taxi paid for on outward journey, but didn't pick up return journey

hawkster

Hi apologies if this is in the wrong place

I need some advice

Basically, my son and 19 other people paid for cabs last night to take them about 12 miles away to another town. they paid for the return journey upfront

they went in two minibuses and a car

On the return journey only the two minibuses turned up

When my sons friend rung they said they turned up
We called and told them they were still there, basically they said weve picked up not coming back

Him and his mates were stuck 12 miles away at 4 o'clock this morning:mad:

Either they did turn up and someone nicked their ride or they didn't bother turning up

What are my sons rights

pendulum

It will be hard to prove you paid for the return journey, if it went to court you can bet the taxi driver will say you'd had a few drinks and gave a tip only or something, you might be lucky with your witnesses and win but I doubt the money's worth all that hassle, so all you can really do is write a letter to them saying what happened and asking for a refund, if you don't get the refund I'd chalk it up to experience and never pay for a taxi upfront, taxi drivers can be so unreliable (and to be fair so can their passengers be).

Freddie_Snowbits

hawkster wrote: »

What are my sons rights

Has he got legs?

vikingaero

Sounds like the cabbie(s) had a quiet night and decided not to wait around for the prepaid fare...

unholyangel

hawkster wrote: »

Hi apologies if this is in the wrong place

I need some advice

Basically, my son and 19 other people paid for cabs last night to take them about 12 miles away to another town. they paid for the return journey upfront

they went in two minibuses and a car

On the return journey only the two minibuses turned up

When my sons friend rung they said they turned up
We called and told them they were still there, basically they said weve picked up not coming back

Him and his mates were stuck 12 miles away at 4 o'clock this morning:mad:

Either they did turn up and someone nicked their ride or they didn't bother turning up

What are my sons rights

Write a formal letter of complaint (recorded delivery of course) and try and word it to get them to acknowledge the return journey was paid and if they do not reply contact your local council. It will be them who issues the local taxi licenses. There are certain rules that taxi drivers have to follow (you'd be amazed how complex they are).

Here the taxi driver is in the wrong if they dont pick up the right fare. They were contracted by customer x to pick up from x for x price. If they dont, technically its a breach. Although because its verbal, hard to prove in a court hence why it would be better writing them a letter trying to get them to acknowledge the "contract" existed However i should point out that taxi licensing laws vary district to district.....there are some rules that apply across the whole UK.

Think of your local council as the governing body for taxis

andyrules

unholyangel wrote: »

Write a formal letter of complaint (recorded delivery of course) and try and word it to get them to acknowledge the return journey was paid and if they do not reply contact your local council. It will be them who issues the local taxi licenses. There are certain rules that taxi drivers have to follow (you'd be amazed how complex they are).

Here the taxi driver is in the wrong if they dont pick up the right fare. They were contracted by customer x to pick up from x for x price. If they dont, technically its a breach. Although because its verbal, hard to prove in a court hence why it would be better writing them a letter trying to get them to acknowledge the "contract" existed However i should point out that taxi licensing laws vary district to district.....there are some rules that apply across the whole UK.
Think of your local council as the governing body for taxis

Yes, I believe that many taxis are not allowed to pick up fares unless pre-booked. If this was the case with your one then were in breach of taxi legislation. Most decent companies have computer systems that can keep tabs on their fares. The ones I use have a ring back that informs the customer when the cab has arrived, then they check the name. Recently, mine failed to ring back and misunderstood the name of a random opportunist customer (often a problem - unfamiliar names, accents ) who took my cab. However, he came back later apologising - his error recorded.

I would have thought a firm large enough to have minibuses would run a decent enough system that records each journey, so your missed one would not show, yet the booking should be there.

How did he get home? Ignore Freddie, he's on the lash already and not even had lunch yet.

unholyangel

andyrules wrote: »

Yes, I believe that many taxis are not allowed to pick up fares unless pre-booked. If this was the case with your one then were in breach of taxi legislation. Most decent companies have computer systems that can keep tabs on their fares. The ones I use have a ring back that informs the customer when the cab has arrived, then they check the name. Recently, mine failed to ring back and misunderstood the name of a random opportunist customer (often a problem - unfamiliar names, accents ) who took my cab. However, he came back later apologising - his error recorded.

I would have thought a firm large enough to have minibuses would run a decent enough system that records each journey, so your missed one would not show, yet the booking should be there.

How did he get home? Ignore Freddie, he's on the lash already and not even had lunch yet.

Actually it depends. In big cities often black hackney cabs are the only ones allowed to pick up off the streets/out of the ranks but private firms can pick up if pre-booked. And also they can only pick up off the street in the district that they have their taxi license (although again, pre-booked fares are exempt). In some town centres you cannot pick up off the street at all, you can only pick up from a rank (usually only at night time at the weekends - when the clubs get out).

But outwith the cities, this usually isnt the case. Here where i live we dont have hackney cabs. Its just normal cars that are used as taxis. They can pick up anywhere (home/business/street/rank).

Basically it comes down to what i said before......the rules your local council have set.

Judas

Or more likely they did show up and a large group of drunken teenagers didnt organise who was in what properly and had the taxi and buses leave under capacity and left the rest behind and are all now trying to blame others or they inherited a few new members of the party along the line and didnt have enough space.

unholyangel

Judas wrote: »

Or more likely they did show up and a large group of drunken teenagers didnt organise who was in what properly and had the taxi and buses leave under capacity and left the rest behind and are all now trying to blame others or they inherited a few new members of the party along the line and didnt have enough space.

More likely? I would say either situation is equally likely. I deal with taxi drivers on a daily basis and have done so for years. They're impatient and they will take the first hire they get, especially if its better than the hire they were booked for. They seem to be paranoid that their own hire wont actually be there.

However, depending on the rules set by the council, they can actually lose their taxi license for this.

Freddie_Snowbits

andyrules wrote: »

Ignore Freddie, he's on the lash already and not even had lunch yet.

Dog and Duck did not open til 12:00.

Answer still the same, perhaps the cab firm cvannot pick up in another town or you do not think they missed it!

Still, letters of compliant is the way to get things done round here, I would also get trading standards involved and get these gas guzzling taxis off the streets.

lincroft1710

Most "taxis" outside London and large cities are "minicabs" which have to be pre-booked and are generally licensed, a licensed taxi (often referred to as a "hackney carriage") can pick up fares from the street. Even 50 years ago small local taxi firms were running minibuses, so running a minibus is no guarantee that the firm is large.