Be warned of unofficial taxi drivers in Vietnam who overcharge

As much as Vietnamese are well known to be friendly people and the country being a real destination for adventure, there are few things that Vietnamese have to work on and get right. One of such issues that scare some people from visiting Vietnam is their transport sector, especially the rouge taxi drivers who overcharge their customers, especially foreigners. Most unofficial taxi drivers often think that foreigners are all rich people and thus they overcharge them. Some also believe that the money that foreigners spend in their country is just a small part of their fortunes.

Whether or not foreigners are wealthy or ignorant of the currency and charges of taxi fares, it is very unethical for some taxi drivers to charge foreigners more than they should. Some people might be working within a very tight budget that might harm them financially during their stay in Vietnam.

Taxi drivers scramble for passengers and overcharge them

Many people visiting Vietnam are not happy with how some unofficial taxi drives scramble for clients to appoint that it almost looks like a drama in the streets. After a fierce scramble, the client ends up being overcharged. This practice is most common in major towns of Vietnam. For example, one unofficial taxi driver charges 300,000 Dong between Hoan Kiem town and Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, which is just a short distance. It is annoying, and clients feel cheated.

Some taxi drivers take unnecessary roundabout routes to the destinations and then end up overcharging the client. Other drivers have a fixed rate of 100 Dollars per hour.

There is a case when a Japanese tourist bursts into tears when a taxi driver charged her 400 Dollars for a distance between Ton Duc Thang Street in Ho Chi Minh City and Tan Son Nhat airport. These kinds of unofficial taxi drivers are the reason why many people sometimes think ill about Vietnamese. Therefore, Vietnamese need to settle this vise or else risk losing tourists.

How to avoid taxi drivers overcharging foreigners

Many foreigners visiting Vietnam think that it will always be cheap to travel around on their own. Yes, this can be true, but with so many unofficial taxi drivers, they will still be overcharged, sometimes without notice. However, some ways can help avoid unofficial taxi drivers from overcharging their clients.

• In Ho Chi Minh city, we recommend you to choose these 2 well-know brands: Mai Linh and Vinasun base on convenience and fare. In other cities, we recomment you to choose taxi which have speedometer. It is about VND 15,000 per kilometer for 4-seater taxis and about VND 17,000 per kilometer for 7-seater taxis.

• If you have to using other brand taxi (except to Vinasun and Mai Linh), you should negotiate a fixed price before traveling. Don’t forget pay with small cash.

• Transportation’s App on Mobile: There is a bonus for the transportation system in Ho Chi Minh city. That is the mobile apps of transportation services like Grab or Go Viet (UBER don’t work more), which should help you save your budget a little more. You can book and hail on a ride with ease. Download these apps on your mobile app stores and install them. With some simple steps, you can freely book their many choices of vehicles to get around the city. One more thing you should take notice is using these apps require you to have a SIM card for the driver to confirm the booking and contact you when they arrive at your place.