Consumer rights in relation to taxis

Xerxes59

I booked a taxi on the 6 November 2025 to take me to the train station on the 1 December 2025. I received a confirmation email informing me that the booking had been made and that my taxi would arrive at 05:15am to take me to the train station (5 - 10 minute drive). My train was departing at 06:05am, so plenty of time.  The taxi did not show, I rang the company, who informed me that they were searching for an available driver. Before calling them I had received notification that a driver was on the way and was 4 minutes out. This message then disappeared. A taxi did arrive at 06:05am, but parked at the wrong address on a different street. I got to the taxi and left at 06:11am, arriving at the train station by 06:16am. I had hoped to catch the later train at 06:19am but missed that due to the late arrival at the station. I missed my train, my subsequent flight from Manchester airport and my holiday (which was booked 6 months earlier). The taxi provider state that a booking is not a contract and that the contract is between myself and the driver partner but that this contract does not commence until the journey has started (all round cop out). The travel insurers state that they cannot be liable for private taxis not showing up only public transport (though taxis are meant to form part of public systems of transport according to the legislation). So vastly out of pocket, with only the train company reimbursing my fares (minus administration fees) and the coach transfer from my arrival airport to the resort reimbursing the return portion of the journey. Surely advertising an online booking service, which may or may not result in a taxi showing is fraudulently misleading? If a patient received notice of an operation date but no surgeon turned up at the date and time scheduled, there would be hell to pay.

la531983

There was a train at 0605 to Manchester Airport, and another one 14 mins later....when was the next one? Couldnt you have caught that? Clearly its a high frequency route if its running 14 mins apart at that time of day?

MyRealNameToo

Xerxes59 said:

I booked a taxi on the 6 November 2025 to take me to the train station on the 1 December 2025. I received a confirmation email informing me that the booking had been made and that my taxi would arrive at 05:15am to take me to the train station (5 - 10 minute drive). My train was departing at 06:05am, so plenty of time.  The taxi did not show, I rang the company, who informed me that they were searching for an available driver. Before calling them I had received notification that a driver was on the way and was 4 minutes out. This message then disappeared. A taxi did arrive at 06:05am, but parked at the wrong address on a different street. I got to the taxi and left at 06:11am, arriving at the train station by 06:16am. I had hoped to catch the later train at 06:19am but missed that due to the late arrival at the station. I missed my train, my subsequent flight from Manchester airport and my holiday (which was booked 6 months earlier). The taxi provider state that a booking is not a contract and that the contract is between myself and the driver partner but that this contract does not commence until the journey has started (all round cop out). The travel insurers state that they cannot be liable for private taxis not showing up only public transport (though taxis are meant to form part of public systems of transport according to the legislation). So vastly out of pocket, with only the train company reimbursing my fares (minus administration fees) and the coach transfer from my arrival airport to the resort reimbursing the return portion of the journey. Surely advertising an online booking service, which may or may not result in a taxi showing is fraudulently misleading? If a patient received notice of an operation date but no surgeon turned up at the date and time scheduled, there would be hell to pay.

It happens, even surgeons are human and have days off sick etc. In most cases the hospital can't then ring round to find a spare surgeon to do his operations for the day so everyone is rescheduled.

What time was your flight and when would have the 6:05 train gotten you to the airport? 

Most airlines at Manchester are saying to arrive at least 3 hours in advance, according to Google some have increased that to 4 hours due to works. Last time I went via Manchester was under 45 minutes from arriving to being at the gate. 

Seems it's a regular train service so you should have been able to get the one after the 06:19 and still made it to the airport with enough time to be rushed through if needs be. 

There are plenty of middlemen in the private hire trade these days, they work very differently to those traditional firms that own the vehicles and employ the drivers. Have been let down by one who turned up over an hour late (he claimed he was given the job at the time the pickup was due) but we always plan to get to the airport early so despite leaving an hour later and therefore also having more traffic to deal with we still got to the airport with time to spare. 

user1977

Xerxes59 said:

If a patient received notice of an operation date but no surgeon turned up at the date and time scheduled, there would be hell to pay.

I expect such circumstances are pretty routine and would result in the NHS shrugging its shoulders and giving the patient a new appointment, no "hell" involved.

