CAVALRY CHARGE: Hansom-cab driver Orkut (above) charged $165 for a quick Central Park trip. British tourists (from left) Kelly Farmer, Amy Havell and Elaine Nockles say they were ripped off by a travel Web site. (Helayne Seidman)
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Tourists who book horse and carriage rides online are getting taken for a ride.
CentralPark.com, designed to look like an official city site to New York’s most famous green space, is selling hansom-cab rides at sky-high prices to unwary tourists.
“40 minutes = $165. Reserve Now,” touts CentralPark.com, underneath a picture of one of the iconic buggies. Longer tours of one hour go for $235 and 90 minutes for $325 — and prices soar even higher on holidays.
But city law sets prices for horse hacks. A legit 40-minute ride should cost only $90 — $50 for the first 20 minutes, then $20 for every 10 minutes that follow, said the city Department of Consumer Affairs.
Drivers are also limited to strict pickup and drop-off zones, and must wait in line in order to take fares.
Yesterday The Post found three London tourists who’d booked a $235 ride on CentralPark.com — but when they showed up, no carriage was there.
“I really thought it was the actual Central Park Web site — it looks so official,” said a crestfallen Amy Havell, 27, upon learning she’d been ripped off. “I didn’t know the real prices.”
Havell, her mother, Elaine Nockles, 51, and her aunt Elaine Farmer, 40, got a free whirl around the park from sympathetic buggy driver Ian McKeever.
The city is cracking down on such scams, the DCA told The Post.
“DCA is investigating CentralPark.com’s horse carriage rides and encourages anyone who is charged more than the permitted rates to call 311,” said agency spokeswoman Abby Looten.
Legit hansom drivers are kicking mad about the whole thing.
“We want that Web site and others like it shut down. We have aggressively been bringing these sorts of scams to the attention of the city. Our business is being stolen every 15 minutes from under our feet, and tourists are getting ripped off,” said Horse and Carriage Association president Stephen Malone.
CentralPark.com didn’t return calls for comment, but in an e-mail from its marketing director said the site offers “extras” for special trips, like balloons, photographs and more and also advertises the city prices for rides in its “About” section of the Web site.
“We are not the tour operators, we simply act as a lead-generation site for the tours,” Eileen Callen wrote, adding that the tours are booked via a third-party that actually executes the trips.
Last week The Post booked a $165 ride through CentralPark.com, and the carriage was helmed by a former pedicab driver.
“There are a couple of Web sites that sell trips online,” said the driver, Orkut. “There are four or five of us who deal with CentralPark.com, and about 10 drivers who go with another site,” he said.