It was just a matter of time...

After 2+ years of hearing horror stories about how crooked the taxi drivers here are, passing along fake currency and taking passengers on much longer routes than necessary (including my parents when they flew to Salta), I had not yet had a bad experience until last Tuesday. I had just arrived at Retiro (the main bus/train terminal in Buenos Aires) after my overnight trip back from Cordoba. Ordinarily, I would have taken a colectivo (bus) back to my apartment but I had purchased a lot of things in Cordoba so I didn't want to lug everything onto a bus so I splurged for a taxi.

So, I go to the taxi stand, get in the next available one and told the driver my address. He was a pleasant older man and very curious, asking me where I was from in the US and telling me about his nephew who lives in New Jersey. Well into the conversation, I noticed he had deviated from what should have been a straight route along Avenida Cordoba to my apartment, instead taking a right. I asked him what he was doing and he told me there was traffic at this time. I took him for his word. Well by the time we arrived at my apartment, what should have been a 9-10 peso trip turned out to be 25 pesos.

He was nice enough, so I figured he was being truthful and that there actually was traffice on Avenida Cordoba. I got out of the cab, gave him 40 pesos and he shook my hand and gave me 15 pesos back. I didn't think of looking at the bills, since they were small. Well at lunch, I went to pay and the cashier told me I had been given fake bills.

So, not only did the driver take me way out of the way to jack up the fare, he succeeded in giving me my change back with fake currency. I guess it was just a matter of time.