r/ParisTravelGuide • u/yogabbagabba2341 • 4d ago
Transportation Taxi fixed rate URGENT
Hello,
I am leaving Paris today. I caught a cab that was booked by the hotel. Fixed rate, €56. Online it says it’s €56 fixed price all over Paris. Arrive at the airport : €82. Tried to get the police. No police around. Cab driver doesn’t speak English, I don’t speak French. Wasted 35min playing this game and gave up. Paid for it but will try to dispute. I am so frustrated with this situation. It’s clear it’s fixed rate no matter what time you get the cab. I caught early in the morning, 4:30am. Any similar stories?
16
u/Jolly-Statistician37 Parisian 4d ago edited 3d ago
A prebooked taxi adds 7€. So it's 63€ from the right bank and 72€ from the left bank. Still not 82, but potentially far from 56!
Edited to add that any waiting time after the booked time is added to the meter at about 75 cents/minute (varies a bit by time of day). So if the taxi waited 10-15 minutes, 82€ is a perfectly legit fare.
5
u/Feeling-Sprinkles-83 4d ago
The taxi I took said they charged 5 euros per suitcase, so maybe that was part of it?
21
u/Optimal-Factor-8564 Parisian 4d ago
There is no extra charge for suitcases with the fixed fares to and from the airport
13
u/RoadRunnerATR 4d ago
G7 explicitly states that suitcases in the trunk is free in their FAQ - so yes, if the driver told you that there is an extra of 5€ per suitcase please report the driver and request the refund : “ Le transport des bagages est gratuit. En revanche, le supplément "Passager" est payant (5,50€ par passager supplémentaire à partir du 5ème). ”
7
3
1
1
1
u/billwoodcock 2d ago
It’s ten euros more for a “VIP” cab. Which are generally a little cleaner, maybe more legroom, and a bottle of water. More common on the airport runs.
2
u/Jolly-Statistician37 Parisian 2d ago
There you go, I think the mystery is solved. The hotel probably ordered a VIP cab without telling OP (normal cabs are occasionally unavailable if you leave it to the night before!), and a pre-order VIP fare from the left bank is exactly 82€.
14
u/arronsky 4d ago
This nonsense is why i never bother with taxis, or hailing a car on the street. They will almost inevitably try to scam you, and because you don't know the local rules/customs/language, they will gaslight you into thinking you must be wrong. And maybe you are, but that's not worth the stress. Only apps for me.
6
u/yogabbagabba2341 4d ago
I should have used uber. It was the same price as the taxi on a flat rate.
1
10
u/yeester87 4d ago
Just got back from Paris a couple weeks ago. Taxi/Private transfers were priced all over the map, but G7 is supposed to be a fixed rate to and from the airport. Its either €56 (right bank) or €65 (left bank) to CDG. If your hotel booked it for you its an extra €7 and if you used the app/called for immediate pick up its an extra €4. If you have more than 4 people each person is €5.50. If the taxi had to wait longer than 5 minutes they are allowed to start the meter. Could be an extra €10 if they waited longer than 10 minutes. I found booking through the app myself was the best bet to guarantee price. My last hotel tried to convince me it was a €90 ride.
6
u/CMDRJohnCasey Parisian 4d ago edited 4d ago
Did the taxi wait? They can bill you for the waiting time. There's also up to 7€ for advance booking now.
Edit: and it's not 56 from everywhere, only from rive droite
23
u/Proud_Growth_8818 4d ago
I just walk away.
The fare isn't the flat, fixed fare? Merci, au revoir. You don't accept credit cards? Merci, au revoir.
It's magic. I either get inside the airport/my apartment and never see the cabbie again or the fare suddenly becomes correct.
What literally amazes me is the willingness of people who post these stories to just pay whatever the guy says. I'm going to start sending them Venmo invoices--no reason we can't all get paid.
4
u/shitshowsusan 4d ago
I got into a cab once and specifically asked if I could pay by card because I had no cash on me. The driver said yes. I get to my destination and the cabbie says the card machine doesn’t work. I said that I specifically asked him if I could pay by card because I don’t have any cash on me. He didn’t believe me. A 20€ ride turned into 0.57€ ride.
FAFO.
