• An Auckland woman was charged over $13 per minute for a 10-minute taxi ride after a Crowded House concert.
• The driver allegedly threatened other motorists and drove dangerously.
• Police told the Herald they are investigating the incident.

An Auckland concertgoer was relieved to arrive home in one piece after being charged more than $130 for a 10-minute ride by a taxi driver who she said threatened other motorists and drove dangerously.

Auckland woman Danielle Turner now wonders whether the taxi service she took after a Crowded House gig at Spark Arena was even legitimate.

“We live in Kingsland, which is just 10 minutes down the road,” she said.

Turner said she jumped in a taxi with her partner and her parents on Saturday night and the trip turned awry almost immediately.

“He sort of pulled out and then he zipped up the median strip while everyone else was waiting in traffic.

“He joked about it initially, [he said] ‘Oh, don’t want you to have to wait and cost you more, like sitting in traffic’.

Crowded House performed at Auckland's Spark Arena, then a fan says she was charged $134 for a 10-minute taxi ride home with a driver she described as "dangerous". Photo / Chontalle Musson

“Then he tried to pull back into the traffic, and one of the guys wouldn’t let him go, so he [pulled] the fingers and [started] swearing.”

The taxi driver threatened to “drag out and beat” the driver who wouldn’t let him into the flow of traffic, Turner said.

“He then zipped up the inside and came up to the set of lights, and we were in the lane that had to go left, but he wound down his window and talked to the person in the car beside us.

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“He then turned right across in front of this guy.”

Turner said she and her family were left speechless by the behaviour, but didn’t want to complain while still at the whim of the driver controlling the vehicle.

“There are some thugs in Auckland City, and you wouldn’t want to get caught in the crossfire,” she said.

After driving up their narrow street at excessive speeds, the man charged the family $134 for the 10-minute trip.

“My husband paid, and he thought it said $34 and he thought the guy’s finger was probably over the one ... but because he paid by his phone, it came up with $134 and so he questioned it.

“Then the guy said to him, ‘Oh well, it’s $80 for an Uber at the moment because it’s so busy, and I charge an extra 40, and I went really fast to get you home so it didn’t cost you any more than that.”

The charge equated to more than $13 per minute in the taxi.

Turner said she then looked up the price of an Uber and equivalent rides cost $26 in total.

“He became quite aggressive about the price,” she said.

After paying $134 for a taxi, Auckland woman Danielle Turner checked the Uber app and found rides for around $25. Photo / Uber /Danielle Turner

The group continued to disagree with the driver about the charge and asked to see his taxi licence name card.

“He snatched it away so that my mum couldn’t take a photo of it,” Turner claimed.

By law, all taxi drivers must have an ID card and a camera. Since 2017, drivers don’t need to display company signage - but must display a rooftop light.

The family took a picture of the vehicle’s number plate and reported it to police for dangerous driving.

Police told the Herald they are investigating the incident.

“As this investigation is in progress, we are limited in making further comment at this time,” they said.

What to do if you have an issue with a taxi:

Passengers should call the police immediately in cases of criminal behaviour including violence, assault, sexual offences or suspected drink- or drug-driving.

For lesser complaints, passengers should approach the taxi company in the first instance.

If the driver doesn’t have a P endorsement, or an ID card, or the car doesn’t have a certificate of fitness, then contact Waka Kotahi The New Zealand Transport Agency directly.

If fare charges are too high, passengers can also complain to the Commerce Commission.

Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.