MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should you pay the cabbie?

Martint

How comforting to see so many folks say they'd do the right thing. It's a long time since I drove a licensed cab (not in London) and it can be a hard enough job without being penalised for a genuine mistake - especially when it's a company cab and not your own. I did it a couple of times and an honest admission of a mistake usually ended amicably. BTW I was told that carrying fares without the 'clock' on meant they had no insurance - possibly a good reason to point out the cabbies' failure to turn the meter on?

dave2

Easy, I'd remind him to put the meter on and tell him I'll pay my regular £20.

If he starts being arsey or tries to pull a fast one with an inflated "estimate", I'd tell him to take the £20 or let me out right here. But seems unlikely from my experience. The vast majority of drivers are fair and regardless repeat business is important to them. On top of that, while it varies by county certainly around here the authorities are very strict with taxis (I used to do the books for a taxi firm), they don't have a hope in hell if you dispute.

I wouldn't recommend being arsey with taxi drivers either though, they do blacklist.

tallgirld

Well first of all I certainly wouldn't tell him that he has forgotton to put his meter on. I would then wait and see what he says, and if he says £20 I would just pay it. But if he tried to charge more I would tell him to stop taking the mick!!

Anyway dont taxis have a button they can press that basically holds you hostage if you dont pay the right fare??

cabbieman

adamwantsadb9 wrote: »

I'd pay what I thought was fair, if the meter said £12 when we got there but it should have been £20, then I only have to pay £20 through the drivers error, not mine.

However if the cab was clean and the driver polite and professional then I'd pay the extra.

But, especially in Coventry, whats the chances of finding a polite and professional cab driver? Not damn likely is the answer

As a Coventry cabbie I must admit I'm very dissapointed in your comment. I cannot speak for all of my fellow cabbies as like any walk of life, you have those that try and those that don't but I do know of a nucleus of drivers that are both polite and professional, myself included .

gozaimasu

Can't do a runner these days cos the drivers lock you in. No wonder so many women get attacked by cabbies - they have no way of escaping.

gooner71 wrote: »

Surely the truest moneysaving approach would be to do a runner?

The only reason it would matter whether the meter was running would be so you'd know how much had been saved by not paying anything at all.

:money:

pir

I would say the meter isn't on as soon as I noticed. Leave a £20 to cover the fair on the way out.

cabbieman

gozaimasu wrote: »

Can't do a runner these days cos the drivers lock you in. No wonder so many women get attacked by cabbies - they have no way of escaping.

Is that just a throwaway rant or can you substantiate that comment. Geez :mad:

winnoch

Hmm. Am I the only one here reading this and marvelling at the mention of all these 'polite, honest, hardworking, salt of the earth cabbies' ?

I'm not a regular taxi user, but over my many years of life i've taken a fair few taxi rides in a variety of cities including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and Dublin and I don't think i can recall a single instance when I didn't feel cheated or ripped-off in some manner.

Watching that meter count up at 20p every few seconds gets my back up instantly. There can't be many jobs with that rate of pay outside of the professions and I feel it's very poor value for just being driven from A to B. Yes cabbies have over-heads to do with their vehicle (who doesn't?) and I'm sure a few more bills than most motorists due to the constant use and licensing requirements, etc, but it still seems like there is far too high a profit being made.

Also;
I don't think i've ever taken the same journey twice and been charged the same amount. Prices can vary massively so someone's ripping me off. And I've had many, many 'round-the-houses' journey's that have made my blood boil (taking every available side street in the dead of night, instead of the empty, fast, main road for example).

I paid £15 last year for a journey of around 2 miles, which would've cost me £1.20 on the bus, or about 20 pence of petrol by car. This isn't someone making an honest living. You expect to pay more for a personal door to door service, but not more than 10x public transport. I don't know how taxi's can justify these fares.

I've had cabbies swear blind that this is the fastest route on a journey I drive every day and I know for a fact that their route is twice as long/slow...

I could go on, but I wont. Suffice to say I only use taxis under extreme duress when I have no alternative. I am firmly of the opinion that a large minority if not the majority are dishonest, most or all of the time in that they make journeys longer or use other tricks to inflate their fares.

So, no. In summary I would pay what the meter said and not a penny more.:p

cabbieman

winnoch wrote: »

Hmm. Am I the only one here reading this and marvelling at the mention of all these 'polite, honest, hardworking, salt of the earth cabbies' ?

I'm not a regular taxi user, but over my many years of life i've taken a fair few taxi rides in a variety of cities including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and Dublin and I don't think i can recall a single instance when I didn't feel cheated or ripped-off in some manner.

Watching that meter count up at 20p every few seconds gets my back up instantly. There can't be many jobs with that rate of pay outside of the professions and I feel it's very poor value for just being driven from A to B. Yes cabbies have over-heads to do with their vehicle (who doesn't?) and I'm sure a few more bills than most motorists due to the constant use and licensing requirements, etc, but it still seems like there is far too high a profit being made.

Also;
I don't think i've ever taken the same journey twice and been charged the same amount. Prices can vary massively so someone's ripping me off. And I've had many, many 'round-the-houses' journey's that have made my blood boil (taking every available side street in the dead of night, instead of the empty, fast, main road for example).

I paid £15 last year for a journey of around 2 miles, which would've cost me £1.20 on the bus, or about 20 pence of petrol by car. This isn't someone making an honest living. You expect to pay more for a personal door to door service, but not more than 10x public transport. I don't know how taxi's can justify these fares.

I've had cabbies swear blind that this is the fastest route on a journey I drive every day and I know for a fact that their route is twice as long/slow...

I could go on, but I wont. Suffice to say I only use taxis under extreme duress when I have no alternative. I am firmly of the opinion that a large minority if not the majority are dishonest, most or all of the time in that they make journeys longer or use other tricks to inflate their fares.

So, no. In summary I would pay what the meter said and not a penny more.:p

Sounds like you talk yourself into having a bad experience every time you get into a cab.

I wish I got paid 20pence every few seconds. I may do about 10 or 15 times a day for a few minutes each time but thats about it. What about the hour or so that I have to wait around in between jobs. I'm not getting anything for that.

I can't comment on your journeys but what I can say is in my experience, the customer is definately not always right. Sometimes the empty fast main road isn't always the cheapest.You must remember that cabs are paid by distance,not time. (unless you are stuck in traffic )You may get there faster by the main empty road but if it is a longer route it will cost you more.

As for public transport... Yes we are dearer but then again we cant carry 50 odd people at once. How much money do you think the bus takes over a 2 mile journey? 50 x £1.20 adds up to a lot more than a taxi fare over the same distance.And as you said, It is door to door,thats worth a premium in anybodys book.

Wish I hadn't looked in now on this thread

Clark58

I think I would pay the cabbie. After all, it's probably just an honest mistake. I would point out to the driver that the meter was not on and immediately state that as circa £20.00 was the usual fare, I would be happy to pay that amount, and get his or her agreement. The cabbie would probably appreciate it, since legally you are only bound to pay the metered fare.

A little bit of honour in business is no bad thing... Try a Little Kindness!