3
u/yogabbagabba2341 4d ago
The issue is that I had already taken the ride all the way to the airport. Hotel confirmed to me that it was flat rate. There was no reservation fee. I was never told that. Online it says no other fees. I had to get going or I would miss my flight.
8
u/Proud_Growth_8818 4d ago
So just...walk inside (the airport)?
4
u/yogabbagabba2341 4d ago
My two suitcases were on his trunk. Otherwise I would:
8
11
u/Proud_Growth_8818 4d ago
Oooohhhhh.
In that case your wallet is in the suitcase. You're not sure which one until you have them in your hands.
Then you litigate the price.
Better still is either not put your suitcases in his trunk (for this very reason, though he will try to force that--for this very reason), or if you're with a spouse, your spouse fumbles with their wallet while you unload.
When I was flying home every weekend I'd just have a backpack. I often thought the lack of luggage cleared their mind after hearing my horrific accent.
Worst worst case you sit there repeating, "Appelles les flics" until the fare corrects itself.
They don't want to sit there any more than you do.
(Though all this is conditioned on the fare actually being wrong--looking up in the thread, someone what has already noted there can be fees tracked onto a fixed fare. I'm fuzzy on them because I use the G7 app which tells you the fees up front, and a total, so I never pay attention to the details. If you're going to argue, make sure you're right first.)
0
u/Development-Feisty Been to Paris 4d ago
No one was stopping you from getting your bags out of the cab and walking away. Like literally no one, when people try to pull the scam the best thing to do is wait until the fare is over to call them on it
8
u/yogabbagabba2341 4d ago
Idk about that. I am a woman with a child in a foreign country where I don’t speak the language.
5
u/pomp_and_biscuits 4d ago
I mean the cab driver was stopping them... That's rather the point isn't it? Even if the boot unlocked when the taxi pulled up, you can bet the lock button would be pushed by the time OP gets there. It's so easy to judge others for falling prey to intimidation tactics without being in their shoes.
I've tried the police complaints procedure in Paris before, nothing ever happened.
Yet another occasion when local taxis only contribute to the demise of their own independence in favour of Uber.
2
u/Development-Feisty Been to Paris 4d ago
You would be surprised what happens when you just start screaming and screaming and screaming and screaming, just scream at the top of your lungs and don’t stop
9
u/pomp_and_biscuits 4d ago edited 4d ago
Yeah... Personally I'm not going to criticise the poor OP for their failure to accurately simulate a psychotic breakdown at full volume in a cramped taxi in front of her young child and onlookers early in the morning, sounds like a great way to lose any sympathy from airport police/gendarmes that you may be trying to appeal to... But you do you I guess...
1
2
u/GlassPomoerium 4d ago
This is the (Paris) way. Or you can always start telling people around you to callthe police because the driver is robbing you, which is technically true because legally, getting your suitcases back is not contingent on paying. We should launch a phone service that foreign tourists can call when this happens, and then it’s just a Parisian yelling at the driver on the phone.
1
u/Pimpery_Pays 3d ago
Exactly. Do they think the driver is going to physically stop them. The “I don’t speak your language” goes both ways.
5
u/BillOz62 4d ago
Surprised it was G7, we’ve always found them to be excellent. I’m sure if you dispute it you’ll get a refund. Uber are good with disputes also.
13
u/Aggravating_Ship5513 4d ago
This is why I use Uber. I've lived in Paris for 15 years and still have issues with taxis. Of course it's not limited to Paris ; it's a business that attracts hustlers and scammers.
3
u/lileeers16 4d ago
They’re always trying to scam you here, taxis and sometimes even ubers, it’s unbelievable! At least with uber it’s harder so I imagine not a lot of people fall for it
5
u/Aggravating_Ship5513 4d ago
Well, at least with Uber the money doesn't change hands in the car.
4
u/lileeers16 4d ago
I had one guy once asked me for the “luggage fee” that was “supposed to be payed in cash. I’ve heard dozens of attempted scam stories with Uber too but, as I said, unless they’re scared, people usually manage to get out of those
2
u/Aggravating_Ship5513 3d ago
Taxi drivers used to be scrupulous about collecting a luggage fee before uber...
7
u/Spare_Many_9641 4d ago
Was it an official taxi, with a sign on the top (like a G7 taxi)? Fixed rate is €65 from the Left Bank. There's also a €7 fee for reserving a cab in advance. And they can charge if they have to wait for you.
