A taxi driver's advice to Joe Public!

Ham'nd'egger

Terrontress wrote: »

Well that's fair enough if you warned them in advance but I reckon that if you ask for a printed receipt and can't be given one then you are fine to refuse to pay the fare. The taxi regulator's website says it's one of your principal rights to get one. If the driver can't meet that obligation then he shouldn't be out driving.

Nice try but no, you have to pay the fare at the end of the job regardless of any due reason to complain about.

Ham'nd'egger

Johnny James wrote: »

A bit out of the topic: It's my first year in Dublin and I'm not sure: do taxis operate in town (and around) on Christmas eve (evening)?
Thanks
j.:o

Yes, there will be plenty of taxis out in the city centre until about 10PM. After that, it may get scarce so bear with it for a while:)

Terrontress

Hamndegger wrote: »

Nice try but no, you have to pay the fare at the end of the job regardless of any due reason to complain about.

Working in the bank, I need a receipt to claim back expenses. If I were to get to the end of a journey and get told that the driver had "run out" of receipts, he'd discover that I had "run out" of money. It says on the website that a customer has the right to a printed receipt in a taxi or a handwritten one in a hack or limo. It's also in the same document that the customer has to pay the fare as calculated on the meter. If the driver doesn't keep his side of the bargain, why should keep mine? I'd say that if more people knew their rights and responsibilities that there would be fewer drivers messing about.

Ham'nd'egger

Terrontress wrote: »

Working in the bank, I need a receipt to claim back expenses. If I were to get to the end of a journey and get told that the driver had "run out" of receipts, he'd discover that I had "run out" of money. It says on the website that a customer has the right to a printed receipt in a taxi or a handwritten one in a hack or limo. It's also in the same document that the customer has to pay the fare as calculated on the meter. If the driver doesn't keep his side of the bargain, why should keep mine? I'd say that if more people knew their rights and responsibilities that there would be fewer drivers messing about.

It isn't a case of any side of the bargain being kept or not being kept; it is law that you have to pay for the journey. The legal right to issuing a receipt is punishable by a fine from the Taxi Regulator and not by you withholding payment as a passenger.

If you tried that trick on me, the other thing I'd run out of is patience

Terrontress

Hamndegger wrote: »

It isn't a case of any side of the bargain being kept or not being kept; it is law that you have to pay for the journey. The legal right to issuing a receipt is punishable by a fine from the Taxi Regulator and not by you withholding payment as a passenger.

If you tried that trick on me, the other thing I'd run out of is patience

So which of the so-called "customer rights" do you think you can dispense with at will?

http://www.taxiregulator.ie/consumer/consumer-rights-and-responsibilities/consumer-rights-and-responsibilities.html

Obviously you expect a customer to meet all the responsibilities as laid down?

steph1

towger wrote: »

I presume you mean not to do ALL of this over the course of ONE trip ...... but over two or three would be fine ?

Ha ha. None of it at all on any trip.

Now in fairness it does not happen that often but when it does happen I seem to get two or three of these types all in one night. And then I get cheesed off with this ****e and just want to go home. However in these days of credit crunches etc., you need to make hay when the sun shines and get out there and earn a living.

Some of the people that I meet would not even remember getting home in a taxi never mind what they did or said to the driver.

steph1

Ticktactoe wrote: »

Has this ever happened???

Believe me it has happened. On a few occasions and believe it its the oul fellas that are the worst for the feel of the leg. Must be after the few whiskeys that they get a bit frisky

The hair feeling has happened too plus I had a guy one night who would not sit back properly in the back seat but kept grabbing me around my neck and front. Not great when you are trying to drive a car around especially on country roads with grass growin up the middle of them.:D

And again 'credit' is a big problem. 'I'll pay you tomorrow" You will all right. They probably wont even remember getting home tomorrow so they are hardly going to remember oh I owe a taxi driver a fare. My argument to this rubbish about looking for credit is that they have gone out for a night and have not even thought about getting home but have spent all their money on drink. Plenty of money for drink but expect a free shuttle service from the pub home. :rolleyes:

Ham'nd'egger

Terrontress wrote: »

So which of the so-called "customer rights" do you think you can dispense with at will?

http://www.taxiregulator.ie/consumer/consumer-rights-and-responsibilities/consumer-rights-and-responsibilities.html

Obviously you expect a customer to meet all the responsibilities as laid down?

