Stygian7

Almost can't believe this happened. I brought my mother to BsAs for her birthday this year; 74 today. Walked to the MALBA. My 3yo sone wasn't having much fun there, so I left my mom at the MALBA while my wife and I took my son to a playground towards Recolleta. Wrote down Santa Fe and Riobamba for my mom to show the cab driver to get back to the apartment.

Got a text from mom that cab driver tried to rob her, but he messed with the wrong woman.

Apparently, fare was 70 pesos. She was going to give him 100 and call it good. He said 100 was no good and reached back and grabbed everything he could out of her purse. My mother isn't a big woman by any means, but raised 4 boys in Montana and certainly isn't frail either, even at 74. She jumped in the front seat and basically started choking the cab driver, yelling policia. He tried unsuccessfully to push her out of the cab. Somehow she managed to get all her money back, she thinks (and who knows, maybe some of his too). She escaped with only a minor injury to her ear and a lost earring.

I'm blown away that this happened; it was around 4pm and she was being dropped off in a busy area. I would never have put her In a cab alone at night, but figured mid day was fine. I don't think her reaction was necessarily the best one, but I think instincts just took over. Fortunately she didn't get hurt seriously.

I have to believe this is a very rare occurrence and I was under the impression that cabs were quite safe here. This was a legitimate metered cab. She was unable to get any identifying information, so no report of any kind has been filed.

Gaucho100K

Very Sorry to hear this, but very happy to read you Mom got away with no important injuries, that's really what matters. Your Mom is one tough Lady, hats off to her... ^ ^ ^ The switcheroo game with the "fake" AR$100 bills is uncommon but quite well known, whats very strange is that the driver in your case went a huge step further and tried to rob you mother. EZE has its fair share of rotten taxi drivers, but you guys seem to have gotten unlucky and drawn a real monster.

Thank you for reporting this and I hope your Mother, you and the rest of your group can still have an enjoyable rest of your trip.

Cheers,
Alex / Gaucho100K

Eastbay1K

This would be a very rare experience. And given these facts, had the taxista been found, his version of events could have made her the attacker.

As for the previous poster's $100 switcheroo comment, since the $100 is not now worth very much, the practice seems to have gone by the wayside generally.

SanDiego1K

Ouch. I'm glad your mom is fine. I don't think I would have coped as well in the same situation. It has to have really shaken everyone in your group. I hope you carry on and have a great trip regardless.

Happy birthday, Stygian7's mom.

Stygian7

I suppose his version of events would be different, by necessity. That being said, what's a more likely scenario, cab driver attempting to steal her money or 74yo tourist randomly attacking him. I agree her reaction may not have been ideal, but it was a crap situation as a result of the taxista's actions and dishonesty.

As for the switcharoo having gone by the wayside, driver last night on our return from dinner tried that one. Strange though, he really didn't even hide the swap. I was aware of that scam so it didn't go far. I don't know, maybe we just look like suckers.

I've had a great stay here and on my last visit had zero problems. Certainly won't keep me from returning, but has soured my trust considerably.

GUWonder

I seriously doubt any honest police officer or prosecutor is going to want to create a stink by accusing a 74-year old tourist from the US of being the one to instigate the assault in the BsAs cab for purposes of robbery. Grabbing a belonging that is held/worn by a person can be a form of assault. The cab driver should be prosecuted for grabbing someone else's belongings in the way mentioned by the OP. Counter assault by the target of the cabbie seems to me to be a form of self-defence.

If the cabbie had issues with a passenger trying to steal from the cabbie, then the cabbie should have been the first to seek out the police, plenty of whom are around in these parts of the city.

There are crooked cab drivers in Buenos Aires, and one way to minimize the risk of such encounters is to use a radio taxi that you first call for and whose license number is noted by you and passed along even before getting into the taxi.

As a matter of practice, I frequently photograph the cab license info for cars on my leisure trips and send it to a trusted party for maintenance in case that info is needed to search for the taxi driver. Sometimes I even keep a streaming audio or video channel open while in the taxi.

Fortunately, the kind of experience had by the OP's older relative is indeed rather rare.

Flying Machine

Gosh! So sorry to hear about the OP's Mom. So happy to hear that she is alright.. Very unfortunate situation..