tiredBecause she does not take the Boston public transit often (and I am from New York, so I had no clue about the system), we got on the first train going the wrong way, and this meant we had to wait for a train in the correct direction. By the time it came and we got the second train to the station that had a train to get us back to her hometown, the last train departing for said hometown had already left, so we missed it.
She was starting to panic slightly at this point, with it being after midnight and us being stuck in an unfamiliar train station in Boston with no way to get home. While she tried to call her friend to see about getting us a ride, these two men approached us asking if we needed a taxi. We said we weren't sure, but once my friend confirmed that her friend couldn't come get us, we decided to get a taxi.
Now, I had thought that the two guys who approached us worked for one of the cab companies or for the station (as in, it was their job to hail cabs for people). But as soon as we went up to the one guy and said we wanted a taxi, he ushered us over to an unmarked black town car. My friend was very hesitant and before we got in, asked how much it would cost.
"It will be the same as a taxi. It's a car service," he said.
(Famous last words...)
Fast-forward to when it was time to pay, and what does he charge us? $105.
My friend lives twenty-five minutes away from Boston, and so this conceivably should not have cost more than $60. We both sat there slack-jawed after he gave us the total, and I was nearly ready to argue over it, but my friend was upset enough because she'd had to give him her address and he put it in his GPS, and by some miracle we had enough to cover it, so we paid and bolted on out of there tout de suite.
So yeah, I am livid. We're both convinced that he pulled the $105 figure out of his ass, and completely bamboozled us. I blame myself, because I noticed that the meter didn't go on when he turned on the car, and that's when alarm bells went off in my head and ARGH I just wish I'd said or done something different. I'm sure that that guy saw two lost young women and figured he could take advantage of us, and well...that's what happened. Freaking unscrupulous people... :\