BajaNomad

Nice help by young man in Guanajuato

Santiago - 10-25-2023 at 09:46 AM

We checked out of our hotel in Guanajuato Monday morning about 9:00 and decided to Uber to the Leon airport. We used a taxi to get to Guanajuato for $500MP and Uber showed $380. Our request was immediately accepted but I noticed the driver's car was not moving, even 10 minutes later. I then saw I had a message thru the Uber app and it was the driver asking where I wanted to go and how was I going to pay. Umm, obviously he can see the location and the price that Uber will pay him, no money gets exchanged with Uber. That's the point, after all. I tell him airport and Uber pays him, he immediately cancels.

A taxi pulls up empty and we book a ride for the standard $500 for the 30ish minute ride to the airport in Leon. As the trip starts, I am trying to cancel the Uber as they had booked another driver that we now didn't need and during this process I get a local call that I ignore. When we get there, my carry-on is not in the taxi, only SWMBO's bag. We literally left my bag on the sidewalk, another senior moment.

After getting to airport and then knowing we left my bag, I text the number if they have my bag. Sure enough they do.
The taxi ride is $500 pesos each way, and I would barely have enough time to make the round trip. Inside the bag is clothes, etui, worth zip, and my CPAP machine, about $700 to replace.

The guy says for $1500 pesos he will drive it to me and son of a gun, young man shows up 45 minutes later with bag. All items accounted for.
I show him the $1500MP or a $100US bill, his choice. He hesitated a moment and picked the $1500.

Cool.


surabi - 10-25-2023 at 04:17 PM

https://www.uber.com/us/en/ride/how-it-works/uber-cash/#:~:t...

surabi - 10-25-2023 at 11:02 PM

I've had Mexicans go out of their way many times to be helpful. I once got a flat tire and pulled off the road. Almost immediately a young man pulled up behind me, asked if I had a spare (of course I did) and offered to change the tire. When he was done, I offered him some $ and he refused.

Another time a guy who was driving behind us realized that my friend who I was caravaning with and I were lost going through a town where the highway was under construction and there were lots of confusing detours. He waved us over, told us to turn around and go 2 lights back and make a left. He followed us and when we took a wrong turn again, passed us, calling out "follow me", led us through a labyrinth of streets until we were finally on the highway out of town. He pulled into a Pemex, waved goodbye, and turned around back towards town. He obviously wasn't even going in our direction- he was just being really nice.


[Edited on 10-26-2023 by surabi]

Paco Facullo - 10-26-2023 at 03:10 AM

Santiago,
I’m happy that you found an honest taxi driver.

My experiences using Uber in Mexico and Argentina have been terrible.
It’s been a while since I’ve used them , but it was always cash.
The drivers played games and tried to say I was the problem and they got paid without picking me up.
I did complain to Uber and ended up not getting charged.