Rickshaw drivers are secretly shifting the decimal level on bank card machines to “swindle” vacationers in London out of a whole lot of kilos, newly launched knowledge present.
A file of complaints collected by Transport for London (TfL) reveals how some drivers have even charged £1,300 for journeys of just some hundred yards.
Others have billed clients twice to tear off these touring the capital’s landmarks of their garishly decorated pedicabs.
The complaints log was launched following a Freedom of Info request and illustrates the strategies utilized by some unscrupulous riders who view vacationers as simple targets.
One buyer claimed she was swindled out of £1,300 for a 500-yard rickshaw trip.
She wrote to TfL: “I used to be swindled after taking transportation from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace.
“We rode just a few blocks going in direction of the Palace and one thing broke. We exited the rickshaw, and I paid the seller and requested for a receipt. He mentioned: ‘No.’
“I known as my husband instantly to verify he charged me appropriately. My husband known as me again and mentioned the seller charged me £1,278.96.”
One other lady wrote: “I took a rickshaw from Mayfair to Excessive Avenue Kensington, and I used to be charged £336 as a substitute of £33.60. I imagine that it was intentional.”
She added that she believed she and her pal had been focused as a result of they had been ladies, including: “He was having fun with it.”
A pair who flagged down a pedicab to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella at a West Finish theatre had been advised they might be charged £9.40.
The theatregoer wrote: “I tapped my card. It wasn’t till the interval after I checked my on-line banking app and noticed that I had been charged £94.40.”
These examples counsel the seller had added one other zero to the invoice, shifting the decimal level and hoping the shopper wouldn’t examine correctly.
Two complaints said that the driving force insisted the fare was actual as a result of he had a “handheld meter”.
A mom contacted TfL with an image of their crashed rickshaw saying: “Not solely is it daylight theft – he tried to cost me £130 for the journey – however it’s also very unsafe.
“He tried to undergo the cycle lane tunnel on Bermondsey Highway and crashed on the finish as there wasn’t sufficient house. He obtained very aggressive.”
There have been additionally complaints from individuals who mentioned that their funds had been pushed by twice – doubling the invoice.
One couple was charged £296 for a 13-minute journey to the theatre.
They finally agreed to pay £110 however reported the rip-off to their resort, who inspired them to make a proper criticism.
‘Pedicab business must be banned’
Steve McNamara, common secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, mentioned “rip-off rickshaw riders” give London a foul identify and the pedicab business must be banned.
“TfL now have the powers they should take motion and cease this as soon as and for all, and it’s excessive time they used them to maintain guests to our nice metropolis secure from these rip-off artists.”
The Conservative government introduced in new guidelines permitting TfL to begin regulating drivers who tout for passengers within the metropolis’s vacationer hotspots.
A TfL spokesman mentioned it welcomed new “sturdy and efficient” powers it is going to have below the Pedicabs (London) Act 2024.
“We’re partaking with the pedicab business and different events to assist us form proposals forward of a public session, together with finishing up an affect evaluation.
“As soon as these proposals are developed, we’ll launch a public session and we hope to take action in early 2025. Suggestions from our session will assist form these vital new laws and can allow us to verify a timetable for his or her introduction.”
In July, Henry Winkler, the actor who performed the Fonz within the American comedy Completely satisfied Days, used social media to warn others about how he was ripped off by a rickshaw driver when visiting London along with his household.
Winkler, 78, posted a “journey tip” saying: “Don’t take a type of bicycle taxis with out completely negotiating the value first.
“This particular person in London rode us round in circles then lastly to our vacation spot seven blocks away for $170!”
Traffic analysis by the Sunday Telegraph revealed that two rickshaw drivers carrying London guests had shot purple lights weaving between pedestrians on Westminster Bridge Highway.
