Comment by socalgal2

I'm just going to throw this out there but maybe, just maybe, this is all about local culture?

Certain cultures have apparently have different attitudes on customer service and taking advantage of people. In Japan, many times, cab drivers have shut off the meter early because they made a mistake in their navigation and felt guilty for both the time lost and the extra cost if they'd left the meter on.

Conversely, cab drivers in Rome, Turkey, Thailand have a much worse reputation,