Taxi driver refused fare - "Not going that way"

TheCosmicFrog

So I had an interesting experience a few hours ago, the first of my kind in Galway. I'm a frequent taxi customer in the city. Usually it's a simple case of "Hello, can I go to <destination> please? Thank you.", but tonight (around 3am) I went to the head of the taxi queue in Eyre Square and, as the driver had his front window down, I asked as a courtesy, "Are you okay to go to <destination>?" I was pretty surprised to hear the driver say, "Sorry, I'm not going that direction."

Direction? This is Galway, not London. The city isn't big enough to have "directions".

I moved on and hopped into another taxi. I asked the driver, out of curiosity, if such a thing happens regularly in Galway. He sounded pretty surprised and told me I should have taken his roof number and contacted the Taxi Regulator. When I asked why he thought the first guy had refused me in my "direction", the driver said, "Your fare probably wasn't high enough for him." I live about a ten minute drive from Eyre Square, which I thought would have been an average fare distance anyway. I just checked the Taxi Regulator website and spotted this line:

Unreasonable refusal of service
Taxi drivers may not unreasonably refuse service for journeys of 30km or less.


It's hard to put a definition on what "unreasonable" refusal of service is, but I reckon this probably falls under it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not annoyed in the slightest. There were plenty of other taxis to choose from, I was just a little embarrassed. I felt like I was rejected by a taxi driver, like my business wasn't good enough for him.


Has anyone experienced this before in Galway, or elsewhere?

biko

I've heard of it before but never had it happen to me.
They've spent a long time to get to the first spot in the rank and then someone wants to go just two miles down the road. This means they'll make a few euros and spend another 30 mins to get back in the good spot. Anyway this is how it was explained to me.
10 mins drive sounds like a normal fare to me. Maybe he was hoping for a fare in his direction so he could continue home afterwards.

galwayrush

Often happened to me years ago, my journey was about 10 miles, so the drivers could make a few city fares in the time it would take to bring me home. Often they would say wait an hour, sometimes a driver would say i live out that direction, i'll be going home at such a time, if you wait i'll bring you home for half price.

mikemac

Happened me once, Eyre Sq to the Hunstman
I'm not one for arguing, just get the next in the rank

The only other incidents were years ago, before deregulation.
Worked in a hotel in Taylors Hill and work paid to get me home to Ballybrit, that's a longish fare and probably fastest to head out the Headford Rd.

Finish up around 2am and our taxi company took aaaaaages to get drivers for us staff. Work paid set fares on account and the drivers ignored us and worked the city business and only get us when it died down.

Switched to Big O and they were better

Dunjohn

I remember a story in the Galway papers a few years ago, a taxi driver refused a fare because he was soon heading home and was only looking to pick up a fare on the way. He dropped the passenger off at the taxi office. He was later fined and labeled an "opportunist" by the judge, if I remember right.

So yeah, totally in the wrong there.

Cosmo Kramer

Dunjohn wrote: »

I remember a story in the Galway papers a few years ago, a taxi driver refused a fare because he was soon heading home and was only looking to pick up a fare on the way. He dropped the passenger off at the taxi office. He was later fined and labeled an "opportunist" by the judge, if I remember right.

So yeah, totally in the wrong there.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/driver-in-jail-after-threat-to-deck-taxi-customer-182553.html

I don't know if this is one you refer to or not but here is a case from a few years ago involving people I knew (the passengers, not the driver). A bit more extreme than the OPs case but the same general idea. We never expected him to get a sentence but it turned out he had a litany of previous convictions of a similar nature, it sounds like this attitude still exists among some city taxi drivers.

messrs

Used to happen me all the time in Longford, i live 7 miles outside the town so would take the driver over half hour to drop me out and back into town again and lots of taxi drivers wud refuse, coz they wud get lots of shorter runs in the town so wud never want to bring me out

galah

happened to me before (I think I started a thread on that then as well).
Fecker wouldnt give me a lift from The Living Room to St Mary's Road, said it wasn't worth his while...(I was a girl in heels, it was after midnight, etc etc. Ended up walking home, seething.)

tan11ie

galah wrote: »

happened to me before (I think I started a thread on that then as well).
Fecker wouldnt give me a lift from The Living Room to St Mary's Road, said it wasn't worth his while...(I was a girl in heels, it was after midnight, etc etc. Ended up walking home, seething.)

