taxis in istanbul

i met a sweet lady this past weekend who was overwhelmed with istanbul and it was all because of the scare she got from a taxi driver. it's the taxis out in sultanahmet. they all wait like vultures, don't take locals and take only tourists, and now their most recent scheme is to pretend the 50 TL the tourist gives them is a 5 TL note! the lady said she met 2 other women who had been harrassed and threatened at night coming back from sultanahmet. the taxis also did not leave them at the hotel requested and further away so that they did not get detected by the cameras of the hotel.

so basically they cannot be reported. the women wanted to get out of the car and did not think of getting their license plate. what's more they ended up giving several 50 TL notes until the driver shut up.

now these are some of things that don't just anger me, it embarrasses me. why would anyone want to come back to a place like this after feeling scared and hounded with noone to actually report this to.

i myself have been having issues with taxis- saying they came only 7 TL worth and waited for hours at the stand, that there was too much traffic and they would not go. they would rather not drive and would prefer take people to the airport (sabiha gokcen is best) and that too the long way. some friends of mine and i do it as well call the stand immediately to make them aware of attitudes and i definitely try not to get into taxis that are not from stands.