Taxi

ronbyrne2005

If a taxi firm offered a third of all fares at all times would you use it and would you use taxis more? How sensitive to price are taxi users?

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

January

Well there's a taxi company offering 20% off the metered fare at all times and I use it all the time... so yes I would!

Ste.phen

adrieanne__x wrote: »

Well there's a taxi company offering 20% off the metered fare at all times and I use it all the time... so yes I would!

Ditto, If I need a cab in advance I only book cabs with 8202020 now. Shame there's not cabs on the street advertising the same deal, if there were i'd only get those

blahblah06

I work for 8202020 good to see return customers.

Ps I advertise 20% off on my cab all day everyday

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

ronbyrne2005

Ste.phen wrote: »

Ditto, If I need a cab in advance I only book cabs with 8202020 now. Shame there's not cabs on the street advertising the same deal, if there were i'd only get those

Maybe if cabs had a sign on their taxi sign( that sounds weird!) that indicated that they were willing to to do a deal at at least 25% discount to fare price more people would use taxis. Maybe overpaid taxi regulator needs to lower fares if it would mean more fares fo taxi men/women.

james116

have a look a the list of the prices of other taxis around europe and let me khow what u think and as for u blahblah06 most of ur cars never turn up and the rest of us do the work for u (at full price)

Taxipete29

james116 wrote: »

have a look a the list of the prices of other taxis around europe and let me khow what u think and as for u blahblah06 most of ur cars never turn up and the rest of us do the work for u (at full price)

Another bitter driver, the ranks are full of your kind and do you know what, nobody cares. Your actually quite sad.

blahblah06

james116 wrote: »

have a look a the list of the prices of other taxis around europe and let me khow what u think and as for u blahblah06 most of ur cars never turn up and the rest of us do the work for u (at full price)

lol brilliant. classic example as an arsehole taxi driver who is afraid of competition. Reduce your prices and you will keep your customers happy and you will be kept busy instead of sitting on ranks from a taxi driver to a taxi driver who understands our customer base. Be an arse to them and you will be out of a job.

Ps aint you the guy that posted a thread on the taxi forum giving out about me a few weeks back ?

this was it http://irishtaxi.org/forum/index.php?topic=2897.0

Thoie

How does this fare reduction work when it comes to paying tax? If drivers are offering 20% off the metered fare, is that recorded on the meter as well? Or would Revenue assume that the full fare on the meter was received, and therefore taxable?

james116

as the saying go's if u work for nothing u will always be busy and its rare i am on ranks cos i have a lot of my own work (at full price)lol

the boss of me

Thoie wrote: »

How does this fare reduction work when it comes to paying tax? If drivers are offering 20% off the metered fare, is that recorded on the meter as well? Or would Revenue assume that the full fare on the meter was received, and therefore taxable?

AFAIK revenue don't read meters when assessing tax liability.

On the 30% discount thing .... imo it's a non runner. Daytime fares in particular are not really expensive that anyway. Eg.I took a taxi last week from Eden Quay to Artane Castle (about 6km). The fare came to €10.50 which I would consider quite reasonable. If it was discounted by 30% it would be €7.50. It just isn't possible to run a profitable taxi business charging those prices.

Thoie

the boss of me wrote: »

AFAIK revenue don't read meters when assessing tax liability.

On the 30% discount thing .... imo it's a non runner. Daytime fares in particular are not really expensive that anyway. Eg.I took a taxi last week from Eden Quay to Artane Castle (about 6km). The fare came to €10.50 which I would consider quite reasonable. If it was discounted by 30% it would be €7.50. It just isn't possible to run a profitable taxi business charging those prices.

Maybe it would work if you offered a discount on fares over €x ?

While it's standard to work out wear and tear on a car based on mileage, etc., I'd imagine there is a greater percentage profit in a €20 fare than a €5 (but I'm open to correction).

