Welcome to Argentina! Scammed in Buenos Aires

Apr 19, 2010 1:03:52 AM

EmmaM
Lonely Planet Author

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Twenty-four hours on a bus can dull the senses of even the most scam-wary traveller. My boyfriend Joe and I were in the final month of a six-month world trip. It was my birthday and as a result of extraordinarily bad planning we’d just spent it on a cramped and smelly coach travelling from Santa Catarina in Brazil to Buenos Aires in Argentina.

We were desperate for a hot shower and a lie-down and had booked a half decent hotel in Microcentral. We knew the hotel was only a few blocks from the bus station but in our weary state agreed that it was a few blocks too many and decided to catch a cab. We were on a tight budget, but catching a cab was hardly a splurge for foreigners in Argentina. (Since the peso lost 75% of its value in 2001, Argentina was every travellers dream).

As we emerged from the bus station, a cab driver pulled up and waved us over with a friendly grin. ‘Welcome to Argentina! My name is Matias. Your first time here?’ His excellent English and hearty welcome immediately put us at ease. We sank into the back of the cab, grateful to be off the bus and moments away from a comfortable hotel.

We’d barely left the station before Joe and Matias were in full conversational swing. Matias offered to drive us around the main sights close to our hotel. So we spent the next 20 minutes sightseeing as he drove us up Av De Mayo past grand Victorian architecture and blushing pink Casa Rosada, and past the Obelisk in Plaza de la República. It was great to have an instant tour but I was tired and less than attentive, and getting more and more anxious to get out of my dirty clothes.

Matias sensed our restlessness and offered to take us to his ‘friend’s’ hotel, which according to him, was much better value than the hotel we’d booked. ‘Oh, here we go’, I thought. We’d come across this scam a million times before. I exchanged glances with Joe, whose eyes persuaded me to humour his new friend by letting him to take us to the hotel.

When we got there, Matias and Joe went inside to speak to Matias’s ‘friend’ while I stayed in the cab. Without the distraction of Matias’s constant chatter I noticed that the meter was still running. And it wasn’t just clicking over slowly, it was spinning like a one-armed bandit and we’d already clocked up over 50 pesos! Having just arrived in Argentina, I had no idea what the exchange rate was but something told me this wasn’t good.

After what seem like an age, Joe and Matias emerged looking grim-faced and got back in the cab. The previously congenial atmosphere had evaporated and we drove silently to our booked hotel.

By the time we got there, our fare was over 70 pesos, which we paid without question, thanking Matias for the tour. As he drove off we could see him in the rear-view mirror chuckling to himself. Later that night, after a well-needed rest, we asked the hotelier how much a cab from the bus station would normally cost.

‘You caught a cab?’, she exclaimed. ‘It’s so close most people just walk. The most you would expect to pay is about 3 pesos’.

‘3 pesos!’ Joe whistled out loud while my jaw hit the floor. ‘Well, there goes your birthday dinner’, he joked.

Somehow I failed to see the funny side.

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Comments

25 April 2010 3:36PM nevilito Report this comment
i don't understand this myth that Buenos Aires is a safe city.if you are a tourist going to san telmo you will probably be mugged. i have lived here three months, been in one hold up in a cafe, had 2 mugging attempts. 2 friends have been held up at gun point. ask a traveller in argentina and they will have been close to a gun or a knife.these ere all in recoleta or palermo. oh i forgot the 2 hold ups in the flat and the 2 gun hold ups at hostels in san telmo. i think the taxis are usually quite good. ironically i am now going to work in Georgetown but please don't keep telling people argentina is safe.check out the guns in cordoba and mendoza for example. and check some of the crime related sites to Buenos aires. and ask portenos,in the last 7 years it has become a very violent city. as for retiro bus station!
26 April 2010 11:50AM marnie714 Report this comment
We just got back from Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. I am so sorry to hear that you were scammed by the taxi driver. The only thing I don't understand is that how could somebody tell you it would have cost you 3 pesos, when the taxi starts at 4.50 or 4.90.( or is it Rio?) The exchange when we were there was $1.00= 4.00 pesos. No way a taxi would cost you less than a dollar!!!.
We had a wonderful time in BA. Our hotel was in Recoleta area, but we took the subte everywhere, walked all over the place and maybe we were just bless all the portenos we met were awesome!!!
I miss BA!! Will go back soon
29 April 2010 11:11AM emmamcm Report this comment
Hi marnie714, this happened a few years ago...
2 May 2010 9:48PM seethelight Report this comment
i agree with marnie714 i have been to ba 4 times in total and 3 times in the last year........ i have now bought an apartment in san telmo
4 May 2010 12:19PM silverstarcar Report this comment
Looks like you got what we call a ¨Magic Meter¨ The current fare is 4.60AR to start, then 46C for each 2 blocks, and 46c per minute waiting time. Also watch for fake bills.
Always safer to hire a fully insured private driver, especially to and to and from the airport.
Fred www.silverstarcar.com
7 May 2010 1:59AM yesapartments Report this comment
I heard from lots of costumers that get scammed by taxi drivers ( as a local, i always give the indications to teh driver on how to go to place I want so they don't over charge), what i can reccomend for any traveller is to NEVER get a cab on the street, get a RADIO TAXi ( you call them before and can ask for the aproximate fare) or if you are in Retiro or any airport, most of the times you have a help desk to ask for taxis,,,, is much safer and you can still get you "birhday dinner"
23 June 2010 12:02PM cookchancho Report this comment
I've been living in Bs.As. for a year now and use taxis regularly. There was only one case that I considered to be a scam. I've took a taxi that was parking at the intersection in San Telmo (it was a radio taxi) to Puerto Madero-Hilton (which should not cost more than 14 pesos). The meter started to climb to 7 pesos w/in the first block and with the speed the meter climb was really amazing. Each second it went up! So I didn't let him drive to my real destination but went off the taxi at the bridge entering Pto.Madero. The meter showed 22.5 Pesos (almost double from normally) and the taxi driver didn't stop the meter so when we got out and handed him the money, the meter went up to 24 (w/in less than 1 min)! And he wanted us to pay 24 (and the meter still keeps going up)!
Lesson learned: Hail a moving taxi. Don't take the caps that park and wait.
28 June 2010 1:27PM downherebro Report this comment
TAXI's Start fare is 4,50 and regarding the very FIRST POST @ 25 April 2010 3:36PM nevilito.....no es gracioso, ademas no creo que seas de aca.ueon!
I ve been here nearly three years now, and never EVER been mugged.It'll be as safe as other cities down here.
Retiro is where i live , and it aint dodgy unless you walk late at night. 1 thing4so' NEVER trust TAXI drivers (worldwide)
22 November 2010 10:44AM dahcar Report this comment
Hi you went on a tour for 20 minutes with the taxi,and then went to a hotel to find out the cost of a room and then you went with the taxi to your hotel,you paid 70 pesos divided by 3.90 pesos = 17,94 dollars IS THAT BEING SCAMMED??? The taxi driver works for a living,he is not driving you for free.
8 May 2012 5:04AM lazarillodetormes Report this comment
To be fair the guy gave you a guided tour of the city! Did you expect that to be free?? All in all it could have been much worse.