Taxi Scam
Hello, I was visiting Stockholm from the United States. I had a flight early in the morning, and reserved an uber for that reason. When the time came, the Uber never showed up, and I even messaged him 3x (which showed he read my messages on the uber app). the uber was approximately 6 km away from me and was never moving. I even called him and he didn’t answer. Keep in mind, I was staying at one of the nicest hotels in Stockholm. While I was dealing with this, a ”taxi” driver showed up and said “your uber isn’t going to show up.” and I asked “what? how do you know?” and he paused and said “app, no good. it doesn’t work good here. if he doesn’t show up, I’ll take you”. So I waited another 7 minutes and of course my driver did not even move or respond to me. Before I got into the taxi, I asked the driver, “how much is it to arlanda?” and he stated “it’s metered.” and I said “I understand that, but how much can I expect to pay?” and he said “the regulated rate. it’s all metered here, so you’ll pay the rate“. I also noticed when I asked him these questions, he was looking down when I asked him the price and wouldn’t look me in the eyes. Without thinking twice, I got in the vehicle now being assured that it was regulated. The reason I did that was because I took a taxi from Arlanda Airport to Stockholm Old Town and was charged approximately 600kr which I felt was fair and thought that was the regulated rate.
Anyways, he drove me from my hotel to Arlanda Airport. After the ride finished, I handed him my Credit Card (not a debit) and he charged me approximately 3600kr… I was furious and told him that wasn't the deal and that he was ripping me off. I tried to resolve it right there and was willing to even pay 1000kr, but he had already charged my card and was not willing to resolve. He stated I paid the going rate which is 69kr a kilometer (I never saw the meter running as well). I was absolutely furious and refused to sign the payment. He then skipped everything and opened the doors (which were locked) and let me leave. He did give me a receipt which shows I didn’t sign it. The name of this company was called Isabela Services 45 (something else as well).
I filed a dispute with the credit card company because that was literally a scam. The questions I have now are, is this even legal? To lie and state that the meters are regulated when I found out they’re clearly not. Also, he never claimed it was a luxury service and charged well over the normal rate from Old Town to Arlanda. And lastly, was this Uber driver in on it ??? I don’t like to make assumptions, but all the red flags point to yes. I selected my airline on Uber so the driver knew exactly which flight I needed to be on (there was only one flight around that time), and would likely be desperate to make it on time. it would have been easy for him to call a friend and say “this individual has a flight at this time and needs a ride. he’s staying at this really nice hotel.“ I say that because the Isabel services taxi driver told me my uber wasn’t showing up… how would he know that?
Anyways, I had a great trip, but this was just a bump in the road. Thank you all for your time, and I look forward to your feedback/advice.