Dublin Airport taxi hassle

fillup

I got back from a family holiday last Sunday, flew into Dublin airport and got a taxi.
There was 5 of us, the missus, meself and the 3 nippers
Taxi driver jumped to attention started loading the bags into the back of the taxi, asks us where we’re going and we tell him Marino.
The 2 bags he was carrying were unceremoniously fcuked into the boot he goes to get in and I have to tell him to hold on that there’s more to go in.
After loading up we set of and Mr Taxi is on his mobi (all hands free in fairness) to a buddy giving out loads about queuing for 2 hours to a fare to ‘Marino, yeah i know, Marino’, then he gets another call, same story ‘been in the airport all morning, 3 fares, jaysus wept and now off to Marino’

We get to the destination and he helps us unload and I ask him for the fare and in fairness he only charges us 20 yo which was probably less than what was on the meter.
I pay him and then tell him that I am never getting a taxi from Dublin airport again. Why, asks the driver.
And I explain that I’m sick off being made feel guilty for living too near the airport. I tell him that I know he’s been queuing for 2 hours but that isn’t my problem.
I complained about him giving out on the phone, ‘that was a private conversation’ and I also complained about the bags being thrown into the boot ‘I always put them in like that’.

What a bleeding cheek… that’s no way to treat your customers. If business is that bad why alienate your customers even further???

Taxipete29

I agree that this is totally unacceptable. I cannot for the life of me understand why guys sit on that bloody rank in the first place when its very obvious that at least half the people who will get in to your car dont live anymore than €20 away. Its not the way to treat people or their luggage

May I suggest for further trips arrange for the driver who drops you off to pick you up. Im sure he would be delighted with a €20 fare.

oisindoyle

fillup wrote: »

I got back from a family holiday last Sunday, flew into Dublin airport and got a taxi.
There was 5 of us, the missus, meself and the 3 nippers
Taxi driver jumped to attention started loading the bags into the back of the taxi, asks us where we’re going and we tell him Marino.
The 2 bags he was carrying were unceremoniously fcuked into the boot he goes to get in and I have to tell him to hold on that there’s more to go in.
After loading up we set of and Mr Taxi is on his mobi (all hands free in fairness) to a buddy giving out loads about queuing for 2 hours to a fare to ‘Marino, yeah i know, Marino’, then he gets another call, same story ‘been in the airport all morning, 3 fares, jaysus wept and now off to Marino’

We get to the destination and he helps us unload and I ask him for the fare and in fairness he only charges us 20 yo which was probably less than what was on the meter.
I pay him and then tell him that I am never getting a taxi from Dublin airport again. Why, asks the driver.
And I explain that I’m sick off being made feel guilty for living too near the airport. I tell him that I know he’s been queuing for 2 hours but that isn’t my problem.
I complained about him giving out on the phone, ‘that was a private conversation’ and I also complained about the bags being thrown into the boot ‘I always put them in like that’.

What a bleeding cheek… that’s no way to treat your customers. If business is that bad why alienate your customers even further???

Sorry to hear of your experience.The driver was wrong to behave in that manner .Thing is he probably was in the holding area for 2 hours ,BUT its the luck of the draw !Its still no excuse for hie behaviour.
Just because he was out of order,dont tar all the drivers with the same brush ,,theres plenty of good "non moaning" drivers out there

fillup

a fair point oisin, i've talked to other taxi drivers about this and they agree that it is the luck of the draw but this has happened too often now and i think that in future i'll either drive and use the shuttle bus or call a local firm from the airport

Wishbone Ash

At least Marino is a fair distance away compared to the crap that those living in the Swords area have to put up with. I don't understand the mentality of those taxi drivers. Most other business people would be delighted with any custom that they can get.

There is a B & B beside Kealy's pub just outside the airport and occasionally passengers get a taxi there. I wonder what your driver would say to that!

fillup

i'd say the majority of trips are into town which isn't that much futher than marino anyway...
i really do fell sorry for them but don't take it out on the few punters that are left.
we're all feeling the recession

Wishbone Ash

fillup wrote: »

i'd say the majority of trips are into town

I'd doubt that as there are plenty of alternatives to get into town. They make money on the fares to places not readily served by public transport.

fillup

true enough wishbone but i was thinking of business men/women going into town on business....

