In Reply to: JBR DOOOOHHHH! posted by Lefty on Thursday, 30. June 2005 at 18:11 Bali Time:
They started in Jakarta with 25 taxis about 30 years ago, and have become the biggest taxi company in Indonesia mainly because they were the first to properly enforce the use of meters.
There are several offshoot companies now, of which Bali Taksi is one. The reason for so many offshoots is that the Indonesian Government limits the amount of vehicles that can be owned/operated by a single private company.
And while there are many other reliable and honest taxi drivers and companies in Indonesia, the attraction of Blue Bird is that you know what you are going to get. And if you don't get what you expect, the number to call is always written inside the taxi.
It's definitely possible to negotiate a cheaper price with individual drivers from other companies, if you can be bothered haggling to save a few cents. In most cases, though, the Balinese are much better hagglers and you'll end up paying more. There's no shame in getting out of a taxi if the driver won't use the meter. You're never more than three seconds from some form of transport.