Completely off topic, but why isn't the meter used for calculating income?

blahblah06

james116 wrote: »

as the saying go's if u work for nothing u will always be busy and its rare i am on ranks cos i have a lot of my own work (at full price)lol

I'm not working for nothing taxi fares are to high and the hike was crazy of 8% at least we will always be busy with 20% I bet you your feeling it harder then me obviously are if ur complaining which is all you seem to do

January

james116 wrote: »

have a look a the list of the prices of other taxis around europe and let me khow what u think and as for u blahblah06 most of ur cars never turn up and the rest of us do the work for u (at full price)

Can't say I've ever had a problem with the company blahblah06 works for... and I'd be a regular taxi user, I don't drive so I get a taxi to the creche in the mornings with my daughter and never once had to phone an alternative company.

david

I live in the city centre and have a car so the amount of times I book taxis in advance are very rare.

I most often flag a taxi down so sign writing advertising the discount would convince me to use them more often.

blahblah06

adrieanne__x wrote: »

Can't say I've ever had a problem with the company blahblah06 works for... and I'd be a regular taxi user, I don't drive so I get a taxi to the creche in the mornings with my daughter and never once had to phone an alternative company.

I think I know who u are. Very regular customer to 820

blahblah06

david wrote: »

I live in the city centre and have a car so the amount of times I book taxis in advance are very rare.

I most often flag a taxi down so sign writing advertising the discount would convince me to use them more often.

the problem here with advertising otherr cab is how would u c it when ur flagging one down. From experience ppl just put there hand out.
I even thought of getting a full body wrap but it doesn't seem viable

james116

the boss of me wrote: »

AFAIK revenue don't read meters when assessing tax liability.

On the 30% discount thing .... imo it's a non runner. Daytime fares in particular are not really expensive that anyway. Eg.I took a taxi last week from Eden Quay to Artane Castle (about 6km). The fare came to €10.50 which I would consider quite reasonable. If it was discounted by 30% it would be €7.50. It just isn't possible to run a profitable taxi business charging those prices.

wow somebody with something other that air in there head on here somebody gets it at last.

james116

blahblah06 wrote: »

the problem here with advertising otherr cab is how would u c it when ur flagging one down. From experience ppl just put there hand out.
I even thought of getting a full body wrap but it doesn't seem viable[/quote as i said to everybody last nite if u work for nothing u will allways be busy.

james116

blahblah06 wrote: »

I'm not working for nothing taxi fares are to high and the hike was crazy of 8% at least we will always be busy with 20% I bet you your feeling it harder then me obviously are if ur complaining which is all you seem to do

i see the time on ur post was 3.51 where u working last nite cos i must be doing something right cos i was out tonite for dinner and only work monday to friday so i must be doing something right.and 1 more thing if u want to bring this down to name calling we can do that u was only be a short time in the game cos u think we are too dear u must have other income comeing in.

bk

james116 wrote: »

i see the time on ur post was 3.51 where u working last nite cos i must be doing something right cos i was out tonite for dinner and only work monday to friday so i must be doing something right

Talking to the taxi driver who dropped me home at 5am last night, he said last night was almost as busy as new years eve, literally one of the busiest nights of all year and that he had done savage business.

Why wouldn't you have worked a night like last night?

Calina

I would like it if a taxi thread could remain civil by my standards (by which I mean this one is already gone) for once. In other words, stop narking at each other and retrieve this one or I will close it.

I also have a zero tolerance for text speak.

so james116 and blahblah06 knock off the points scoring and knock off the textspeak, is that clear? Text speak is universally reviled across this site and in many places results in bans; that's if you don't get banned for trying to score points off one another.

james116

ok no more txt talk

james116

bk wrote: »

Talking to the taxi driver who dropped me home at 5am last night, he said last night was almost as busy as new years eve, literally one of the busiest nights of all year and that he had done savage business.

Why wouldn't you have worked a night like last night?

i have a lot of my own work during the week so i don't have to work weekends and its always messie on nites like last nite.

blahblah06

bk wrote: »

Talking to the taxi driver who dropped me home at 5am last night, he said last night was almost as busy as new years eve, literally one of the busiest nights of all year and that he had done savage business.

Why wouldn't you have worked a night like last night?

