Taxi drivers in Galway

galah · 08-03-2007 6:56pm

and loving it...(terribly bored at work...)

hada · 08-03-2007 7:52pm

having been charged 16 euro from shantalla to eddie rockets back in january by one of our african counter parts I was even more disgusted when getting a cab, asked the taxi driver (also of the same origin) to stop in a shop for my two female friends who were also in the taxi. The taxi driver refused to stop, then refused to wait when the two girls were in the shop, so asked him to wait while i ran into the shop to tell the girls to come back out. When i arrived out, he had already called the guards. He then gave them a rather long spiel and I got a hefty bollocking from the gardai because im a "racist". you could imagine my disbelief at this kind of situation.

what's even funnier is, my own father isn't even irish, so im probably even more sensitive to racist issues than most.

what a joke...

Redhairedguy · 08-03-2007 11:48pm

SyxPak wrote:

Get bicycles.

Buy getcycles?

padi89 · 09-03-2007 10:29am

SyxPak wrote:

Way to make sweeping generalisations.

Not at all.Cyclists in Galway that obey traffic lights and use proper lighting (not a reflector) are a very very rare breed.Im amazed the amount of cyclists that go straight through red lights without a care in the world, suicidal if you ask me.

fifib · 09-03-2007 3:23pm

can i ask about hackneys here? please move if its not suitable for here...

anyways I was just wondering if people know the score with hackneys? After any night out me and my friends always get hackneys home as Taxis would cost us an arm n a leg cos we live outside the city but these days we seem to be getting ripped off by hackneys! I usually go with one of my friends in a cab as she lives on my way home. its €10 to her house in castlegar and if i get cab on my own is €20 to mine the tuam side of claregalway.
but after dropping her off and paying her €10, when we get to mine he charges me €16-18 depending on driver and his mood which i dont think is right.surely i shouldnt be charged this much cos she paid €10 from town to her house which means i should be paying from her house to mine right??
but if i pay for both of us at the end when i get out its €20 or sometimes more cos off "drop off charges".

a few times recently we've shared with one or two others. situations goes my friend would get out first in castlegar...€10, then other person would get off in claregalway village...€10 and then when i get home...€16...€36 to go same distance just one more person got dropped off and it wasnt like they were out of the way...they were dropped on the main road and the driver didnt have to travel any further or anything!

i always end up in an argument with the drivers cos of how different we get charged and they pull out this price list they have stashed away in the glove box. its like the bible to them and when i ask to see it they wont let me!

I dont mind paying the fare if im by myself but when your sharing with others surely you shouldnt have to. I dont get how they are coming up with these prices and each driver has a different story or excuse. can anyone shed some light for me??

whatever happened to the €2 a mile rule!

biko · 09-03-2007 4:58pm

surely i shouldnt be charged this much cos she paid €10 from town to her house which means i should be paying from her house to mine right??

No, since you were picked up in town you pay the whole way, as if you were alone. (I think anyway) If another person joins the taxi they pay for themselves, as if they too were alone.
Next time before you get into the car, ask the driver how much it'll be per person.

nupplenits · 11-03-2007 4:11pm

biko wrote:

No, since you were picked up in town you pay the whole way, as if you were alone. (I think anyway) If another person joins the taxi they pay for themselves, as if they too were alone.
Next time before you get into the car, ask the driver how much it'll be per person.

So then if 3 people get into the car and they are getting off at the same place they also pay the whole way,as if they were alone?

Karl Hungus · 11-03-2007 9:04pm

hada wrote:

When i arrived out, he had already called the guards. He then gave them a rather long spiel and I got a hefty bollocking from the gardai because im a "racist". you could imagine my disbelief at this kind of situation.

Jesus.

Under what pretence did he call the guards for?

