taking deposits ( customer not present )

bordercars

we are a small taxi service, run from home. two problems, both have same solution. To late for this year but it's head has been raised again.

Last new years eve we had over £200 for myself and our other driver. Then at 19.00 the cancellations started, almost wiped out the whole night. The other situation is getting bookings so the customer has a car booked, then changing their minds and canceling.

The problem is in our small town most people know that if you haven't booked in advance you will not get a car on the night, so once we loose a booking we don't fill the slot left, and yes im typing this at 7pm on the Sat before Christmas and have just lost 4 jobs.

As far as i can see the answer is to take a deposit, but it needs to be done by cell phone, which is far and away the most popular method of booking. We can take online email payments with paypal but not everyone will be at a pc. I have googled sms payments and that could be a way, another would be apremium 5 digit text number. has anyone any experience of this or would like to suggest another way for us.

snowman2_2

Personally I wouldn't use a taxi firm that demanded a deposit, what if the taxi doesn't turn up? I suppose you might get away with it on New Years Eve or Christmas Day but I would hang up on you any other time. Cancellations are a fact of life, I had 8 cancellations this morning because of the snow. I just have to grin & bear it.

If you have a credit card machine anyway, you can take customer not present (CNP) payment for the deposit, or even pre-authorise the amount and hold it until the journey is complete (like in a hotel). You can get mobile terminals but that would require amerchant account from Streamline or someone similar. Do you get requests for credit card payments the rest of the year to make it worthwhile?

bordercars

Snowman "Personally I wouldn't use a taxi firm that demanded a deposit, what if the taxi doesn't turn up?"


BTW what trade were your cancellations in

Well what if the customer doesnt turn up,

not only do we loose the fare it cost us to go to the pick up point.

Not on this matter, but we also get a lot of "we will settle on return" and" why didnt you wait more than 10 mins for us" , "we wern't that late" is a common phrase. no other form of transport waits beyond the booked time and for some you pay in full well before travel.

on the card matter we dont get asked that often and it wouldnt be viable

Lots of drivers round here are now starting to take the fare both ways at the start and guaranteeing a pick up time, with the return journey half price if the car is more than 5 mins late. The downside here though is the car can wait no longer than 5 mins at the agreed time, after that it is gone.

paulwf

You could just ask for the credit card details but not process them...might make people think twice about standing you up. You could also have written terms and conditions to help clarify what happens if customers are late.

However...unless you are doing long distance runs I don't think (purely as a customer) that's how the industry works, as a customer I wouldn't like giving credit card details over the phone to a taxi company. Terms and conditions would just be ignored.

Perhaps you could overbook your slots a little bit? Turn up to some early to create extra time and then some may run a bit late with the likelyhood that a couple of cancellations will keep most bookings on time? The other thing I can think of is to call in advance to reconfirm the customer still wants the booking.

snowman2_2

bordercars wrote: »

Snowman "Personally I wouldn't use a taxi firm that demanded a deposit, what if the taxi doesn't turn up?"


BTW what trade were your cancellations in

Well what if the customer doesnt turn up,

not only do we loose the fare it cost us to go to the pick up point.

I am a vet so the cancelled appointments today cost be about £300. Most people rang up to cancel but too late for me to book anyone else in so lost opportunity, same as you. I don't have petrol costs but I still have staff to pay and all my fixed costs. As for people not paying, my bad debt for last year was about £7000, after we have done the work. People give us false addresses, phone numbers that are disconnected or false names. They come to the surgery, get the treatment and then tell us "Oh, I didn't bring any money. Can I pay tomorrow". Some people think we should pay for their pets treatment because "we love animals and my pet would suffer otherwise". Most customers are lovely and pay up, turn up on time etc but some are real b%^&ards and take you for a ride.

It is quality control over your bookings, perhaps restrict the prime slots to previous customers. We mark all missed appointments on the clinical records and if you miss prime slots, you wont get offered them in the future and you will have to come during quiet moments. Saturdays, our busiest day, is also our most likely day for no shows. I would be happy to pay for both journeys on drop off for New Years Eve but I wouldn't give my credit card details. I might be persuaded to pay £10 cash deposit at an office but I would want a physical address to visit to do that

bordercars

thanks for the replies.

snowman thats a lot to drop with no shows. the only saving grace i suppose is they will still have to come in. bit unfair on the animals tho, just some owners are like that i suppose.

snowman2_2

bordercars wrote: »

snowman thats a lot to drop with no shows. the only saving grace i suppose is they will still have to come in. bit unfair on the animals tho, just some owners are like that i suppose.

I should get most of that back from Saturday as they were booster vaccinations and they will come in. Bank Holidays do lose us £1000 that we never get back for some reason - not sure why? I guess some problems get better with time. Hope you have a busy New Year!:D

nickj_2

are you able to have 2 prices or give discounts etc , one who pre-book and pay a deposit and then charge more for people who don't pay a deposit or are your prices determined by the meter ,

patman99

Round my way, if a cabbie turns-up to find his fare has cancelled, they will normally call-in the nearest pub and ask if anyone wants a cab.

ukbill69

Yer just hang around the local kebab shop or around nightclub closing and you will easy get someone wants a cab in no time.

FatVonD

Or get nicked for illegal touting, one of the two...

I think your best bet is offering a discount for pre-paid fares, bird in the hand and all that