He knew the resort was close - he'd walked the 1.3 kilometres to the concert earlier in the night, and balked when the driver told him the short return ride had cost $37.
Just wanting to get back and get some sleep, he paid using his card, but in the morning balked even more when he found his account had been stripped of $192.
The journey usually takes less than five minutes, by any of several short routes, with at least one roundabout and potentially a set of traffic lights, and would normally cost $8-$10, says Hawke's Bay Combined general manager Wayne England.
Another person was charged $165 for a trip from McLean Park to Greenmeadows, normally a fare of about $30, and another was charged $275 to go from McLean Park to Hastings, normally $80. Later, a woman was charged $165 to ride from a West Quay bar to her home in Onekawa, a trip which would usually cost about $19.
England had by Tuesday night received six complaints with information sufficient to call in transport authority NZTA and others with other complaints where further information was needed, and Constable Adam Lang, of Hawke's Bay Police, said he was dealing with three complaints, one of which involved a possible assault by a driver on a woman amid objections to a fare.
But former Napier driver and Taxi Federation executive director John Hart says the rules offer little hope, with the only recourse being to NZTA if a company has not satisfied a complainant, police if it's regarding criminal offending such as assault, or the Disputes Tribunal.
"But it's theft," says England.
Most complainants were not aware of out-of-town drivers in town and assumed local companies were involved, resulting in the calls to Hawke's Bay Combined, which, as Napier Taxis, has operated in the city for more than 85 years and was able to use both technology and bank account information to rule any of its staff out.
The mother of the teenage girl assumed the local company was involved and complained about the unsafe situation where her daughter had been left in the street. The driver dropped her off "without a concern for her safety," she wrote.
England and Hart both say they have heard similar "horror stories" of out-of-town driver price-gouging around big events.
They say the problems stem from passenger service rules which took effect on October 1, 2017, mainly to cover changes in the taxi and ride-share business amid the arrival of Uber.
The regulations are commonly referred to as 'Bridges' Rules', a reference to former Minister of Transport and eventual National Party leader Simon Bridges, who said in 2016 that lower compliance [requirements] and a more level playing field would mean more competition and bring prices down.
Hart says he took the matter up with current Minister of Transport Michael Wood last year, and England spent two hours with an NZTA staff member on Tuesday, but there has been no hint from the top table of change, which England says is "urgent".
Police officer Adam Lang expects there will be other complaints that have not yet come to notice, and says people should be checking bank statements and contacting banks if necessary, and also contacting police by quoting incident number 221106-2140.
England says it is likely the same drivers will invade Rotorua when Six60 play at the city's international stadium on Saturday, and people should be alert to the problem and refuse to accept rides if they're unsure or unhappy about the fare.
All are supposed to have formal identification and are governed by the rules of the companies they operate with, and companies such as Hawke's Bay Combined, part of the nationwide Blue Bubble brand, require GPS and cameras in all vehicles.
One driver with a reputable Auckland firm confirmed to Hawke's Bay Today some drivers operate outside of the rules and use a phone app as a "meter", possibly also accessing other company call information.
"They're the mafia," they said.
