As you've probably noticed many cabs around the country have "free interpretation" signs on their window, which means the drivers are able to phone an interpreter. As Korea Beat translated last year, many drivers refuse to use this service, though, saying it's too impersonal. You'll notice that I have "BBB," the free over-the-phone interpretation service linked on my sidebar, which is something you might keep handy if you anticipate problems.
I've written about these cabs three times: here, here, and here. It makes more sense to either learn a few words of Korean or insist on using the free interpretation service already in place, rather than being on the look-out for these foreigner-only cabs. Well, if you're Korean is that bad that you can't say the name of your destination, then maybe you deserve to spend more.
And, you do have to wonder about what will qualify as foreign-language proficiency here. I linked to a Korea Times article in February that sounded encouraging
``Some interviewees were so fluent in foreign languages that we had a difficult time understanding what they said,'' said a Seoul government official and interviewer. ``We expect that they, with proficient language skills, will help upgrade taxi services for foreign customers.''
but after taking a quote-unquote English-language tour at Changdeokgung last weekend, and after meeting scores of Korean English teachers over the years, I have reasons to be skeptical. If you live in Korea, take a few seconds to learn how to pronounce where you're going, and don't overpay for something that's presented under the guise of being helpful. I find taxi drivers generally quite friendly and patient with my poor Korean, and are evidentally competent in dealing with some of the cretins that live around here, so hailing a cab shouldn't be an intimidating experience. Rather than further isolating ourselves from our communities, and getting driven around like we're some plump British imperialist touring the colonies, just do your best and deal with the challenges that come with operating in a foreign language and a foreign country.
10 comments:
I guess that's 20% more than the upcoming increase, and not the current fee? I read somewhere (here?) that the base taxi fare is supposed to go up to 2,500 next month...
And know the correct route to take and direct the driver to go that route. If you don't, they will take you on the scenic tour (i.e. rip your white ass off).
Most Korean cab drivers are vermin, and I say that as someone married to a woman whose dad used to be one...which I belive makes me more sympathetic than most. Koreans can be unusually cruel to people below them on the totem pole, but 80% of the cab drivers in Korea will rip you off if you let them. It's worse in Seoul and particularly in the Incheon/Seoul zone.
Sure, they'll be nice while they do it, even if you speak Korean. I'm wondering if these new foreigner cabs will give other drivers even more of an excuse to rip foreigners off.
Why would foreigner-only cabs be any less likely to do it? They probably realize that most of the people getting in them are tourists or people new to Korea. If they're using the meter they're probably at least as likely to try and rip someone off.
I think it's a good idea. Of course, most expats would never bother with the new cabs, but I'm sure tons of tourists would be happy to have such a service.
I know that when I parents were here, they would have been thrilled to chat a little with the driver. That's some of the best parts of traveling. 20% of 1,900 or 2,400 is not that much.
Also, most of the 6.4 million tourists here are Japanese and Chinese. Many of them can't speak a word of Korean or English.
This service, regarless of how it was presented or who the KT interviewed, is not for teachers. We can speak enough Korean.
Mate,
have you ever used that absurdist 'BBB' service?
Has anyone ever used it?
I've tried - twice - and both times was given a directly impolite brush-off by 'volunteer translators' who deemed themselves too busy to bother wasting their time with me.
Stink service far as I've experienced.
Thanks for this post--totally agree with everything you say.
Seems to me that more than any practical value, these foreigner taxis are part of the effort to make Korea seem more "foreigner-friendly" in order to draw tourism and business investment. You gotta admit that "Multi-lingual taxi drivers" is a pretty good tag-line for PR materials. Wonder if they can squeeze the word "sparkling" in there somehow.
Your BBB translation link comes up as a malicious website on FireFox. It will not let me go to it because of my moderate security settings. It says that Google has reported it as a malicious site that downloads virus's. Thought you should know.
Thanks for the heads up, Cody, I didn't know that. It's not my fault. *blushes*
And thanks for that heads up, Julian, I have never used BBB. There's another over-the-phone translation service I used once, back in 2005, and wasn't pleased with it. They didn't brush me off, but they couldn't tell me how to get from Insa-dong to Bundang (a suburb). Whatever, minor complaint I guess, but still.
Aaron, if that's your personal experience with cab drivers, then maybe you should look at yourself as to the root of the problem. Why are all these problems with taxis happening to you? I don't know anyone else, Korean or foreign, who approaches anywhere near the level of problems you seem to have with Korean taxi drivers.
Most taxi drivers are vermin? 80% will rip you off? Poppycock. Complete nonsense.
I've been ripped off all of 3 times in almost 13 years of life in Korea. Add two more if you wish to include drivers who were unpleasantly abusive--and I take taxis at least twice a day.
Over 12+ years that's a lot of personal experience with taxi drivers here. You are simply wrong in your "statistical" assessment.
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