long distance taxi fares

moshpit77

Hi all

I'll try to keep this as short as possible. Last weekend my girlfriend was in the unfortunate situation to have to get a taxi from the Clare Inn, near Ennis, to Limerick City. It's a distance of 20 miles. Now from experience I think there's a general rule of €1.30 per mile for long distance taxi fares, so we were prepared to pay anything up to €30. We asked the hotel to book the cab for us (their welcome book advised this because they get good fares from companies they use regularly). When she got into the taxi, the driver already had €14 up on the meter. She questioned him about this and he told her that because he had come form Ennis to collect her, and was going outside his taxi area, he had to switch on the meter at Ennis. As it was a bit of an emergency she had no choice but to continue on the jourey. Isn't it illegal for a taxi driver to start the meter until he picks up a fare? Anyway, the taxi ended up costing €44. I'm wondering if anybody can shed any light on the legality of this and/or rules governing taxi fares like this. I'd also like to find out who exactly to lodge a complaint with.

Thanks

Richie.

Sleipnir

Carriage Office


I doubt very much they can have the meter running. How can you know when it was started? He may not have stopped it after he dropped off his last fare.
Tell me your girlfriend remembered to get the plate number and a receipt?

parsi

Theoretically they can start the meter when they leave to pick you up and can charge a fare if the hire was initiated by phone.. a lot of the time they don't do it but the white sheet with charges does seem to say that....

moshpit77

she didn't get either, but the hotel did give us the number of the taxi firm they hired, and I know they all keep accounts of who went where and when etc. whether they are prepared to admit it is another thing

Sleipnir

parsi wrote:

Theoretically they can start the meter when they leave to pick you up and can charge a fare if the hire was initiated by phone.. a lot of the time they don't do it but the white sheet with charges does seem to say that....

No they can charge you a set amount for hiring by phone but they can't just start the meter running when they see fit.
They also can't run the meter from wherever they are to get to where you are. What if they were on the other side of the city?
Bascially, it's not hired until you are in the cab.

Unfortunately though, without a receipt or the plate number there's not a lot can be done.

Davey Devil

Friend got a taxi from Dublin Airport to Bray the other day, cost him €70. It's a fair old journey but still thought 70 euro is abit steap.

Ripwave

Davey Devil wrote:

Friend got a taxi from Dublin Airport to Bray the other day, cost him €70. It's a fair old journey but still thought 70 euro is abit steap.

You can get from the Airport to Ballinteer in aboout 30-40 minutes now, on the M50. And you'll be charged about €40 because it's twice as long, distance wise, as going through the city.

therecklessone

Davey Devil wrote:

Friend got a taxi from Dublin Airport to Bray the other day, cost him €70. It's a fair old journey but still thought 70 euro is abit steap.

Dublin Airport taxi drivers are notorious for overcharging. The bus/dart combo would have cost about €5!!!

John R

Davey Devil wrote:

Friend got a taxi from Dublin Airport to Bray the other day, cost him €70. It's a fair old journey but still thought 70 euro is abit steap.

Because Bray is outside Co. Dublin, they can charge what they like and they always do, the decent ones will at least tell you before they start.

I have a few friends in Bray and when they have to get a taxi from Dublin they alway get dropped off at the border (!) in Shankill and will phone a Bray taxi to collect them and bring them the rest of the way, it is SOP for Bray folks I believe.