Paul's Greek Taxi Payment Method

[Snackdaddy]

Greetings,

 

What form of payment did you use to pay Paul of Greek Taxi? I recently received an e-mail from him asking me to visit a secure SSL page ***** and fill in the reservation form, including my cc number. My cc will be billed after the tour or if we don't cancel 24 hours in advance. Is this something new or has it always existed?

 

I'm a little concerned because the top of the secure page says "Greece by Taxi" and not "Greek Taxi."

 

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[LJJQ]

I have booked a tour with Paul for July but nothing was mentioned about prepaying. As you stated his email is Greektaxi not this other one. I would be suspicious. Why not send an email to the original email address when you booked with Paul.

[Carmic]

We are booked with Paul for our October cruise and we did not have to secure it with a credit card.

 

Carol

[Iamboatman]

I have used Paul three times over the year and have recommended my clients to him. He is extraordinarily reliable, as is his son. He was one of the top tour guides for the Olympics, as well. You really could not do better.

 

I never had to secure my or my clients' tours, but it is becoming the standard in many parts of Europe as it probably is related to too many no shows recently.

[elin]

I think that "Greece by Taxi" is the American site and that "Greek Taxi" is the Greek site.

When I was on the website, there is a link that directs you to the "American" site which is Greece by Taxi.

When in doubt, send Paul and email and ask him to explain.

Elin

[mari10]

Greetings,

 

What form of payment did you use to pay Paul of Greek Taxi? I recently received an e-mail from him asking me to visit a secure SSL page ***** and fill in the reservation form, including my cc number. My cc will be billed after the tour or if we don't cancel 24 hours in advance. Is this something new or has it always existed?

 

I'm a little concerned because the top of the secure page says "Greece by Taxi" and not "Greek Taxi."

 

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

I received the same email page from Paul. It may be something he just started. I know last year there were a lot of now shows in the ports, and the guides lost a day of revenue.

Mari

[4 cruisers]

I just received the same e-mail from Paul and am also concerned. Let me know what you find out. We hope to book him for our transport from the port to the airport in June since we have a 6:40 am flight out of Greece.

[cberge]

I used Paul last year,but we were staying in Athens for a few days,and we did not have to pay ahead of time,but I learned that quite a few bookings before us were people who did not show up,used someone else and didn't cancel,and the driver's were left w/o a fare.This isn not fair to them,and just plain bad manners so if they require payment ahead of time I sure would and could understand why.There are quite a few others in various ports(notably Rome) who have done this because of no shows,and they not always lose out on the fares,but it cost them gas as well.Paul is very reliable and his driver's are very nice so he is not trying to rip anyone off.

[Snackdaddy]

Greetings,

 

I e-mailed Paul this morning to ask him if this was a new practice? Paul said, yes. He made the 'secure form' for reservations because in past years he had a few no-shows or others were booking with 2 different drivers. You really can't blame him for doing so. Besides, we had to reserve our driverinrome tours with a credit card, so Paul's case should not be any different.

 

Paul says he will not charge the credit card until after the tour. He also offers the option of paying in cash or travelers checks.

 

Also note that Paul uses three different web sites:

http://www.*****

http://www.greecebytaxi.com with the secure form

http://www.athenstaxi.org

[4 cruisers]

As soon as I get my purse into my computer room, I'll be adding my credit card to his secure site. I can understand this but as you all can relate, it is always a bit of a worry to put that info on any website...especially international! It is also important to make sure we have reliable transportation to the airport in Greece, so all in all, it is a fair trade! Thanks for sharing all the info! Love Cruise Critics for all the great info we share!!!!

[bigmjh]

We used private drivers (pre-booked) in all of our Med ports. Just about all of them wanted credit card info to secure the reservation. The credit card was not charged and we paid in cash at the end of the day. At that time we provided the credit card number by fax or by telephone ... never over the internet (no one had a "secure" site) or email. Some of our drivers would accept credit card for payment ... however, they would add about 5% to the bill for the bank processing.

[alf1052]

Carol: Are you on the Oct. 6 cruise Istanbul-Athens? Arthur

[alf1052]

Hi: Can I get an idea of whAT pAUL CHARGES FOR FULL AND HALF DAYS. (Sorry about the caps) Is it reasonable to go to Crete from Athens? Thanks, Arthur

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Of course it's reasonable to go to Crete from Athens, but for how long? It would be a nice pre-cruise or post-cruise destination, but it's a fair distance, most of a day by ferry, or a flight.

[Carmic]

Arthur.............we cruised last year on the Brillance on Oct. 2, 2006.

 

Carol

[balanceok]

We have booked Paul for a full day in Athens. He has his regular itinerary, but says he will take us other places if preferred. This will be our first trip to Athens. For those of you that have toured with Paul, can you give me any recommendations on ways to improve the trip?

 

There will be four of us. Is his car big enough to handle 4 or will we be cramped?

 

Thanks.

[uktog]

We went with Paul in May - 4 of you will be OK as long as you are not "supersize" - his car is a Merc

We got Paul to take us to Corinth in the morning and Athens in the afternoon which was great as all the crowds had gone from the Acropolis - ships excursions head straight there.

We had a lovely short lunch in Corinth at a taverna that Paul knew the owners of - it was wonderful

You will enjoy your time with him we had a really good day made even better when we got back and heard how it had been for everyone else on our table (cattle herds, crowds and hassle)

A

[Monroe7702]

I cancelled with Paul because I did not want to be the only one responsible for 6 other couples who I only know through these boards. I wouldn't have minded if each couple was responsible for their own share but to have my credit card as the security for all the passengers was not something I was willing to do. There are always instances where people don't show up --inclement weather, sickness, change of mind, etc.

 

On our boards we are booked for several other tours and no other tour guide has asked for a credit card as security.

[bunnyette]

I cancelled with Paul because I did not want to be the only one responsible for 6 other couples who I only know through these boards. I wouldn't have minded if each couple was responsible for their own share but to have my credit card as the security for all the passengers was not something I was willing to do. There are always instances where people don't show up --inclement weather, sickness, change of mind, etc.

 

On our boards we are booked for several other tours and no other tour guide has asked for a credit card as security.

 

If you had asked the other 6 to send you an e-mail with their real names and contact info - that would have been one way to secure the group. I had to pay for a tour of Istanbul and I gave the group options on how to pay in advance - phone the tour operator with cc info or send me a cheque. This was at DH's insistance. Everyone came through. People are pretty good on these boards. But I do understand your concern. However, as mentioned before the drivers don't want to waste time and gas for no-shows.

[itsjb1]

We used Paul to pick us up at the airport and to do a full day tour out of Athens in July. He was great. He was waiting at the airport and was prompt to pick us up the next day. He spoke perfect English. He was very knowledgeable. He is not a guide so can not go in to the sites, but was able to offer great info. After returning to Athens we did a quick driving tour of Athens, which allowed us to get our bearings for self touring the next day.

 

He has both a Greek based site and a US site. He told us that he requests credit card info to discourage no shows.

 

I highly recommend him.

[mahdnc]

We took a nice tour with Paul (his son, Jim, actually) of http://www.***** in Athens during our Millennium cruise in June. When we booked the tour in Jan 2007, we did send in our credit card number to secure the reservation. We did not have any problems.