Used my outside voice with a fake PassApp driver, and Scammer Steve
Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 6:03 pm
A couple of observations that may be of interest (or not).
A couple of our tenants arrived home last night in a PassApp tuktuk, and immediately got into an exchange with the driver about the fare from Aeon Mall to Boeung Tompun. The driver claimed his App wasn't working, and was seeking $8 or more from the two western women, mother and daughter, one elderly. They've previously paid $2.5 for this trip and had tried to do so again, and when the driver arced up paid another $1 for him to go away like a good chap. His lolly was promptly lost as he'd been driving them around cluelessly for some time and wanted to be compensated for time spent driving aimlessly. One of the ladies had called two reputable drivers she uses often and put the driver on with them to give directions, to not much avail.
I was washing out the garage section of the homestay as they arrived and when I realised it was getting ugly I had the two ladies step inside and dealt with the matter. After 45 minutes of back-and-forth (I know, my mistake) I encouraged the driver to wander off like a good chap, in Australian vernacular, before he started to annoy me. When he stated the fare was $8 I pointed to my tuktuk, told him I drive tuktuks here, and asked him to repeat how much to fare was for PassApp, which he refused to engage with. He was also very reluctant to show me his PassApp ID, his phone, for me to call PassApp or get the boleeh involved, and was quite upset when I took photos of him and his tuktuk.
Apparently he thought bemoaning the situation to all of my neighbours, one by one, as they came out to enjoy the spectacle, would aid his cause. Clearly, he did not understand that many he was trying to involve are old-school tuktuk drivers themselves, with no love for PassApp drivers. Eventually I just shut the gate on him (which, admittedly, I should have done in the first 5 minutes) and left him seeking a more compassionate audience.
My advice to unwary expats using PassApp, if the App is not working on the driver's phone before you get into the tuktuk, don't get in. This guy was not a legitimate driver, as the actual driver called the western woman shortly after she accepted the ride to ask where she was - that is, he'd poached the fare.
I'm sure someone will be along to chastise/explain to me the economics of why tourists should have to pay more to scammy drivers, those people can line up over there in the far queue.
Oh, and Scammer Steve is back plying his trade in TTP. He tried to hit me up again on the weekend with "Excuse me sir, are you a western missionary?" from across the street. I responded with "Steve, we've met many times already" to which he grunted and walked off. With this guy's dedication to his craft, he'd make an excellent PR exec somewhere. Or a court process worker.
A couple of our tenants arrived home last night in a PassApp tuktuk, and immediately got into an exchange with the driver about the fare from Aeon Mall to Boeung Tompun. The driver claimed his App wasn't working, and was seeking $8 or more from the two western women, mother and daughter, one elderly. They've previously paid $2.5 for this trip and had tried to do so again, and when the driver arced up paid another $1 for him to go away like a good chap. His lolly was promptly lost as he'd been driving them around cluelessly for some time and wanted to be compensated for time spent driving aimlessly. One of the ladies had called two reputable drivers she uses often and put the driver on with them to give directions, to not much avail.
I was washing out the garage section of the homestay as they arrived and when I realised it was getting ugly I had the two ladies step inside and dealt with the matter. After 45 minutes of back-and-forth (I know, my mistake) I encouraged the driver to wander off like a good chap, in Australian vernacular, before he started to annoy me. When he stated the fare was $8 I pointed to my tuktuk, told him I drive tuktuks here, and asked him to repeat how much to fare was for PassApp, which he refused to engage with. He was also very reluctant to show me his PassApp ID, his phone, for me to call PassApp or get the boleeh involved, and was quite upset when I took photos of him and his tuktuk.
Apparently he thought bemoaning the situation to all of my neighbours, one by one, as they came out to enjoy the spectacle, would aid his cause. Clearly, he did not understand that many he was trying to involve are old-school tuktuk drivers themselves, with no love for PassApp drivers. Eventually I just shut the gate on him (which, admittedly, I should have done in the first 5 minutes) and left him seeking a more compassionate audience.
My advice to unwary expats using PassApp, if the App is not working on the driver's phone before you get into the tuktuk, don't get in. This guy was not a legitimate driver, as the actual driver called the western woman shortly after she accepted the ride to ask where she was - that is, he'd poached the fare.
I'm sure someone will be along to chastise/explain to me the economics of why tourists should have to pay more to scammy drivers, those people can line up over there in the far queue.
Oh, and Scammer Steve is back plying his trade in TTP. He tried to hit me up again on the weekend with "Excuse me sir, are you a western missionary?" from across the street. I responded with "Steve, we've met many times already" to which he grunted and walked off. With this guy's dedication to his craft, he'd make an excellent PR exec somewhere. Or a court process worker.
