Taxi driver refused fare - "Not going that way"

Columc

dolphin city wrote: »

jeez ya must have been gasping for a cuppa tae to be going out at 3a.m. on a saturday night for a carton of milk

A quick note to you dolphin not every student drinks. Plenty of times I would be crawling out of squareyes at 5am on a friday night, drunk on video games.


From what TheCosmicFrog have said, he had full rights to go into the taxi, even quoting the taxi regulations. And also he inst complaining of not going into it, as ther was no hassle for him just to get the next taxi i nthe rank, he was just stating this on boards and asked the question if anyone else had this happen to them.

This just proves that the taxi situation in Galway and Ireland needs to go under invsetigations. The traffic Taxis cause on the roads due to queing is ridiculas(foster street, bridge street/millstreet) and the increase of taxi drivers within the last 5+ years is incrediable.

westies4ever

i was refused by a taxi driver in inchicore a few years ago. it was new years eve (well new years day early morning). I had been at my brothers house. we flagged down a taxi to get home to fairview on the northside.

his reason was that 'it was miles away - on the other side of the city'! when i told him that was the point - otherwise i'd walk - he got thick and drove off.

i'd had a few drinks but i wasnt too bad - def not bad enough to refuse to take me. we were stranded for a good hour after that.

SONIC2008

In Ennis at night on weekends, a limited few taxi drivers often refuse the longer journeys. I have been advised their reason for doing this is because they make more money from people just going 1 mile by charging them the minimum fare.

Columc

SONIC2008 wrote: »

In Ennis at night on weekends, a limited few taxi drivers often refuse the longer journeys. I have been advised their reason for doing this is because they make more money from people just going 1 mile by charging them the minimum fare.

Is there much compition in Ennis for taxis?

Bobeagleburger

If you'd have got in first before askng I doubt he would have refused.

Spook_ie

There is also the possibility that you would have been taking him out of his "comfort zone".

I know that I don't really like being taken to areas of Dublin that I don't know inside out, just because there are too many nooks and crannies where the seasoned fare jumper will take you to, sad to say almost all of my fare jumpers involve the student fraternity and as such I have often refused them, unless they are prepared to comply with a "cash on the dash" request ( pay up in advance and settle the difference on arrival! )

Columc

Spook_ie wrote: »

There is also the possibility that you would have been taking him out of his "comfort zone".

Comfort zone or not, from taxi regulations he cannot refuse the fair if:

A taxi driver may reasonably refuse:
To undertake journeys of more than 30km;
To allow passengers to consume food or drink in the vehicle;
To carry, or continue to carry, passengers who are acting in a disorderly, abusive or offensive manner; and
To carry, or continue to carry, passengers who are likely to soil or damage the vehicle.

If going to certain areas is out of his comfort zone he shouldnt be a taxi driver!

With having the taxi doors locked and the window down, and also being first in a long taxi rank, he wants to force the customers to the window saying "going xyz" if he finds that its a long enough journey were he can get enough money from he will take them, if not he just passes them on. Generally most costumers will, the very few will actually start giving out about the taxi regulations, and want to force him to drive you... then wouldn't that be an awkward conversation

Spook_ie

Columc wrote: »

Comfort zone or not, from taxi regulations he cannot refuse the fair if:

A taxi driver may reasonably refuse:
To undertake journeys of more than 30km;
To allow passengers to consume food or drink in the vehicle;
To carry, or continue to carry, passengers who are acting in a disorderly, abusive or offensive manner; and
To carry, or continue to carry, passengers who are likely to soil or damage the vehicle.

If going to certain areas is out of his comfort zone he shouldnt be a taxi driver!

With having the taxi doors locked and the window down, and also being first in a long taxi rank, he wants to force the customers to the window saying "going xyz" if he finds that its a long enough journey were he can get enough money from he will take them, if not he just passes them on. Generally most costumers will, the very few will actually start giving out about the taxi regulations, and want to force him to drive you... then wouldn't that be an awkward conversation

For "comfort zone" re-read as meaning " I don't trust you to pay the fare "

Unreasonable refusal of service

Taxi drivers may not unreasonably refuse service for journeys of 30km or less.

If for ANY reason a taxi driver feels they may not get paid at the end of a fare that would be a reasonable reason to refuse the fare

dolphin city

I refer to my previous points. I think people on here think that it is their god given right to get into a taxi, act however they want, no questions asked.

I would ask especially students to consider the point of the taxi driver - do you actually sit down and think about what they go through especially with students - and I have no qualms about saying that.

