Ripped off by Taxi Driver?

nikolaitr

Just wondering if I was ripped off, or it was just my drunken paranoia.

At around 3 am on wednesday i got a taxi ride that took about 3 minutes(for people who know dublin, it was from citibar on dame street to pearse street bridge). It is equivalent to a 25 minutes walk,I'd guess maybe 1.5 km. The trip cost us just under 10 Euro. It was definately a taxi because it had the yellow thing on top.

My question was was I ripped off by this taxi driver. I was watching the taxi meter and it seemed to be increasing very quickly,like every 5 seconds. Is it possible it was modified by the driver?


P.S This is a general question, not just to dublin people

Macker

INITIAL CHARGE
First 1km or 170 seconds
€4.10
Fixed

TARIFF A
Next 14km or 40min
Up to €21.70
€1.25 per km
Or
€0.44 per min

Seems a little steep

senordingdong

Unless there were others in the taxi too.

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

nikolaitr

Yeah there were 4 of us...the extra charge was 3 Euro.

stepbar

You have to love taxi men. They all have their price....
I waved a nice crisp 20 eur note in front of a taxi man last friday. The journey would normally cost 9 eur. However, I was drunk and really wanted to get home. He took it, after refusing the person in front of me because he was "waiting for a fare".

All in all, I think the lesson is to try and use taxis sparingly.

bbbbb

senordingdong wrote:

Unless there were others in the taxi too.

And you paid less than €10? Just getting in & out of the cab would have cost €7.10

tolosenc

Did you get a receipt? It would have been somewhere in the region of €8.50 if it took five minutes.

dame

If it takes you 25 mins to walk 1.5km then you need a taxi or you'll never get anywhere fast!

Donald-Duck

dame wrote:

If it takes you 25 mins to walk 1.5km then you need a taxi or you'll never get anywhere fast!

It might just be because its late, but is 1.5km in 25min not pretty average for normal speed walking?

Wishbone Ash

Donald-Duck wrote:

It might just be because its late, but is 1.5km in 25min not pretty average for normal speed walking?

I would have thought that it was slightly above average!

The OP doesn't say whether he/she booked the taxi. If so, it would have been €9.10 (AFAIK) as soon as their arses hit the seats - €4.10+€1+€1+€1+€2.

MooseJam

If you drink untill you don't know whats going on it's your own fault

dame

No the OP is slow or is judging the distance wrong.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking
"An average walking speed is about three mph (five km/h), although this depends heavily on factors such as height, weight, age and terrain."
Going by that it should take 18 mins on average to walk 1.5km.

Terrain is flat (footpath) and we'll have to assume the OP is of average height and build and is not particularly elderly.

There's also the possibility that when walking the most direct route was taken but that when driving a longer route must be taken due to traffic flows and one-way streets.

Dirty Knuckles

I'm a taxi driver.

After 20:00hrs (8pm) the initial charge is €4:10, then you'll have been charged an additional €1 per passenger. So had three, so thats €7:10 before the car moved. So I'd say you paid the correct fare.

If you guys are ever in doubt re. the fare, ask for a receipt. Every meter, without exception are obligied to print a receipt. On the receipt is the SPSV licence details, the car's reg. number, the time the journey started and finished, the date, the distance travelled and the fare.

If the driver fails to provide you with a receipt on request report him to any police station, a reg number will be enough details for the guards to trace the driver.

There are some terrible taxi driver's out there. I hear the horror stories often enough, but some of us care about providing a good service to our customers.

[I've seen some taxi threads on AH turn really nasty so I'm reluctant about getting into a discussion re. bad taxi services/driver's etc. But if anyone has a question they'd like answered I'll glad reply via a PM. ]

Hope that answer's the OP's question.

Giblet

stepbar wrote:

You have to love taxi men. They all have their price....
I waved a nice crisp 20 eur note in front of a taxi man last friday. The journey would normally cost 9 eur. However, I was drunk and really wanted to get home. He took it, after refusing the person in front of me because he was "waiting for a fare".

All in all, I think the lesson is to try and use taxis sparingly.

Done the same myself, but with 10 euro, and that was just on top of the usual fare.

Overheal

Is it really a bad situation in Ireland with the Taxis or is everyone just paranoid because it gets in the papers from time to time? I've found my own Taxi experiences to be pleasant enough, personally.

But whats the policy on taxi drivers pulling over for a pickup?? I was in dublin over the summer walking down that long stretch of nothingness on the south side of the river between the train station and the city centre and none of them stopped for me...that was a good 25 minutes by my reckoning before I found a parked cab that would take me /=/

senordingdong

What's there to be paranoid about!?!? We already established that the OP wasn't ripped off.
People really need to familiraise themselves with taxi costs.

Donald-Duck

dame wrote:

No the OP is slow or is judging the distance wrong.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking
"An average walking speed is about three mph (five km/h), although this depends heavily on factors such as height, weight, age and terrain."
Going by that it should take 18 mins on average to walk 1.5km.

Terrain is flat (footpath) and we'll have to assume the OP is of average height and build and is not particularly elderly.

There's also the possibility that when walking the most direct route was taken but that when driving a longer route must be taken due to traffic flows and one-way streets.

