to the driver ... it is discounted ... if you won't guide him you will get a bigger bill indeed !!!

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. (Gautama Buddha)

most of them are newly hired and with the constructions going around the city ... sometimes I doubt that I'm really on the right way home .. I could not recognize my street once before and thought that I took a shortcut to hell :(

Karwa should fix GPRS or Navigation systems in all their taxis ...

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. (Gautama Buddha)