Taxi, bay? Do not, bay!

The only disappointment we had on our trip to Cebu is the taxi drivers. They were asking for around P300-P500 from our hotel to Cebu/Mandaue City.

Taxi Encounter No. 1: Before we headed out on our first day, we first asked the front desk how much it will cost us, they said around P200 going to Ayala Mall which is farther than SM. So we decided to just go to SM. We were ecstatic to see a taxi parked just outside our hotel, it was a bit obvious to us that it would be hard to hail a taxi on our part of the island. When we got inside this is how our conversation went like:

Driver: San po ba tayo?
Mek (our friend): Sa Ayala po sana or sa SM…
Driver: Ah naku malayo ang Ayala, mas malayo pa sa SM
Me: Sige po sa SM na lang tayo (kasi nga gutom na kami). Malapit lang po ba yung SM dito?
Driver: Naku malayo din po
Mek: Magkano po aabutin?
Driver: P350 po
Me to Mek: Di ba sabi sa hotel P200 lang?
Driver: Ah yun po ay kung metered yung taxi ninyo
Me: E bat hindi po tayo mag-metro?
Driver: Kasi po may bayad yung parking ko sa labas ng hotel e yada yada yada

Taxi encounter No. 2:
After our city tour, we went back to SM and decided to just get a metered taxi from there. So we lined up on the queue for metered taxi. We got inside and told the driver na sa Mictorel Inn in Mactan. Wala na syang nagawa so dinala kami but after a few minutes he asked "Magkano po ba ang binayad nyo don pagpunta nyo sa SM?" I said "P200 po" but of course the truth is we paid 350-effing-pesos! When we got to our hotel, the taxi meter showed our fare 160 pesos! OMG! We were "robbed" of more than half of that! You know what the driver did when we paid two one-hundred-peso-bills? He did not give us our change and reasoned out that we paid 200 pesos going to SM anyway. Argh!

Taxi encounter No. 3:
The morning of our second day, we were scheduled to go to Bohol so the night before that we asked the front desk of Microtel to call us a cab. We need to be at the pier area by 5:30am, so we requested for a cab at 4:45am the following day. Come our second day, the taxi was there hurrah! So you would think we should be expecting to be pay so much again. Actually yes we were. We were expecting to pay at the most P350going to the pier. Because the port is very near SM, so we figured it will be atleast the same rate, right? Nope we were wrong! The taxi driver wanted us to pay P500! Saying that he was there all night waiting for us to come out and the hotel told him we were going to the airport and not the pier. Leche! Good thing we were still outside the hotel when we asked him for the fare. Hay!

In fairness, when we traveled within Cebu City the taxi drivers did use their meters. But are the taxi drivers really "lugi" if they have their meters running? The taxi drivers in Baguio City will give you the exact change from your fare down to the last centavo. Why can't taxi drivers all over the Philippines do this? Or was it just us who experienced this with the taxi drivers in Cebu? So there for those planning to go to Cebu expect to cough up that much cash when you want to go to Mactan Island from Cebu city and vice versa.