[e28eta]

I’m very surprised. I don’t fly often, but our experience trying to get a ride at SFO (in the last ~6 months) is that Lyft took a long time to match us with a driver (minutes, not 10’s of seconds), and I would have guessed it was fewer drivers at the airport, not too many.

We rediscovered the convenience of the taxi stand: walk right up, get in a car, and you’re on your way.

[_8j50]

I also had a similar experience, except I also rediscovered how outrageously expensive and scammy cab drivers can be. The guy took me 30min+ out of the way and charged me double of the uber price when i had him stop in some random part of town and took uber from there.

[dahdum]

Same experience mid December in the evening, with a ~$110 fare. I’m happy to wait if the alternative is taking a taxi though. I’ve gotten way too tired of the “machine isn’t working” schtick.

[barbazoo]

Out of curiosity, why don't people ask if the machine is working when they get in if that's such a common scam?

[dahdum]

They just lie when you arrive at the destination anyway, and you can’t easily decline from a taxi stand and take the #2 driver instead.

If you are skeptical these scams happen, there are many reported examples. Here’s a doozy:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sf-taxi-credit-c...

[barbazoo]

This sucks, totally. And also a lesson not to give your card out. Something doesn't sound right though. If the mag stripe was used, they'd need a signature right? If the chip was used, in my experience, you need to enter the pin. If tap was used the amount would have been too big in my experience. How were these charges authorized?

[cute_boi]

pin is not required for credit card. It may be required for debit card. Also, nobody use mag stripe cards.

[barbazoo]

That sucks. Where I am in Canada I've never seen PIN-less payment via chip. It's either chip+PIN or tap.

[grecy]

What is the reason for, or outcome of this scam?

(Genuine question)

[dahdum]

First, they'll never have any change when they do this hoping to force you to overpay. Second, they can charge you for the ATM trip and the wait time (and then you have $20 bills, so forced to overpay). Third, if the machine "failed to run it", they can charge the card and pocket the cash.

The article was about some just charging whatever they felt like, but in those cases got too greedy. Since many won't notice, it's hard to dispute, and the DA isn't going to charge them, they can keep doing over and over. Especially with foreigner tourists.

[barbazoo]

I suspect it's to avoid paying taxes one way or another. Either the driver or the company.