Terrontress

fillup wrote: »

true enough wishbone but i was thinking of business men/women going into town on business....

There have been plenty of times I've been to the airport and had to queue 20 minutes to get a taxi. Those times a taxi driver could surely drop off locally, be back in no time and get another fare. Get 3 €20 fares done in one hour.

meathstevie

fillup wrote: »

I got back from a family holiday last Sunday, flew into Dublin airport and got a taxi.
There was 5 of us, the missus, meself and the 3 nippers
Taxi driver jumped to attention started loading the bags into the back of the taxi, asks us where we’re going and we tell him Marino.
The 2 bags he was carrying were unceremoniously fcuked into the boot he goes to get in and I have to tell him to hold on that there’s more to go in.
After loading up we set of and Mr Taxi is on his mobi (all hands free in fairness) to a buddy giving out loads about queuing for 2 hours to a fare to ‘Marino, yeah i know, Marino’, then he gets another call, same story ‘been in the airport all morning, 3 fares, jaysus wept and now off to Marino’

We get to the destination and he helps us unload and I ask him for the fare and in fairness he only charges us 20 yo which was probably less than what was on the meter.
I pay him and then tell him that I am never getting a taxi from Dublin airport again. Why, asks the driver.
And I explain that I’m sick off being made feel guilty for living too near the airport. I tell him that I know he’s been queuing for 2 hours but that isn’t my problem.
I complained about him giving out on the phone, ‘that was a private conversation’ and I also complained about the bags being thrown into the boot ‘I always put them in like that’.

What a bleeding cheek… that’s no way to treat your customers. If business is that bad why alienate your customers even further???

I used to work as a taxidriver and also worked Dublin Airport. From personal experience I rather done a €20 fare to Marino-Raheny-Clontarf area than a €25 one to Ranelagh that has a turnaround time of twice as long. Personally I also thought that the average Northsider appreciated the fact that you brought them home without moaning and a bit of banter and as a result quite often threw you a few quid on top of the fare.

In my opinion the best fares you could get at the airport were airport staff coming out ( 4 or 5 of them together ) with a couple of drops in Swords and Santry or Malahide. By the time you had that kind of run finished you would have clocked up the same as for going to Crumlin travelling through town in less than half the time. The only better ones would be country runs and fares where the only sensible route would be the M50 ( Thallaght, Lucan, Blanchardstown,...)

antoinolachtnai

There is no excuse for this carry-on from drivers.

But still, the taxi dispatching at Dublin Airport is a big problem. A more streamlined arrangement (with a special ticket for returning to the airport for fares less than 5 miles) would solve a lot of issues for both the passengers and the industry.

Taxi sharing would also make a lot of sense, both for passengers and for the industry.

What's good for the passengers is good for the airport.

trellheim

A more streamlined arrangement (with a special ticket for returning to the airport for fares less than 5 miles) would solve a lot of issues for both the passengers and the industry.

I remember when I used to get a Taxi LHR T1->Brentford [ about 6 miles ] the taximan used to say it was to Hounslow or whatever, so he could get in faster, so that's just as open to fiddling.

antoinolachtnai

That's because the dispatcher was doing it wrong! The dispatcher was supposed to ask the passenger, not the taxi driver.

mickoneill30

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

That's because the dispatcher was doing it wrong! The dispatcher was supposed to ask the passenger, not the taxi driver.

In Heathrow they've a minimum fare though, what's the point of fiddling. I was getting a taxi last year (to Slough). Don't know how far it is but it's about 10 mins. The minimum I'd have to pay was £50. The bus is about £3.

I'm in Swords. I've given up on getting taxis from the airport -> Swords. It's Dublin Bus all the way now. I used to get them and give a good tip (if the driver was decent) because I know it's a crap fare but the crankyness and rudeness of some of the drivers isn't worth it.

antoinolachtnai

Minimum fare at Heathrow? That's a new one on me. Who told you there was a minimum fare? (I'm not saying you are wrong, but I have never heard of this before.)

