So here’s the deal if you ever have to travel to Washington DC. Beware of cab drivers. Not only are they famous for gouging you on prices, but they will try to rip you off every way humanly possible. I had a horrible experience today with Silver Cabs Association and Silver Cab number 216 where they charged me $25 to head from my apartment to Reagan National Airport.
Now, It was snowing out so I didn’t have many options with which cabs to take and dcyellowcab.com was about 30 minutes late picking me up so when the Silver cab stopped I got in. I ended up riding with another couple and a fourth person who got stranded and the cab driver refused to not only turn on his meter, but also decided to charge us $25 a person for the ride since none of us had any other options. The normal fare is roughly $12.50 – $15 (I usually round it off to $20 since the drivers usually help me rush to the airport) which includes the starting fee of $3 and the $2 to $2.50 surcharges for my bags I guess. Sometimes the driver charges an extra $2 if I call ahead as a pick up fee and even that is ok, but $25 per person is insane and so I want to warn everyone and anyone who has to take a cab and has time to wait to never use silver cabs and be cautious of their drivers. Silver Cabs Washington DC and cab number 216 are crooks and thieves and take advantage of passengers and locals and I highly encourage you to always avoid them and never book them because of their extremely shady business practices regarding stranded passengers. The guy in the cab with me called the night before after he got the drivers personal number and said the driver charged him $25 to get from the airport to his friends apartment which is also insane. Anyways, I am completely livid and over ever trusting them again and I highly encourage you all to always avoid silver cabs when you need a taxi in Washington DC. Always book ahead of time on DCYellowCab.com as they have yet to let me down. Sure they charge pick up fees but at least they are an honest company with honest and polite drivers.
Now, the next thing I would like to warn you all about if you ever need to take a taxi in Washington DC from the Airport to anywhere in the district is to never take a cab with Maryland plates.
Not only will they charge you a ton of extra surcharges because they have Maryland tags, but they may take you on an incorrect route and say they have Maryland tags so they can charge additional fees. Tell the guy at the taxi line that you will only take taxis with DC plates and Tags on them and trust me, you will save money and make it there faster. This goes for the same if you are going to VA. Take a cab with Virginia plates so you don’t get price gouged anymore.
Thank god DC got rid of their zone system so at least you don’t have to worry to much about that anymore and you won’t have to be at the mercy of the drivers who are famous for ripping off tourists, especially because tourists are scared to speak up. You have the right to voice your opinion and if you do not, they can and more than likely will rip you off, if DC Yellow cab wasn’t late today I would have told the Silver cab he was insane, I did comment that the price was very unfair as the normal fee is $12.50 to $15 and I tip well when they are good drivers and he said then wait here because he knew that because we had a large snow storm it would be almost impossible to catch another cab. Unfortunately I fell for it and DCYellowCab.com called 5 minutes later.
The good news is I made my flight, the bad news is I am out a few bucks about 20 because I tip well in the mornings, not that much but it is the principal that the thieves at Silver Cab Association took advantage of all of us because they could so I urge you all to always avoid them unless there is no other option possible and if you get silver can number 216, never tip him as he knowingly and willingly rips people off.
If you have any taxi cab tips for your city to help people traveling, please feel free to share them here.
2 thoughts on “Beware of Silver Cabs in Washington DC. DC Silver Cabs Taxis”
I would like to start by apologizing behave of the Cab driver how obviously did not follow the common sense of being humaine with proper ethics. However, I would like to remind you about the DC law of DC snow emergency double $ fair, and no share ride unless being picked up from Union station dispatch zone.
Please try to go online to Dc Taxi commission web site and review it for yourself.
As I mentioned it above, the common sense should have driven this driver not to be gridy and render a service that would have benefit all, but regarding his action I would say it was within the DC law.
Sincerely, Sam
Sam,
What you described to me sounds like he broke the law, at least in my opinion. He did not pick up from Union Station and charged a lot more than double the fare. DC Silver cab in my opinion is a rip off and I specifically ignore if/when they stop and never ride in their cabs because of that experience. To be honest, I gave them one more shot and had another horrible experience. I will never take DC Silver Cab again.
Adam