Yup im the same work monday to friday 8 hours a day I like to enjoy my weekends as much as the next guy

blahblah06

james116 wrote: »

i see the time on ur post was 3.51 where u working last nite cos i must be doing something right cos i was out tonite for dinner and only work monday to friday so i must be doing something right.and 1 more thing if u want to bring this down to name calling we can do that u was only be a short time in the game cos u think we are too dear u must have other income comeing in.

actually no i was at my bros house party if you must know. I am in the game 4 years actually I just use my head when it comes to it. Whats the point in complaining about it. As people have said here before they hate taxi drivers giving out. I personally listen to what the customer wants and needs and I believe this is why I am good at my job

james116

i think then we will leave it at that so what do u think.

Spook_ie

I think you is both mad.

Anyway here's a question for you both to ponder.

Given that blahblah reckons that the 20% off is the next best thing to sliced bread, what effect ( if any ) does he think the proposed new company that's offering 25% of all fares is going to have?

Just how much discount will you be prepared to offer in a price war? 30% 40% maybe more?

Terrontress

I'd imagine that it will go til the market finds equilibrium. When the drivers find that it is no longer worth their while to offer it then they will stop reducing their fares. Simples.

roy123456789

blahblah06 wrote: »

I'm not working for nothing taxi fares are to high and the hike was crazy of 8% at least we will always be busy with 20% I bet you your feeling it harder then me obviously are if ur complaining which is all you seem to do

Maybe you're too thick to realise that you now need a minimum of 20 more work in order to just break even , more if you add in the extra fuel/wear and tear on the car, and spook is right, Charlies is about to start up with 25% off, soon someone else will try 30%......NRC are offering up to 40% to get back their corporate account customers from Ebbs, the race to the bottom hots up .......meanwhile taxi drivers are killing themselves (literally)
do you really think your price conscious regulars will give you a second thought when Mr 25% discount comes along.
You should have stuck to your guns, offered a quality service in a quality car at full price, because of you and your like the standards are dropping through the floor and are set to fall even further (unless the enforced standards due by the regulator forces you and your 87 Carina back to the scrapheap where you belong)

@terontress, The market economy has been found wanting, left to it own devices and unregulated it falls through the floor

blahblah06

roy123456789 wrote: »

Maybe you're too thick to realise that you now need a minimum of 20 more work in order to just break even , more if you add in the extra fuel/wear and tear on the car, and spook is right, Charlies is about to start up with 25% off, soon someone else will try 30%......NRC are offering up to 40% to get back their corporate account customers from Ebbs, the race to the bottom hots up .......meanwhile taxi drivers are killing themselves (literally)
do you really think your price conscious regulars will give you a second thought when Mr 25% discount comes along.
You should have stuck to your guns, offered a quality service in a quality car at full price, because of you and your like the standards are dropping through the floor and are set to fall even further (unless the enforced standards due by the regulator forces you and your 87 Carina back to the scrapheap where you belong)

@terontress, The market economy has been found wanting, left to it own devices and unregulated it falls through the floor

eh roy I think you will find I dont drive anything like an 87 carina. get your facts right. If your annoyed about the competition and yet complain that theres not enough work out there what exactly are you doing to compete?

roy123456789

blahblah06 wrote: »

eh roy I think you will find I dont drive anything like an 87 carina. get your facts right. If your annoyed about the competition and yet complain that theres not enough work out there what exactly are you doing to compete?

I don't have a clue what you drive, but I see a lot of the cars in the noel ebbs fleet of companies are of very poor quality.
Funny I knew you'd pick on the one off the cuff remark that wasn't backed up by fact.......care to comment on the rest of the post.

Me? I drive a one year old executive car with leather seats and air con, I arrive on time when people book me and speak only when spoken to.
I do Deals only when the journey exceeds 50 kilometers, for fares such as these I give substantial discounts as the fares involved are quite high and coming to an arrangement is mutually beneficial.....giving 20% off a fare of €10 or less after waiting for 40 minutes to get it (I see global/city cab drivers sitting around on ranks just the same as me) and then driving around housing estates looking for the house number involved is IMO crazy!

blahblah06

I drive an 07 car air con etc also. Id love to know have you actually used 820 or are these just rumours you have heard. I for one have never been 40 mins late for any call with the company involved. I also do drive around a housing estate looking for house numbers who doesnt unless you use a sat nav ey roy.

