Tipping Taxi Drivers

BrandonBlock

If your taxi is say €19.10 and you hand the driver a €20, do you expect change or just let him keep it? What are your general views on tipping the taxi drivers of this nation.

Spook_ie

Well all I can say is that my very 1st taxi fare was a group of 4 people heading for Dublin Airport after missing the bus. As they were late I bent a few traffic regulations and got them there with about 10 minutes to flight closing. The fare was €19.80 yer man in the front paid with a €20 note and with a genuine look on his face said "keep the change"!. Tell you what I learnt very quickly not to go too far out of my way to be helpful again.....

BrandonBlock

hahaha that's brilliant.

mikemac

I do as I often annoy them with questions on landmarks and local history, like where does an townland begin and end. It's a pity the history forum here is so dead as I love this stuff

Some of them are mines of information (like Degsy on boards )and full of info so that's worth a tip.

Venom

Spook_ie wrote:

Well all I can say is that my very 1st taxi fare was a group of 4 people heading for Dublin Airport after missing the bus. As they were late I bent a few traffic regulations and got them there with about 10 minutes to flight closing. The fare was €19.80 yer man in the front paid with a €20 note and with a genuine look on his face said "keep the change"!. Tell you what I learnt very quickly not to go too far out of my way to be helpful again.....

Im sure the medal for doing your job is in the post :rolleyes:

BrandonBlock

Oooooooooo bitchy!!!

thefinalstage

Venom wrote:

Im sure the medal for doing your job is in the post :rolleyes:

Its not his job to break the law and get his passengers there as quick as possible due to their situation.

Personally I think a tenner would have been in order.

Venom

BrandonBlock wrote:

Oooooooooo bitchy!!!

Just sick of certain parts of societies work force (waiters, bar staff, taxi drivers) expecting tips for just doing their job.

CreepingDeath

Spook_ie wrote:

As they were late I bent a few traffic regulations....

Maybe they docked you for each traffic regulation you broke... proper order.

Anyways, I'm sure you declare every cent of your tips to the taxman :rolleyes:

Spook_ie

Venom wrote:

Just sick of certain parts of societies work force (waiters, bar staff, taxi drivers) expecting tips for just doing their job.

And for exceeding the job? As I said I dont go overly out of my way to be helpfull anymore, even by trying to make up lost time for traffic jams etc. You miss your plane don't blame me.

Mind you just from the other point of view if a fare is €19.20 do you EXPECT the driver to round it down? I've had a few that expect it. My view now is if it says €xx.20c then you pay €xx.20c.

dc69

tipp a taxi driver are you joking.thieves,get a taxi home after a few beers or(pretend you have had a few) and 10/10 will overcharge you and bring you longer routes and will probably do the same even if your not drunk, theres no way they should be allowed charge so much and i know someones gona say about insurance and tax,rubbish,every one has to pay it

(and you probably wont find worse drivers in the whole world as irish taxi drivers,absolutely hate them)

Spook_ie

dc69 wrote:

tipp a taxi driver are you joking.thieves,get a taxi home after a few beers or(pretend you have had a few) and 10/10 will overcharge you and bring you longer routes and will probably do the same even if your not drunk, theres no way they should be allowed charge so much and i know someones gona say about insurance and tax,rubbish,every one has to pay it

(and you probably wont find worse drivers in the whole world as irish taxi drivers,absolutely hate them)

So drive yerself home or get the nitelink yer skanger

Venom

Spook_ie wrote:

And for exceeding the job? As I said I dont go overly out of my way to be helpfull anymore, even by trying to make up lost time for traffic jams etc. You miss your plane don't blame me.

How about just doing your job properly as its I dunno YOUR JOB. I know lots of nurses, office workers, social welfare workers, builders and factory workers who exceeded their jobs requirements but I don't recall ever hearing them ask for tips!

Spook_ie wrote:

Mind you just from the other point of view if a fare is €19.20 do you EXPECT the driver to round it down? I've had a few that expect it. My view now is if it says €xx.20c then you pay €xx.20c.

If the fare is €19.20 charge €19.20.

Basq

I always tip.. it's just the type of person i am.