Again if the taxi man refused this person it must be for a reason - after all most of their business at this time of night is local . We can only take the word of the person writing here, who, at the end of the day can say whatever they want.

Just bear in mind that taxi drivers are not there for students abuse.

Dan_Solo

dolphin city wrote: »

I refer to my previous points. I think people on here think that it is their god given right to get into a taxi, act however they want, no questions asked.

I would ask especially students to consider the point of the taxi driver - do you actually sit down and think about what they go through especially with students - and I have no qualms about saying that.

Again if the taxi man refused this person it must be for a reason - after all most of their business at this time of night is local . We can only take the word of the person writing here, who, at the end of the day can say whatever they want.

Just bear in mind that taxi drivers are not there for students abuse.

None of which has been brought up by anybody except you. I'm sure taxi drivers don't want their families hunted down and killed by blood crazed vampires, but that's equally irrelevant.
Stop trying to conflate this with "taxi driver abuse" to suit your agenda.

Dan_Solo

Spook_ie wrote: »

If for ANY reason a taxi driver feels they may not get paid at the end of a fare that would be a reasonable reason to refuse the fare

Really? Can you specify exactly where this is written into the regulations?

Spook_ie

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Really? Can you specify exactly where this is written into the regulations?

It would be upto a court to decide if the driver was being unreasonable for refusing a fare where he thought he was at risk of either not getting paid or being robbed, I'd stand up in court and use it as a defence with no hesitation.

That's the problem with terms like reasonable and unreasonable they can be very grey

Dan_Solo

Certainly all taxi ranks are (or should be) under CCTV. It'd be easy to spot when a punter was being abusive or too pissed for the taxi driver to handle.
This thread has nothing to do with that though. Posters are saying it has nothing to do with the person or the destination, only the distance to the destination.

JimiTime

TheCosmicFrog wrote: »

So I had an interesting experience a few hours ago, the first of my kind in Galway. I'm a frequent taxi customer in the city. Usually it's a simple case of "Hello, can I go to <destination> please? Thank you.", but tonight (around 3am) I went to the head of the taxi queue in Eyre Square and, as the driver had his front window down, I asked as a courtesy, "Are you okay to go to <destination>?" I was pretty surprised to hear the driver say, "Sorry, I'm not going that direction."

Direction? This is Galway, not London. The city isn't big enough to have "directions".

I moved on and hopped into another taxi. I asked the driver, out of curiosity, if such a thing happens regularly in Galway. He sounded pretty surprised and told me I should have taken his roof number and contacted the Taxi Regulator. When I asked why he thought the first guy had refused me in my "direction", the driver said, "Your fare probably wasn't high enough for him." I live about a ten minute drive from Eyre Square, which I thought would have been an average fare distance anyway. I just checked the Taxi Regulator website and spotted this line:

Unreasonable refusal of service
Taxi drivers may not unreasonably refuse service for journeys of 30km or less.


It's hard to put a definition on what "unreasonable" refusal of service is, but I reckon this probably falls under it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not annoyed in the slightest. There were plenty of other taxis to choose from, I was just a little embarrassed. I felt like I was rejected by a taxi driver, like my business wasn't good enough for him.


Has anyone experienced this before in Galway, or elsewhere?

Happened to me on Parliament street in Dublin. Hopped in and asked to be taken to Chapelizod and he said, 'Sorry, I'm going towards Raheny'. I was already in the cab, so I politely said, 'Sorry, but you are not a bus, and when I beckoned you, you pulled in.' He said, 'All right, fair enough' and away we went. I think some may just chance their arm.

You should see some of them loosing it at Dublin Airport if someone gets in and asks for Swords or Santry. They are not allowed refuse service, but from reports I've heard, its now a regular occurance there.

dolphin city

Dan_Solo wrote: »

None of which has been brought up by anybody except you. I'm sure taxi drivers don't want their families hunted down and killed by blood crazed vampires, but that's equally irrelevant.
Stop trying to conflate this with "taxi driver abuse" to suit your agenda.

don't get upset now, because I brought up the "other point of view". As I say, taxi's get a bad rap but nobody stops to think what they have to go through.

It is always good to look at the other point of view - although students overall think their opinions are the only ones that count, but they grow out of that when the leave college.

Also, I would suggest that there was a valid reason why the taxi man would not take this specific local fare, when at that time of night they thrive on local fares.

maybe I touched a raw point with you??

By the way, there is no such thing as vampires.

littlejp

Where do students come into it? Have you even read the original post?

