Falsely accused of vomitting in taxi

Sprrratt

Last night 3 friends of mine got a taxi from the city centre to the north central area of Dublin and when one particular friend jumped out the taxi man noticed a spillage on the seat he was sitting on. Note that these friends were coming back from a nightclub but by no means were they beyond average intoxication levels.

The taxi man jumped out and asked him "did you get sick?" to which my friend
laughed thinking it was a joke but was shocked to see he was actually serious. Now the taxi man threatened to call the guards but is said to have been really hesitant to do so. Another friend meanwhile flagged a passing squad car. One of the guards, a bhean garda, proceded to go straight to the seat and admit that it was definitely not vomit (because it didnt have lumps in it) and said that it was probably beer. The guard didn't take any statement or take any action and simply concluded that the two parties should exchange numbers and sort it tomorrow when my friend had sobered completely.

So anyway today he calls my friend and says "the guards are calling me when their shift starts tonight so it's your call pal". He is demanding that my friend coughs up 60 euro for a valet service. He also is accusing my friend of being on drugs.

My friend is very nervous that if he has to defend himself in court or whatever that his parents may doubt him about the drugs (which of course is not true) and perhaps his college may too.

Any advice? I really think the guy is just a chancing scumbag. Much appreciated.

Tramps Like Us

Tell the taxi driver to fcuk off

Did you get that Garda's name/police number?

maximoose

Did your friend spill the beer?

Paulw

Ignore the taxi driver. Don't answer the calls.

OhThatsGreasy

No proof. Nothing to answer for. End of discussion. Taxi driver just chancing his arm.

fermanagh_man

See yeeeeeeee Mr Taxi man

Gatling

Paulw wrote: »

Ignore the taxi driver. Don't answer the calls.

And if he did spill or soil the car ???

2Mad2BeMad

simple
ignore him, unless your friend did spill the beer, then the right thing to do would be to pay the taxi man
but if he didnt well then just ignore his calls, the garda wont take it any further, and the taxi man sure as hell wont either as he will be wasting his own time
im sure he already cleaned it himself and just wants the extra 60quid for his pocket

tell your friend not be bullied, and if he keeps on ringing, answer and say you will call the garda for harrasing him

if he hasnt swapped house details or anything well then theirs very little the taxi man can do, even with the garda on his side, as it involves getting a court order to get his name and address(if hes on billpay) through a phone company
so they most likely wont bother as it aint serious enough to do. They wouldnt even get the court order as he has not commited a criminal offence

danoc

He shouldn't let the taxi man bully him. He could just be trying to put the blame on your friend as he was drinking. No way to prove it so don't worry. If he did spill it then he should pay for it to be cleaned, otherwise the taxi man is just being a jerk.

OhThatsGreasy

Agree with above. If he's responsible for the spill, pay the cost and be done with it. If not, just ignore the calls and eventually it will go away.

Happened to me once. I got sick in a taxi. Managed to get most of it out of an open door but some did get on the interior. Driver was pissed. I was drunk/embarrassed/nowhere near home so I bit the bullet and gave him extra on top of the fare.

giant_midget

Typical thug taxi driver mentality...Ignore his calls, Taxi drivers are the human equilivant of Jack Russells...

Pat Mustard

Sprrratt wrote: »

He is demanding that my friend coughs up 60 euro for a valet service.

I think that the soiling charge is something like €140, but the taxi man is only asking for €60. I'd have guessed that maybe he's shy, except for his accusation that your friend was on drugs.

The Guards didn't seem to leap to his defence either.

kumate_champ07

giant_midget wrote: »

Typical thug taxi driver mentality...Ignore his calls, Taxi drivers are the human equilivant of Jack Russells...

?
Jack Russles are lovely!

but lovely job anyway tarring all taxi drivers with the same brush

Paulw

Gatling wrote: »

And if he did spill or soil the car ???

Nothing from the OPs post would indicate that his friends brought any drinks in to the vehicle. Only that they had had a few in town.

But, of course, if he did spill something, he should pay for the cleaning.

The_Captain

So your mate either (a) spilled so much beer on the seat that the taxi could notice in about 5 seconds at night, or (b) your mate pissed himself in the back of the taxi.

Either way, the taxi driver is directly out of pocket by having to paying for cleaning, and indirectly by not being able to pick up more passengers.
Soiling charges are fairly standard in taxis, it doesn't matter what actual liquid caused the soiling. Your friend should pony up to be fair.

What's his excuse? He's claiming that he sat on a soaking wet seat the whole trip without noticing or saying anything and the taxi driver had no idea the seat was wet before or during trip but was on it like a hawk or soon as your friend stood up?

Gatling

The_Captain wrote: »

So your mate either (a) spilled so much beer on the seat that the taxi could notice in about 5 seconds at night, or (b) your mate pissed himself in the back of the taxi.

Either way, the taxi driver is directly out of pocket by having to paying for cleaning, and indirectly by not being able to pick up more passengers.
Soiling charges are fairly standard in taxis, it doesn't matter what actual liquid caused the soiling. Your friend should pony up to be fair.

What's his excuse? He's claiming that he sat on a soaking wet seat the whole trip without noticing or saying anything and the taxi driver had no idea the seat was wet before or during trip but was on it like a hawk or soon as your friend stood up?

This was my thinking soiled rather than vomit or spillage though just because there wasn't chunks doesnt mean much,

Spook_ie

You'd be surprised at the number of times people get into taxis at night with a glass full of drink, happened to me one night when picked up 4 people from a pub back to a house party silly bastard put a glass of drink in his trouser pocket and sat into the cab then wondered why I was so pissed off at his wet trousers and my wet seat

Sprrratt

Well some or most of you will be glad to know my friend told him "Good luck" yesterday. The taxi man then seemed to get mad. He wrote 3 pathetic messages one after the other that went roughly like "Thats no prob, you can tell it to the garda" and "them EEEEEEEE are bad for you" (implying that he was on drugs again) followed by my favourite, "you have 5 minutes to change your mind".

The last one really did it for me. It really made me laugh at how petty the guy really was. This thread was made in frustration yesterday when my friend was going to fork over the cash because he did not want all of the possible hassle. However I showed him all of your replies encouraging him not to worry and just ignore the calls/texts which he did.

Peppa Pig

Sprrratt wrote: »

One of the guards ... said that it was probably beer and simply concluded that the two parties should exchange numbers and sort it tomorrow when my friend had sobered completely.

Sounds to me like the guard confirmed that the taxi was soiled and then said to sort it out when sober.

If I was Judge Judy I'd be finding for the taxi driver.

BTW - what is an average intoxication level? I presume you were either there or you are the "friend" if you can put a level on the drunkenness.....

Cody Pomeray

Peppa Pig wrote: »

Sounds to me like the guard confirmed that the taxi was soiled and then said to sort it out when sober.

If I was Judge Judy I'd be finding for the taxi driver.

Thankfully, Judge Judy has no persuasive authority outside of boards.ie and the tellybox.

Kenny Logins

Could it be a scam that he pulls? Easy €60.

the boss of me

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Could it be a scam that he pulls? Easy €60.

If it was a scam he would have charged the full 140eu that he is legally entitled to. Ifthe driver goes to the trouble of making a complaint to the Gardai it is likely your friend could end up in court.