If it's decent service in a taxi, i'll round up the fare a euro or two.

In a restaurant (normally just me and the girlfriend), i'd typically round up to the nearest tenner (unless it's very close to the nearest tenner, and i'd slap on a euro or two).

Even if ordering in a Chinese, i'll normally give the driver an extra euro or so (or as i've made abundantly clear, round it up to the nearest tenner if it's not far off).

If i got really bad service, i think i'd still leave something. Even this brutal rude waitress we had while in Madrid, she was an utter asshat. But i still tipped - mind you, it was very little.

BrandonBlock

I have a confession. I created this thread as a joke because of all the other tipping threads on AH, and expected it to be locked! What have I started..

Spook_ie

Venom wrote:

How about just doing your job properly as its I dunno YOUR JOB. I know lots of nurses, office workers, social welfare workers, builders and factory workers who exceeded their jobs requirements but I don't recall ever hearing them ask for tips!




If the fare is €19.20 charge €19.20.

Have not I just said thats all you would get from me now, my job pick you up at A drive you to B get paid and if your late your late, as they say Tough Cheese

The_Conductor

I disagree.
I get taxis regularly, both for work and also privately.
More often than not I'll be asked whether I have any preference for the route to take, and whether I'm in a hurry or just want to take my time. I'm zoomed from Lucan village to the airport via the M50 in 20 minutes flat- I've also done the same trup in 45 minutes via Clonee on the back road (the scenic route when I wasn't in a hurry).
Most taxi drivers are courteous, polite and a mine of useful information and observations. The odd one is a little psychotic- but hell, most people, myself included, have our days.
You're paying for a service- its metered (unless you're outside the Dublin region- as per my Clonee detour) and its a hell of a lot cheaper to get a taxi to and from the door at home than leaving a car in the airport- not to mention more convenient than queuing for 20 minutes in cyclonic rain outside arrivals for that shagging bus to longterm- and then meandering your way through the queues as to try to remember where you left the car.

Give them a break- they're providing a service. If you don't like their service- there are alternatives, such as a designated driver or the night-link on nights out- or other modes of public transport elsewhere.

Personally I think taxidrivers get a hell of a lot of abuse because they make convenient scapegoats. They pay tax the same as the next person on the street, and a lot of them are a lot harder working- give them a break!

K-9

In fairness they have to female for me to tip them! Get it, tip!

Spook_ie

smccarrick wrote:

I disagree.
I get taxis regularly, both for work and also privately.
More often than not I'll be asked whether I have any preference for the route to take, and whether I'm in a hurry or just want to take my time. I'm zoomed from Lucan village to the airport via the M50 in 20 minutes flat- I've also done the same trup in 45 minutes via Clonee on the back road (the scenic route when I wasn't in a hurry).
Most taxi drivers are courteous, polite and a mine of useful information and observations. The odd one is a little psychotic- but hell, most people, myself included, have our days.
You're paying for a service- its metered (unless you're outside the Dublin region- as per my Clonee detour) and its a hell of a lot cheaper to get a taxi to and from the door at home than leaving a car in the airport- not to mention more convenient than queuing for 20 minutes in cyclonic rain outside arrivals for that shagging bus to longterm- and then meandering your way through the queues as to try to remember where you left the car.

Give them a break- they're providing a service. If you don't like their service- there are alternatives, such as a designated driver or the night-link on nights out- or other modes of public transport elsewhere.

Personally I think taxidrivers get a hell of a lot of abuse because they make convenient scapegoats. They pay tax the same as the next person on the street, and a lot of them are a lot harder working- give them a break!

I like this man, have a free taxi trip on me next time

thegloriousend

I'd love to tip everyone, but as mentioned already taxi drivers often take longer routes and take advantage of today's poor drunken youth:rolleyes: . I see no justifiable reason to tip, far too expensive as it is

Mossy Monk

I never tip (but that's not exclusive to taxi drivers).

Random

I'm not sitting next to a taxi man moaning about the world for the sake of my 67c change - he can keep it

Nehpets

I said I don't tip in another thread but taxis are different.

