Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa Message Board - Taxi truth

Zihuatanejo Ixtapa Troncones Mexico
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Just returned from Morelia. The most expensive taxi ride was 80 pesos. We could not find a particular business then went to another business from there. OVER>>>>25 minutes in the taxi.
Left from Centro this morning to the main bus terminal>>>>39 pesos.

This was Rinse Wash>>>>>Repeat for 4 days..............

BTW>>>ANY combi ride was 10 pesos...ANYWHERE!

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I had the same kind of experience in Mexico City. Makes it clear the bulk of this is not about inflation or gas prices. And shows the lack of regulatory enforcement here.

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When residents from other parts of Mexico talk to me about how expensive Zihuatanejo is, I pay attention. My “seat mate” on my flight from DF was from Mexico City. She talked to me about the beauties of Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, Chiapas, and other places in Mexico.

She was coming to Zihuatanejo for a few days with friends. She likes Zihuatanejo but she said there are many other beautiful places in Mexico that are less expensive.

I remember talking with a local about the restaurant inflation related to tourism. They said that prices might be M$50. But tourists come and pay M$50, then leave another 20-25%. So the restaurant increases the price by 15-20%. Tourists pay the higher price and still leave another 20-25%… you know where this goes.

Similarly, we see here about people tipping taxi drivers for just doing their jobs. Is it any surprise that taxistas start charging more, even if it is in excess of the official rates?

I’m glad I am comfortable eating at the fondas in the mercado municipal where locals eat.

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Incredible to complain about tourists generosity for services received as a reason for higher prices being charged by restaurants and taxis. When a restaurant increases prices it’s because of increased costs. Do you have even a clue about inflation or economics? Tipping promotes good service. I value the work ethic and genuine hospitality I encounter all over Zihua and Ixtapa and gladly show the appreciation by tipping generously. I encourage others to do the same

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Never mind the taxi drivers sit around all day to get one ride for the day. I don't see how they feed their families. With the fees, upkeep of vehicles, gas prices, and too many taxis, no one makes money. It's always the little guy who gets the blame, put it on the ones who created these conditions.

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:megusta:

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Never mind the taxi drivers sit around all day to get one ride for the day. I don't see how they feed their families. With the fees, upkeep of vehicles, gas prices, and too many taxis, no one makes money. It's always the little guy who gets the blame, put it on the ones who created these conditions.

The state government screwed this situation up by issuing too many taxi concessions. We have over 600 taxis in Zihuatanejo. Half that many is what we should have for them to be able to charge what taxis in places like Morelia charge and prosper. They will NEVER prosper by raising their rates and continuing to have this many taxis. We used to use them quite a bit. Now, almost never. Our situation is similar to hundreds of our neighbors.

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For me this is less about what the taxis are charging but about the practices many of them employ to overcharge people they perceive to be tourists and underserve the locals. I have no problem with allowing taxi drivers to charge a fair and living wage. You are right to point out that taxi drivers are for the most part somewhere at the bottom of the social totem pole and often are taken advantage of by those with more power. However, they support and manipulate an opaque system that is open abuse and allows unscrupulous drivers to try and overcharge some people while not properly serving neighborhoods where tourists don't congregate. They have printed sheets that supposedly tell you what the rate is supposed to be from one area to another but if you ask 5 taxi drivers the cost for the same trip you are likely to get 5 different answers because the sheets they have only have a limited number of point to point trips. Not to mention that it is easy enough to print up a sheet, have it laminated, and pass it off to the uninformed as "the official rates". The government needs to have a better system (i.e. taxi meters, or publicly available and easily accessible rate sheets, posted signs, etc.), and the taxi union needs to stop looking the other way for drivers who abuse the system. The taxi drivers need to stop involving tourists in their territorial spats and lying to tourists about what the rates and rules are. It leaves many people with a bad impression of Zihuatanejo and the system of governance here.

--
Humberto Romero
www.casaarcoiriszihuatanejo.com

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And it isn’t just about taxis. Last week I saw a street vendor selling strawberries in front of BanComer. I asked the prices. The said M$40 for small and M$60 for large. I looked at him quizzically and he stated those prices again. I purchased a large.

As I finished paying a local couple came along. The vendor looked furtively at me and the Mexican couple asking me whether I wanted something else. Clearly he wanted me to leave.

I stayed and lusted to the transaction. The prices were M$35 and M$55. They bought their strawberries and left.

I asked him why it was M$60 for me and M$55 pesos for them.

He didn’t say anything. He sheepishly pulled out five pesos and gave it to me. As I walked down Calle Las Palmas I saw several shops with the same size of strawberries at M$55.

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I’m getting confused by the assertions. On one hand, hromero says,

For me this is less about what the taxis are charging but about the practices many of them employ to overcharge people they perceive to be tourists and underserve the locals.

