cosmos
Was at echo beach yesterday, tried to get a taxi, i approached by a couple of guys who offered to get a taxi for me at an inflated price, when i refused the next few taxis that came, they waved them on, i eventually got a bluebird and he picked me up, we drove about a klm when the road was blocked and my wife and i were told to get out by a couple of guys, we refused and the taxi driver pleaded with us because he said they would beat up his taxi if we didnt, we made him take us back to the beach, we called a gojek and he said he couldnt come because of transport mafia, we then called grab , when he came, he text me saying he couldnstop or he would be beaten up, we then decided to walk the beach, after a few pit stops, we ended at finns beach where we managed to hail a taxi. he told us the police wouldnt do anything about it if we called them. as you can imagine, we wont be going to echo beach again, anyway we went to La Brisi originally for lunch only to be told we had to have a minimum spend of 2.1 million, which we thought was a joke and left. i,m sure we are not the only ones that have had a problem with the transport mafia, especially at the airports, we learned to overcome that by walking to the domestic.
alan
sakumabali
It's ridiculous indeed. Grab for example has a NATIONAL permission to operate. How can a Banjar say no you can't come in here?
Police must have a chat with them but they do nothing
sakumabali
Even if many balinese citizen are not satisfied with their financial opportunities there is an Indonesian legislation. And if it says that a company is legal they have to respect it. Anything else is anarchy. If you'd block the entrance of Burger King in London because the English neighborhood wants to sell their own burgers you'd see what happens...plus Grab pays taxes, the local taxi organization probably not. Indonesia should act in their own interest
spicyayam
It's a terrible situation and I have experienced it often traveling where transport options are limited. I don't agree with it and it is no help for Bali's image or attractiveness as a holiday destination. I can't imagine the situation changing anytime soon.
Some people are making a lot of money from these beach clubs/hotel development, but it is leaving many others behind, like these drivers. So while I don't agree with it, I can understand their motivation. If you look at any job ads most of them state they want workers up to 25. What is the rest of the population supposed to do?
Many other countries are going through similar problems, where taxi licences were sold for millions of dollars and now they are basically worthless.
Markit
All you that whinge about the taxi mafia I'd love to hear what a taxi kilometer costs in your country compared to here? I know for a fact that taxis in England/America/Germany/Oz are a shitload more than your taxi mafia are asking here so if you all want the living standards of Bali to reflect a western standard, guess what, you're gonna have to pony up western prices.
Markit
AS to what the job searchers do here that are over 25 in my experience the Indonesians have no clue how to apply for a job. Preferring to go through a chain of friends that can recommend them or offer them a job. CVs are just the most rudimentary documents here with nothing more than contact info and maybe the last job held.
Markit
tel522 wrote
Bali "aint paradise" for the victims .
Gee I wonder what keeps them coming back again and again and again and... etc. ?
mugwump
Maybe those that "keep coming back again and again" are either extremely deprived in their homeland or have absolutely no taste.
tel522
Markit wrote
All you that whinge about the taxi mafia I'd love to hear what a taxi kilometer costs in your country compared to here? I know for a fact that taxis in England/America/Germany/Oz are a shitload more than your taxi mafia are asking here so if you all want the living standards of Bali to reflect a western standard, guess what, you're gonna have to pony up western prices.
I for one dont like getting screwed just bcs im a bule , the taxi mafia is real and drivers do get beaten up ,I appreciate you live in the "boondocks" and have little experience of "Not bali" , but the taxi mafia which operate are crooks and screw the tourists . Bali "aint paradise" for the victims .
cosmos
called grab yesterday and a guy turned up asked me if i wanted a taxi, i said i was waiting for one, when the grab guy turned up he was threatened and took off leaving me stranded, i argued with the guy, and more turned up and followed me. we walked a kilometer and called gojek, the same thing happened, my wife and i are both pensioners and had to walk from bumbak umalas to seminyak, this is out of order, why are grab and gojek not doing anything about it.
Metter
[QUOTE="Markit, post: 122143, member: 1532".
Better yet get your own fecking car/moped and clear half the idiots off the road that cruise for business 24/7.
[/quote]
Whilst I agree that some villages cost more to live in I can't see that 100% or more increase is justified. As to getting my own motor, exactly what I have done.
Metter
Markit wrote
All you that whinge about the taxi mafia I'd love to hear what a taxi kilometer costs in your country compared to here? I know for a fact that taxis in England/America/Germany/Oz are a shitload more than your taxi mafia are asking here so if you all want the living standards of Bali to reflect a western standard, guess what, you're gonna have to pony up western prices.
There is miles of difference between western standards and being attacked for driving or ordering a ride sharing service. I have had the same in Ubud. Now I go by bike. If local driver's ( not metered taxis ) want to get the business over grab or gocar then they need to stop charging twice the price.
Markit
Superficially it all makes no sense to fight against a taxi that's come into your town from somewhere (cheaper to live) else and is offering a service at half the price you can, without having to conform to the ranking that covers who comes first or worry about how far the only fare you may get today will go BUT I suspect if you think about it just a little you will see that if we want to keep Balinese people living and working is Balinese villages like Ubud or Sanur then we may need to embrace the fact that they pay waaaaay more to live there than someone coming from FuknowsWhere in his chancer rental car that he only has to pay for if he gets a fare and could not care less about the "rightful" sequential following of the previous to the next rides.
Suggest you consider how to raise a family in Ubud on a "drivers" wages when every Gojek can charge half of what you do but lives in North Bali for nothing.
Better yet get your own fecking car/moped and clear half the idiots off the road that cruise for business 24/7.
sakumabali
plus it's a winner writes history world and I - as a customer - can luckily decide myself what & where to buy. If a product is twice as good I don't mind to pay (sometimes) double. But if it's worse why should I? I'm sure the people who delivered blocks of ice in the 1920s also hated the invention of the refrigerator. The world changes continually. And you can't change the demand of the customers...
