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Warning! Sofia Airport rip off taxis
9 Posts
harryoooh
2011-01-24 19:00:05
Beware of Rip off Taxis at Sofia airport. There are some rip off taxis drivers who will charge a lot of money for a short journey. The worst case was a woman who had to pay 140 Leva for a 12 Leva journey in 2010 and the police are just as crrupt, they told her to pay or be arrested.. Never accept any help from strangers, they will undoubtedly be rip off merchants. Genuine taxis wait outside in the ranks, usually "OK" taxis.

The meter is required to be on by law, a receipt given. Even the genuine OK taxis will try it on, just write down their number and they will panic. The Ok taxi company are trying to stop this criminal activity.

Good luck. The golden rules are never accept help and check the price per kilometer. Should be 59 Stotinki per kilmeter.

If you need a reliable trustworthy Taxi driver in Veliko Tarnovo, contact Dimiter on +359896763061 you will not find a more genial, helpful friend.

Cheers Harry
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Marlou
2011-01-24 19:17:08
Re: Warning! Sofia Airport rip off taxis
We have booked transfers already so hopefully we won't run into trouble. Thanks for the heads up though.
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Glynis HT Admin
2011-01-24 21:05:07
Re: Warning! Sofia Airport rip off taxis
Harry should know - he's posting from Bulgaria.
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Marlou
2011-01-24 21:08:19
Re: Warning! Sofia Airport rip off taxis
Lovely. What's the weather like Harry. We are arriving on Saturday :)
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harryoooh
2011-01-24 23:16:42
Re: Warning! Sofia Airport rip off taxis
Winter is upon us. its snowing at the moment and it will turn really cold on Wednesday - minus 10 and more. :-) I have stocked up with food and had a lot of wood delivered.
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Marlou
2011-01-24 23:20:00
Re: Warning! Sofia Airport rip off taxis
Good good it's the skiing we are coming for :)
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Baldur
2011-01-25 18:15:46
Re: Warning! Sofia Airport rip off taxis
Hi harryoooh,

Welcome to the board.

Perhaps the Sofia taxi companies should take a look at what's been happening in Varna recently, where one of the major firms, Lasia, has unilaterally reduced standard fares from 0.89 Лв. to 0.54 Лв. per kilometre in order to encourage taxi use in the present financial climate (of course, Varna is more dependant on seasonal trade than Sofia and I have my doubts that the reduced rates will persist into the summer season).

This action has, naturally, caused lots of protests, hand-wringing, mud-slinging and general whingeing from rival taxi companies/drivers.

Baldur
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Sis
2011-01-28 15:04:23
Re: Warning! Sofia Airport rip off taxis
Sofia airport? LOL, Varna taxis can rip you off too. Always look for signs and most important, look at the rates - they're somewhere at the windows. They have the legal right to rip you off if It's written there that they can take you that amount of money. I've seen a taxi which takes 25 stotinki per kilometer, but it's initial rate was 20 levs. (LOL). For Varna I can give you some numbers of taxis:

* Lasia (Ласиа) - blue stickers with number on it 052 500 000 (this is actually the phone number).
* Omega (Омега) - 052 388 888
* Three taxi (Три такси) -052 33 33 33

These are the cabs I use. DON'T GET A TAXI WAITING IN FRONT OF THE AIRPORT OR BUS STATION which is without stickers of that firms.

Regards.
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Baldur
2011-01-28 16:10:27
Re: Warning! Sofia Airport rip off taxis
Sis wrote:
Varna taxis can rip you off too. Always look for signs and most important, look at the rates - they're somewhere at the windows. They have the legal right to rip you off if It's written there that they can take you that amount of money. I've seen a taxi which takes 25 stotinki per kilometer, but it's initial rate was 20 levs. (LOL). For Varna I can give you some numbers of taxis:

* Lasia (Ласиа) - blue stickers with number on it 052 500 000 (this is actually the phone number).
* Omega (Омега) - 052 388 888
* Three taxi (Три такси) -052 33 33 33

These are the cabs I use. DON'T GET A TAXI WAITING IN FRONT OF THE AIRPORT OR BUS STATION which is without stickers of that firms.

As of last year, notices have been prominently displayed at the exits from the Arrivals section of Terminal 1 at Varna Airport, which show the maximum rates payable for taxi journeys to various locations, e.g. Varna city centre, Golden Sands, etc.

From memory, the quoted maximum rate from the airport to Dobrich, shown on those notices, last year was 55 лв., as opposed to the bus fare of 6 лв. for the same journey (1 лв. to Central Bus Station - bus 409, plus 5 лв. from the nearby Private Bus Station Mladost to Dobrich).

Baldur
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