Terrible deceptions and fraud in Bulgaria. Taxi drivers on the hunt for your money.
Deceit and fraud in Bulgaria. Clan of taxi drivers
The first thing you see when you arrive on Bulgarian soil is, of course, those who meet you. They meet those who flew home to Bulgaria, they meet those who flew in for work. Maybe you will be met too, if you fly to someone. Well, if not, then no worries. If you flew to Bulgaria, then you need it at that moment in time, and by reading these lines, you will save yourself from negative emotions that can ruin everything and always. Save yourself and your money from the deceit that taxi drivers can do to you personally.
So, when you arrive, in addition to those who meet you, you will definitely see the cunning and smiling faces of taxi drivers who are at their hard work and, like wolves, look out for their victim from among those who first set foot on the land of ever-red tomatoes.
Let me note that private bombers do not exist as a class in Bulgaria, as such, he did not take root here. Hitchhiking yes - there is. Here the private owner will be happy to give you a lift. Sometimes I myself arrange the so-called “city stop”, this is when you hitchhike from one place to another. Who is in the subject, he knows. Well, since there are no bombers here, but there are many taxi companies with a huge number of cars that compete with each other.
Taxi is a yellow car, sometimes the taxi driver himself, sometimes branded if the taxi driver works for the company. The taxi driver, who repainted his own car yellow and began to work, looks after his car like a pet (wife, dog or flower). A taxi driver working on a company car just kills it on the roads. He doesn’t care what happens with the equipment, the car is not his, the main thing is for him to transport more customers.
Taxis in Sofia stand in parking lots and wait for customers, but they also ride around the city in search of their victims. The competition among taxi drivers is huge.
Taxi drivers are quite strong psychologists. Imagine how many people he moved during his work, how many stories he listened to, how many times he was attacked or cried in his vest, pouring out either sorrow or joy.
A taxi driver is like a part of any metropolis, any society. Taxi drivers are everywhere. In any village you can find someone who will transport you on a cart for money. If you become a taxi driver, then you are unlikely to be able to return to normal life. This is my opinion, subjective and does not pretend to be a rule.
Taxi driver is a lifestyle. This is the style of the city and in general there is no life as such without taxi drivers. These are rescuers and drunkards and pimps with prostitutes, this is the illegal sale of cigarettes and other rubbish, these are guides to the city of Sofia and the whole country, and much more. A taxi driver, a normal taxi driver, correct, knows everything about the city, about the country, about politics, about everything and always has his own point of view on everything that happens.
Taxi drivers in Sofia are practically polyglots. Especially those taxi drivers who work at the airport and at the bus station and railway station. Polyglots and psychologists. They see their client perfectly and know approximately how much they will rip him off, especially women with bags. Yes, and village suckers are met by taxi drivers with joy. Bulgarian suckers, from their villages, who have come to Sofia for their rural affairs. Yes, however, all of them, except for gypsy taxi drivers, also know Russian very well. Sometimes they pretend that they “do not understand”, but in fact, everyone understands and understands everything, and they successfully communicate in Russian and English and other European languages. Their work is such that they know languages and earn good money and get baksheesh.
But most importantly, he loves money.
There are a lot of good taxi drivers who like to work and who can really help in some way a visiting guest of Bulgaria. I have come across many of these since I settled down in Bulgaria. Anyway - a taxi driver is a friend for an hour and nothing more. They raised their hands, got into a taxi, drove, talked, paid and that's it, goodbye. But even these small moments in a long life can be spoiled by the impudence of deceit, which some taxi drivers practice on their clients.
The first option is cheating in a taxi.
The taxi driver just did not turn on the meter on purpose, chatting with you and does not stop talking constantly until the moment he takes you to the place. He talks and tells, just like a fortuneteller gradually finds out where and why you have come, and on this topic continues to “lead” you well and take you around the city, respectively.
Telling a lot of interesting things. You are pleased that such an attitude on the part of the first Bulgarian resident - a taxi driver and vigilance disappears. And the counter is not included.
After arriving at the destination, the fraudulent taxi driver will regretfully lament that he forgot to turn on the meter, because you, such an interesting (good (-shay), beautiful, humane, etc. , etc. ) person, that in a conversation with you and forgot to turn it on, but he will say for sure that from the airport to the place where he brought you 45 leva or 30 euros if they did not have time to change the currency.
What to do. Will have to pay. Because they delivered you to your destination and the taxi driver did his job, only the price indicated was three times higher than the one that would have broken through on the meter. And you yourself forgot to turn on the counter. And if you give a banknote of 50 leva, then he will definitely not have change, because you are his first client, he will say. This is how you calmly get on a small trifle. But how sincerely you talked and already learned a lot about Bulgaria and Sofia. What can not but rejoice.
An old emigrant's advice is this
When getting into a taxi, make sure the driver turns on the meter, and he starts clicking, and then chat with the taxi driver to your heart's content, occasionally looking at the meter.
Now about the fare.
The cost is fixed in most taxi companies. A sort of conglomerate was created with uniform prices in all firms. They are as of the 2015 season.
Daily rate - 0.77 leva per kilometer
Night rate - 0.87-0.90 leva
Boarding - 0.60-0.70 leva
Waiting - 0.22 leva minute
These are the basic taxi fares in Sofia and they are pasted on the windshield of the taxi, on the side windows of the car, and before you get inside the yellow car, you should carefully read all the font sizes on the plate indicating the fares.
Option two. Cheating honestly. Golden Taxi
There are also so-called “Golden Taxi” in Bulgaria - these are individual entrepreneurs who repainted their car yellow, received a transportation license and a certified meter.
The difference from ordinary taxi firms is that they set their own fare. Rate. It is allowed in Bulgaria. There is no state-approved pricing policy. So. In these “golden taxis” the form of the fare plate, which on the windshield and on the side windows is exactly the same as that of all other “normal” taxis, but the numbers there are completely different and they are written either in thin print, which is difficult to see right away or in smaller print that is difficult to read.
For example, such tariffs may be indicated on the "golden taxi"
Daily rate - 6.50 leva per kilometer
Night rate - 10 leva per kilometer
Getting in - 0.00 leva
Waiting - 1.0 leva per minute.
Feel the difference. Basically, these taxi drivers sit like fishermen on the lake and wait for just one of their clients, who will be ripped off, mind you, quite officially and according to the law, and even a check will be issued. And don't get mad. Or such taxi drivers in "golden taxis" at night near expensive restaurants and clubs trade and have accomplices in such establishments who inform them about customers ready for shipment. And this is the legal swindling of a guest of the capital in Bulgaria. Again, without a sucker, the life of a Bulgarian taxi driver is bad. And in order not to get into the “golden taxi” and not to ride from the Yaroslavsky railway station to the Leningradsky station for a hundred euros, be careful and read the sign on the car with the tariffs. It turns out that you have already been warned and, when getting into a taxi, see the advice of the old emigrant above.
Have a nice time in Bulgaria. Do not fall into the network of various scammers.
Taxi driver waiting
