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It’s not uncommon to have a bad experience with a taxi driver from time to time.
Crypto YouTuber Carl Runfelt allegedly had such an encounter.
When he was in Singapore, a taxi driver apparently tried to charge him $100 for a seven-minute ride.
The whole incident was filmed and uploaded onto YouTube.
The Incident
Carl was in Singapore for the Token 2049 Crypto Conference.
On 5 October, he uploaded a video onto YouTube titled Exposing a Taxi Driver in Singapore!!!
If you’re in the know, you probably know that the journey from Marina Bay Sands to the luxury hotel Park Royal on Pickering is only about 2.8 km.
It takes around seven minutes by car to travel this distance.
Notably, Carl and his friends put the wrong pick-up address as Marina Bay Sands Tower 1.
Upon realising the error, the group decided against walking to the correct address as they were short on time.
In the video, the censored taxi driver asked the group where they were heading to.
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After telling him that the group was heading to Park Royal on Pickering, the taxi driver touted a whopping $100 flat fare to them.
The driver can be heard explaining that the high fees were because the traffic was “very jammed, very jammed.”
That’s not all, though.
Shortly after arriving at the destination, the driver insisted that the group pay him in cash.
The driver said, “Uh, sir, the cash machine is not functioning.”
Refusing to back down, Carl responded, “I don’t think that’s true; you’ll just make less money. This is the card we are going to use today.”
At Carl’s insistence, the driver had no choice but to accept the card.
Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly), the payment went through.
It’s almost as if the machine magically started to work again.
In the video’s caption, Carl wrote, “We met a taxi scammer, not nice.”
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Netizen Response
Carl’s video has since garnered over 70,000 views and 292 comments.
Singaporeans flocked to the comments section to give their two cents on the driver’s alleged actions.
One netizen wrote, “Hi Carl, on behalf of the taxi driver you met, I wish to extend my heartfelt apologies to you.
“As a Singaporean taxi driver myself, I am sorry that such a bad experience happened to you in our country.
“Please note that the one driver you met isn’t representative of all taxi drivers in this beautiful country and is rather someone who betrayed the moral values amongst us taxi drivers. I hope you enjoy your time here in Singapore!”
This heartfelt apology was pinned by none other than Carl himself.
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Another netizen said, “It is not just limousine taxi drivers that charge rates like this. When there are major events that jam up the area, regular cabs will also ask for premium [price].
“These are often communicated verbally to potential passengers and not recorded. Not that it is not allowed, and do not patronise these cabs.”
However, another netizen pointed out that Carl did take an exclusive vehicle and put the wrong pick-up point.
More About Carl
Carl Runefelt currently runs a YouTube channel called Carl Runefelt Vlogs.
He also has a cryptocurrency channel called The Moon and a music channel.
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His vlog channel currently boasts 298,000 subscribers.
He is among the highest-earning personalities in the crypto industry and specialises in Bitcoin.
Besides YouTube, he is active on X (Formerly Twitter), which has 1,300,000 followers.
According to him, he quit his supermarket job as a cashier in November 2018 and is now living the life he dreamed of.
What does a Quick Search on Grab say?
According to a quick search on Grab, the journey from Marina Bay Sands to Parkroyal on Pickering is less than $20.
Hiring a Premium car from Grab is less than $35 for the same distance.
And that’s even after considering the price surge, as seen from the photos.
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Based on Grab, a six-seater can be hired for less than $50.
Notably, the group boarded a seven-seater multi-purpose vehicle.
If you didn’t already know, touting is illegal.
If convicted, offenders can be handed a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000, imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.