Ripped of in Cab

Mr. Incognito

I got a taxi from Rathmines to Heuston to collect my girlfriend last night and back again.

Between 21:17 and 21:50 and it cost me €24.25.

The Tariff was set to Tariff "C" which is the highest Tariff, it should have been A.

Once my girlfriend had alighted I asked for a receipt- Once I had the receipt I pointed out that the Tariff was set incorrectly and the taxi driver refused to accept this even thought the tariff rates are printed in black and white in the front of the cab.

I have made a complaint to the Regulator this morning. Do they really have any teeth to do anything about this?

bamboozle

i'd email George hook @ the right hook, he spends a lot of time on his shows talking about the taxi trade & giving out about the toothless regulator.

dunnariogh

the regulator is a joke,you should have refused to pay and called the guards.

maxer68

dunnariogh wrote: »

the regulator is a joke,you should have refused to pay and called the guards.

The regulator has nothing to do with overcharging - the carraige office looks after this and the carraige office is operated by the gardai.

To the OP

Rathmines to heuston = 6.5km.

Did you call taxi? - If so, the initial part from Rathmines to Heuston should have been €14. (€12 if you hailed one on the street) Then extra €1 for extra passenger & 6.5km @1.35/ km back to rathmines. Total = about €24.

rebeve

Once you have a receipt ,the driver is in deep merde.Regulator will take complaint very seriously .

allthedoyles

According to AARoadwatch routeplanner , Rathmines to Heuston takes 6 minutes and is 4.18km .

The OP paid € 24.25 , and my calculator tells me that the taxi was paid the following :

• € 5.80 per km
• € 242.50 per hour ( pro-rata )

davo10

allthedoyles wrote: »

According to AARoadwatch routeplanner , Rathmines to Heuston takes 6 minutes and is 4.18km .

The OP paid € 24.25 , and my calculator tells me that the taxi was paid the following :

• € 5.80 per km
• € 242.50 per hour ( pro-rata )

Though you post "pro rata", I suspect the €242.50 figure was to show he is overpaid. This figure assumes that he has a passenger every minute of every hour, does not take into account the fuel costs for constant motion, tax on gross figure recorded on reciepts and I would assume that drivers have to pay a certain percentage to the company owner who they work for.

In all bone fide taxis, the reciept tells the story, if the wrong tarrif was applied on the reciept, ring the company and ask for an explanation, if none is forthcoming make a complaint. If you do not have a reciept though it is much more difficult to prove.

naoise80

Does the premium rate not apply after 8 pm ?

If so it sounds about right to me.

maxer68

allthedoyles wrote: »

According to AARoadwatch routeplanner , Rathmines to Heuston takes 6 minutes and is 4.18km .


The OP paid € 24.25 , and my calculator tells me that the taxi was paid the following :

• € 5.80 per km
• € 242.50 per hour ( pro-rata )

They have these things called traffic lights in Dublin. And if you did a correct route planner using the correct roads and obeying the one way and restricted turn signs, it would be just over 6km + another 6km back to rathmines (taking swan centre as pick up point)

Total 12km + extra passenger fee + call fee + initial fee for 1st km. @ after 8pm premium rate = approx €24.

allthedoyles

Mr. Incognito ,
Your question probably has been answered , whether it was a rip-off or not will appear to depend on personal opinion.

Going through the Rip Off Threads , I can easliy see a common denonimator , and that is that us consumers are told to sit down and accept many of the overcharging we see .

Time and materials is to blame for it all.

kippy

To be honest that fare sounds fair.
It was a round trip after all, 12 quid for a one way trip is something I have paid in the past myself for the exact same route at a similiar time.

foggy_lad

kippy wrote: »

To be honest that fare sounds fair.
It was a round trip after all, 12 quid for a one way trip is something I have paid in the past myself for the exact same route at a similiar time.

There is no way that the tariff should have bee set at C though as this only kicks in after several miles/km.

kippy

foggy_lad wrote: »

There is no way that the tariff should have bee set at C though as this only kicks in after several miles/km.

Are you sure, as mentioned above, that it doesnt kick in at certain times as well though:
If you use the calculator here (not entirely accurate) and tick the box to indicate a premium time, the fare (one way) ranges from 11.40 - 16.40 depending on traffic, for two people but without a booking fee.
"Check here if you are travelling at a premium time (20.00h - 8.00h & Sundays/Public holidays) "
http://taxiregulation.nationaltransport.ie/for-users/tax-fare-calculator/#method_explain

EDIT Apologies, I only spotted the date on the OP's post there. The tarrif shouldn't have been tarrif C as it was a normal week night from what I can see.
That is the issue I suppose . 9.60-14.40 is the estimated rate outside of the premium rate btw.

