Taxi - Airport to Sandymount

silverharp

I had a relative fly in from the States last week , had meant to tell her to get the taxi to use the tunnel, it was around 7pm midweek. Anyway he didnt use it and was wondering had he taken advantage of her by not doing so. She had been to the desk at the airport so she knew what the likely price was going to be but they didnt mention the tunnel either.

Cocoon

According to the world taxi calculator the answer would be no, going by the tunnel to sandymount there would be 2 tolls to pay..

http://www.worldtaximeter.com/dublin?to=sandymount+road&from=dublin+airport&time=19-01&phone_booking=

oisindoyle

silverharp wrote: »

I had a relative fly in from the States last week , had meant to tell her to get the taxi to use the tunnel, it was around 7pm midweek. Anyway he didnt use it and was wondering had he taken advantage of her by not doing so. She had been to the desk at the airport so she knew what the likely price was going to be but they didnt mention the tunnel either.

You cannot make assumptions about any taxi driver nor insinuate that he/she was taking advantage of someone .
I will say this though,i very much doubt he did take advantage of your relative .
Most passengers who live in Sandymount ,believe it or not ,chose NOT to go through the tunnel.
The only time its advantageous is perhaps early morning rush hour traffic .You would get to Sandymount quicker ,but price wise it would work out approx thr same as the toll is 10 euro until 10am.
After that its 3euro .
At 7pm there would be little traffic so all in all I doubt very much if the fare would be more than if he took the tunnel .

Finally ,you mentioed your relative went to the "desk" in the airport so she knew the likely price ect etc ...
What desk is this exactly??
The only person who would give an accurate /approx price is an actual taxi driver NOT someone who sits at a desk and does NOT drive a taxi

Terrontress

They try not to use it, as far as I am aware. If you were to consider rush hour, it would cost as much to go through the tunnel as not to. The difference would be the money in the taxi driver's pocket instead of the toll company's.

I have often taken taxis on account and they will do anything not to go through the tunnel although they don't seem to mind the East-Link.

oisindoyle

Cocoon wrote: »

According to the world taxi calculator the answer would be no, going by the tunnel to sandymount there would be 2 tolls to pay..

http://www.worldtaximeter.com/dublin?to=sandymount+road&from=dublin+airport&time=19-01&phone_booking=

I wouldnt place any credence on that link at all

Cocoon

oisindoyle wrote: »

I wouldnt place any credence on that link at all

I'd say its pretty much on the money as far as the fare goes.

Taxipete29

Terrontress wrote: »

They try not to use it, as far as I am aware. If you were to consider rush hour, it would cost as much to go through the tunnel as not to. The difference would be the money in the taxi driver's pocket instead of the toll company's.

I have often taken taxis on account and they will do anything not to go through the tunnel although they don't seem to mind the East-Link.

Thats because with account customers the driver generally has to pay the toll out of his/her own pocket. As it takes a minimum of a week and more depending on the firm to get your accounts back, the driver is out of pocket for that period.

As for the op. The driver is under no obligation to take toll roads without direction. If you wish to use a tolled road or tunnel you must inform the driver.

Taxipete29

oisindoyle wrote: »

I wouldnt place any credence on that link at all

I found it to be close enough to reality

silverharp

cheers, I was thinking in terms of time more so then money, she had been travelling since the night before so chopping of 20/25 min at the end would add up in my book. As for what desk, not sure there must be info desk, they were trying to tell her to get the bus but she wouldnt have gone for it.

Personally I always insist on using the tunnel for the time saving

oisindoyle

silverharp wrote: »

cheers, I was thinking in terms of time more so then money, she had been travelling since the night before so chopping of 20/25 min at the end would add up in my book. As for what desk, not sure there must be info desk, they were trying to tell her to get the bus but she wouldnt have gone for it.

Personally I always insist on using the tunnel for the time saving

They were telling her to use the bus ?? Can you find out exactly who or what this desk was ?

Terrontress

Taxipete29 wrote: »

Thats because with account customers the driver generally has to pay the toll out of his/her own pocket. As it takes a minimum of a week and more depending on the firm to get your accounts back, the driver is out of pocket for that period.

As for the op. The driver is under no obligation to take toll roads without direction. If you wish to use a tolled road or tunnel you must inform the driver.

And, as I said, if it is going to cost the same overall, it is easy to see why the driver would prefer to get the money instead of the toll operator.

oisindoyle

Taxipete29 wrote: »

I found it to be close enough to reality

It's not .For example i put in Airport to O Connell St ,,time 8am ..
The link quoted 22.12 euro and on a Sunday it quoted 28.17 euro
Now for one thing NO fare on meter comes to .12 cent or .17 cent .
Secondly a fare on meter from dublin airport at 8am to the Gresham Hotel comes to just under 17 euro .Believe me Its true !