None of them actually, what about you? By the sound of you, you are probably inventing a few other fake ones as suits you, depending on your circumstances or crankiness:rolleyes:

Terrontress

Hamndegger wrote: »

None of them actually, what about you? By the sound of you, you are probably inventing a few other fake ones as suits you, depending on your circumstances or crankiness:rolleyes:

Well, I'm the first to admit I'm a crank but fair's fair. Or is that fare? A service provider should not be paid if he neglects to mention until the service is provided that he can only offer an incomplete service. If I were to be claiming a taxi journey from work, which happens about twice a month, and before we set off the driver said he couldn't provide a printed receipt, I'd thank him and take the next car with a working receipt printer. If a driver waits to tell me this once we've arrived and there is €20 on the meter, I'm not going to go to the inconvenience of having to explain myself to my boss just because he can't do his job properly. I'd give him my phone number and tell him to come and find me once he can print one off and I'll give him the cash then. I bet he wouldn't be so slapdash with receipt rolls after that!

Ham'nd'egger

Terrontress wrote: »

Well, I'm the first to admit I'm a crank but fair's fair. Or is that fare? A service provider should not be paid if he neglects to mention until the service is provided that he can only offer an incomplete service. If I were to be claiming a taxi journey from work, which happens about twice a month, and before we set off the driver said he couldn't provide a printed receipt, I'd thank him and take the next car with a working receipt printer. If a driver waits to tell me this once we've arrived and there is €20 on the meter, I'm not going to go to the inconvenience of having to explain myself to my boss just because he can't do his job properly. I'd give him my phone number and tell him to come and find me once he can print one off and I'll give him the cash then. I bet he wouldn't be so slapdash with receipt rolls after that!

For the last time and in capital letters as you clearly don't get it....

IT IS ILLEGAL TO NOT PAY A TAXI FARE. If you dared to leave a taxi without paying or making good to settle the debt then you are breaking the law, no matter what way you dress it up or paltry excuse you come up with.

And if you forgot to ask for the receipt, you are no better off than if you don't get one; explain that to your boss :rolleyes: Should the situation arise that a receipt run out while printing or if it smudged or was illegible for any reason and you need one, you won't have much choice but to take an hand written receipt. Dozens of people are happy with a written one; join the club;)

steph1

Hamndegger wrote: »

For the last time and in capital letters as you clearly don't get it....

IT IS ILLEGAL TO NOT PAY A TAXI FARE. If you dared to leave a taxi without paying or making good to settle the debt then you are breaking the law, no matter what way you dress it up or paltry excuse you come up with.

And if you forgot to ask for the receipt, you are no better off than if you don't get one; explain that to your boss :rolleyes: Should the situation arise that a receipt run out while printing or if it smudged or was illegible for any reason and you need one, you won't have much choice but to take an hand written receipt. Dozens of people are happy with a written one; join the club;)

And if you got into my taxi and I couldn't print a receipt for whatever reason and believe me these things do happen on occasions, and you refused to pay me for the fare, next destination for you is THE POLICE STATION!

Terrontress

Hamndegger wrote: »

For the last time and in capital letters as you clearly don't get it....

IT IS ILLEGAL TO NOT PAY A TAXI FARE. If you dared to leave a taxi without paying or making good to settle the debt then you are breaking the law, no matter what way you dress it up or paltry excuse you come up with.

And if you forgot to ask for the receipt, you are no better off than if you don't get one; explain that to your boss :rolleyes: Should the situation arise that a receipt run out while printing or if it smudged or was illegible for any reason and you need one, you won't have much choice but to take an hand written receipt. Dozens of people are happy with a written one; join the club;)

I'll cut you a deal. I will always pay you for your services if you always provide an acceptable receipt whenever our paths cross.