We all lose customers and gain them but can you also say that the 20% offer has not lost you customers? I know for a fact our work load has increased 10 fold and Im quite happy to offer the 20% instead of sitting on the ranks. We do get 20% more work I havent seen a drop in wages this year but hey if I have to give one job free out of the whole day to balance everything out Im happy as I dont be left waiting around ranks bitching and striking about the competition in the taxi game.

Things have gone from bad to worse but if you cant beat them you gotta join them to keep the food on your table

Calina

roy123456789 wrote: »

Maybe you're too thick to realise ....

If I see one more comment like this from you you will be taking a holiday from this forum.

Terrontress

Roy, the maximum fare has been set at a level which most consumers find too high. This has been borne out in these threads for years. A barrier to people taking taxis has been the price. 2020 are dealing with that barrier.

We have all travelled in a late eighties dirtbox for full fare so the quality of the car is not foremost in the consumer's mind as long as it shows up in good time. You are just as likely to get junk for full price.

If it goes to a 30% cut, you'll find several drivers refusing to drive for that company. The company will be unable to meet their customers' demand, customers will phone the 20% company.

It really is that simple.

Spook_ie

I actualy think too many of you try to take the simplistic view.


The effect is very similar to a pyramid scheme, those that are in early like blah blah benefit greatly from people giving extra business to 2020 cabs, but the company take on more drivers to cover the work load ( and increase their own profits by €120 per unit per week ) thus the drivers get less work. Conversly other companies get in on the act and offer their own better discount schemes ( 25% off coming soon, January 2010 ) so the customers migrate to the new conmpany and further decrease the drivers earnings. So then after a while someone decides to go upto 30% discount and so forth.

In the long run, it's going to be very similar to what happened to the property market, boom and bust and believe me I think if you're a taxi driver and you think it's bad now, wait until it goes bust. Like wise if you're a customer, when it goes bust you aren't going to get your reliable, on time, modern taxi at your beck n call 24 hours a day, 365 days a week because taxi drivers won't be able to afford to provide it.

So where does that leave it, the NYC way of a few companies owning the taxi plates ( like the medallions of NY ) and taxi drivers queueing to hire a car for a shift? ( not a prospect I'd look forward to ) can't find the url but when I do I'll add it or maybe the African way of having taxis plying defined ( and defended ) routes with overloaded minibuses? http://www.therichmarksentinel.com/rs_articles.asp?catid=2&recid=799http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article155130.ece( again not something I'd look forward to )

Terrontress

No, we will not get any of those models operating here.

What is the issue? Consumers find taxis too expensive. Some taxis are prepared to discount. How can we know whether a taxi will discount? Through phoning a dedicated number.

There is an oversupply of taxis. What does Tesco do when it has two million extra cans of coke in its warehouse? It discounts them.

It really is so simple and I think to state otherwise is just being obtuse.

There has always been a demand for less expensive taxis but no mechanism by which to guarantee getting one. Now there is. But there will come a time where taxi drivers consider it not worth their while to discount further given the extra business it is getting them. Hey presto. Market equilibrium.

blahblah06

I'd like to add one point. There is no extra drivers been hired just ones that leave are been replaced and at a slower level which includes having to be interviewed before been given a radio

roy123456789

Terrontress wrote: »

Roy, the maximum fare has been set at a level which most consumers find too high. This has been borne out in these threads for years. A barrier to people taking taxis has been the price. 2020 are dealing with that barrier.

We have all travelled in a late eighties dirtbox for full fare so the quality of the car is not foremost in the consumer's mind as long as it shows up in good time. You are just as likely to get junk for full price.

If it goes to a 30% cut, you'll find several drivers refusing to drive for that company. The company will be unable to meet their customers' demand, customers will phone the 20% company.

It really is that simple.

