if your driver tells you he won't take a card...just don't pay him.

Two weeks ago, a cab wouldn't take my credit card when I was getting a ride from O'Hare because his, "machine was broken." I went to Chicago's official website for reporting such instances, and the submission form was broken. I went to the contact form on the website to report that the complaint page was broken...(that worked). Two weeks later, no response. The city of Chicago isn't equipped to help you, you're on your own.

So essentially the lesson here is, if your cab driver tells you he won't take a card...

1) Just don't pay him.

2) Always ask before you get into the cab, that your legal right as a taxi rider are going to be respected.

3) This is for the super paranoid, take your luggage with you into the backseat so they can't hold your items ransom in exchange for a cash payment.

4) If you're forced to stop at an ATM to get cash, calculate how much money YOU make per hour, then multiply your rate x time you spent getting cash and going out of your way and subtract that from the total fare.


The system is broken and not enough people (myself included) have the energy to fight this ridiculous reality we're dealing with. Sure, this is the epitome of a #firstworldproblem, but regardless, this blog post is me trying to help fight the issue.

Hopefully someone who works for the city of Chicago is listening. If so, on a micro scale, you should have a chat with Cab #4619TX, on the macro, you should create an environment for taxis that doesn't result in them having to lie or deceive customers in order to maximize earnings from their livelihood. (In other words incentivize them for using cards, don't punish. That's how you change behavior for the better).