This is symptomatic of the way things are going now though. Get the money and that's all that is important. You hear of drivers taking old ladies a short distance and say they have to pay the exorbitant amount, five times what they normally pay. "It's illegal not to pay a taxi fare". "Pay the fare and query it later". "He may have blatantly ripped you off but be sure to pay him, regardless of how much he demands".

You aren't one of these "new" taxi drivers, are you?

steph1

Terrontress wrote: »

I'll cut you a deal. I will always pay you for your services if you always provide an acceptable receipt whenever our paths cross.

This is symptomatic of the way things are going now though. Get the money and that's all that is important. You hear of drivers taking old ladies a short distance and say they have to pay the exorbitant amount, five times what they normally pay. "It's illegal not to pay a taxi fare". "Pay the fare and query it later". "He may have blatantly ripped you off but be sure to pay him, regardless of how much he demands".

You aren't one of these "new" taxi drivers, are you?

Of course a taxi driver has to get the money. Its not a charity taxi service he or she is running.

I'm a self employed driver but there are lots of other drivers that are attached to a company or a base. I'm sure the owners of these companies would love to hear the story from the driver when they get back to base that they did not get a fare because a receipt could not be given. Of course a receipt must be given. But if there is a problem with the printer for whatever reason and it has happened to me recently, then a handwritten one should suffice. I always carry a receipt book in the car with me just in case something like this happens.

Well for my own part, I dont take advantage of old people and charge them exhorbitant fares - they pay what comes up on the meter - certainly nothing more. In fact I quite often round it down a bit e.g. if it says 6.20 on the meter I tell them to just give me the 6 euro even. Thats why when you get into a taxi make sure that the meter is on and then there can be no argument over the fare. The maximum that the driver can charge is whats totalled on the meter at the end of the journey. Nothing more. And if a driver does try to charge more you take the details from the ID card which should be displayed on the dashboard and report that driver to the taxi regulator.

mikemac

steph1 wrote: »

Thats why when you get into a taxi make sure that the meter is on and then there can be no argument over the fare.

Not sure was this tip mentioned.
When you tell your driver the destination they might enter it into their sat-nav before they set off.

Nothing wrong with this (unless it's an obvious route :rolleyes:) but make sure your driver doesn't start the fare and then start messing around with the sat-nav while the taxi haven't even moved yet.
I don't know what exactly starts the meter running but I don't expect to pay for the driver to feck around with a sat-nav if they don't know a route

And if your driver starts texting or messing with the mobile, firmly and polity get them to stop the messing. I've often had drivers texting away while driving one-handed. It's not good enough so speak up and sort it there and then.

Ham'nd'egger

Terrontress wrote: »

I'll cut you a deal. I will always pay you for your services if you always provide an acceptable receipt whenever our paths cross.

You are wrong and you know it. Goodbye.

ArmaniJeanss

Hamndegger wrote: »

You are wrong and you know it. Goodbye.

Your attitude suggests that you regard the customer legal obligations (they must pay the fare or be driven to a police station) as being more important than the customers rights (he is entitled to a receipt, but if he doesn't get one he must pay his fare then write a letter to someone or other, filling in the correct form, know the plate number etc etc).

No offence (as you tend to come across as one of the more reasonable drivers who post here), buts its attitudes like this that mean you are still far away from having the support of the general public in your various campaigns re dereg/the amount of plates etc.

SeanW

Terrontress wrote: »

I'll cut you a deal. I will always pay you for your services if you always provide an acceptable receipt whenever our paths cross

I'll remember that next time they run out of reciept paper in the supermarket ...

Anyways, I have a question - is the fare higher for using one of those big 7 seater van type taxis?

mikemac

SeanW wrote: »

Anyways, I have a question - is the fare higher for using one of those big 7 seater van type taxis?