I couldn't possibly imagine the guards being called for someone wanting a cab to wait at a shop. Ridiculous.

gerryo · 11-03-2007 10:01pm

nupplenits wrote:

So then if 3 people get into the car and they are getting off at the same place they also pay the whole way,as if they were alone?

read the following for the regulations
http://www.taxiregulator.ie/files/publications/20060913050456_2006mar_national_taxi_fare_LP..pdf

The charge for additional persons is €1 per person.
These new fares came into place last September, sounds like a few drivers are still operating under the old scheme:eek:

fifib · 12-03-2007 2:22pm

any regulations like that for hackneys tho?

cold_filter · 12-03-2007 2:28pm

Was in galway a few weeks ago visiting gf's family. We went for the dinner and one of the sisters had an accident at work a black guy picked her up dropped her home and as she was in such a bad way and can barely walk he decided not to charge her and helped her into the house, very decent of him

Fey! · 12-03-2007 11:54pm

1) Female taxi drivers; usually day shift, especially after a female taxi driver was murdered in Galway about 10 years ago.

2) African taxi drivers; I've only travelled with one (I'm usually driving) and he couldn't have been sounder. A taxi-driver friend of mine said their biggest problem is the Irish named estates.

Note: Has anyone else noticed that most of the black taxi drivers are extremely well presented, and their car are almost always spotless?

3) White taxi drivers; a lot bully their way down the road, pull up without warning, park where they shouldn't...

Oh, sorry; that's just taxi drivers in general!!!

4) Cyclists; yes, Galway cyclist rarely have lights or reflective strips or helmets, and rarely obey traffic lights or signs, and rarely signal where they're going.

galwaygirleen · 13-03-2007 10:29pm

I deal with upteen complaints regarding taxi fares in galway city - i often wonder did people choose to ignore all the ad campaigns that were on when ger deering the taxi regulator was putting all these changes in place??? Galway and the rest of the country is now on par with each other including dublin! Taxi drivers in galway havent had a price increase in over 3 yrs so therefore the price of the taxi went up by nearly 25% absoutley massive jump rather than a steady increase! :eek:
As for black taxi drivers more luck to them never any probs, but in fairness for any driver by the black white or orange these irish names are a lil crazy at times especially with the cultural diversity within galway and the council r to blame. An awful lot of people have great difficulty with thr pronuciation of such places - here are just a few which i find people have difficult with Cnoc an Oir often gets mistake for Knocknacarra pronuced usually cnoc a arra ?? Garran Ard - doughuisce, Carn Ard - Newcastle, Sli an Shruthan - Moycullen Sli na Sruthan - Knocknacarra and Shruthan - Merlin/Ballybane , Heres just a few that i love the best An Fiodan - An FUDGEEN, Fana Burca - Fanny Burkes ha ha ha. then u have dun na corribe - dun na carraige.. list goes on

hada · 19-03-2007 2:35pm

Karl Hungus wrote:

Jesus.

Under what pretence did he call the guards for?

I couldn't possibly imagine the guards being called for someone wanting a cab to wait at a shop. Ridiculous.

to be honest Karl I really haven't a clue. The guards were initially rather sound about things, until they asked me to move away and started talking to the cab driver out of ear shot. However when they came back over to me they really flipped the lid. All I can guess is that the cabbie had spun them some yarn and was given the benefit of the doubt with regards his story!

23-03-2007 1:45pm

I've had alot of black taxi drivers and from my experiences I've found them to be a lot more pleasant than irish ones. More friendly and a lot more respectable.

Actually, thinking about it, I've had one FMTD that brought me down to the hospital from Eyre Square (it's a long ass walk especially if you're in a rush for an appointment) and we had a good old chat.

timwalker82 · 07-08-2008 9:08am

ScumLord wrote: »

I've only had a black taxi driver once and he was sound, we had a great chat in the car. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd been getting so much grief doing that job that he just fliped, maybe he's just a tool I don't know. He was completely in the wrong though. These guys should be trained I know there not.

I got a lift off a local who'd been out of the country he was an oldish guy just making a few yoyos. He hadn't a clue where most the new estates where (freely admited it) and said it's made even more difficult with the Irish names (even though he was fluent in Irish).

Galway is a fast growing city Just look on Google earth there are large parts of the outskirts are just building sites 2-3 years ago.

I don't know why we don't have proper taxi companys like the yellow cab in places like New York you'd have someone to blame then all Irish taxi drivers are just cowboys they can do what they like.