The only reason the taxi driver gave him was that he wasn't going that direction. That is not a valid reason. Nothing to do with risk of fare jumping, drunken mess... Nothing like that. The taxi driver was just picking and choosing his fares, which he's not aloud to do.

Spook_ie

littlejp wrote: »

Where do students come into it? Have you even read the original post?

The only reason the taxi driver gave him was that he wasn't going that direction. That is not a valid reason. Nothing to do with risk of fare jumping, drunken mess... Nothing like that. The taxi driver was just picking and choosing his fares, which he's not aloud to do.

Not being there I can't agree or disagree with you but when I decide that a fare is probably entailing a risk of more trouble than it's worth I use any and all kinds of excuses to get out of it, usualy I'd look for an excuse that could be deemed reasonable and that isn't likely to lead to things escalating beyond the " All taxi drivers are bastards" stage, needing to get diesel is always a good one, especialy if the garage is in the opposite direction

No I daresay that sometimes I have avoided/declined fares that would not have been any bother ( as regards getting paid etc. ) but I'd sooner lose the money than run the risk, once bitten twice shy

dolphin city

littlejp wrote: »

Where do students come into it? Have you even read the original post?

The only reason the taxi driver gave him was that he wasn't going that direction. That is not a valid reason. Nothing to do with risk of fare jumping, drunken mess... Nothing like that. The taxi driver was just picking and choosing his fares, which he's not aloud to do.

were you sitting beside him then? Unless you were you don't actually know what happened. This is what I mean about giving the other perspective. People read the original post and just assume its accurate and proceed to slate the other person/party. Instead of thinking logically.

Columc

Whats with all the arguing, he got refused, he went to the next taxi in the rank and he got home, he just wondering if it ever happened to anyone befor.

Dan_Solo

dolphin city wrote: »

don't get upset now, because I brought up the "other point of view". As I say, taxi's get a bad rap but nobody stops to think what they have to go through.

Why are you pretending I am upset? You don't agree with me so you're "upset" too I guess!
Every job has its sob story, but that's irrelevant to whether taxi drivers can refuse fares because they don't think there's enough in it for them. Doctors work long hours and get plenty of abuse from patients, but they can't tell one to f*** off because the operation is too long for them to be bothered!

dolphin city wrote: »

It is always good to look at the other point of view - although students overall think their opinions are the only ones that count, but they grow out of that when the leave college.

What has "students" to do with anything? This is about being refused a fare due to the driver thinking he won't make a lot of money. Why are you bringing in "abuse of taxi drivers" or "opinionated students"? Where are these covered in the legislation?

dolphin city wrote: »

Also, I would suggest that there was a valid reason why the taxi man would not take this specific local fare, when at that time of night they thrive on local fares.

I would suggest we trust the OP instead of assuming he's a liar. That's pretty normal I'd have thought!

dolphin city wrote: »

maybe I touched a raw point with you??

Lame in the extreme. What an utterly pathetic, tedious line. Maybe you're a taxi driver who likes to refuse fares that don't make you "enough" money, huh? Just a wild guess...

dolphin city wrote: »

By the way, there is no such thing as vampires.

And there's no such thing as taxi drivers refusing fares for no good reason except their own greed.
Oh, wait, there is!

BTW... GOD BLESS DEREGULATION.
There was a time when this kind of crap would've meant a walk home in the rain. Now there's 50 other cabs queuing for my business!

Dan_Solo

dolphin city wrote: »

were you sitting beside him then? Unless you were you don't actually know what happened. This is what I mean about giving the other perspective. People read the original post and just assume its accurate and proceed to slate the other person/party. Instead of thinking logically.

Assuming from the off that a poster is lying is not "thinking logically" by any known definition of the phrase.

dolphin city

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Assuming from the off that a poster is lying is not "thinking logically" by any known definition of the phrase.

well the only people that know the true story are the taximan and the person that was refused. To take the word of one, over the other, when the other is not around to defend the action, would be silly. Therefore unless you just want to blindly believe everything you are told, you need to try and see the story from all angles, not just the one you are told.

dolphin city

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Why are you pretending I am upset? You don't agree with me so you're "upset" too I guess!
Every job has its sob story, but that's irrelevant to whether taxi drivers can refuse fares because they don't think there's enough in it for them. Doctors work long hours and get plenty of abuse from patients, but they can't tell one to f*** off because the operation is too long for them to be bothered!

What has "students" to do with anything? This is about being refused a fare due to the driver thinking he won't make a lot of money. Why are you bringing in "abuse of taxi drivers" or "opinionated students"? Where are these covered in the legislation?

