Rip Off Taxi's in Sofia

Dont ever get in a taxi without checking the price which is stuck to the windows. Make sure the meter is running. It is illegal for them to drive without the meter on. Watch out for the RIP OFF taxi's, they look like OK taxis but are fake - the prices are ten times higher.

Dont take a taxi from someone touting at the airport or asking you if you want a taxi. They are part of the con.

Normal taxis are parked immediately outside the airport and bus station, but even some of them will try to con you. Just take out a pen and write down their number. This usually scares them.

My wife paid a 140 Leva for a 12 Leva journey and was threatened with arrest by the corrupt police when she protested. Even Bulgarians get conned.

Warn as many people as you can!!!!

Harry

The same thing happened to me. The taxi driver did not start the meter. Fortunately, I quickly realised it and asked him to pull over. I told him that I remembered I have to see a person first. heh :)

at Sofia aiirport you must use "OK supertrans" (supertrans in cyrillic) so this may not be obvious. Easy way is to just check rate inside window look for 0.56 leva anything which has a 1.xxx just ignore. I have a whole review section on taxis and transfers on my blog. so if going onwards you can book a reliable transfer from any number of companies who do this.

Off course, as a foreigner I had those kinda problems too.

At first I was charged ones with a hugh amount because I wasn't checking the window shield. So, I started to protest and they got the police. The police officer told me to pay and pointed on the window screen.

The second time I was at night a little lost in Sofia. And, as a real man I decided not to be afraid to take some old, crappy taxi. Off course, I asked for some settled price and was told it should be around 5 leva. Da da, after 5 min. I was at my hotel and the driver pointed at the meter, 50 leva! Now, I'm pretty social, this I couldn't stand. I toke my luggage and went out of the car, yelled at the cab driver to piss up or I'd call the police. And, he drove away, pfff. I have to admit that I'm 190cm long and bold, this helps me sometimes a little. :-)

My point in this is that the first time I should have checked the window screen. It was my mistake. The second time it was a kinda rip-off. You see, why blaming a Sofia cab driver to put a high fare on his window. It's up to us expats to check the prices before we drive, or?

Use only OK SUPERTRANS (О.К. СУПЕРТРАНС) and watch out for the "fakes" wth almost the same stickers and names like "OK SUPERSHANS - О.К. СУПЕР ШАНС"  and so on.

You can always call the number of Ok Supertrans: 973 21 21. Most of the time, they can help you in English. Ask on the phone what the number of the taxi is to be sure you step in the right one.

I once had a voucher from work when I had to go from the airport to the busstation. The taxidriver proposed to me to drive me to Veliko Tarnovo with the voucher (which is about 200 km). I kindly said no :-) I don't think my boss would appreciate it, since the busride costs me 17 leva and this would've cost about 100-200 leva. If not, even more...