Threatened by a taximan...............

LegacyUser

Bit of a long one, syntax may not read very well............. just looking for opinions.

Well to start off, myself and a few mate were off drinkin in our local, havin a few beers, bit of craic on stephens' night etc. Anyway the usual pub closes 12/half 12 so we try get a taxi to a night club, while in this taxi he mentions that said club is packed out of it, and we'd nearly be better off going home, as he said this our mate rang us, he works in a pub down the road (which has a late license so we go in there instead.)

Same thing then happens, blah blah finish up, lets go you know the usual. Me and my mate then walk to the dual carriageway and manage to flag down this taxi. So we get in "take us to "XXXX" and whatever", and we are having a bit of banter with the chap. He wasnt should we say from out this way, and thus didnt know where he was going. Initially we told him to go one-way, then we said feck it we'll go the other and walk the shorter route; this was grand to the taximan. He still hadn't a clue where he was going, we approached our exit and said to him take the next left, which he did, then it is a quick right after that which we may not have said in time, but if we didnt he was going too fast anyway.

Just going to add this in, when me and my friend got into the taxi, we spouted the usual ****e; "are you busy?" and "many around tonight?" etc. Then he started going on about how its grand with the "5 euro Stephens day surcharge" which i have never heard about but i'll stand corrected if it is real. Anyway this is just for the later part of the story.

So after taking the wrong turn we told him to reverse back and turn left into the adjacent road, as he was doing this, i made a joke/general statement (to my mate) "Dont mind him he's winding you up!" at this stage he reversed out of the side road, pulled into the kerb and told us to "**** off messing in his car" and that "You (me) can ****ing wind him up outside my car!!".

We thought he was messing, which at this point he hopped out of his car, whipped open the door my friend was sitting at, and pulled him out of the car, all the time telling us in bad language to essentially "get the fcuk out of my car!!", which we were essentially thinking at the time, fair enough we might be acting the bolox so we got out, well my friend was reefed out first, i was still in the back, while this taximan was still in a rage he leaned back into the taxi to check the meter and pressed this and that, it flashed up €8.70, which i saw with my own eyes. I then got out of the car, as i did, he said to us 13.70 lads, "give me the fcukin money", i said to him i saw it myself on the meter 8.70, and for tryin to rip us off I'm not paying you. He then says 8.70 plus the stephens' day charge which at this point i told him "to go fcuk himself" he then turns around and says to us thats now "15.70".

Now my mate is the kind of person who shys away from confrontation, which i am sort of myself. He ended up paying a tenner to the taximan prick. All the time i told the taximan he was getting nothing out of me, we as far as i could tell, had done nothing wrong, he had taken the wrong turn, we had a laugh blaming it on each other then he snapped, and essentially tried to "box" the money out of us. As i said my mate is not the type to stand up for his rights/morales, but we were plain and truly nearly beaten into paying well above the fare for this idiots mistakes.

I have rang the carriage office and some other number, and both are off till Friday, i am just wondering will i bother making a complaint about this, or is it usual practice for the taxi scum. Basically I want to know do you think i'm in the wrong here.

I have looked up the complaint form on the Taxi Regulator's website, but the only key information is the license plate number. I would have asked for a receipt had i not been threatened to get the "head knocked off me". What do i do, if i go to the garda, nothing criminal as they say has happened, will i bother with the complaint or just leave it??

Victor

There is no such surcharge. Report him. www.taxireg.ie

However...

Pissed-Off wrote: »

Well to start off, myself and a few mate were off drinkin in our local, havin a few beers, bit of craic on stephens' night etc.

You may not have realised how bad you were.

Morlar

If you were threatened with violence (so much as a raised clenched fist) then something illegal happened. Report him - at the very least to the taxi regulators and then also to the guards. If you dont report him and see it through then the next person (which could be a woman on her own) he does that **** to will be partly your fault. Seriously if what you posted there is correct you should report him bigtime.

mkv83

i would definately report him, i dunno much about legal stuff i.e. if the guards would get involved if you madea complaint to them but i'd defiately report it to the taxi regualtor people if you have his number... 5euro stephens night surcharge my ar$e!! thats a complete joke! i'd report him just for that!!

LegacyUser

This isn't a personal issue - it's a consumer issue and should be moved please

Carrigart Exile

mkv83 wrote: »

i would definately report him, i dunno much about legal stuff i.e. if the guards would get involved if you madea complaint to them but i'd defiately report it to the taxi regualtor people if you have his number... 5euro stephens night surcharge my ar$e!! thats a complete joke! i'd report him just for that!!

There is a surcharge for Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years day and 2nd January in the UK, however, when the taxi driver presses the meter it should show the total charge, including surcharge.

