DEAR MERCURY—Regarding the article "Fare Warning" [News, July 10]: I wanted to let you know that this is a serious problem among downtown hotels. I used to work the front desk at the Embassy Suites downtown. We had to direct the guests to the bellhops outside to call a cab for them. The bellhops had a deal with local sedan companies to offer lower rates for a more comfortable ride to the airport, and the cabs were getting cut out of the equation. I had no idea until reading your article that there was a citywide regulation for a minimum of $50 for a town car between downtown and the airport. I just wanted to let you know that a former employee can vouch for your story.

—Lauren

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING GOING ON HERE

DEAR MERCURY—In response to "Fare Warning" [News, July 10]: First of all, there is no racket going on between bellhops and town-car companies in Portland hotels. If there is any "racket," it is the cab companies using the city government to bully the town-car companies out of business by forcing them to charge an unreasonable price. Second, cabs in this city can be unpredictable: not always prompt, sometimes dirty and smelly, occasionally unfamiliar with the city's streets, and even swindling people by going the slowest route through traffic or going to the wrong location with the meter running. A town car has a lot of advantages over a cab: extremely clean, roomy, and the drivers are well dressed and know where to go. With a cab, you have to call and wait, sometimes it can take a half hour for one to show up. I've worked at a downtown hotel as a bellhop for seven years and have heard countless complaints from guests about cab service.  It is not a matter of receiving kickbacks, rather it is just better guest service to rely on town cars instead of cabs. Someone needs to tell the cabbies that this is supposed to be a free country and independent businesses can charge whatever they want.

—Barry Salsbury

http://www.portlandmercury.com/columns/letter_to_the_editor/content?oid=844316