Couldn't you have got travel insurance which included cover for taxis?

born_again

Xerxes59 said:

I booked a taxi on the 6 November 2025 to take me to the train station on the 1 December 2025. I received a confirmation email informing me that the booking had been made and that my taxi would arrive at 05:15am to take me to the train station (5 - 10 minute drive). My train was departing at 06:05am, so plenty of time.  The taxi did not show, I rang the company, who informed me that they were searching for an available driver. Before calling them I had received notification that a driver was on the way and was 4 minutes out. This message then disappeared. A taxi did arrive at 06:05am, but parked at the wrong address on a different street. I got to the taxi and left at 06:11am, arriving at the train station by 06:16am. I had hoped to catch the later train at 06:19am but missed that due to the late arrival at the station. I missed my train, my subsequent flight from Manchester airport and my holiday (which was booked 6 months earlier). The taxi provider state that a booking is not a contract and that the contract is between myself and the driver partner but that this contract does not commence until the journey has started (all round cop out). The travel insurers state that they cannot be liable for private taxis not showing up only public transport (though taxis are meant to form part of public systems of transport according to the legislation). So vastly out of pocket, with only the train company reimbursing my fares (minus administration fees) and the coach transfer from my arrival airport to the resort reimbursing the return portion of the journey. Surely advertising an online booking service, which may or may not result in a taxi showing is fraudulently misleading? If a patient received notice of an operation date but no surgeon turned up at the date and time scheduled, there would be hell to pay.

Happens very rarely.
Just the same as patients fail to turn up... 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2900031/

Like many things a contract is only formed when the event starts. Can we take it that you read the T/C they have? Our local taxis have this very clear that, they can not guarantee that the driver will turn up, as many situations are out of their control. 

saajan_12

Xerxes59 said:

I missed my train, my subsequent flight from Manchester airport and my holiday (which was booked 6 months earlier). .

Did you still travel to the airport and try to make the flight? Or even try to rebook to a later flight and preserve most of the holiday? If a contract was breached (tbd) then you'd be required to mitigate losses such as the above, and only claim the unavoidable losses. 

Xerxes59 said:

The taxi provider state that a booking is not a contract and that the contract is between myself and the driver partner but that this contract does not commence until the journey has started (all round cop out).
..
Surely advertising an online booking service, which may or may not result in a taxi showing is fraudulently misleading? 

Depends on the T&C agreed with the taxi company. Entirely possible to have a confirmed contract for a taxi at a set time, or possible to have a best efforts reservation with the contract being formed if/when the taxi arrives. Which one did yours state? 

SiliconChip

I had a similar situation some years ago where I booked a taxi to take me to the station so I could get a train from Birmingham to Euston then walk along the road to St Pancras to get a Eurostar to Brussels. The taxi went to an address that I'd been picked up from previously rather than my home address, which had been confirmed when I made the booking. The taxi was rerouted to my house but by the time i'd been picked up and driven to the station I'd missed the train. I bought a ticket for the next train and fortunately got to St Pancras in just about enough time to catch the Eurostar that I was booked on.

I wrote to the taxi company asking them to refund the additional cost of my train ticket but they never responded, so I sent a LBA, raised a claim on MCOL, won the court judgement by default, and instructed baliffs to collect the full amount that was then due. The company eventually contacted me to say that the office address that I'd taken from their website was no longer used and mail wasn't forwarded, so they'd never heard anything until the bailiffs contacted them. They agreed to pay everything that was owed plus £50 if I'd withdraw the claim, which I did. 

Whether the OP can try the same thing I don't know, but it can't hurt to at least do the LBA.

Alderbank

The travel insurers state that they cannot be liable for private taxis not showing up only public transport (though taxis are meant to form part of public systems of transport according to the legislation). 

Was it a licenced taxicab or was it a private hire vehicle? Your choice of wording is not very clear.

Licenced taxis, which the public can 'hail' in the street, are part of public systems of transport.

Private cars are not.

Pollycat

Xerxes59 said:

 If a patient received notice of an operation date but no surgeon turned up at the date and time scheduled, there would be hell to pay.

Irrelevant. Poor analogy.
What time was your flight?

la531983

Pollycat said:

Xerxes59 said:

 If a patient received notice of an operation date but no surgeon turned up at the date and time scheduled, there would be hell to pay.

Irrelevant. Poor analogy.
What time was your flight?

Time of flight isnt particular helpful unless we know how long the train journey was.

Im hoping this isnt a case that the initial train only got the OP to the bag drop desk only half an hour before it closed....

Aylesbury_Duck

I suspect that those two early train services were the only trains that could get OP to the airport in time.  If that was the case, an overnight stay at or near the airport would have been prudent.  At that time of year it's foreseeable that rail services would be delayed or cancelled.