No you have to be specific to the country in Africa he came from but then your being that isim that's country rather than race. You bastard.

Maybe she was referring to people from the contineint of Africa not race, like if u said you don't like european drivers, it would be cynical of me to think that you were being racist, a cynic r u, on top of ignorance, u sound asian, sure u aint from Libya.

timwalker82 · 07-08-2008 9:22am

Karl Hungus wrote: »

I'll take it we've all read this article, right?

So-called "Racism" makes good headlines, and this is from the same people who came up with that story about the man bringing a donkey to a hotel room, so I'd take it with a pinch of salt. Journalistically speaking, it's painfully one-sided and seems to be making ridiculous, and factually inaccurate claims.

Anyone here seen Galway taxi companies "Use the fact they have no black drivers as a marketing tool to attract customers"? :rolleyes:

I would say that a lot of people who'd pass over an African taxi driver in a rank would do so because of having a bad past experience. I'd mirror Redhairedguy's story of being suspiciously overcharged by a few quid, this has happened to me once before. Thankfully I don't take taxis all that often anyway.

There's two sides to the coin in this, I'm afraid.

I agree, there is two sides to every story, on the one hand you have foriegners who understand that playing the race card is a trump card, and on the other hand you have a society of people who can't stand seeing someone from abroad making a life for themselves in your city. I lived all over Ireland and I have to say, I have never been in a place where people are as vindictive and jealous as they are in Galway, I guess it's because of the colonization of your city by the British that caused it. Galwegians and africans are very alike when it comes to banging on about how hard done by you are.

Zzippy · 07-08-2008 10:31am

timwalker82 wrote: »

I agree, there is two sides to every story, on the one hand you have foriegners who understand that playing the race card is a trump card, and on the other hand you have a society of people who can't stand seeing someone from abroad making a life for themselves in your city. I lived all over Ireland and I have to say, I have never been in a place where people are as vindictive and jealous as they are in Galway, I guess it's because of the colonization of your city by the British that caused it. Galwegians and africans are very alike when it comes to banging on about how hard done by you are.

Generalise much?? :rolleyes:

I hear you're a racist now Father....

07-08-2008 11:06am

forbairt wrote: »

What I'd love to know is ... how on earth I can get charged 3 different prices for the same journey ... roughly same times ...

actually the cheapest was late at night / morning coming home after the pub which I'd have assumed would cost a bit more ...

You pay for the time sitting in traffic. At night the minimum is higher but as you are not sitting in traffic it dosn't take as long.

For what it's worth I think taxis now are cheaper than hackneys or taxis were 8/10 years ago.

07-08-2008 11:23am

muppetkiller wrote: »

:mad: What is it with all the new taxi drivers in Galway at the moment that have no idea of the city ? Surely you need to have some basic knowledge of he city before you can get this job ?

I say this as for the second time in a week the Taxi driver bringing me to Parkmore misses the turn off on the Tuam road and then expects me to pay the extra 3-4 euros on the fare...I mean how many hundreds of people work in Parkmore and surrounding estates ?

He then proceeded to give me the wrong change ???

A great start to my day...
Time to get the car I think...

A big element of it is race week - drivers from other counties coming into Galway for the busy season. This is illegal as you can only operate from the city / town / county you are registered in. I had the misfortune to be waiting for a bus for a half hour one of the race days watching cars going to the races - about 1 in 3 were definitely Galway cars / company's, another third were unclear (IE no phone number / company on the plates) and the remaining third had Dublin phone numbers or Castlebar Cabs or whatever on the roof.

07-08-2008 11:25am

hada wrote: »

having been charged 16 euro from shantalla to eddie rockets back in january by one of our african counter parts I was even more disgusted when getting a cab, asked the taxi driver (also of the same origin) to stop in a shop for my two female friends who were also in the taxi. The taxi driver refused to stop, then refused to wait when the two girls were in the shop, so asked him to wait while i ran into the shop to tell the girls to come back out. When i arrived out, he had already called the guards. He then gave them a rather long spiel and I got a hefty bollocking from the gardai because im a "racist". you could imagine my disbelief at this kind of situation.

what's even funnier is, my own father isn't even irish, so im probably even more sensitive to racist issues than most.

what a joke...

