What to say when a Korean taxi driver overcharges you

The meter says 12,000 won. He says 25,000. Your Korean textbook taught you to order lemonade. Here is the actual escalation ladder, from polite question to firm refusal — the same one Seoulvivor's AI examiner grades players on.

TL;DR: Point at the meter and ask "미터기대로 계산해 주세요" (please charge by the meter). If pressed, say "영수증 주세요" (receipt, please) — the word 영수증 alone resolves most disputes, because a receipt creates a paper trail nobody wants to argue with.

The escalation ladder

얼마예요?

eol-ma-ye-yo?

How much is it?

Step 0 — before you get in. Asking upfront signals you are paying attention. Most overcharging never starts when this question is asked first.

미터기 켜 주세요.

mi-teo-gi kyeo ju-se-yo

Please turn on the meter.

Step 1 — if the meter is off. Meters are legally required in Korean taxis. Polite tone, but this is a request the driver cannot refuse.

미터기대로 계산해 주세요.

mi-teo-gi-dae-ro gye-san-hae ju-se-yo

Please charge me by the meter.

Step 2 — when the quoted price and the meter disagree. Calm, factual, and points at the machine, not the person. This is the line that settles most of it.

영수증 주세요.

yeong-su-jeung ju-se-yo

Receipt, please.

Step 3 — the magic word. A receipt shows the fare, the taxi's registration number, and the route. Asking for one tells the driver you can report the fare. Disputes tend to end here.

아니요, 괜찮아요.

a-ni-yo, gwaen-chan-a-yo

No, thank you. / No, I'm fine.

All-purpose refusal. For the "special price for you" offer, the suggested detour, the toll that does not exist. Soft words, firm meaning.

카드로 할게요.

ka-deu-ro hal-ge-yo

I'll pay by card.

Insurance. Every legal Seoul taxi takes cards, and card payments are logged. "Cash only" from a metered taxi is a red flag, not a rule.

Three things that change how this goes

Tone beats grammar. A calm, flat delivery of 미터기대로 계산해 주세요 works better than perfect grammar delivered nervously. In Korean, composure reads as confidence that you know the rules.
Nunchi (눈치) matters. A driver who took a genuinely longer route because of traffic is not scamming you — arguing there costs you goodwill. The ladder is for when the meter and the ask genuinely disagree.
The passenger seat matters less than you think. Late-night surcharges (심야 할증) are real and legal — roughly 20–40% between 10pm and 4am depending on the city. A higher night fare is not automatically an overcharge.

Where this guide comes from

This is scenario C-3 material from Seoulvivor, an iOS game where an AI examiner grades your spoken Korean through survival roleplay. In the taxi scenario, an AI driver actually presses you — quotes the wrong fare, offers the "special price" — and you have to say these lines out loud, in real time, and get graded on whether the driver would have backed down.

Reading phrases is step one. Saying them to someone who argues back is the game. Seoulvivor gives you 3 scenarios a day free — the taxi is waiting.

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