Soobin of Tomorrow X Together (TXT) and his friend nearly fell victim to a taxi overcharging incident during a vacation in Cebu.
The K-pop idol traveled to Cebu for a short getaway, staying at resorts in Mactan and documenting the trip in a vlog uploaded on TXT’s official YouTube channel on Wednesday.
While the trip was largely enjoyable, one moment stood out for the wrong reasons.
Before leaving the airport, Soobin shared that they had already checked the estimated fare.
“We know it will be about P300. Already checked the estimated taxi fare.”
Taking the advice of fellow member Taehyun, who previously visited Cebu, Soobin even joked about how to deal with possible overcharging.
“Just start acting angry if anyone tries to overcharge you,” he said.
However, things escalated quickly when a taxi driver initially quoted P500—already higher than expected.
“But we checked the app and it’s saying only, like, P300.”
The driver justified the higher price by citing fuel costs. Exhausted from travel, Soobin and his friend agreed to the P500 fare.
But the situation took another turn mid-ride when the driver suddenly doubled the price.
“Did you hear that? I’m reporting this. Just now, he said P1,000. I mean, P500 is already pushing it… and then he raises it to P1,000,” Soobin said while filming.
Despite informing the driver that the moment was being recorded, the overcharging continued. Soobin later shared that the driver insisted on the higher fare again upon arrival at their hotel.
“Once we arrived, the driver tried to charge us P1,000 again… but we told him firmly that we were only going to pay P500.”
“We agreed on P500 before getting in… but after we arrived, he tried to charge us P1,000.”
Soobin emphasized that the clip was intentionally left unedited to warn other travelers.
“Don’t edit this part out.”
In the end, the pair stood their ground and paid the originally agreed amount of PHP500.
Despite the incident, Soobin remained composed and continued to enjoy the rest of his Cebu trip, even meeting Filipino fans. The vlog has since drawn attention online, with viewers expressing concern and apologizing for the experience while praising the idol for speaking up.
“Bilang isang Filipino, nakakahiya na,” one netizen commented.
“I’m so sorry Soobin, but thankfully you managed to negotiate the cab price. Some drivers are really taking advantage of foreigners,” another wrote.
