Quote:
Originally Posted by nono1973
You just reminded me,my part time boss met up with me and some of our Batam cheongsters few thursdays ago and he was sharing with all of us about his Batam trip on how he booked a S$350 PRC in Batam,ate at some sea food restaurants like Golden Prawn,Wey Wey,Windsor food court etc,and paid S$100+ to his taxi driver for his every 2D1N Batam trip which we all laughed at him. His total spending according to him for 1 pax is about S$750 (plus/minus) for 2D1N. 
Our almost exact words in our conversation :
( Click to show/hide )Boss : My S$100 driver waited for us at the harbour upon our arrival
Me : My 300k driver did that too.
Boss : My S$100 driver accompanied us thruout our trip,even allow us to put our luggage in his car while we go KTV,Sauna and other places of interest in Batam.
Me : Mine too. So far havent met any taxi drivers that dont allow us to do that yet.
Boss : Our S$100+ taxi driver never once pester us for tips.
Me : Hehehe...so far i havent met any who pester me for more tips. But i always pay for his meal/s when he eats with us.
Boss : Wherever i ask him go,he will bring us there. No question asked.
Me : Err...sorry boss,which taxi driver dont do that?
Boss : Our taxi driver was NEVER late (he sounded a little piss at this point)
Me : Erm...i thought that was pretty SOP for taxis all over the world?
Me again : Next time you try this,tell your driver you over-spend on your last day of the trip and you have no money to pay him on the last day during payment time and then ask him to bring you to the Harbour terminal for FREE just once,see if he will do that.
Boss : Hmm...i dont think he will. Aiya!We go Batam cheong sure bring enough money one,where got go cheong never bring money one.
Me : Mine did. But out of 10 drivers i tested, only 2 were willing to do that. (personally tested and 1 of such driver is in Formosa Hotel) That means you go oversea cheong ,you dont anticipate your money kena pickpocket or lost your luggage/belongings one day? I kiasu + kiasi ma...*laughing*
Boss : Aiya,that one just have to be careful on wallet and belonging a bit lor. Oh, my driver speaks fluent English too. Makes communication easier too.
Me : Ah..i lost to you on this one,cos mine speaks broken but understandable English only. Oh,does your driver help you buy 4D?
Boss : Huh?
Me : Mine did. 2k Rupiah per 4D number (winning is 5x lesser than in Sillypore hor),hehehe...sometime he will ask me buy 4D for him in Singapore but not w/o 1st paying me. Oh,how much does your driver cost?
Boss : Mine is S$100,sometime S$120..sometime S$150...for 2D1N
Me : Mine is 300k/2D1N and 600k for 3D2N all the time and if i am "solo" its usually S$50 for 3D2N but it still depend on my bargaining with whichever driver i used.
Me : My driver also help me top up my indo phone number at 1k handling charge instead of 2k too. A few times he needs to pay for me 1st when i am not physically in Batam and will occasionally pay for my meals,hehehe...
Everyone was laughing all loud at that time during our conversation.And reader/s of this thread may feel that I sound as if like i am having the MOST Perfect BEST Taxi driver in Batam isnt it? Having said all the above, my stand is still,there is NO such as a Reliable Taxi driver in Batam.
My reason/s as below :
Those who joined me in my Batam group trip,after which they will usually go to Batam on their own later. All was well when they 1st booked the same taxi driver we all used. But when they start giving out the taxi driver/s 's number out to their 3rd party friends or bros in this forum,that is when the chopping incident starts. They did not remind their friends about not showing off ,the proper price to pay etc,hence they were charge at S$50 for 2D1N or at times even S$100. Already got 1 or 2 bros in this forum told me about it. So what i am saying here is,please give as complete as possible info and well-informed info to your friends if you plan to share my definition of good deals.
For those who joined me in my recent group trips will know bro T (the one who got posted to Dubai or some UAE countries this month?) who got one of the "Near-Perfect" driver's number from bro M paid S$50 for a 2D1N which i got to know later when bro T joined me in my recent group trip. Meaning to say,i know bro M much earlier from a group trip than bro T. Bro M joined me in earlier group trips whereas bro T only recently.And bro M gave bro T the taxi driver's number before bro T joins me in my recent trip.
I followed your style,never act like rich man or talk big (and loud) in Batam. Never stick to one taxi driver. Never use what should be "SOP" (not being late,leaving luggage in driver's car,not asking for extra tips etc) to measure the reliability of a taxi driver. Most importantly,one should NEVER be completely rely on taxi driver/s. (i learned to walk around in Batam and learn to know where i am) |
Dn't tell me not to quote yr whole post hor cos tis is not yr whole post.I jus need to quote em to bring out my point.
Hav u brought yr PT boss to Batam? U shld ask him to join u ,ya knw?
Reliability reli need to depends on mutual trust,i must agree with u tat. Mutual trust needs to b build on consistency & sm form of reliant during troubled time base on the kind of driver one uses,at least tat's wat i'll do. The SOP like punctuality,hving bags in the car while u are out ,not asking for extras etc were not wat i use as a form of measurement to gauge on the reliability of a supir.
I learned sm driver will collect comm from booking joint/mp/rest & sm wn't. For an experienced Btm tourist,they'll knw when the driver were being commissioned.