Booked a taxi at a set price and then charged me more without telling me

elmorganx

I booked a taxi from one location to another and the price was stated as £43 on their app. This was then reserved on my card to pay for the fair once the trip was completed. Once I left the car, this payment was then returned to my bank and I was actually charged £70. I contacted the company straight away as this was not what I was quoted and there was no communication before, during or after to tell me that the fair was going to be any different. They told me to ring back in the morning. I rang first thing and they told me to ring back at 5pm to speak to the manager. After ringing again I was told there was no manager in and to ring back at around 9pm or tomorrow morning. I rang back at 9:30pm and a women told me that there was a glitch in the system and that it wasn’t right the price that was shown on the app. However, I was never told this upon booking, nor was I told in the taxi about the price difference. It wasn’t until the taxi had drove off and the original £43 was released back into my bank and I was charged £70 for this journey. This was not the agreed fair and I did not agree for the higher payment that was taken from my bank. I was expecting to pay £43 as shown when I booked the taxi, it was only after this journey was complete that they actually took more money out of my bank. There was no communication to tell me that the price I booked the taxi for was not what I was going to be paying overall, as I was expecting to pay the £43 as was stated when I booked. They will not refund me when I had explained they had charged me for a fair I wasn’t quoted. They had stated there was a ‘’glitch in their system’’ yet that is not my fault, nor was I made aware of this when booking that the fair would be different. I find it hard to believe that there was a glitch in their system, as when I’ve been on the app since to book the same journey it is still showing me £43. I usually take the taxi from my house to the end location and it costs me £38 and it is a total of 26 miles. I got the taxi from another location in the next town and it was £43 (what I was expecting to pay) and was 30 miles in total. After finally getting through to someone they said was the ‘manger’ they said they have charged me from where they set off from the taxi rank to the first location and then the end. However, this was not included when I originally booked the taxi and wasn’t made aware of this. Can they charge extra because they had to drive from the taxi rank to my location? Especially when I wasn’t told and they have taken an extra £27 out of my bank for an extra 4 miles? Can someone please help. I’ve gone to my bank to try and pull the money back as the taxi rank are refusing to refund me the difference but not sure if I’m going to get anywhere.

born_again

Is this a private hire, or a proper taxi?
Given the mention of " taxi rank"

Aylesbury_Duck

Without knowing the app or the taxi firm's terms and conditions, I have no idea if they're entitled to do what they've done.  Your bank is the right route.  If they can't help, you're stuck.  

If you edit your post you'll probably get more responses.  It's currently a wall of text and has loads of excess information.  Break it up into paragraphs and stick to the important fats and you'll probably get more help.

ArbitraryRandom

Key information is:

- which app,
- the card type 
- have you or can you make a complaint in writing/what evidence do you have

Reading this I also wonder... I've read a few situations where Uber has charged more than the quoted fair - because the taxi driver has dropped the passenger off slightly away from the agreed destination, so the transaction doesn't complete as the booked/quoted journey. 

elmorganx

Hi, I’m sorry this is the first time writing on here so I’m not too sure how to edit the post. It’s a local taxi firm i used. They now have an app where you can book instead of ringing them to book. They are a private taxi rank. The app is called Ride taxis. I paid it through my starling bank account which is a Mastercard. They dropped me at the right location and picked me up from the correct location so the price shouldn’t have been different. If you could tell me how to edit the post I will with the correct details Thankyou. 

born_again

Is there anything that states that they only quote the fare?
& not charge for the driver getting to you?

elmorganx

When I rang and spoke to the ‘manager’ they said it says when booking that the fair is estimate. However, whenever I’ve booked a taxi previously it’s never stated it’s an estimate it’s just the price I pay and I have never paid more for the price stated when booking. Just this time they have tried to charge me from where they set off from there taxi rank to my location. Where this can’t be right. Because I’ve booked a taxi to Manchester airport before and it was £60. They only charged me £60 not from Burnley to Manchester (£60) and then Manchester to Burnley (£60) it’s just from where they picked me up back to Burnley. Do you understand where I’m coming from. So they are trying to justify taking £28 more for setting off from the taxi rank to pick me up and then drop me off. 

km1500

don't use them again or if you do use them again don't use the app but call them up to book and make sure you understand the price before the ride

oldernonethewiser

Looking at reviews of the App on the Apple app store it seems that higher fares than those quoted are not uncommon.

x_raphael_xx

We have a similar app for our taxi company.
On booking, it will pre-authorise an aproximate amount, then charge and adjust the final figure once the journey is completed.
Depending on the journey, we sometimes charge lead milage, if the pick up is out of the city.
What day was the journey on? If xmas day/boxing day eg, it could be on increased fares (we went up to fare & half)

ArbitraryRandom

Don't worry about editing your first post - anyone reading the thread can see your posts  

First if I were you I'd go into the app and take some screenshots replicating the journey (basically take a screen capture of each step to booking the journey then just cancel it before the taxi arrives - as it says you can cancel anytime). 

If you know their address (or email address), you can then write a letter of complaint. Someone might be able to help with that, but your grounds would be that you understand there may be some variance based on the actual journey length, but nothing in the app says the charges start at the taxi dispatch rather than pickup; if the charged DID include from dispatch then that should have been included in the quote and doesn't explain the discrepancy; and that the terms and conditions weren't made available to you to allow you to cancel (as per UK consumer regulations for service contracts). 

When that fails to generate a refund (cynical me), then you go to your card and say that it was a fraudulent transaction - explain what happened and ask for a refund of the difference between the quote and the price you were charged.

Be aware that there's a good chance they will refuse you service in the future if you do this... so if you rely on the local taxi service then you should factor that into your decision to take this further.