Yet jbmass says,

Never mind the taxi drivers sit around all day to get one ride for the day.

I would think that if there are locals to be served at the authorized fare rates, taxistas would find it preferable to take a dozen or more fares from locals than, “sit around all day to get one ride for the day”.

I also have some difficulty understanding the economics of the taxi industry here.

The last time I took a taxi from Zihuatanejo to Troncones was three or four years ago. I just didn’t want to stand in the micro all the way to Troncones that day. I negotiated the fare down from M$800 to M$600. Remember, that was three or four years ago.

A couple of days ago I had a truckload of furniture delivered from Zihuatanejo to Troncones. The delivery people were separate from the furniture people, so there was no “free delivery” or “reduced fee for delivery”. The cost for loading the truck, driving to Troncones, unloading the truck, and returning to Zihuatanejo was M$1,000. The truck had nothing in it but my goods, so the case that company was receiving two payments for the delivery.

There seems to be a discrepancy there. A taxi costs more than a more-capital intensive and labor-intensive delivery? Maybe next time I’ll ask the delivery company to take me to Troncones! ;-)

I think ZihuaRob is correct. If the supply of taxis, Teslas, oranges, milk, or anything else increases beyond what purchasers consume, it will be difficult to make a profit selling them. You might be able to increase demand for Teslas, oranges, or milk, but you are not likely to increase the demand for taxis in an over-saturated market.

This is effectively a zero sum game. The solution is not to increase prices, keeping the drivers with marginal incomes and reducing the assets of local people. It is to reduce the number of taxi licenses so that the taxistas who are sharing the limited revenue available can have greater income.

When there are five taxis waiting at Soriana and another five waiting across the street to (eventually) replace them, it is apparent that the market is over saturated.

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You have the taxis at the hotel in Ixtapa and Playa Linda for instance that are more dependent on the guests of the hotels for their living than locals. I agree there are too many cabs, but the problem is they pay fees to the city for this right, not sure where it goes, more taxis more money even if the cabbie makes crap.I would never suggest that overcharging is right and would hope the majority do it the right way but they see all of us northerners come down here and live the life and it is tough not to say what the difference will it make to us to pay an extra buck. The hotels post their own rates for the taxis so add that to the confusion about the pricing.

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:megusta:

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Incredible to complain about tourists generosity for services received as a reason for higher prices being charged by restaurants and taxis.

I think you mistake a report of something as a complaint. I am relating what a local resident told me about discussions they have had with restaurateurs.

When a restaurant increases prices it’s because of increased costs.

I suggest you are being naive, disingenuous, or falling into the fallacy of affirming the consequent.

“Affirming the consequent, sometimes called converse error, fallacy of the converse, or confusion of necessity and sufficiency, is a formal fallacy of taking a true conditional statement (e.g., "If the lamp were broken, then the room would be dark" ), and invalidly inferring its converse ("The room is dark, so the lamp is broken" ), even though that statement may not be true. This arises when a consequent ("the room would be dark" ) has other possible antecedents (for example, "the lamp is in working order, but is switched off" or "there is no lamp in the room" ).”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirming_the_consequent

If input costs increase, it may result in increased prices, but input cost increase is only one contributor to why prices increase.

I suggest you go back and read Adam Smith. He described various reasons for price fluctuations. Here is one of my favorites.

“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.”

Prices will increase to what the market will bear, regardless of input costs. If people will pay higher prices, businesses will charge higher prices. Tesla raised and raised its prices because people would pay, not because their input costs increased. Instead it’s margins increased. But then Tesla’s inventories started to build. This month, Tesla cut car prices by up to 20%. This wasn’t because of decreased input costs.

In response,

Ford Motor Co. announced Monday that it's dropping the price of the 2023 Mustang Mach-E SUV from $600 to $5,900 depending on the model, just weeks after its primary competitor Tesla also cut the cost of its electric vehicles (EVs).

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2023/01/30/ford-mustang-mach-e-price-cut/69852905007/

That is not because of decreasing input costs. Input costs are only one factor influencing prices.

Do you have even a clue about inflation or economics?

Yes. I spent 20 years negotiating multi-year contracts that considered economics, including inflation.

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:megusta:

--
Humberto Romero
www.casaarcoiriszihuatanejo.com

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You're wasting your time trying to convince this guy of anything. He usually has his head where "the sun don't shine!"

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I thought he was in Zihuatanejo. :brilliant:

Do you know him from Quadra? I live on Vancouver Island where the sun doesn’t shine sometimes for weeks at a time. Which is part of the reason why I’m in this part of the continent in January and February.

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I only know him from this board. Thank god he doesn't live near us! I'll be joining you shortly in Troncones!

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:megusta:

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