Nope, same price

Terrontress

SeanW wrote: »

I'll remember that next time they run out of reciept paper in the supermarket ...

I'll tell you what, if I went into a shop that could not provide me with a receipt, I would take my business elsewhere.

What would you do if you went into Dixons and bought a plasma and they said they could not provide the proper receipt? Six months later the thing breaks down and where are you.

I've mentioned earlier that I would get a different taxi if the driver explained in advance that there was to be no correct receipt.

The issue here seems to be that taxi drivers are advocating that a fare, as demanded by the driver, must always be paid regardless of the service offered.

I'd say withholding payment is the best thing a consumer can do when they are unhappy with a service.

Amalgam

I've never had the backbone to tell a taxi driver to stop texting and driving.. it has given me the willies a few times, coming out of Dublin and going straight across the junction at Bakers Corner at speed, up towards Rochestown Avenue, with the drivers eyes firmly glued to the screen of his phone.

Ham'nd'egger

Terrontress wrote: »

What would you do if you went into Dixons and bought a plasma and they said they could not provide the proper receipt? Six months later the thing breaks down and where are you.

Funnily enough; I bought a camera yesterday (not in Dixons but may as well have been) and they didn't have a printed receipt available. They wrote me out one by hand instead and I was delighted and satisfied with it

Ham'nd'egger

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Your attitude suggests that you regard the customer legal obligations (they must pay the fare or be driven to a police station) as being more important than the customers rights (he is entitled to a receipt, but if he doesn't get one he must pay his fare then write a letter to someone or other, filling in the correct form, know the plate number etc etc).

No offence (as you tend to come across as one of the more reasonable drivers who post here), buts its attitudes like this that mean you are still far away from having the support of the general public in your various campaigns re dereg/the amount of plates etc.

The customers legal right to a receipt does not extend to him/her getting free rides on their own whim nor do they have statutory powers to impose their own personal penalty on any shortfall of a legal requirement that they see fit. In this case it is something that is a very very rare event and something at that which there is a perfectly adequate stand in; a hand receipt. TT is just acting the clown; in the real world someday when it does happen he will learn the error of his ways

IanCurtis

Advice for taxi drivers:

1. Don't tell us that there are too many "coloureds" driving these days
2. Don't talk to your mates on your handsfree for the entire journey
3. Don't talk at all

HydeRoad

We all know the standard of some of the taxi drivers out there is atrocious.

But some of you people come on here and take it out on the decent drivers who are making an effort, instead of doing what you should be doing, which is taking the plate number and ID of the offending driver, and reporting them.

Every Friday and Saturday night, there are thousands of taxi journeys made in illegal or substandard taxis, and NOBODY reports these drivers. I am struggling to make ends meet, I try my best to provide a professional and friendly service in the face of hundreds of these guys trying to run me off the road. If Terrontress has a particularly bad experience in a taxi, why in hell aren't they reporting them to the taxi regulator or the police, instead of letting those guys away to do it to somebody else?

Perhaps because the regulator doesn't seem to take much action on complaints, but if that is the case, then the service provided by the regulator is not up to scratch either. You shouldn't have to hound the regulator's office, I'm sure you have more important things to do, but perhaps if enough people did, then substandard taxis might actually be removed from service, giving the decent guys a chance.

Most people's reaction to bad taxi service, instead of reporting it appropriately, where something might actually be done, is instead to spend the rest of their lives taking out their frustrations on all the decent taxi drivers. Such people make you sick.

Terrontress

I have not recently had a bad experience with taxi drivers. In relation to an earlier post I am simply replying in saying that if I were to be given an improper receipt, as is my legal right, without forewarning then I'd refuse to pay.

Thing is, if someone is printing a receipt, it will give the details of the cab, the time taken etc. If someone has taken the scenic route knowingly, do you expect them to issue a correct receipt?

You get to the end of a journey, you think it is three times what you usually pay. You ask for the receipt. The driver starts to write something on a pocket book. Do you pay up? Do you ask him for paper and pen to write down the five digit number on the roof or try to remember it?