There is a new voluntary scheme for travelling to Slough, apparently.

http://www.heathrowairport.com/portal/page/Heathrow%5EGeneral%5ETo+and+from+Heathrow%5ETaxis/26f89b25f9599110VgnVCM10000036821c0a____/448c6a4c7f1b0010VgnVCM200000357e120a____/

Random

I think the way taxi's are managed at the airport is really one of the main problems here. There should not be a queue of 50 people waiting on the footpath and a queue of 50 taxi's waiting on the hill. Someone needs a bit of cop on here. Add 3 taxi queues or something and just pump the taxis in and the people out.

Do taxi rank attendants even get any training in common sense sometimes? I've seen them hold up a queue of people just to have a fight with one bloke who has decided he's going to get into the next taxi (which is ready and waiting) only to be told he can't go until he's told to etc etc and then put in that taxi anyway.

It's a terrible system.

mickoneill30

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

Minimum fare at Heathrow? That's a new one on me. Who told you there was a minimum fare? (I'm not saying you are wrong, but I have never heard of this before.)

It was just over a year ago since I was there. When I told the dispatcher where I was going he said something like thats a good fare. When I asked for me or the taxi driver he said for the taxi driver as they have a minimum fare and it's not far. When I got into the taxi he told me the minimum was £50. That was my full investigation into that as I went off to find the buses. Admittedly he could have been trying it on or it could have changed since then.
I don't care anymore. With that and various other experiences of that airport, I try and avoid Heathrow like the plague if I've any other option.

MiniD

A friend of mine had a similar experience. She lives in Swords and got into a taxi after a flight where she was verbally abused because the driver had been on the rank a long time and now was only driving to Swords. She was very upset. Unfortunately she didn't think to get the taxi number as she was just glad to get home. The experience really spoiled her weekend away.

zagmund

Slough is outside the London taximeter area (or whatever it's called), so it's off the meter. It's not far, but it's not exactly near either. I had to get a taxi there one morning and knew it was going to be expensive, but the £50 fare was an eye-opener. Cost more than the flight as far as I remember. I got the bus back for a few pounds (if even that) two days later.

The fast-return voucher for the driver doing a local drop-off (within the taximeter zone) works very well. Dispatcher asks punter where he's going . . . if it's local he gets a voucher to give to the driver. There's absolutely *no* value to the punter in getting a voucher for a driver he hasn't met and doesn't know if he's not actually going local. Something similar should be implemented in Dublin. Agreed, there's nothing a driver can do if he gets a tiny fare after a 2 or 3 hour wait, but the dispatcher and the system can do something - give a fast return voucher.

And don't get me started on the crappy loading system at the rank in Dublin. I hope they improve it for the new terminal. At most 2 or 3 cars can fit on the rank - the delay is caused by waiting for the cars to pull up and not getting loaded.

z

Bluetonic

Random wrote: »

Add 3 taxi queues or something and just pump the taxis in and the people out.

Thank God your not a planner.

Whats your suggestion and given the space how would it be implemented? No idle talk.

Random

There was my first suggestion. More queues of taxis.
Secondly I'd get rid of the guys managing the rank.
Thirdly I'd see how feasible it is to add a taxi rank down by the short term car park or something.
Fourthly .. who knows.

I'm entitled to say the current setup is ****e and I think the guys calling taxis and putting people into them are one of the main problems - in my experience.

monkeyfudge

I live in Coolock and have this problem with drivers EVERY time without fail.

There's really no other way for me to get home from the airport so it does piss me off a great deal. 3 weeks ago the guy wouldn't even drop me to my house, decided to leave me at the end of my road instead... I was too tired from delayed flight to get in a row about it at that stage though.

I've never had a pleasent taxi drive from the airport though, and it's the last thing you need after a long flight.

zagmund

DAA don't seem to have any problems knocking down buildings, widening roads when they need to . . so of course they can find a better way to queue the taxis than at the *start* of the building. How about a queue at the end of the building instead or a longer run-in so that taxis can be ready sooner ?

In reality, given that DAA don't seem to give a sh!te about passenger comfort but love retail space, the only way they are likely to improve the queue is by charging people for it. They already charge the drivers for it, and I can't see the drivers paying up more.

