Is it safe to book "CHEAP" TAXI SERVICES online? What follows is sure to interest you.
When looking for passenger transport services online, each of us is called upon to decide and book the ideal service based on our own criteria. But, very often it turns out that we are not online mature enough to do the right search and make the right decision, as a result we fall into traps, some of them with unpleasant consequences.
During our search as internet users, we visit various websites. At the same time, with our search we shape a certain online behavior and with our choices we leave a very serious imprint on the internet. We have to be very careful about our footprint as well as our choices, because our choices shape the kind of searches that climb the internet for our next users and future customers. Our choices can unintentionally mislead and deceive the public. Within this audience are all of us, both us and our children who are the future users.
Lately we have become spectators of unpleasant surprises faced by travelers. There are not a few times when we saw travelers looking for the driver of the company they booked at the airport without success. Many times, we realized that the driver they had hired was not local or did not speak English to communicate with them. But even worse was when we were close to random traffic accidents where the so-called "professional" driver was driving without insurance coverage for the transport of passengers or was not licensed to carry out this activity. These were just a few reports but not the only ones.
CHEAP TAXI SERVICE
In our effort to look for the causes of such unpleasant situations from a purely professional point of view, we discovered that most reservations had one main feature. CHEAP TAXI SERVICES and nothing else. That is, the booking of very cheap passenger transport services. We discovered several websites of dubious origin and reliability. We found other popular websites abroad, where they offer passenger transport services in Greece but have nothing to do with the country and the Greek reality and without certifications. Websites with no professional training and experience in passenger transportation, advertise and sell services in order to generate revenue streams to "inflate" the pockets of connoisseurs. It is quite easy for the unsuspecting customer who is interested in, for example, passenger transport services in Athens, not to be able to distinguish the truth from the fraud. This is mainly the case with any customer where at the given moment they are only interested in the low cost. A criterion where it happens to become the trap of all of us.
But how did this happen? How did all these websites manage to sell such services and infiltrate your home by manipulating your choices through your computer? But of course by creating the right conditions to direct you to their goal. A "smart" dynamic website with relevant content, great crafty reviews and lots of advertising is the lentil, while the cheese is the very low prices below the average competition. The unpleasantness follows at the first check by the competent authorities of the state or at the first accident where the victims face the bitter truth with astonishment.
Initially, the aforementioned "smart" websites searched online for various small local professionals with passenger transport activities where they had already posted their services with some relevant content on local websites. They sent a virtual "request of interest" as customers in order to gather important information about cost, duration, distance, type of vehicles, where to find the customer, etc. They gathered all the information and then created a new and attractive content based on their own enticing criteria, ready to post on their own "smart" websites.
They then sought out and found the right "professionals" where they could work with them by assigning to them every booking, they had of you to orchestrate the "crime". That is, they looked for and found private individuals posing as "professionals" or inexperienced young professionals who would offer their services at very degrading prices without any professional or ethical qualms. Because the small "professionals" considered a unique opportunity to be "hooked" by some foreign website as an ideal case of a client who would have continuous transport work.
Finally, the specific websites posted the new attractive content on the internet by investing in advertisements in order to attract prospective buyers-"victims". Content where in most cases it has no basis while in several cases it deceived interested and prospective buyers - customers. In fact, some of them "lock" the appearance of their websites for the region of Greece so that they are not detected by the Greek Authorities.
Even in the event that the so-called local "professional" could not bear to maintain his business due to his low profits or because he was arrested for illegal passenger transportation, they sought a new "criminal" to commission the transportation project they created.
Honestly, no self-respecting small official local business will risk deceiving the buyer with such content because it will have a direct impact on the business itself. There are many local businesses struggling to hold their own in a "foggy" online environment shaped by large online giants at the expense of proper professionals and consumers. Unfortunately, we recently found out that similar "crimes" with similar services happen in other countries as well but the consumer declares ignorance and continues to look for CHEAP SERVICES at his peril.
Today's interested and tomorrow's prospective buyer must learn that the internet is a place of information, however content, where he must and must detect the truth of the information. On the one hand to protect himself and on the other hand to protect the safety of the following users. We all have a responsibility to ensure a better future for the internet. But what kind of people would we be if we don't worry about our future and human values.
Finally, I recommend that interested online buyers spend their time looking for small local businesses that have experience, know-how and love for their work.If you are one of those who plan to visit Athens soon, I suggest you read a very useful article entitled
ATHENS IN A DAY and the article
THINGS TO DO IN ATHENS. Regarding the safety of the city you can read the article
SAFETY IN ATHENS. If you need a real professional for your transfer from/to Athens airport then visit the
ATHENS AIRPORT TRANSFERS page while if you want to discover the beauties of Athens with the help of experienced guides you will need to browse the
ATHENS TOURS page or choose from a list of tours and excursions on the
ATHENS PRIVATE TOURS page. On the
NEWS page you will find interesting articles about Athens and services for travelers.