I would suggest we trust the OP instead of assuming he's a liar. That's pretty normal I'd have thought!

Lame in the extreme. What an utterly pathetic, tedious line. Maybe you're a taxi driver who likes to refuse fares that don't make you "enough" money, huh? Just a wild guess...

And there's no such thing as taxi drivers refusing fares for no good reason except their own greed.
Oh, wait, there is!

BTW... GOD BLESS DEREGULATION.
There was a time when this kind of crap would've meant a walk home in the rain. Now there's 50 other cabs queuing for my business!

hey,keep your thong on

Dan_Solo

dolphin city wrote: »

well the only people that know the true story are the taximan and the person that was refused. To take the word of one, over the other, when the other is not around to defend the action, would be silly. Therefore unless you just want to blindly believe everything you are told, you need to try and see the story from all angles, not just the one you are told.

That's a rubbish argument. We can't assume everybody who gives a personal testimony here is lying. Maybe you're lying and you're a greedy taxi driver who likes to break the regulations by refusing fares too? I mean, we have to consider all the possibilities, don't we?:rolleyes:

Spook_ie

Dan_Solo wrote: »

That's a rubbish argument. We can't assume everybody who gives a personal testimony here is lying. Maybe you're lying and you're a greedy taxi driver who likes to break the regulations by refusing fares too? I mean, we have to consider all the possibilities, don't we?:rolleyes:

dolphin city wrote: »

were you sitting beside him then? Unless you were you don't actually know what happened. This is what I mean about giving the other perspective. People read the original post and just assume its accurate and proceed to slate the other person/party. Instead of thinking logically.

Have to agree withn both of you here, but never the less, making the assumption that the fare was turned down because of waiting for a "better" fare is not helpfull, I know I don't turn down fares often but when I do it's not because of the distance or lack of distance but usualy because the 1st impression given by the customer does not warrant my trusting them to be a good customer

biko

Dan/Dolphin, please play nice.
If this thread descends more into a 2-person quarrel it'll not work out.

Columc

Hey, lucky you didnt get into the taxi straight away, or else you might end likes these guys.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/nyregion/07taxi.html

Just happened a day after your story.

Also, the taxi driver signed and agreed to the taxi regulations to follow, he broke them by refusing TheCosmicFrog but yet keeping a spot in the taxi rank. TheCosmicFrog done noting wrong, the taxi driver has. Simple as that, under rules they need to accpet him if the journey is under 30Km. if he dosent like those rules then find a new job!

TheCosmicFrog

Dan_Solo and dolphin city, please take your arguments to PM.

dolphin city is taking a defensive stance for taxi drivers against the student population. Fair enough, I've heard plenty of first-hand abuse from fellow students the morning after a night out. But I repeat again, it was a Saturday night, therefore there were no students around. It was extremely quiet at the taxi rank. I didn't have to queue, I just went to the first taxi. I wasn't drinking at any stage that evening.

I'll give the benefit of the doubt to the driver on what he said. It was quiet, late and there was a huge queue of taxis in the square. Maybe he wanted one last fare on his way home, in his direction. It was a bit embarrassing, but I got over it. I didn't come on here asking who to complain to, or how to get him in trouble, I just wanted to know if it happens regularly, since it never happened to me before. Thanks to the posters in this thread, I can see it's pretty standard for many drivers.

Dan_Solo

TheCosmicFrog wrote: »

Dan_Solo and dolphin city, please take your arguments to PM.

Er, no? I'll post what I like unless I break boards.ie policy, thanks all the same mate.

Spook_ie

Columc wrote: »

Hey, lucky you didnt get into the taxi straight away, or else you might end likes these guys.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/nyregion/07taxi.html

Just happened a day after your story.

Also, the taxi driver signed and agreed to the taxi regulations to follow, he broke them by refusing TheCosmicFrog but yet keeping a spot in the taxi rank. TheCosmicFrog done noting wrong, the taxi driver has. Simple as that, under rules they need to accpet him if the journey is under 30Km. if he dosent like those rules then find a new job!

Again have to agree partly with you, the reason given would not be a reasonable reason, however, I've myself used unreasonable reasons to avoid dubious fares just because if I were to tell anything like the truth " I don't trust you, you look/sound like a scumbag " would be tantramount to declaring war! it's called tact and diplomacy. Having said that unless the taxi driver is a user of boards we could speculate for ever and a day.

@OP Yes it happens, I wouldn't get worked up over it like some posters, you did the right thing just take another taxi