Maybe they could set up a 'sheltered' queue and an 'open to the elements' queue and start charging for the sheltered one.

Or maybe they could set up a 'driver who will just get you there and not give it loads with the verbals' queue and a 'driver that will let you know exactly what he thinks of you for living near the airport instead of Dalkey' queue and start charging for the first one.

Or maybe they could move the queue to the other side of the short term building where there is loads of space for a long enough taxi queue.

There has to be a better way. As said above - how can it makes sense to have a hundred people queueing for a taxi and just around the corner have a few hundred drivers grumbling about being stuck in the pen for hours ?

z

Wishbone Ash

zagmund wrote: »

how can it makes sense to have a hundred people queueing for a taxi and just around the corner have a few hundred drivers grumbling about being stuck in the pen for hours ?

You don't appear to be familiar with the set-up in Dublin Airport.

If there are several hundred people in the queue, the taxis merely enter and exit the 'Kesh' and drive straight up to the arrivals road - i.e. they are not waiting around. The drivers get cranky when, for example on week-days at mid morning when there is no queue at arrivals and drivers end up queing to get into the queue to get into the 'Kesh' and then get to the arrivals road 2 or 3 hours later (and then get a fare to Swords - 2 miles up the road).

When there is a queue of passengers waiting for a taxi, there is no problem (from the taxi driver's viewpoint).

fillup

on the day in question there was no passanger queue. we walked right to the top of the rank.
the 2 hour queue the taxi driver endured was prob due to too many taxi drivers looking for business

Wishbone Ash

fillup wrote: »

on the day in question there was no passanger queue. we walked right to the top of the rank.
the 2 hour queue the taxi driver endured was prob due to too many taxi drivers looking for business

Precisely.

Another problem is those drivers left over after the last flight comes in. Suppose (off peak) the last flight is in at 1.30am. At some point, the drivers called up to the arrivals will have no customers. Now, they must make a decision to either go home, go elsewhere or stay put and hope for the 'big one' off the first flight in several hours later - ie. the 5.30am from New York.

My wife had the unfortunate experience recently of being the 1st passenger out from NY and getting into a taxi which had remained overnight. The driver was far from impressed to be taking her a few miles up the road.

He then got a puncture (had no spare) and insisted on getting the full fare for leaving her stranded on the M1. She told him where to put his fare and managed to flag another taxi on the M1 (an absolute gentleman who took her safely home).

jdivision

I think that somebody has to explain the concept of opportunity cost to taxi drivers

antoinolachtnai

Has a survey been done of this? i.e., a table prepared showing supply and demand over a week or so?

I really don't believe that the dispatching system can match supply and demand quickly, even when there is both supply and demand. I would like to be convinced otherwise though.

Nothingcompares

i live about 4/5 km from airport, fairly short fare for airport fare. out of courtesy i ring a cab when i collect my bags and meet them in arrivals. don't know f this is against the rules but i think it's fairer all round.

however, i'd have no problem jumping in a taxi at the rank if i'm stuck.

Wishbone Ash

Nothingcompares wrote: »

i ring a cab when i collect my bags and meet them in arrivals. don't know f this is against the rules

There is an area set aside for pre-booked taxis. It is (was?) beside the Church (near short term car park C). I don't think they are permitted to go to arrivals (and if they do, do the other drivers not object? ).

craiginireland

In my old job we had to be in at 6am. The company paid for taxi's to get us in on time. My problem is that i lived near heuston and worked in Abbey St. At that hour all sorts roamed the streets so I wasn't keen on walking.

At least once every week a driver wouldnt turn up because he didnt want the small fare and the ones that did bitched all the way there.

Seriously guys, if you don't want the job, let someone else do it.

bk

craiginireland in that case what you should have done is pick one of the drivers you liked and arranged to get him to pick you up at the same time every day.

A friend of mine did that for a similar short journey, the driver was delighted and they even had each others mobile number to text if he wasn't going to work the next day or the taxi driver would get a friend to fill in if he was missing.

amacachi

bk wrote: »

craiginireland in that case what you should have done is pick one of the drivers you liked and arranged to get him to pick you up at the same time every day.

