Auckland taxi shock: Crown Cabs driver charges tourists $163 for less than 10km ride

“We asked to go to a particular road in Mt Roskill. He didn’t know where it was, so we had to spell it out for him,” the woman told police Herald.

“He put it in his phone and instead of going straight up the hill, he went around it, so we went through Spaghetti Junction… we should have known then.”

During the less than 6 mile drive, the woman’s husband looked at the taxi meter and it said $80. “I said no, it has to be $8,” she said.

The couple also noticed that the driver did not show his small passenger driver’s license – a legal requirement for all taxis and shuttles.

“When we got there, he said it would cost $145 or something like that,” the woman said.

“The sky was blue when he said the price.

“I abused him and said, ‘Look, this costs more than what it costs to fly here, mate’ and he kept saying, ‘It’s measured lady, there’s the proof’… he got quite loud and it was raining like this I just paid it.”

She and her husband had to be at the airport at 6am the next morning for their flight and wanted to go in and get some sleep.

“I just didn’t feel like going back and forth there.”

It wasn’t until Saturday morning that the woman checked her bank statement and saw that Crown Cabs had charged $163.43 – an average of just over $17 per km.

“I just thought, oh hell. They are clearly nocturnal and think they can catch a few sheep in the weather… (They) take advantage of people going out and enjoying themselves.”

She said she had the Uber app on her phone, but when the couple saw a line of taxis, they just wanted to jump in and go back to their daughter’s house.

“We just don’t want other people to be bullied like we are.”

Small Passenger Service Association spokesman Warren Quirke told the newspaper last month Herald he had received “several complaints” about Crown Cabs.

He claimed the drivers target international tourists traveling from the city to the airport and do not understand New Zealand regulations.

“It is up to the driver to negotiate the rate before the journey, but that does not happen.”

The Herald tried to contact Crown Cabs but the company had disconnected the phone number.

According to the New Zealand Companies Office Register, Crown Cabs Limited’s name was changed to Crown Eftpose Limited in 2022.

Other passengers have previously taken to social media to report price gouging by the company – along with other allegations about the drivers.

In one case, a female tourist was charged more than $50 for a 10-minute ride from Britomart to Ponsonby.

Another passenger claimed he was charged $150 for a taxi ride from Ponsonby to Queen St with the same company in July.

‘A-hole took advantage of me in my drunken state. And no, I didn’t throw up in his car, I behaved well,” the passenger wrote.

Waka Kotahis It is recommended that consumers contact the taxi company directly in the first place. When people go to the agency with complaints about excessive rates, most are referred to the Disputes Committee.

In other words: complaints are time-consuming and cumbersome.

The agency investigated five cases of driver dishonesty, poor service or overcharging in the 2022-2023 financial year. Two drivers received a warning; two were entered into the agency’s system for a “compliance review,” a spokesperson said.

Another problem is trying to negotiate a rate in the first place.

Under “normal circumstances,” says Waka Kotahi, “taxi drivers may only refuse to carry passengers if they reasonably believe that their personal safety would be jeopardized.”

But this goes against another rule: drivers and passengers must agree on the amount or basis of the fare before the trip.

Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He worked for the Herald since 2022.

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