Normally taxi drivers lower the cost from like 16.10 to just 16 which I think is pretty cool so I'd always give them the change from the twenty if it's 2 euro or less.

arybvtcw0eolkf

I find that in almost all case's the taxi driver rounds down the fair to the nearest €uro or the 50cent so yes, I tip.

Some I tip more than other's, ie clean car, friendly chatting fella.

For a dirty car, asshole driver I'd normally just round up the tip to the neart 50cent.

Mizu_Ger

Spook_ie wrote:

I like this man, have a free taxi trip on me next time

Will you be expecting a tip at the end of the free trip?

Seriously though, I usually do tip Taxis (never tip in restaurants) and as another poster said they have been known to round the price down from time to time. Everytime I have got a Taxi home from town (Dublin) they ask which one of all the possble routes I want to take (even had an argument with one guy about the fastest route, he followed my directions and was surprised it was so quick. I have never been taken the "scenic route" around anywhere in Dublin as I'd spot what they were up to fairly quick.

_Kaiser_

I used to get a lot of taxis to work (to the point where the lads on the local rank knew where I was going before I even opened my mouth ), and would always tip about €2 or so.

In my experience most drivers will round down to the nearest Euro and do their best to accomodate you if you're in a hurry so they've earned a few quid extra imo.

gurramok

They earn a mint not to need tips hence no need to give a tip.
Coupled with this and they choose the longest route possible, thats my and others experience with the majority of them who have serviced us.

I'd rather tip minimum wage bar staff than a taxi driver.

phasers

gurramok wrote:

They earn a mint not to need tips hence no need to give a tip.
Coupled with this and they choose the longest route possible, thats my and others experience with the majority of them who have serviced us.

I'd rather tip minimum wage bar staff than a taxi driver.

earn a mint? I wish :rolleyes:
do you actually know many taxi drivers?

arybvtcw0eolkf

gurramok wrote:

They earn a mint not to need tips hence no need to give a tip.
Coupled with this and they choose the longest route possible, thats my and others experience with the majority of them who have serviced us.

I'd rather tip minimum wage bar staff than a taxi driver.

They earn a mint?.


Seriously, how much do you think a taxi driver makes if he/she worked a 45hr week?.

_blank_

It's people like that taxi man upthread that give all taxi drivers a bad name.

Expecting a tip for breaking the law and putting people's lives in danger. WTF?

arybvtcw0eolkf

seansouth wrote:

It's people like that taxi man upthread that give all taxi drivers a bad name.

Expecting a tip for breaking the law and putting people's lives in danger. WTF?

He did say it was his first fare, and I think he might have been spoofing alittle

grahamo

phasers wrote:

earn a mint? I wish :rolleyes:
do you actually know many taxi drivers?

I know a lot of taxi drivers. Some Taxi drivers I know are family. They earn a MINT!. Pay the bare minimum in taxes while they've all got holiday homes. Any taximan who cries about being broke is a spoofer! Mind you I've no problem with it. They work nights and weekends for their money so best of luck to them.

djkeogh

I used to tip taxi's all the time but have stopped doing it over the last few years as the prices shot up. Sometimes I'll round up to the Euro sometimes I'll wait for my change. It's a decision I make on the spot these days. Certainly if I'm having a good conversation with a guy I'll give him a little extra.

arybvtcw0eolkf

grahamo wrote:

They earn a MINT!.

Wow, like how much?.

And how much are their out goings?, ie insurance, loans on the car, service's, diesel/petrol, SPSV licence renewal?, NCT (every 12 months)?.

Keith C

smccarrick wrote:

They pay tax the same as the next person on the street,

Em any taxi driver I know declares a lot lower then they actually earn for tax purposes, so i would disagree with your comment.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Keith C wrote:

Em any taxi driver I know declares a lot lower then they actually earn for tax purposes, so i would disagree with your comment.

Any taxi driver I know declare's ALL their earning's to their accountant, and the accountant looks after everything after that.

Keith C

Mairt wrote:

Wow, like how much?.

And how much are their out goings?, ie insurance, loans on the car, service's, diesel/petrol, SPSV licence renewal?, NCT (every 12 months)?.

