A positive view of the world is always appealing and I very rarely use this medium to complain about stuff. But this week I had a bad experience, which I wanted to share. Partly this is to get it off my chest, but also as a warning to others.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday morning, I was talking with a friend about a good turn that was done for me not so long ago by a stranger. We concluded that most people in the world are basically good and bad people are really a small, but widely discussed minority. Later in the day, I met one of these individuals …
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\nI was in Sweden, a country that I have a certain affection for, having been visiting regularly for more than 25 years. I was in the Stockholm suburb of Kista for a conference. It had all gone quite well. Both of my presentations had been well attended and I had met some old friends. It was time to head for the airport, so I went to look for a taxi and this is when it all started to go wrong.<\/p>\n
I had the option to use the train to go to the airport, but I was in a slight hurry, which is why I was using a taxi. I was rather wary, as one of my friends had been ripped off with a ridiculous fare demand the previous day. I had been advised to be careful about which taxi company I used and I looked out for a Taxi Stockholm vehicle and there was one right outside of my hotel. I asked about the fare to the airport and was told that it was not fixed, but the meter would be used. This was unsurprising. I was even pleased to see that the car was a hybrid, so I felt a little bit green.<\/p>\n
It took just 22 minutes to reach the airport, so I was comfortably on schedule. When we arrived, I did not ask the fare, just handed over the credit card. The driver handed me the machine for me to enter my PIN and it looked at the amount. I explained to him that there had been an error – he had entered too many digits. He said there was no error and that fares to the airport were not regulated and always more expensive as their costs were greater. I could accept that, but not the magnitude of the increase. But it was too late, he had got my credit card. I had been fleeced comprehensively.<\/p>\n
What is annoying is that I do not believe that he broke the law. There were many factors in play. The fares were displayed, but the table of number s is quite unintelligible. Prices in Sweden always look high as the Swedish Kroner is a small unit (about 15 to the US Dollar). Although I have the intellect to handle the conversion, this is challenging when I am tired, stressed or in a hurry (or all of those).<\/p>\n
The most annoying aspect is the labelling of the car. I looked as I left and it did say Taxi Stockholm, where there were some other words, in very small print, between the two main words – so they were actually something like Taxi A2B Stockholm or something like that. This makes all the difference. The difference between a reputable company and a very disreputable one.<\/p>\n
I wonder what would have happened if I had refused to pay? Would he have called the Police? Would I be rotting in a Stockholm jail by now? Since he broke no law, I am not at all sure what the outcome might have been. I just no that I feel very bad about the whole thing and am of the opinion that the Swedish authorities need to take action.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, if you go to Stockholm, take the train.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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