Anyone not offering correct receipts does not deserve to be paid. Only way around it is to make sure you are legit. And that involves printing receipts. If you have no roll then go home and either get more or else stay home till the shop reopens.

HydeRoad

Well you've made quite a few repetitive posts on the same narrow issue, and the overall impression that comes across is someone with a predetermined attitude, and someone looking for any excuse not to pay their fare. Also someone who thinks because some are bad, then all must be bad.

You need to lighten up, and you need to learn the difference between a taxi driver who 'drives the scenic route', drives dangerously, is aggressive, or otherwise unsuitable, and an ordinary decent taxi driver who maybe just has a bit of bad luck and the roll runs out, or the ink, as happened to me one night.

If the driver takes you out of your way, goes the long way, or overcharges, REPORT THEM. Don't leave them to go off and do it to everyone else too.

If it's a genuine enough driver, and if you are grown up you should be able to tell the difference, then don't be so bloody minded, pay the fare and accept a written receipt. In four years of taxi driving, my ink ran out once. All taxis are supposed to print receipts, so chances are it'll never happen to you. If the taxi driver does not wish you to have a receipt at all, then chances are he wants to overcharge you, so REPORT HIM.

But seriously, lighten up, we aren't all out to 'get' you...

steph1

Terrontress wrote: »

You get to the end of a journey, you think it is three times what you usually pay. You ask for the receipt. The driver starts to write something on a pocket book. Do you pay up? Do you ask him for paper and pen to write down the five digit number on the roof or try to remember it?

Anyone not offering correct receipts does not deserve to be paid. Only way around it is to make sure you are legit. And that involves printing receipts. If you have no roll then go home and either get more or else stay home till the shop reopens.

You should not have to think about any fare. The driver should have the meter on. And if he or she does not have it on ask them to put on the meter. If they refuse take details and report them. END OF.

Some people think they should be only paying so much. I regularly have that problem at night. Someone wants to give me a tenner for a fare that when put on the meter can come to 19 or 20 euro. Remember fares have gone up recently. Not the taxi drivers doing might I add but the taxi regulator.

meanmachine3

HydeRoad wrote: »

We all know the standard of some of the taxi drivers out there is atrocious.

But some of you people come on here and take it out on the decent drivers who are making an effort, instead of doing what you should be doing, which is taking the plate number and ID of the offending driver, and reporting them.

Every Friday and Saturday night, there are thousands of taxi journeys made in illegal or substandard taxis, and NOBODY reports these drivers. I am struggling to make ends meet, I try my best to provide a professional and friendly service in the face of hundreds of these guys trying to run me off the road.

i've had alot of arguments with the likes of hyde,ham and especially spookie over the last year or so but i have to agree with hyde for a change regarding the above post about being run off the road and i'm bewildered as to why the guards constantly turn a blind eye to all this. alot of you know that i'm a bus driver with D.B. and every weekend i see taxi's that haven't got a clue about road markings and unfortunately it's mainly the foreign ones that dont have a clue about driving around the city centre either especially going around trinity college up dame street, a prime example of this is they think the outside lane at this area is for going up grafton street .
terron your going on about receipts all the time. what would you do if you got on a bus and the driver wasn't able to issue a ticket which tends to happen?
on a brighter note i take my hat off and salute the taxi driver who told me yesterday that i had a flat tyre on my bus:D.it's proven to me that there are some good ones out there after all.
oh and one last thing.
happy christmas to you all

HydeRoad

And a merry Christmas to you, too...

Remember, if the taxi driver DOES flash to let you pull out from the bus stop, chances are he's an ex bus driver... LOL

charlie_says

So if a driver does refuse to give a receipt (for whatever reason) and you go the garda station route what happens then?

Realistically speaking if this were to happen I think the cops would pretty much be on the side of the driver, and if the passenger was at all animated they themselves may get into trouble with the cops.