Last weekend they, as usual, jumped in a cab, NOT a United as there were none to be found, and the driver brought them home. When they got here, the fare was $9. They handed him a 20 and he told them he didn't have change. My ass he didn't have change. They told him it was the smallest bill they had. A discussion ensued revolving around one of them going into the house to get smaller bills. He told them he was just going to have to keep the whole $20. At this point they tried to get it back and he said he wasn't going to give it back because then they'd have ridden for free. They explained to him that they were going to go inside and get something smaller. He wouldn't give it back. He told them they had already paid him, he had no change, and the $11 was his TIP! After a lot of argument during which he flat out refused to give them back their money, they got fed up and said "Whatever" and got out of the cab, intending to take down the cab company name from the car and call them. The MOMENT their feet were on the ground, before they could even get the doors closed, he peeled out and took off. They never even saw which cab company it was.
When I asked them why they hadn't just had one of them sit in the cab while the other went in, they said he started to argue weirdly about how they couldn't do that, and they said he was acting so sketchy that neither one of them wanted to sit out there alone with him.
He basically charged them $20 for a ride to the bywater from the quarter....walking distance if it hadn't been the middle of the night.
If that's not the shadiest thing I've yet to encounter in this city I don't know what is.