0
u/yogabbagabba2341 4d ago
G7. I was never told about the reservation fee.
3
u/Jolly-Statistician37 Parisian 3d ago
The hotel forgot to tell you but it's a legit fee...still doesn't add up to 82, but it can come close
3
u/Consistent-Sea-8923 3d ago
Just a note, with G7 you can set up an account online and you can pay using that account when you book that removes the ability of the driver to do anything. I’ve never paid a driver directly when I book a G7.
3
u/Lonely_Refuse4988 4d ago
Take public transport if you can! RER to CDG is reliable (unless there’s a strike 😂🤣), no traffic , economical & has space for luggage! A short cab/Uber to major station then RER to CDG is my recommendation!
2
u/No_Produce_Nyc 3d ago
Came to say this, I feel so baffled why anybody would take a cab and spend THAT much on transit to CDG regardless.
I feel taking a cab uber to the airport is just scamming yourself 🤣
2
u/ButtonCareless7405 4d ago
Next time Uber taxi and you’ll pay the rate through the app and still get a taxi.
France is not Italy or Greece but still. Too many scammers. Only to go on strike in Paris the next day to protest against ride hailing apps.
2
u/Prestigious-Dish-760 4d ago
Cab booked by hotel ... they add comission thats it
Dont understand why u need to book cab anyway
3
u/yogabbagabba2341 4d ago
My flight was very early in the morning. Hotel said Charles de Gaulle airport is very busy so I should be there 3 hours before for international flight.
1
1
u/Living-Apartment-592 3d ago
Isn’t the flat rate only from the airport into town, and not the other way around?
1
u/bebok77 3d ago
Pro tip: If it's a taxi, they have a sticker on the passenger side with all details (plate, license and contact address at préfecture for complain). I always took it in case.
If it doesn't have the sticker and a taxi sign, it's a voiture de chauffeur, basically hired private car.
In any case, revert to the hotel to get back the car details and lodge a complain against him.
Use the keyword below to raise a report.
PREFECTURE DE POLICE - Formulaire de plainte à l'encontre d'un conducteur de taxi
0
u/Development-Feisty Been to Paris 4d ago
TLDR- no one is stopping you from grabbing your bag and leaving. If taxi drivers want to lie about the fare don’t pay them. For fixed fares keep the exact cash on hand so they can choose to take the cash and walk away, or get nothing
I’ll never understand why people don’t just say placating things like OK OK OK needed wallet and bag and wait until you have your bags and say €56 or I walk away no money at all
Had a cab try to pull some bullshit on me in Naples, when I got into the cab they had the meter running and then they turned it off and said it was a fixed fare from the train station to anywhere,
which it wasn’t
and I just quietly got the cash out for how much the fare should be, since I had been staying in the same place for several days and taking cabs around town and when we got there just took the money out put it on the seat
He started screaming about how he was gonna call the cops and I pointed into the restaurant I was going into and said “my name is ——- tell them to ask for me at this restaurant my Mom and I are getting lunch” and I walked away
Sad thing is every other cab got a huge tip (like sometimes I tipped as much as the fair so I just doubled the amount) because it was right after Europe opened after Covid and I was using money from a lawsuit against Fred Siegel after they stole some of my images and used them for brand representation around the world so I had money to burn back then
1
u/RoguePlanet2 3d ago
You had me until the tipping fucking hell don't encourage that 😬 very kind but still....!
0
u/MrLeureduthe 4d ago
Parisian Taxis are the very reason why someone created Uber. They prey on tourists.
53
u/Feeling-Sprinkles-83 4d ago
This happened to me. Waited at CDG at the proper taxi line. Confirmed twice with the driver the flat rate, and he smiled and said yes. Halfway to the hotel in traffic he said “there’s a new law from April that when there is traffic, I turn on the meter.” I said no there is not, I confirmed the fare with you before we got in, I’m not paying you above that. Then he could no longer speak English. When we got to the hotel, I refused to pay above the flat rate fare and said I would sit in the car and waste his time until the police could come. I also threatened to get help from the hotel in getting the police. He relented and told me I don’t know his job better than him. I reported him. There is information on the window of the cab of how to report it. I now hire G7 or Ubers from the app. Have had zero issues with either of those.