Insurance €390 (odd) Quinn direct so the aul reliable excuse of high insurance is out the window & a few taxi drivers i know easily earn €300 + working a few hours on stehens night alone. The taxi drivers that do well are the decent ones that work the late noghts/early mornings & weekends, not the lazy arses that sit at the airport ranks all day & moan when they get a fare to swords :rolleyes:

Spook_ie

Keith C wrote:

Insurance €390 (odd) Quinn direct so the aul reliable excuse of high insurance is out the window & a few taxi drivers i know easily earn €300 + working a few hours on stehens night alone. The taxi drivers that do well are the decent ones that work the late noghts/early mornings & weekends, not the lazy arses that sit at the airport ranks all day & moan when they get a fare to swords :rolleyes:

Hey what a revelation, all we need do now is make sure that all taxi drivers are non christian etc. so they will work Stephens night. Myself I have a family and I like to spend a couple of nights a year with them. On another side point maybe it should be legislated so that we have more than 1 Stephens night a year ( I could do with a few more nights where I can earn €300 + for a few hours alone )

Get a car and drive yourself or use the nitelink you skanger

_blank_

Why the hell are you personally abusing anyone who has a bad thing to say about Taxi Men?

Calling everyone with a different opinion to you a 'skanger' is lovely by the way, is it what you do when you are driving your taxi aswell?

grahamo

Mairt wrote:

Wow, like how much?.

And how much are their out goings?, ie insurance, loans on the car, service's, diesel/petrol, SPSV licence renewal?, NCT (every 12 months)?.

Overheads? All easily covered by the amount they take home and most of it tax deductable. You must be one of the taxi drivers me mates tell me about who pretend to be broke all the time . every taxi driver I know is doing well and as I said before fair play to them as they work w/ends & nights etc.
Plus I still always throw them a 10% tip.:)

arybvtcw0eolkf

Keith C wrote:

Insurance €390 (odd) Quinn direct

Oh really?.

Just for the crack I rang Quinn, and with 22 yrs accident free driving I was quoted €2200 just now!.

And an SPSV licence will set me back €6100.

I drive a decent car already, but lets say I need to buy a car to start. I'll go with a two yr old Skoda Octavia 1.9Tdi (probably about) €15000.

Now already I'm looking at €23,300.

Oh, a meter and sign is going to cost me €700 so I'm up to €24,000.

As I don't have 24K in my back pocket I'm going to have to either top up my already high mortage or get a new loan. Two year's ago I enquired about a taxi loan as I was contemplating retiring from the Defence Forces and not one bank would give me a loan for a taxi as their view was that the market was flooded and it was high risk.

So now I'm looking at a short term loan and high interest rates to get myself a job.

As I'll be self employed I'll have to get a health plan with VHI or some other body. Plus I'll need critical illness cover as I won't be paying a stamp.

Making a mint my hole!.

Fvck that sh*t I think I'll stay in the army.

Spook_ie

seansouth wrote:

It's people like that taxi man upthread that give all taxi drivers a bad name.

Expecting a tip for breaking the law and putting people's lives in danger. WTF?

seansouth wrote:

Why the hell are you personally abusing anyone who has a bad thing to say about Taxi Men?

Calling everyone with a different opinion to you a 'skanger' is lovely by the way, is it what you do when you are driving your taxi aswell?

So on my 1st fare I was trying to be extra helpfull after being told they had to be at the airport in 50 minutes I got them there in 40 by bending the speed limits where I thought was suited. As I said I learnt very quickly You now get a service from A to B by whatever route you specify ( if you specify! ) or by what route I think is the shortest ( if you dont specify ) as for calling people skangers when you insult me or taxi driving in general then you are a skanger.

Get a car and drive yourself or use the nitelink you dipstick!

bugler

I know of a good few Taxi drivers earning a very tasty living. Fair play to them, some work long hours for it and it's a job I would never do.

But I usually only round up the fare. In the scale of people who need tips they rank toward the bottom (in fact, probably the very bottom).