Being drunk makes everything take longer though

melekalikimaka

MooseJam wrote:

If you drink untill you don't know whats going on it's your own fault

<b1tchSlaps> ugh i hate those sort of comments from people </b1tchSlaps>

aidan_walsh

senordingdong wrote:

What's there to be paranoid about!?!? We already established that the OP wasn't ripped off.
People really need to familiraise themselves with taxi costs.

Why do that when you can bitch and moan and complain and fire accusation instead?

billy the squid

Just be warned, when in Sligo,,, get the bus
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v289/billythesquid/TaxiReceipt.gif

nearly 10 euro for just over 1 kilomitre

aidan_walsh

1.7 kilometers is not "just over 1 kilometer".
What were the extras you were charged for?

Vmaxer

aidan_walsh wrote:

1.7 kilometers is not "just over 1 kilometer".
What were the extras you were charged for?

Probably 4 passengers in the Taxi which would make it €2.25 each, might even be cheaper than the Bus....:D

senordingdong

I don't agree with the hefty, initial charge but it is the guts of every fare.

dame

billy the squid wrote:

Just be warned, when in Sligo,,, get the bus
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v289/billythesquid/TaxiReceipt.gif

nearly 10 euro for just over 1 kilomitre

He prob meant just over 1 mile.

Does the bus go where you were going? Does it go at the time you want to go there? Would the bus go straight there or would it bring you on a round-the-country trip taking half the night?

It does sound like that particular firm has a very high charge though!

billy the squid

it was one passenger not four.

from what I have heard, before the new taxi fares came in thaxis in Sligo were reasonable. a trip of that distance would have cost a fiver, but since the new fares came in, they have been milking it for every penny, even though they can charge below the meter fare.

The same amount would get me from City Centre of Limerick to Raheen. that is nearly 7 kilomiters.

Dirty Knuckles

billy the squid wrote:

it was one passenger not four.

.

I take it you called a cab company for the cab, making up the other two Euro?.

1.7km for €9 seem's alittle excessive but alot of other variables can come into play in making up a fare.

ie. the initial radio callout charge of €2 on top of the faring charge. Then if the cab is booked for (lets say) 4pm and the driver arrrives at that time, thats when the meter starts. So the fare takes an extra 5-10 mins getting ready, the fare goes up again.

Then it comes down to the driver.

I had a call to Harmonstown Motors for a pickup the other day. It was a girl with two babies, and two car seats to install too!. By the time the seated were in, the kids settled and she was ready to go the meter was reading €7+, but she was literally travelling just up the road. So I zero'd the meter and charged just a fiver. Had I left the meter running the fare would have been well over €9 or €10 euro.

But OP you done the right thing in getting a receipt. I'd contact the company (if your still unhappy with the fare) and quiry the fare because there are some driver's who'll take the pi$$ everytime.

Dirty Knuckles

billy the squid wrote:

from what I have heard, before the new taxi fares came in thaxis in Sligo were reasonable. a trip of that distance would have cost a fiver, but since the new fares came in, they have been milking it for every penny, even though they can charge below the meter fare.

.

In fairness alot of drivers will round down the fare. I do it alot, and its one of the only service's in this country which will do this.

Alot of times I'll round down a fare from (say) €7.40 to €7- or (say again) €15.70 to €15.50. The fare looks at the meter and see's I'm rounding down, and never, not once has a customer commented on this. Imagine getting the price of your pint rounded down or asking the barman for a discount!, lol... The bouncer's would be feeling your collar!.

As regards 'milking' it. The driver is legally entitled to charge you the metered fair, your legally obligied to pay it and complain to the Guards or the regulators office later. All this information is on the farecard carried in every taxi (not sure about hackneys).

nikolaitr

Dirty Knuckles wrote:

In fairness alot of drivers will round down the fare. I do it alot, and its one of the only service's in this country which will do this.

Alot of times I'll round down a fare from (say) €7.40 to €7- or (say again) €15.70 to €15.50. The fare looks at the meter and see's I'm rounding down, and never, not once has a customer commented on this. Imagine getting the price of your pint rounded down or asking the barman for a discount!, lol... The bouncer's would be feeling your collar!.

As regards 'milking' it. The driver is legally entitled to charge you the metered fair, your legally obligied to pay it and complain to the Guards or the regulators office later. All this information is on the farecard carried in every taxi (not sure about hackneys).

Thanks you've been really helpful.

In retrospect i was wrong I looked over the new fee guidelines and the price seems to add up correctly. I guess I was made somewhat paranoid by the fact I was drunk and one hears alot of stories of rip of taxi drivers but to summarise.

This whole thread was started on my ignorance of the new taxi fees, and I guess it shows just how easily even a common sense person(at least I'd like to think) can be led astray by what slander they hear/read. Anyways, I' like to apologise if I offended any taxi driver.

stovelid

You sound as if you're actually proud of this....

stepbar wrote:

You have to love taxi men. They all have their price....
I waved a nice crisp 20 eur note in front of a taxi man last friday. The journey would normally cost 9 eur. However, I was drunk and really wanted to get home. He took it, after refusing the person in front of me because he was "waiting for a fare".

All in all, I think the lesson is to try and use taxis sparingly.

Degsy

I miss Pullmyfinger...

stepbar

stovelid wrote:

You sound as if you're actually proud of this....

And how did you get that impression? Do you have anything to add or are you just trying to stir ****e?