Tourist charged $900 for a five-minute taxi ride

3:40 pm on 29 January 2019

The owner of a Wellington taxi company that charged a Scottish tourist $930 for a five minute ride, says the driver made a mistake.

A passenger waiting for a taxi.

A tourist was horrified when he found out he paid over $900 for a five-minute taxi ride. Photo: 123rf.com

Tourist John Barrett was horrified at the taxi fare when he checked his bank balance last Monday after his was card declined at a supermaket.

He said he had since been contacted by taxi company Wellington Cars which arranged a refund.

Mr Barrett said when he contacted Wellington Cabs they said it wasn't one of their drivers.

However, the owner rang yesterday to say it was their driver, but they were using a different eftpos terminal.

Mr Barrett said he was still unsure why it took a week for the driver to come forward.

Wellington Cabs owner said because drivers were independent contractors, they often used their own eftpos terminal, which made it difficult for the company to track them.

He said the driver didn't know who to contact once the mistake was made, which is why it took a week to rectify.