Late-night cab warning

A Queenstown resident charged an extortionate $89 for a 9km cab ride is warning others to be on their guard.

The Dalefield woman, who did not want to be named, jumped in a marked taxi waiting outside the Ayrburn Winter Wonderland Ball at 2.30am, for the short ride home. When she checked her bank account the following morning, she found she'd been stung for almost $90.

"It's outrageous," she says. "It's the most expensive taxi I've ever taken. I didn't pay too much attention at the time, because Dalefield to Arrowtown is a route I do regularly and generally it's about $50 - even that's expensive.

"They're just taking advantage of people and it really breaks down your trust. They would have thought I was from out of town and wouldn't know the difference, because most people at the ball were not local, mostly Auckland or Sydney, but I've lived here for years."

After checking with the main taxi firms in town, and with council and Googling the name on the card payment online, she's been unable to track down the firm or the driver.

"That's the most frustrating thing, there's no come back, nothing I can do about it. I wish I'd taken an Uber, because at least then it's all transparent."

Price-gouging has been a major problem in New Zealand in recent years, especially Queenstown, says Warren Quirke, executive director of the Small Passenger Service Association (previously known as the New Zealand Taxi Federation).

The Association has written to the new Transport Minister Simeon Brown calling for change. The previous National government de-regulated the industry in 2017, to enable ride-sharing companies like Uber to provide competition for traditional taxi firms. But Quirke says the rule changes went too far, allowing cowboy independents to operate without any oversight.

"The laws and regulations aren't fit for purpose," he says. "Competition is fantastic for the consumer but you need a level playing field, otherwise it has the opposite effect."

The Association's brief to Brown name-checks Queenstown as one of the places suffering reputational damage from independent drivers, saying it's not uncommon to hear international tourists "describe the industry as being like a ‘third world country'."

"Independent taxi drivers will generally work the social hours and target unsuspecting and vulnerable users at concerts or large sporting events. Independents will often move from region to region, sometimes sleeping in their vehicles to capture these events. The problem is increasing, and reputational damage is becoming significant in tourist towns such as Queenstown, where the short-stay tourist customers have become easy targets/victims," it reads.

He says they field many emails and calls from customers trying to identify drivers after they've been ripped off.

"What's worse is the NZTA won't accept fare-related complaints but you can't complain to the Commerce Commission if you can't identify the driver," Quirke says.

Complaint stats

In the past five years (to July 2023), the Commerce Commission received 235 complaints where the driver / company was identified. Some 156 related to ride-share, 40 to independents and 34 to traditional taxi firms. In 185 (79%) cases no further action was taken, in 39 (17%) cases the service provider was advised of the complaint, and only four of the cases, less than 1.7%, resulted in litigation.

The Association wants a new industry body for the sector as a whole, supported by Waka Kotahi, with access to shared data, and also a pilot process to look at the issue of fatigue.

Queenstown-based Green Cabs national general manager Grant Scannell, also SPS Assoc president, says independents are a real problem locally.

"Some of them have got no morals at all, they'll rip off anyone," he says. "They'll make the branding look like the local reputable companies, or be ride-share drivers who take on extra fares. Some don't have meters or will have a cell phone app that looks like a meter. They're just taking advantage of people all the time."

Scannell says customers should always try to agree a fare before the journey.