A determined taxi passenger has recorded the moment a cabbie attempted to charge him double for a short trip.
Scott Hamilton and his wife Sarah hailed a Black and White Cabs driver at Brisbane Airport to take them to Pinkemba Port where their cruise ship was waiting to take them back to Sydney.
It was just an 11km trip but from the moment Mr Hamilton got into the cab and saw the driver had obscured the meter from sight he decided to record the entire trip on his phone.
When the cab arrived at its destination, the cabbie tried to hide the fare amount on the EFTPOS machine when it came time to pay.
Mr Hamilton was charged $59, which was double what the journey should have cost according to the fare calculator on Black and White Cabs’ website.
When the driver eventually revealed the meter, it showed the ride was 40 minutes long.
He had apparently been recording the time from when he was waiting for passengers in the taxi bay at the airport.
‘I have been in your cab for 17 minutes, I’ve been recording the whole time,’ Mr Hamilton told the cab driver.
‘I’m videoing this because I’m going to call the police on you because I knew this is what you’d do to me when I asked you about the meter.’
The cabbie appeared to defend the charge.
‘How is this possible, sir?’ he asked.
‘To be fair, because by God, I’m honest. You have (made a) mistake, sir.’
Mr Hamilton hit back, saying: ‘You’re obviously not (honest), mate. This is what I was expecting. I was told to expect this from you guys, that’s why I’ve been recording.’
When the cabbie realised he’d been sprung, he tried to offer Mr Hamilton a full refund to end the awkward situation.
But Mr Hamilton was having none of it and gave the cab driver $40 because he still received a service.
He summed up his experience to A Current Affair on Tuesday.
‘I was hoping to be taken for a drive, but instead I got taken for a ride,’ he said.
‘Car was great. Trip was great. Driver was a fraud.’
Black and White Cabs managing director Greg Webb said the driver confessed to trying to rip off Mr Hamilton.
‘Whilst there was initial denial and excuses made, upon being presented with all the evidence, the driver admitted to and it was determined to be a deliberate overcharge,’ Mr Webb said in a statement to A Current Affair.
Black and White Cabs said Mr Hamilton would be refunded the entire fare and the cabbie will be subjected to the company’s compliance measures for deliberate overcharging.
Daily Mail contacted Black and White Cabs for comment.