He was probably afraid you were doing a runner and just giving the girls a head start.

07-08-2008 11:44am

Fey! wrote: »

2) African taxi drivers; I've only travelled with one (I'm usually driving) and he couldn't have been sounder. A taxi-driver friend of mine said their biggest problem is the Irish named estates.

Note: Has anyone else noticed that most of the black taxi drivers are extremely well presented, and their car are almost always spotless?

I take plenty of taxis. My problems with African drivers are: they tend to have older/ rubbish cars - If I am paying the same rate i would prefer to be sitting in the back of a recent merc or new passat rather than a 02 avensis.

Rubbish music on the radio rather than newstalk (taxi driver standard)

I did have an African taxi driver try to get me to pay in advance before going out to Claregalway a couple of years ago saying that a new law was passed.
I had an Asian driver recently who was asking me questions about different things out my way - he is a local and was interested in local history.

They do have a sharper image than the more traditional fat slob.

Other wise no-more likely to rip off than any other driver. [/racism]

padi89 · 07-08-2008 12:08pm

Don't mind really who it is behind the wheel as i am always glad of a lift home at the end of the night.Can't say i've ever been overcharged.Some of the stories taxi drivers have told me national and non national of the **** they have to put up with is terrible.I make it a point to say please,thank you and be generally mannerly as its tough enough to put up with idiots at night, most of the time il give a tip too.

Madame Razz · 07-08-2008 12:23pm

Had a bad experience a few years ago with an Irish taxi-driver(driving with one of the bigger co-ops). Twas really scary but I was just glad to get out of the car and away from the perv.

At the time there wasn't as obvious a taxi-regulator in place so it wasn't as easy to report, so i've just avoided the company since, as do all of my friends.

By and large no probs with the taxis in the city, irish or non-irish drivers. In fact the non-irish drivers seem to always cost less.

That said I had a genius on monday night who was taking me out the shantalla road to rahoon to get to DANGAN(from the rank oppositie the living room).i'd a big row with him but still had to pay about €5 more than normal.... what a mong:mad:

slickmcvic · 07-08-2008 12:39pm

therres fierce resentment towards the black taxi drivers in galway from the irish drivers.....a local driver was tellin us about all the govt subsidies they get that the locals didn't...he was rippin!!
personally i'm not bothered what taxi i get home at night but I can sort of see their point....

po0k · 07-08-2008 12:44pm

timwalker82 wrote: »

I agree, there is two sides to every story, on the one hand you have foriegners who understand that playing the race card is a trump card, and on the other hand you have a society of people who can't stand seeing someone from abroad making a life for themselves in your city. I lived all over Ireland and I have to say, I have never been in a place where people are as vindictive and jealous as they are in Galway, I guess it's because of the colonization of your city by the British that caused it. Galwegians and africans are very alike when it comes to banging on about how hard done by you are.

Am....say what?

Read some fscking history before mouthing off.

07-08-2008 12:50pm

po0k wrote: »

Am....say what?

Read some fscking history before mouthing off.

His version sounds better.

Were there clowns?

Madame Razz · 07-08-2008 12:53pm

Have you seen those taxis around with the sign writing 'This Taxi driver is a local' or something like that? How do they get away with a sign like that?!

ronnie3585 · 07-08-2008 1:24pm

Because dey tuk err jerbs!!

JohnCleary · 07-08-2008 1:50pm

manukahoney wrote: »

Have you seen those taxis around with the sign writing 'This Taxi driver is a local' or something like that? How do they get away with a sign like that?!

What's wrong with it?

What do you mean 'how do they get away with that?' - Sure all they're doing is stating a fact. Just like if I put a sign on the side of my car "I'm male and im white" - I'm stating a fact.... OMG HOW COULD I GET AWAY WITH IT???!?!!??!!?!?!?eleventyone

Get over it

Taxi drivers in Galway

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