A friend of mine did that for a similar short journey, the driver was delighted and they even had each others mobile number to text if he wasn't going to work the next day or the taxi driver would get a friend to fill in if he was missing.

Can't recommend that enough. If you're making regular trips in taxis get to know a driver. He/she'll be glad of the regular fares, you'll have someone reliable.

markpb

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

Has a survey been done of this? i.e., a table prepared showing supply and demand over a week or so?

I really don't believe that the dispatching system can match supply and demand quickly, even when there is both supply and demand. I would like to be convinced otherwise though.

I've had to queue several times when large flights all arrive at the same time. The delays were entirely down to the dispatch system in use. The last time we flew in from Atlanta, we ended up walking to the road to get a taxi (who gave out to us for skipping the queue) rather than queue at the back of 300 people.

Changing to a diagonal bay system would enable at least five taxies to load at the same time without blocking each other and wouldn't take up more space.

trellheim

How would they know ?

IMHO DAA won't give a monkeys until T2 opens anyway. I lost all respect for DAA when they began charging for taxi permits to pick up.

BendiBus

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

The drivers get cranky when, for example on week-days at mid morning when there is no queue at arrivals and drivers end up queing to get into the queue to get into the 'Kesh' and then get to the arrivals road 2 or 3 hours later

Why would they want to queue for hours at the quietest times at the airport? Doesn't seem smart. Hardly the passengers fault!

Wishbone Ash

BendiBus wrote: »

Why would they want to queue for hours at the quietest times at the airport? Doesn't seem smart

Presumably because it's also quiet elswhere and they are hoping to get a €50/60/70 fare after the wait.

BendiBus wrote:

Hardly the passengers fault!

I totally agree - I didn't say it was!

Davidth88

The taxi loading area in Dublin is a disaster to be honest.

The guys in the yellow coat add no value whatsoever, if DAA want to save money re-deploy them to somewhere useful.

I have had a number of ' issues ' with taxis from Dublin airport. However that was before the ' universal ' meter area came in and they wanted to charge me stupid money to Celbridge .

I laugh at the Mr Gorman everytime he comes on the radio , it was the the NTDU ' rip off ' sheets that were the cause of most of my issues. Trying to charge 73 euro because ' thats what it says on the sheet mate and this is official from the union blah blah blah '.

However since the new taxi regulations I have had no issue, although I have refused once or twice to get into 92 Corrola's and similar and got some adverse reaction.

Wishbone Ash

Davidth88 wrote: »

The guys in the yellow coat add no value whatsoever, if DAA want to save money re-deploy them to somewhere useful

I'm open to correction but I think they have to be there in case drivers refuse a fare (which is not permitted in most cases). It's OK for the likes of us who are assertive but supposing a tourist, elderly person or someone who is easily intimidated is refused a service, they may not have the wherewithall to complain or assert their rights. If the driver continues to refuse, the dispatcher will contact the Airport Police.

The dispatcher also decides when the next row should be released from the 'kesh'. If he wasn't there, they would probably all leave and queue all the way up to the arrivals area causing inconvience for others.

Palmy

I was dropping someone to the airport last week and there was no waiting on taxis for people.I very much doubt they are waiting 2 hours for a fare,Its like the taxis you see around town with twenty cars in front of them at a rank,and moaning about it.Lads just get on with it.Take the rough with the smooth.

Cuddlesworth

I came off a slight Sunday evening and got a taxi after 10 minutes queueing. I'm a bit obsessive compulsive so I counted the amount of taxis that went by before hand. I really don't think turnaround of 180 vehicles in ten minutes is a bad figure. Thats what, 20 seconds on the rank per vehicle?

antoinolachtnai

It would be good enough if you hadn't spent 10 minutes queuing. You need to have to be able to dispatch taxis faster than new passengers arrive. Otherwise a queue of both passengers and taxis will build up.

therecklessone

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

There is a B & B beside Kealy's pub just outside the airport and occasionally passengers get a taxi there. I wonder what your driver would say to that!