Taxipete29

oisindoyle wrote: »

It's not .For example i put in Airport to O Connell St ,,time 8am ..
The link quoted 22.12 euro and on a Sunday it quoted 28.17 euro
Now for one thing NO fare on meter comes to .12 cent or .17 cent .
Secondly a fare on meter from dublin airport at 8am to the Gresham Hotel comes to just under 17 euro .Believe me Its true !

The site allowed for 11 min waiting time for that hour of the morning. It also states that.

It is close, not exact.

silverharp

oisindoyle wrote: »

They were telling her to use the bus ?? Can you find out exactly who or what this desk was ?

Tourist desk if that makes sense, not something I'd ever be looking out for. I assume they were telling her about the Aircoach , they said the fare would be around the €30 mark which wouldnt have worried her

btw just to say the driver was very polite and made sure she was dropped off at the right place and came to the door and asked was she expected etc.

Spook_ie

Terrontress wrote: »

They try not to use it, as far as I am aware. If you were to consider rush hour, it would cost as much to go through the tunnel as not to. The difference would be the money in the taxi driver's pocket instead of the toll company's.

I have often taken taxis on account and they will do anything not to go through the tunnel although they don't seem to mind the East-Link.

That's 'cos most taxidrivers are claustrophobic, comes from being cooped up with undesirable passengers

oisindoyle

silverharp wrote: »

Tourist desk if that makes sense, not something I'd ever be looking out for. I assume they were telling her about the Aircoach , they said the fare would be around the €30 mark which wouldnt have worried her

btw just to say the driver was very polite and made sure she was dropped off at the right place and came to the door and asked was she expected etc.

Well there you go ,as I said earlier no one from a desk can or should quote taxi prices when they dont have a clue .Plus it could end in an argument between the passenger and the taxi driver .For example the passenger could say ,"well the desk people told me it was such n such but you charged me more etc etc ".
Secondly your initial comment was querying if the driver was taking advantage of your relative ,now you state that the driver dropped off at the right place and came to the door and asked if she was expected .
That doesnt sound like a driver who would try and take advantage of your relative .He seems rather nice if you ask me .
So i would suggest your initial comments were unfair and disingenuous to the taxi driver

silverharp

oisindoyle wrote: »

Secondly your initial comment was querying if the driver was taking advantage of your relative ,now you state that the driver dropped off at the right place and came to the door and asked if she was expected .
That doesnt sound like a driver who would try and take advantage of your relative .He seems rather nice if you ask me .
So i would suggest your initial comments were unfair and disingenuous to the taxi driver

fair enough but at the same time there is a gap between the goal of the driver and the passanger assuming there was a potential time saving? tip top customer care imo would be giving the option of both routes

Terrontress

Spook_ie wrote: »

That's 'cos most taxidrivers are claustrophobic, comes from being cooped up with undesirable passengers

is that all passengers or just some? I'm sure that comment can't be aimed at me as you don't know me.

It just goes to further highlight the contempt in which taxi drivers hold those who give them their living.

dereko1969

silverharp wrote: »

fair enough but at the same time there is a gap between the goal of the driver and the passanger assuming there was a potential time saving? tip top customer care imo would be giving the option of both routes

In this case though, what would your relative have said when given the option of tunnel or town?
given that at that time there would be little enough time difference?
next time maybe pick them up at the airport yourself?

steph1

Taxi drivers have a meter in their vehicle which they must use unless its a pre-booked pre-arranged fare. So nobody on any desk or in any other business eg. shops etc. can know exactly how much a fare is going to be. I often get asked this question how muc is it to here or there and I can in most cases give a rough estimate but then it depends on how far that person is going within a town or area.

silverharp

dereko1969 wrote: »

In this case though, what would your relative have said when given the option of tunnel or town?
given that at that time there would be little enough time difference?
next time maybe pick them up at the airport yourself?

erm, thats what taxis are for. If the driver made an honest calculation in his head thats fine but say for example the taxi was leaving bang in the middle of rush hour or in the morning , would one expect any driver to be more forthcoming with the choice?

oisindoyle

silverharp wrote: »

erm, thats what taxis are for. If the driver made an honest calculation in his head thats fine but say for example the taxi was leaving bang in the middle of rush hour or in the morning , would one expect any driver to be more forthcoming with the choice?

Well yes is the answer.Though as is often the case a lot of passengers dont like paying the extra toll charge.
But you said yourself that your relative arrived at a time when there was little or no traffic .
Also you said yourself the driver was polite and made sure she was expected .
It seems you cannot focus on the good aspect of the driver instead you seem to be insinuating that the driver and other drivers are out to do people ,which i said earlier was /is unfair of you .
Just accept the driver was decent polite and got your relative to her destination