Who said highway robbery was dead?
Given its GDP, Hong Kong's taxis must be one of the world's best bargain rides. For HK$300, say, you can go from any point to any other under the new rate system. But what's the highest you have ever paid?
A Discovery Bay reader tells us that when his son was discharged from Accident and Emergency at the Princess Margaret Hospital at about 2am and they were trying to get home on the island, they took a red cab to Sunny Bay. But once they got there, they found out the next bus was not coming any time soon. So the cabbie took them back to the Disco Bay tunnel entrance.
Here's the problem: Disco Bay does not allow taxis or private cars, but its designated hire cars are not allowed through the tunnel.
So the reader ends up taking the only choice: the Disco Transit Services VIP taxi run by Hong Kong Resort - a flat rate of HK$280 for a four-minute minivan ride. The driver did not bother to return the change, so it was a good HK$300 ride.
If there is a moral to the story for cabbies, it is this: stop fighting for small change and lobby the government for a piece of Hong Kong Resort's Discovery Bay action - it's clearly unregulated territory.