Haha, I was only talking to a mate about that last week, he'd got a driver from the Airport complaining about his fare to Swords after a 2hr wait...his previous fare had been to Kealys...:D

Years ago I was waiting for hours in Dublin for a taxi on a bank holiday weekend, so I jumped on the Aircoach to the Airport and walked up to the rank, I could see the drivers eyes light up as he saw me stumble to the rank at 5am, he wasn't as bright eyed when i said Swords to him...cue a rant at me the whole way to my door about his 3hr wait for a fare, well I was the guts of 3hrs waiting on a taxi in the city, so if him and his mates bothered to head into town they'd have got loads of business.

I've also tried hailing taxis on the departures road that have dropped other punters off and been told "ah no mate, the lads will go mad if I pick up here" on a number of occasions.

My approach now is to tip generously if the driver is polite, and wait for my exact change if he's not.

oisindoyle

Palmy wrote: »

I was dropping someone to the airport last week and there was no waiting on taxis for people.I very much doubt they are waiting 2 hours for a fare,Its like the taxis you see around town with twenty cars in front of them at a rank,and moaning about it.Lads just get on with it.Take the rough with the smooth.

Let me explain a few things to you regarding taxis in dublin Airport .
Firstly at any one time there are at least 150-180 taxis out in Dublin Airport.
No taxi can just come off the street and go up to the arrival taxi stand .All cars have to go to a holding area (behind the Radisson Hotel ) and can be in this holding area anything from 1 and a half hours to 2 and a half hours ...
When there are passengers up on the arrival taxi stand ,the drivers are informed of this by the yellow despatch people at the stand ..they contact the holding area and call a specificed number of cars ..
The drivers in the holding area dont know there are people waiting for cars unless these DAA taxi marshalls tell them .
If and it happens many a time (much to the annoyance of drivers) the Marshalls are not on the ball as it were ,it can result in people having to wait a few minutes for the cars tro arrive .
The cars in the holding area have to drive aprox half a mile and negoisate 2 traffic lighrs to get to the passengers.
So if passengers come out and theres no taxis there to meet them immediately ,its NOT the taxis drivers fault ,its the marshalls .
Also NO driver can refuse to take a fare regardless of how short the journey it is ...Its the luck of the draw where the journey goes..
Unfortunately for the driver ,if the journey is a short one ,he cannot just join the que again on the taxi stand arrivals he has to go back to the holding area and que up all over again ,,which could take up to 2 hours.
The only time he can go back to the taxi stand arrivals is IF the short journey is within the Airport complex ,in which case he informm the marshals and he gets a ticket which he then shows the marshalls on return ,,,It is also illegal for any driver to pick up a fare at Departures ,He is liable to lose his permit that he paid for .
Hope that clears up all the misconceptions many have regarding taxis in dublin airport

antoinolachtnai

so if i am making a trip to swords, what happens if i tell the dispatcher I just want to go to the hotel?

oisindoyle

@ Anto please re read what I just said re short jouneys....
Secondly you tell THE DRIVER where you are going NOT the despatch marshall
Thirldy ,the hotels within the airport complex have free shuttle buses

Taxipete29

I know its not permitted to ask people on the departure ramp if they are looking for a taxi ie touting, but if your approached by someone I dont think there is a problem taking them. Remember the vast majority of Taxis dropping off at the airport dont have an airport permit so the DAA have no hold over them.

antoinolachtnai

oisindoyle: so how does the dispatcher know whether to give the driver a special ticket?

fillup

fair enough oisindoyle. i think we all accept that there is a 2 hr wait for the taxidriver and there have been only 1 or 2 posts on this thread where the poster has complained about waiting for a taxi...
the thread was started to highlight the fact taht punters are bearing the brunt of taxi drivers frustrations and that isn't acceptable.

oisindoyle

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

oisindoyle: so how does the dispatcher know whether to give the driver a special ticket?

The driver and passenger will let the marshall know that its a short journey within the airport complex..

oisindoyle

fillup wrote: »

fair enough oisindoyle. i think we all accept that there is a 2 hr wait for the taxidriver and there have been only 1 or 2 posts on this thread where the poster has complained about waiting for a taxi...
the thread was started to highlight the fact taht punters are bearing the brunt of taxi drivers frustrations and that isn't acceptable.

And you will see where I said it wasnt appropriate or acceptable for the driver to air his or her frustration at a short journey towards the passenger .