Seeking reimbursement for taxi not showing up!

ILW

Taxi firms have no liability whatsoever for consequential loss caused by their failure to provide service (except possibly if an ongoing commercial contract has been drawn up between the parties).
If it is that important you need a plan B in place such as arrange pick up time to allow enough leeway to get a replacement if something goes wrong.

System

Rich66666 wrote: »

My point was in reply to goater78 when he said Taxis are reliant on other road users so there are many reasons why they could be late getting to your house

If i have booked a taxi at an agreed time the taxi is contractual obligated to fulfil this.Taxis should always leave a buffer between bookings and always be ready to pick up the customer at the agreed time.Having excuses like the above is just not good practice .

Yes but if you leave a 10 minute buffer and then get caught in 15 minutes of traffic you still won't make the agreed time. So perhaps you leave a 20 minute buffer but then get caught in 30 minutes of traffic.

Its impossible to accurately predict the road conditions at a given time. I was stuck in an hours traffic the other week as some idiot was deciding whether or not to jump off a motorway bridge (he didn't). This was impossible to predict when I set off.

Anything you book which relies on external factors means you need to build in your own margin of error. You always need a backup plan and time to execute this plan. Its just commonsense!

johny2013

Rich66666 wrote: »

Taxis should always leave a buffer between bookings and always be ready to pick up the customer at the agreed time.Having excuses like the above is just not good practice .

I live in a city area where cars park on both sides of the street leaving only enough room for one car to up and down any road at any one time, parking spaces very often in the evenings can be very hard to find. If a taxi turned up 10 minutes early where I lived it would just be blocking the road for ages. Not practical at all!

ILW

johny2013 wrote: »

I live in a city area where cars park on both sides of the street leaving only enough room for one car to up and down any road at any one time, parking spaces very often in the evenings can be very hard to find. If a taxi turned up 10 minutes early where I lived it would just be blocking the road for ages. Not practical at all!

A taxi firm allowing a 10 minute buffer on each booking would need to increase their prices by 30 or 40% in many cases.

gregg1

Rich66666 wrote: »

I never knew you could pre-book a bus for a specific time?

In my opinion, Taxis should always get to there bookings 5-10 minuets early or at the very least on-time. Having an excuse that they are late because of other road users/road works is not good enough and the taxi firm/driver should give enough time to get to the bookings.

If i book a taxi for 5:00 pm i expect the taxi to be waiting ready to go at 5:00, not turning up at 5:01 pm.I would expect at the very least a courtesy call explaining that the taxi is running late.

Are you serious? A courtesy call if they are one minute late?

gregg1

micbot86 wrote: »

Well thanks for the "help" cockaleekee. That was just the advise I was looking for?

Cockaleekee gave you his opinion which is what you asked for when you first posted.

No point getting sarcastic because it is not the opinion you wanted. I agree with him though. I do not think you will get anywhere with this.

pulliptears

I suspect it will come down to your word against theirs. You can't prove the driver wasn't sat outside and they can't prove he was I imagine.

I think as per usual Unholyangel has given you the best advice. Make a bit of noise about it but don't expect to succeed in full reimbursement.

Rich66666

gregg1 wrote: »

Are you serious? A courtesy call if they are one minute late?

Taxi drivers do not turn up 10, 5 or even 1 minuet early to pre-arranged bookings. The majority of taxis that I have gotten turn up AFTER the agreed time and for some strange reason this is acceptable and part of the course for ordering a taxi.

If you have pre-booked a taxi for 5:00pm then the taxi should be at the designated area waiting to pick you up at or before 5:00pm, not a second after.

But as ILW has pointed out it's all about profit. The taxi driver, cab owner and the company owner all would prefer the taxi to be a few minuets late picking up a customer after making a fare than sitting around waiting for the customer at the agreed time and miss out.

somethingcorporate

Rich66666 wrote: »

Taxi drivers do not turn up 10, 5 or even 1 minuet early to pre-arranged bookings. The majority of taxis that I have gotten turn up AFTER the agreed time and for some strange reason this is acceptable and part of the course for ordering a taxi.

If you have pre-booked a taxi for 5:00pm then the taxi should be at the designated area waiting to pick you up at or before 5:00pm, not a second after.

But as ILW has pointed out it's all about profit.

The phrase you are looking for is "par for the course" - it's a golfing term (not "part of the course").

It's not just about profit it's about practicalities. If you need to build in some leeway just book the taxi for ten minutes earlier than you need it for, then it'll be there waiting when you want it to.

System

Rich66666 wrote: »

Taxi drivers do not turn up 10, 5 or even 1 minuet early to pre-arranged bookings. The majority of taxis that I have gotten turn up AFTER the agreed time and for some strange reason this is acceptable and part of the course for ordering a taxi.

If you have pre-booked a taxi for 5:00pm then the taxi should be at the designated area waiting to pick you up at or before 5:00pm, not a second after.

But as ILW has pointed out it's all about profit. The taxi driver, cab owner and the company owner all would prefer the taxi to be a few minuets late picking up a customer after making a fare than sitting around waiting for the customer at the agreed time and miss out.

Personally I find that as I'm a generous tipper my local taxi company knows me and are always either on time or a bit early.

On the profit side I find most taxis are self employed and pay a radio rental fee to the local taxi company.