Taxi company - £24 quid for a 2 mile journey

vaio

vaio wrote: »

.......Nice web site your firm has, looking at where you are what would you say if a punter wanted to be picked up at Tame Lane in Denshaw and be taken to Ogden Lane in Milnrow?......

athensgeorgia wrote: »

Yes we would ?

I’m impressed that you would do a 20 mile round trip for a 2 mile fare but it’s not sustainable as a business. Where do you draw the line? 50 mile round trip for a 2 mile fare? 100 miles? 500? Down to Brighton to take me 200 yards to the pub?

vaio wrote: »

.......Speaking to the LA licensing officer is pointless (apart from maybe the mobile phone bit) as the law doesn’t allow them to set or regulate PH fares.

athensgeorgia wrote: »

....In Tameside they do. At my place it can be the same price as hackney but we charge slightly less, it can't be more than what Tameside have set though.

I know you work there and I don't want to be rude BUT NO THEY DON'T. They can't, it's not allowed by law. They can only set hackney fares. Look at the web site http://www.tameside.gov.uk/licensing/taxi

They list hackney but not PH fares

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athensgeorgia

Well i didn't know Tameside didn't set them, at every cab firm i 've worked at they've always been metered at the same as Hackeney or less.

Maybe we have too much choice where i live but i honestly wouldn't pay £24 for 2.5 miles no matter where i was, but i am a bit tight or is that MSE

Also it wouldn't necessarily be a 20 mile round trip by the time the driver had dropped the passengers off there could be another booking waiting thats just around the corner thats a £20. I think it depends on how companys work.

vaio

athensgeorgia wrote: »

Well i didn't know Tameside didn't set them, at every cab firm i 've worked at they've always been metered at the same as Hackeney or less.

Maybe we have too much choice where i live but i honestly wouldn't pay £24 for 2.5 miles no matter where i was, but i am a bit tight or is that MSE

Also it wouldn't necessarily be a 20 mile round trip by the time the driver had dropped the passengers off there could be another booking waiting thats just around the corner thats a £20. I think it depends on how companys work.

I guess it depends on the size of the firm and the sort of area you cover, a big firm in an urban area can run off the meter all the time because they aren’t likely to do a lot of empty running particularly if they are hackney so can pick up off the street on the way back.

A small PH firm on a run out into a rural area will have to charge for the full distance covered because they have just about zero chance of picking someone up on the way back. Equivalent to you setting the meter running when you leave the office.

The really sneaky but MSE way for the OP would have been not to have booked a cab and then sat around looking cross and grumbling about unreliable taxis until some one with a car offered her a lift.

rev_henry

derrick wrote: »

metre is a measurement of length
meter is what measures the fare/gas/electric etc :rolleyes::D

Sorry;)

If you're going down that road then electric is an adjective, electricity is the noun you were looking for. :P

vaio

dizzybuff wrote: »

……. I didnt book the cab but I was the hirer. Therefore the price should have been agreed with me . I wasnt refusing to pay just disputing the amount…...

Sorry but this just sounds like more wriggling to me which I suppose is why athensgeorgia’s firm records telephone conversations. Your friend booked it for you, the taxi firm say she agreed the fare but even if she didn’t do you really expect the driver to cover 10 miles so he can discuss the fare with you on the off chance you might take it?

As stated elsewhere the licensing officer is not able to do anything about PH fares so small claims is your only route. The judge, if he believes the fare wasn’t agreed in advance, will decide what’s a reasonable fare. What do you think would be a reasonable fare for the trip?

dizzybuff wrote: »

.....The driver knew we were not from round there neither was he we had to direct him

You expect a minimum service , one that does not include a dangerous driver , using one hand and sometimes none. I dont expect to give the driver directions. That is his job to know the way ..

Agree 100%, particularly as a sat nav is only £50. If he was driving dangerously then I’d report him to the police, if they agree they’ll prosecute and if convicted he’ll lose his licence.

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dizzybuff

vaio wrote: »

Sorry but this just sounds like more wriggling to me which I suppose is why athensgeorgia’s firm records telephone conversations. Your friend booked it for you, the taxi firm say she agreed the fare but even if she didn’t do you really expect the driver to cover 10 miles so he can discuss the fare with you on the off chance you might take it?

As stated elsewhere the licensing officer is not able to do anything about PH fares so small claims is your only route. The judge, if he believes the fare wasn’t agreed in advance, will decide what’s a reasonable fare. What do you think would be a reasonable fare for the trip?



Agree 100%, particularly as a sat nav is only £50. If he was driving dangerously then I’d report him to the police, if they agree they’ll prosecute and if convicted he’ll lose his licence.

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If they record phone calls then all will be revealed. If it was a bad line they will know ..

I may speak to my colleagues in Surrey .. See where i get. TBH if he did loose his licence I wouldnt care . A resonable fare for the trip would have been a tenner . I dont expect a company to take a fare they dont want.

Driving whilst using a mobile phone is an endorsable offence , £60 fine ( I think) and three points.. Plus I can report the company for not providing handsfree.

Sod it I'll talk to my colleagues tommorrow . See what they say.

I was held to randsom , i would have gone to the policestation if it was not for my hubby and son as well. I am really strting to dispise this company ..:eek:

vaio

dizzybuff wrote: »

If they record phone calls then all will be revealed. If it was a bad line they will know ..

I may speak to my colleagues in Surrey .. See where i get. TBH if he did loose his licence I wouldnt care . A resonable fare for the trip would have been a tenner . I dont expect a company to take a fare they dont want.

Driving whilst using a mobile phone is an endorsable offence , £60 fine ( I think) and three points.. Plus I can report the company for not providing handsfree.

Sod it I'll talk to my colleagues tommorrow . See what they say.

I was held to randsom , i would have gone to the policestation if it was not for my hubby and son as well. I am really strting to dispise this company ..:eek:

Yep, £10 sounds very reasonable for a maybe 22 mile round trip

If you accept the AA figures for running a taxi sort of vehicle doing 20k a year www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/advice/advice_rcosts_petrol_table.jsp
then the car costs are only 41p a mile which leaves 98p to cover the drivers wages, radio fee, PH insurance etc etc. which is very reasonable considering it probably only took 45 mins to do the trip

Please let us know what the Surrey boys in blue say.

I’d also report him for holding the three of you to ransom, he should be locked up for that.

dizzybuff

Will do, i have a few irons in the fire .. They will not treat my family like that .

I offered to pay half the fare . Not run off, beginning to think i should have just said

I will be in that room over there .. I'll pay you the £12 when the police arrive , and made him wait .

goldspanners

vaio wrote: »

now now children, remember the MSE motto "be nice to all moneysavers" or the board guides (aka fun police) will lock the thread

nah, they just delete posts that migh offend the easiy offended. then it makes no sense to anyone.

dizzybuff

Lmao .. probably