Two things tho', how p1ssed were you and what sort of pains were you being? But, he should not have been so aggressive and threatening towards you. I would consider a complaint to the taxi company with the threat that you will take your complaint to the city council (the licensors) if they do not treat your complaint seriously.

the_syco

Complain. He saw that you were drunk, and took advantage, and billed you extra.

meanmachine3

We thought he was messing, which at this point he hopped out of his car, whipped open the door my friend was sitting at, and pulled him out of the car, all the time telling us in bad language to essentially "get the fcuk out of my car!!", which we were essentially thinking at the time, fair enough we might be acting the bolox so we got out, well my friend was reefed out first,
i stand to be corrected , but does a taxi man have the power to do this?
i mean physically reef a passenger out of the car and the fact that you weren't asked to get out of the cab before he reefed your friend out.
again i stand to be corrected on my next one
dont taxi's have to issue receipts whether they're asked for or not?

man utd 07/08

scum bags and criminals they are!
you should def report him and try find out were he lives...and get at least ur 10euro back;)
99% are the same

arybvtcw0eolkf

man utd 07/08 wrote: »

scum bags and criminals they are!
99% are the same

Sort'a like Man U supporters.

OP report the matter to both the police and the taxi regulators office.

If the regulators office decides your story is worth following it you'll be expected to appear in person, and the taxi driver is legally entitled to legal respresentation and to have you cross examined.

Although the driver didn't behave in a very professional manner it sounds like you and your mate were being a pain in the ass too.

Btw, all the information you need is on www.taxireg.ie

Victor

Carrigart Exile wrote: »

There is a surcharge for Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years day and 2nd January in the UK, however, when the taxi driver presses the meter it should show the total charge, including surcharge.

Not in Ireland.

Two things tho', how p1ssed were you and what sort of pains were you being? But, he should not have been so aggressive and threatening towards you. I would consider a complaint to the taxi company with the threat that you will take your complaint to the city council (the licensors) if they do not treat your complaint seriously.

The taxi regulator covers all this stuff now.

dudara

Contact the Taxi Regulator as soon as possible outlining your complaint in a clear, detailed and reasonable manner. Try to recall as many details as possible, such as the make, model, year and colour of the taxi as well as a description of the driver.

tritium

OP if he dragged your mate out of the taxi then thats an assault pure and simple, regardless of how pissed you were. Report this to the guards and make a complaint. Assuming you're telling us everything, then this jerk deserves to have a chat with a judge imho

ShoulderChip

excellent choice of forum or this thread.

Can we post anonymously in here though? I need to on a number of issues.

Sponge Bob

Report to taxi regulator and all of ye report to guards too.

The scumbag is simply a crim witha taxi plate , they get them all the time and they lose them all the time for being crims. Some very well known ( apparently retired now) crims like the Monk have taxis.

enner43

I would definately report him. Its just another example of taxi men trying to take advantage of people when they've been drinking.

Healio

It was me who posted this yesterday, after reading back over what I've written it is all correct to my recollection.

I was talking to my mate about it today, and the first thing he mentioned was how the taximan got into this rage, because as we remember he was all jolly and we had a bit of a laugh with him when we initially got into his car.

Another bit i left out was, we asked him to take us to the area we live, then we actually asked him to go the other way (which is less of a walk home and involves bollards on a road which the taximan might have heard as my mate said to me "do you just want to walk from the bollards?"). The only logical possible reasoning behind the taximans reaction might have been that; he thought we werent going to pay him.

Whoever asked how much of asses were we being, well not too bad because we were having a bit of banter between us. I was buzzin off the drink but I wasnt absolutely pissed, basically i knew what was going on.

Coincidentially, being the week thats in it, i was out again tonight and the night involved three taxi's, so i asked them did they have a surcharge last night (i knew the answer but was just testing) all three said no and told me "I hope you didnt pay it", only one was an Irish taximan and the other two were africans. The African taximen actually seemed more pissed off about it than the irish taximan, but sure that is of no relevance.

Last night I immediately rang the carriage office, which was closed. Then I rang the taxi regulator who was also closed. I left (probably foolishly) a message on one of the lines telling them how much of a disgrace it was they were closed, and that if they want they can ring me back, but either way they will be hearing from me again, which probably wasnt smart. Both offices re-open tomorrow/today, friday 28th and I will be following this complaint up. My mate is also going to make a formal complaint.

Also i have been onto the taxi regulators website and looked at the complaint form, and all I really have is the fella's plate number. I know the route we took, the approximate time, the plate number and vaguely the cars colour, I could hazard a guess for the make and model. I also know that the driver in question is from the other side of the city.

