A Scottish tourist has been left seriously out of pocket after a five-minute taxi trip in Wellington cost him $930.
John Barrett and his wife had travelled from Wellington Railway station to an apartment on Johnston St, Stuff reports.
He said he was angry about the bill and the fact that authorities seemed to be unable to help him.
"I honestly don't know what else to do," he told Stuff. "There was nothing at the time that made us think anything was wrong."
Mr Barrett said the taxi was a white car with 'Wellington' on the roof sign, and there was a drivers' ID card displayed inside.
He said when they arrived at their destination, the reading on the meter said $10. However when he paid, the screen had been obscured.
Later that day his card was declined at a supermarket, where he realised that he had been charged an exorbitant amount for the taxi trip.
Mr Barrett said the driver may have accidentally put the decimal point in the wrong place, but that it shouldn't be so hard to get the change rectified.
He contacted Wellington Combined Taxis but was informed the drover was not one of theirs. Barrett told Stuff he then approached other taxi operators, but they too could not find his case.
He said the matter is now in the hands of MasterCard's card disputes team.
After being passed around between taxi services and authorities, Mr Barrett says he is stuck on what to do next.
"I'm in a complete loop - I cannot break out of because I cannot get the contact details for this taxi company," he told Stuff.
A spokesperson for the New Zealand Transport Agency told Stuff that it would investigate if a driver was identified.
Newshub.