It really isn't.
Left to it's own devices, for examples see banking/property, the market collapses, the "Let the market decide" mantra is one for the history books, that's what has gotten us to where we are now, both in the global economy and in the micro economy of the Taxi business.
You're right there is an over supply of Taxis (that's the initial problem that must be resolved) because of that over supply a fare increase was decided upon by Goodbody Stockbrokers (one of your lot) in order to allow drivers to earn the required income (much to the distain of the Taxi drivers themselves)
There is a defined number of Taxi journeys taken each year (reducing in a declining economy) and introducing lower fares means drivers require more journeys to be taken each year in order to just break even.
As more and more driver are forced into the discount model with less journeys being taken..........standard will drop as described in Spookies post because once fares start going down it's extremely difficult for any individual company to bring them back up again.

bladespin

Bit late in but I'd definately use them, they'd be going into speed dial as fast as possible, don't know about using taxis more though, going out is a bit expensive these days so we've cut back a little.

Anyone tryinng something like this should be rewarded for their effort IMO.

Cionád

Xpert West do this too. They delivered cards to the houses in my area, good for 20% off the meter. Not sure if regular Xpert did the same?

Terrontress

roy123456789 wrote: »

It really isn't.
Left to it's own devices, for examples see banking/property, the market collapses, the "Let the market decide" mantra is one for the history books, that's what has gotten us to where we are now, both in the global economy and in the micro economy of the Taxi business.
You're right there is an over supply of Taxis (that's the initial problem that must be resolved) because of that over supply a fare increase was decided upon by Goodbody Stockbrokers (one of your lot) in order to allow drivers to earn the required income (much to the distain of the Taxi drivers themselves)
There is a defined number of Taxi journeys taken each year (reducing in a declining economy) and introducing lower fares means drivers require more journeys to be taken each year in order to just break even.
As more and more driver are forced into the discount model with less journeys being taken..........standard will drop as described in Spookies post because once fares start going down it's extremely difficult for any individual company to bring them back up again.

What would a collapse of the taxi market look like?

As long as there are people who want to pay to go somewhere then there will be taxis. If things get bad then people will get out, making it more profitable for those in it and then more people will try to get in. And so the number of taxis will rise and fall beneath the ideal number. Of course the ideal number will decrease if public transport improves as well as for the economic reasons you mention.

I wish I could draw a graph on here!

Coriolanus

http://www.drawanywhere.com/

Anyway, I've used 202020 (even if the ads on radio are godawful) when I do occassionally need a taxi. I've never found them to be late or driving old cars. Maybe not 09 mercs but honestly, if I cared that much about what I'm seen to arrive in I'd be ringing for a limousine not a taxi.

Pablo Sanchez

To be honest i would have been happy to pay 133% normal fare in the rain on Saturday night but do you think anyone stopped...........!! (OT i know)

mikemac

Our local taxi firm drops around vouchers, no call out fee.

Ok, it's not 20% off but it's better then many of the main companies will do for you.

roy123456789

Terrontress wrote: »

What would a collapse of the taxi market look like?

As long as there are people who want to pay to go somewhere then there will be taxis. If things get bad then people will get out, making it more profitable for those in it and then more people will try to get in. And so the number of taxis will rise and fall beneath the ideal number. Of course the ideal number will decrease if public transport improves as well as for the economic reasons you mention.

I wish I could draw a graph on here!

Get out and go where exactly?
No, what will happen is drivers will replace cars less often, get them serviced less often, cleaned less often, run on bald tyres and worn brake pads, work longer hours and crash more often, tout for trade and generally operate illegally.
I cannot believe there are people out there still married to the market economy, no need for regulation, it'll all work itself out and everybody will be grand

Spook_ie

blahblah06 wrote: »

I'd like to add one point. There is no extra drivers been hired just ones that leave are been replaced and at a slower level which includes having to be interviewed before been given a radio

Wonder why anyone would be leaving if it's so rosy?

Also wonder how many taxi drivers are going to respond to the advert in the Herald for City Cabs rentals ( correct me if I'm wrong, part of 2020 cabs ) and the advert in the same edition for Global's need for drivers ( again correct me if I'm wrong part of 2020 cabs )

blahblah06

Doesn't matter how many reply only the amount that leave will be replaced as I've said before. U can't comment on something u don't know about

regarding ur comment in people leaving well some ppl in every job just ain't up for the work

blahblah06

Actually meant to say I don't think the rentals yellow cars are part of 820 the only cars are that have global on them and even some of them ain't on it