Last point i will make is that after getting his tenner, me and my mate were walking away, after going through what I had just went through, i gave the taximan a bit of stick; calling him everything under the sun, making hand gestures towards him, he actually got back out of his car, but at that moment another taxi had pulled in on the opposite side of the road to let people out, when this happened he booted off. After thinking about this today, had those people not got out of that taxi this mother****er would have gone for the two of us, i am not the biggest by any means, and the thought that a person could snap like that over something so sinister is worrying. I mean i work in a highly stressful customer service environment, which also includes drunks from time-to-time, but i have never resorted to anything on a level this man reached last night.

I will keep you guys posted on any outcome if there is any action taken.

Cheers for the viewpoints and advice.

Sponge Bob

If he was that bad with you lads then simply imagine what the crim would do if he had a young girl on her own in the cab.

You have a moral obligation to get this crim off the road, do it !!!

ryoishin

Hey OP,

There are extra charges on bank holidays and stuff but they ll all show on the meter and the meter is final he cant just say + the St Stephens day charge. Thats bs.

If he physically grabed you thats assault, and a matter for the gards. If the driver felt that there was a issue he himself has to either ask you to get out of the car, if you dont bring you to a garda station and if he feels his life is in danger then leave his own car, but not drag you from it.

I used to work for a dublins largest taxi co and theres no point in complaining to a company really. They can only say it to the driver and maybe not use him as a driver anymore but to them its your word against his. Taxi drivers are self employed and are not employed by a company they are a customer of the company aswell as you.

Go with the regulator but they ll want the drivers badge no which is on the card in the car and you should always put this number into your phone when you get into a taxi. The carriage off is in dublin castle you might be better off going into them they re often difficult to get on the phone.

Best of luck.

hotshots85

lets just put one thing straight here as regards the surcharge he said that was .THERE IS NO SURCHARGE FOR ANY HOLIDAY PERIOD .THE ONLY EXTRA CHARGE A TAXI CAN PUT ON IS 2EURO IF YOU CALL A TAXI OUT OR IF YOU USE A TOLL BRIDGE AND THESE HAVE TO BE RECORDED ON THE METER WHICH BY LAW MUST PRINT A RECIEPT .ALWAYS ASK FOR ONE IT GIVES ALL THE DETAILS OF THE JOURNEY KM ,TIMES ,PLATE NO, ETC .i know the taxi industry and have heard stories like this one you told .the guy had no right in dragging you,s from the car but in brining him to the bollords he could have thought yous were doing a runner and overreacted but the slime bag was tryng it on with the 5euro extras hang him on that one .also to the poster who said that 99% of taxi drivers are [crims] as he put it could he not spell criminals ???.id know quite afew taxi drivers who are decent hard working folk so the man utd fan should take a look in the mirror before he starts making wild statements

ryoishin

^^^ your dead right there by extra charge I meant that on bank holidays the meter will start on tariff 2, but like the above post said its just a case of switching the meter on and its there the driver cant add to what the meter says.

foggy_lad

REPORT the scumbag!

someuser90

how can you trace him?

foggy_lad

having this scumbags taxi-plate number should be enough but if ye end up in court to have his liscense revoked then any other information is always helpful!

i have had mostly great experiences with taxi drivers all over the country but Dublin seems to have a much greater number of what one might call SLOBS behind the wheels of taxis,

these wont help with luggage(not even for their own granny) and usually start and finish their nasty little conversations with obscenities.

they need to be kept off the roads and particularly kept away from the airports where they prey on unsuspecting tourists charging them astonishing amounts for the shortest of journeys!

Healio

Both me and my friend have lodged complaints with the taxi regulator, but to be honest (like everything authoritive in Ireland) they basically couldnt give a ****. After both of us had made separate complaints, we both had to ask the "regulator" if he wanted our number for further contact in the future.

I'm at the stage where i couldnt give a fcuk what happened as he didnt get a penny out of me. I'm nearly tempted to post his plate number up here, but I do not want to land Boards themselves in trouble. If anyone does want his number then PM me so you can keep a look out.

And to agree with you foggy, most of the taxi's I have ever been in, the drivers have been sound, always up for a chat or banter, it actually amazes me how they can be in such a good mood most of the time. And I will agree that cnuts like this are very, very much the minority.

foggy_lad

even remember a few drivers who would not charge me at 4am or whenever as cork street was on their way home!

eth0_

The taxi regulator is CRAP, i've made a complaint to them before and had no response from them at all.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Any updates from the OP?.

I'm curious to know how the regulators offices investigates a complaint.

Healio

Three posts up......

arybvtcw0eolkf

Healio wrote: »

Three posts up......

29 posts up... Your not the OP.

MOH

Mairt wrote: »

29 posts up... Your not the OP.

14 posts up - he seems to be.