I wouldnt have much issue with the cost of that journey but yes, the issue with the rate is worth looking into.

naoise80

(20.00h - 8.00h & Sundays/Public holidays) "

The premium rate applies after 8 pm on weekdays.

kippy

naoise80 wrote: »

(20.00h - 8.00h & Sundays/Public holidays) "

The premium rate applies after 8 pm on weekdays.

Actually yeah, it does appear to apply after 8.

Mr. Incognito

Yes- I have the receipt and a copy was sent to the regulator.

The distance covered was 8.92K

I flagged him down so the extra's were set to 1.00

Fare was 23.25
Extra was 1.00 so Total was 24.25.

When I sat in the tariff was premium C. It should have been Premium A. It's a difference of 15C a minute or roughly 40 cent a km:

http://taxiregulation.nationaltransport.ie/for-users/tax-fare-calculator/

If he is doing this for everyone that sits into the cab that's a lot of ripping off.

keithclancy

I had something similar,

The Taxi Man tried charging for:

Unsociable hours (5 pounds)
Border Crossing fee (8 pounds)
And for extra bags (2 pounds/ bag, which was including a plastic bag I had with a bottle of water in it and a newspaper.

This was before the Taxi Regulator came in and was the total distance was 3 miles out near Clonee.

Total Cost - 27 pounds. perhaps because I wasn't from Dublin as well

I told him to f*ck off, gave him 8 quid, got out of the Cab, started walking into the house, he follows me going on about calling the Gardai, Uncle comes out, told him the story.

As soon as he realised my Uncle was a local he said "I'd be watching your back if I was you"

So went out, took his plate details and said we'd be filing a complaint, rang his boss and the Gardai detailing the complaint, no idea what happened to him after that.

But long story short, since Taxi Regulation came in things have improved massively.

foggy_lad

kippy wrote: »

Are you sure, as mentioned above, that it doesnt kick in at certain times as well though:
If you use the calculator here (not entirely accurate) and tick the box to indicate a premium time, the fare (one way) ranges from 11.40 - 16.40 depending on traffic, for two people but without a booking fee.
"Check here if you are travelling at a premium time (20.00h - 8.00h & Sundays/Public holidays) "
http://taxiregulation.nationaltransport.ie/for-users/tax-fare-calculator/#method_explain

EDIT Apologies, I only spotted the date on the OP's post there. The tarrif shouldn't have been tarrif C as it was a normal week night from what I can see.
That is the issue I suppose . 9.60-14.40 is the estimated rate outside of the premium rate btw.

I wouldnt have much issue with the cost of that journey but yes, the issue with the rate is worth looking into.

Tarriff C can only be used from the start of your journey on Christmas day and St Stephens day and New Years Day afaik on all other days it only kicks in after a certain distance/time has accrued

UglyBolloxFace

keithclancy wrote: »

I had something similar,

The Taxi Man tried charging for:

Unsociable hours (5 pounds)
Border Crossing fee (8 pounds)
And for extra bags (2 pounds/ bag, which was including a plastic bag I had with a bottle of water in it and a newspaper.

This was before the Taxi Regulator came in and was the total distance was 3 miles out near Clonee.

Total Cost - 27 pounds. perhaps because I wasn't from Dublin as well

I told him to f*ck off, gave him 8 quid, got out of the Cab, started walking into the house, he follows me going on about calling the Gardai, Uncle comes out, told him the story.

As soon as he realised my Uncle was a local he said "I'd be watching your back if I was you"

So went out, took his plate details and said we'd be filing a complaint, rang his boss and the Gardai detailing the complaint, no idea what happened to him after that.

But long story short, since Taxi Regulation came in things have improved massively.

You gave him 8 pounds? I'd be pissed of aswell...where is he meant to spend that currency?

kranbo

I was recently overcharged from Dublin Airport to Clonsilla. Have done this journey many times and the normal charge is €27 - €30(early afternoon 2 adults)

This time I was charged €36.50 .............. Don,t know how he done but he wasn,t impressed when I asked him for a receipt.

Per the regulators website the max fare at that time of the day is €34 for a 38 min journey (our was 24 mins). Anyway I submitted a complaint to the regulator's office 4 weeks ago - received a reply saying it was under investigation 3 days later. I await their response with interest.

okidoki987

Waste of time, the regulator does nothing.
What's the worst she will do to them?
Slap on the wrist and don't do it again....