_blank_

Spook_ie wrote:

So on my 1st fare I was trying to be extra helpfull after being told they had to be at the airport in 50 minutes I got them there in 40 by bending the speed limits where I thought was suited. As I said I learnt very quickly You now get a service from A to B by whatever route you specify ( if you specify! ) or by what route I think is the shortest ( if you dont specify ) as for calling people skangers when you insult me or taxi driving in general then you are a skanger.

You thought it was ok to break the law, 'when it suited'. I hope I never get in your taxi tbh.

Spook_ie wrote:

Get a car and drive yourself or use the nitelink you dipstick!

Nice.

bugler

Christ, boards has changed.

_blank_

And by the way Spook_ie, you are giving a very, very bad impression of your profession with your attitude.

The impression people have of Taxi Men in general is bad, you are making it much worse.

arybvtcw0eolkf

grahamo wrote:

Overheads? All easily covered by the amount they take home and most of it tax deductable. You must be one of the taxi drivers me mates tell me about who pretend to be broke all the time . every taxi driver I know is doing well and as I said before fair play to them as they work w/ends & nights etc.
Plus I still always throw them a 10% tip.:)

Every taxi driver I know tells me their making a mint too, sorta like every lad I know tells me he's a bigger cock than mine!.

No, I'm not driving a taxi. But unlike a lot of people on here I've been in the workforce over 22yrs now (I'm in the Defence Forces), I have a family and all that comes with that.

I've worked up my retirement and can retire with a nice little pension now if I wanted to. So I looked seriously at driving a taxi for a living, and honestly without my army pension I wouldn't have made a living from a taxi.

As I said in another post. I went to the banks enquiring after loans for a taxi, and not one would approve. What I was told is that the taxi business is high risk, the market is flooded and I was better getting a different job. Although they would approve a 'home improvement' loan if I wanted to take the risk.

So there ya go, I don't listen to bullsh*t on boards or the lads in the pub and think I know it all because it was a huge life changing decision for me so I looked at it as realistically as I could.

Terry

Spook_ie banned for personal abuse.

seansouth, don't feed the trolls.

gurramok

Mairt wrote:

Oh really?.

Just for the crack I rang Quinn, and with 22 yrs accident free driving I was quoted €2200 just now!.

And an SPSV licence will set me back €6100.

I drive a decent car already, but lets say I need to buy a car to start. I'll go with a two yr old Skoda Octavia 1.9Tdi (probably about) €15000.

Now already I'm looking at €23,300.

Oh, a meter and sign is going to cost me €700 so I'm up to €24,000.

Then explain why a sh1t load of taxi drivers drive large expensive '07 vehicles?

Where did they get the money from to buy and support such vehicles?

Funny about 2,200 quote, i know a couple of drivers on €400 quotes, that special insurance for taxi's ya know.

If as you describe that times are very hard with a '07 car and they make feck all, then they must make a loss on being a taxi driver, only a fool would bein the taxi buisness then by your logic...your argument does not add up.

bugler

Mairt,

So how are Taxi men making a living? According to you it isn't tenable at all.

arybvtcw0eolkf

gurramok wrote:

Then explain why a sh1t load of taxi drivers drive large expensive '07 vehicles?

Where did they get the money from to buy and support such vehicles?

Funny about 2,200 quote, i know a couple of drivers on €400 quotes, that special insurance for taxi's ya know.

If as you describe that times are very hard with a '07 car and they make feck all, then they must make a loss on being a taxi driver, only a fool would bein the taxi buisness then by your logic...your argument does not add up.

Lower taxi quotes.. I was asked was I in a taxi union, I said "no" and was told that joining one would reduce the price by €200. So I rang the Irish Taxi Drivers Union and they put me in contact with AON who also quoted €2200 and €2000 if I joined the union.

'07 taxi's, there ya go. Thats even more out going's than my original two year old Skoda at €15,000 so thats another chuck out of my 'mint'.

Seriously, I'm not arguing with you for the heck of it. And while there is a living to be made from driving a taxi, its hardly "a mint", and I think someone leaving a full time, secure job to drive a taxi for a living is clearly a fool.

No sick days, unpaid holidays... No thanks.