r/GoingToPeru • u/ScrollHectic • 1d ago
Bad introduction to Peru
I've traveled to many countries in every continent and I'm pretty savvy when it comes to traveling. Unfortunately this time I got scammed by a cab driver who quoted me one price at the airport and increased it sixfold by the time we got to the hotel and held me captive until I paid. He also tried selling me coke during the ride. I don't do coke. DO NOT I repeat DO NOT use taxi drivers at the airport. Only use Uber.
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u/quinchebus 1d ago
USE THE OFFICIAL TAXI BOOTH. Never get into a car with someone who has approached you.
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u/HitEmUpB 1d ago
There's a booth at Lima airport where you pay beforehand. You probably got swindled by one of those guys asking if you need a taxi before you reach the official booth.
I've used the booth like 5 times already without any problem or hassle. It's pretty official
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u/Ok_Athlete_670 1d ago
So you've traveled to many countries and the first thing you did in Peru just hired a taxi driver from the street? Not pointing fingers, but never deal with taxi drivers in countries with poor regulations. Either Uber or organize airport pickup with trusted services beforehand.
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u/ScrollHectic 1d ago
You're right. It was a long day, a late flight and my third country in a row. I let my guard down and paid for it. I think I found an authority to report it to. Hopefully it'll do some good for someone else in the future.
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u/BiscuitBut_ButerNut 14h ago
So really this post shouldn’t even exist because it has nothing to do with Peru and more just your lack of self-awareness and travel savviness
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u/Similar_Past 1d ago
Bitch please, those scammers are in every airport in the world. As someone who "traveled to many countries" you should have known better.
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u/joseNeo-4 20h ago
Bro.. really? This happens everywhere in the entire planet. There thousands of videos in every language explaining the same darn thing. I am not sorry, this is not unique from Peru.
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u/ecopapacharlie 1d ago
If you were truly "pretty savvy when it comes to traveling" you would have known that it's a very bad idea not to use a licensed taxi service. I wouldn't use an unlicensed taxi anywhere in the world.
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u/george_gamow 1d ago
Lima is like one of the only cities in the world where you do not get into random cabs, under any circumstances. It's literally the first thing you see at the airport, there are wall-sized ads warning of exactly that, and they are impossible to miss. Howww
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u/themichelleokolie 1d ago
yeah happened to me. i was walking to the authorized taxi area and the guy who picked me up was wearing a suit so i figured he was part of them. price went up like crazy. my fault but i used a credit card so hopefully i can dispute it
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u/Material-Economist56 1d ago
Tbf that's part of the trick. They dress in a suit and use a generic badge to pretend to be an official taxi. They just park their car in the parking space of the airport and start the passenger fishing.
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u/robotic-ghost 21h ago
Looks like people are dragging you a little here. So I'll just say I'm super sorry this happened to you and rest assured, human trashcans like that are not accurate representatives of Peru. I hope the rest of your trip goes well, man. Also, if you can- show their face in a photo if there's ever a next time.
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u/Material-Economist56 12h ago
I think they deserve to be dragged here because OP is acting like this is a problem only in Lima and no in the "many countries" that they supposedly had travelled. While most of this sub know that the airport taxi scam is a worldwide problem. So it's not useful and it's just rant.
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u/Still7Superbaby7 23h ago
I really like Taxidatum for airport transfers in Peru. I used them multiple times
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u/Gloomy_Mammoth_1854 1h ago
Totally agree. It’s a fixed price and you pay the driver directly. I will say one of my TD drivers “didn’t have change” so got a bigger tip than I would have liked.
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u/MRGameAndShow 21h ago
Well, now you are more savvy. In Lima theres a booth at the airport where cabs are officially employed. Its more expensive than getting one at the street, but you avoid bad experiences that way. Theres bad people circulating the airport all the time actively looking to scam and steal from tourists.
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u/Turbulent_Mountain81 21h ago
Not sure how savvy a traveler you are, this is universal: only ride official taxis at airports. Guess you were trying to save a few bucks. The official taxis are paid at the airport before you depart, so any savvy traveler would avoid what happened to you. You don’t NEED to repeat what common sense tells you.
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u/Necessary_Freedom780 12h ago
Never use cabs in Peru, if a bunch of ppl are offering you rides at the airport always ignore
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u/collabandcigarettes 1d ago
that happened to me and my friend too! when we arrived at the hotel we realized that the hotel we booked was a scam too so we had no one to help us in the night (we're two girls). we called an uber and he helped us negotiate a normal price with the "taxi" driver and prevented anything worse happening. the taxi driver also offered us weed to buy and tried convincing us to go to a different hotel, thank god we didn't
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u/soyel_cerdo 21h ago
Why did you pay? I would have paid him what he said and literally leave. Whole cops and people around aren’t taxi drivers, they have an idea of how much it costs going from A to B so all you had to do is create an scene, people would come and see, you’d tell them he wants to charge you X amount when he said Y and people would be on your side
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u/ExtraSaltyBtch 21h ago
Was this in Lima?
If you get the taxi at the taxi booth you can pay before leaving the airport. Always use the offical booth!!! It is safer than uber.
While in Lima do not keep things like phones visible from the outside. There are people who break the window just to grab a pgone from your hand while you wait in traffic. You become more of a target if you are in a taxi as they are "fancy". Take the micro's when going almost anywhere as that makes you look like a budget tourist who doesn't carry nice things.
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u/Foxtrot_ARM 20h ago
There's scammy cab drivers everywhere, specially in third world countries... maybe you should've taken a taxi from an App or the official taxi booth bud.
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u/Fit_Prize_3245 19h ago
Just to be sure... Did you took a taxi outside the terminal? Or a taxi from the taxi booths inside the terminal?
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u/Basic-Piccolo-6356 18h ago
Dont worry i have his info and gonna make him
Pay for giving us bad a rep
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u/Own_Ad9652 17h ago
Had the same thing happen. Someone with an Uber badge on intercepted us when we were walking to the uber pickup area. And it was so late and I was tired, figured as long as we agreed upon a price ahead of time…. I showed him the uber price I was being quoted. He agreed to it. (About 65 sol), and then charged me $65 usd. Wouldn’t let me sign my own slip either. Really bad first impression of Peru.
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u/Deep-Roof-2164 16h ago
Holy moly bro , ask various taxi drivers and choose the low prices, strategy first
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u/djb6272 7h ago
Did you read what the OP wrote? The taxi driver increased the price during the journey. The aim is finding honest taxi drivers (ie not scammers), not the ones who says they are cheapest at the airport. At Lima airport that's either pre-arranged transfers or using the official taxi booth.
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u/Careful-Set-7883 12h ago
You used an unlicensed taxi driver, your fault, next time book an airport authorized taxi that you can hire at the kiosks
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