This morning I jumped into a taxi to get to work and was immediately blasted by music from the ajusshi driver’s stereo playing the soundtrack from a movie he was watching on the dashboard monitor . . .
I tried to tell him where I want to go, and got the typical response I get from most taxi drivers, “Unnnnh?!” You might think this is because I can’t speak Korean, but I’ve been in Korea for over five years, and I’ve mastered how to say different destinations and the common expressions used in Korean for taxi situations.
I said my destination again very loudly, and the driver still said, “Unnnh?!!!” I had to yell at him to turn down the stereo so that he could hear me–this is very poor customer service, and frankly speaking, all too typical of many Korean taxi ajusshi drivers’ attitudes when interacting with foreigners.
After turning down his stereo system, with a great display of disgust towards me for telling him to do so, he finally understood where I wanted him to take me.
While he drove me to my destination he muttered under his breath in Korean and kept glaring at me in the rear view mirror.
Is this the kind of reputation Seoul wants foreigners who live and work here to tell their family and friends about back in their home countries? Is this the kind of reputation Korea wants foreigners to present about the ajusshi of Korea? I don’t think so.
If Korea wants to improve its international brand name as a developed country on the global stage it needs to consider developing an etiquette program for its taxi drivers. These men are on the front lines of customer service and in Seoul have a high degree of visibility and frequency of interacting with foreigners–especially tourists who are only in Korea for a brief stay.
What do you think tourists say about Korean culture if they have to deal with rude and inconsiderate ajusshi taxi drivers when they go home?
An additional question that Korean tourism adminstrators might want to consider is what kind of image and reputation do they think bloggers who live and work in Korea produce when they are treated rudely when all they are trying to do is go to work, and they are paying for a service which supports the Korean economy?
Please consider creating a tourism etiquette program for the ajusshi taxi drivers of Seoul, and if possible across Korea.
Thank you.
Signed,
A very dissatisfied taxi customer.
Kimchi Icecream 
2 comments
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May 28, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Kelsey
Thankfully, I rarely ever ran into that when I was in Korea, but that’s because Jindo had all of about 8 taxi drivers and they all knew me. I had good luck in Mokpo as well, but a couple bad experiences in Seoul. The problem I generally had to deal with on Jindo was drivers not wanting to drive me from the bus station to my apartment, which was less than a mile away. I only did it when it was raining really hard and/or I was carrying heavy bags from having returned from grocery shopping in Mokpo or Gwangju, but they fussed every time, because it was a low fare. Eventually I stopped giving my address and would just get in and give them “wunjoh/orunjoh/doparoh”-style directions, so they couldn’t object.
June 9, 2010 at 1:29 am
Marissa
I agree. Seoul needs to come a loooong way before pushing for tourism. For the most part, foreigners can’t go anywhere without being stared at, sometimes even yelled at, or without facing huge language barriers (odd for a country that implements English learning in elementary school). I once had a taxi driver try to rip me off for 15,000 by taking me to the wrong location.
However, I’ve had loads more adjusshis who were sweet than sour. I’ve had adjusshi try to speak to me in English, as well as a few who put on English music CDs after I got in their cab. So, I try to remember these guys, but yes, when foreigners return home, they aren’t talking about Korea Sparkling.