Well that's just wrong!! the stupid fecker!!!

tan11ie

My guess is he was heading home and looking for a fare going his direction.....if it ever happens again take his number and report him! It gives the rest of the guys/gals in the game a bad name.

Karona

Happened me before, i was stuck in Dublin with no way back to drogheda on my own at 3 o clock in the morning. I hailed a taxi and he was like sorry not going to Drogheda. Next one i eventually hailed was saying he couldnt do that.

barryd09

Who cares if it isnt 'worth their while' or they 'arent going that way'.
Thats a complete cop out.They are taxi drivers with a que of customers there for them,its the luck of the draw as to where the customer wants to go.

If youre on the rank & touting for business & spend all your life whinging abour deregulation then you should take whats given to you.

Id bet very much this same driver would have picked up a fare from a 'hailer' on his way back too.

Jesus SOME people.

filmbuffboy

This has happened to me before too. Dunno why but the driver thought the fare wasnt worth his while. Anymore I take note of the number plate just in case something happens so i can report em!

TheCosmicFrog

OP again. Just spotted this on the Taxi Regulator site:

When can a taxi driver refuse service?

A taxi driver may reasonably refuse:

• To undertake journeys of more than 30km;
• To allow passengers to consume food or drink in the vehicle;
• To carry, or continue to carry, passengers who are acting in a disorderly, abusive or offensive manner; and
• To carry, or continue to carry, passengers who are likely to soil or damage the vehicle.

I definitely didn't meet any of those criteria.

DRakE

TheCosmicFrog wrote: »

OP again. Just spotted this on the Taxi Regulator site:

When can a taxi driver refuse service?

A taxi driver may reasonably refuse:

• To undertake journeys of more than 30km;
• To allow passengers to consume food or drink in the vehicle;
• To carry, or continue to carry, passengers who are acting in a disorderly, abusive or offensive manner; and
• To carry, or continue to carry, passengers who are likely to soil or damage the vehicle.

I definitely didn't meet any of those criteria.

he could always say he thought you were a risk if it ever came back on him though, even if you weren't

drum!

Is it really a big deal if it happens in a queue though? There was probably another 25 taxis behind this fella.

996tt

Ive been a victim of this carry on plenty of saturday nights(and I can assure you drink is not the reason), if its busy allot of them point blank refuse to bring me my 10miles home even though they get e25 for it. So ive a nice payback, when they stop i open the rear passenger door and ask them will they bring me home, if they say no i get out and dont close the rear door meaning they have to get out and close it. Petty I know but they deserve it

drum! wrote: »

Is it really a big deal if it happens in a queue though? There was probably another 25 taxis behind this fella.

to me it is. Its hypocritical carry on by taxi drivers, under the law customers are allowed to pick which taxi we want, try doing that in a rank and no driver behind the 1st one will take you.

TheCosmicFrog

drum! wrote: »

Is it really a big deal if it happens in a queue though? There was probably another 25 taxis behind this fella.

No big deal at all. This was simply a thread asking if anyone else had experienced this. There was about forty taxis behind him so I went to the next guy who was happy to have my business.

dcukhunter

From what I had heard before (not sure if it's right though) if you asked before you sat into the car he can refuse you. Once you get into the car he can't refuse as long as it's within a reasonable distance or you aren't drunk, abusive etc.

spinandscribble

I think the issue here might be you asked if he was going in your direction (i'm not sure why you asked this). He might have thought (oh what a nice chap, probably realises i'm close to clocking off home) and told you not my direction. For you to then report him considering you verbally gave him the choice would be a tad mean in my opinion. In the future just get in and say your please and thank yous no need for the extra courtesy of are you going in my direction.

hyperbaby

This happened to me twice in one night in Salthill. Two taxis stopped and when i told them where i was going (10 miles away) neither of them would bring me home. I told the next driver who picked me up and he informed me that that they weren't supposed to do that.

dave1982

Funny thing is, he will probably be the 1st to complain of lack of work

TheCosmicFrog

dcukhunter wrote: »

From what I had heard before (not sure if it's right though) if you asked before you sat into the car he can refuse you. Once you get into the car he can't refuse as long as it's within a reasonable distance or you aren't drunk, abusive etc.

Nope, I asked something like, "Are you okay to go?". It was him who asked me where I was going.

edit - I'd edit my original post to correct that, but it won't let me. It was him that asked me where I wanted to go.

dolphin city

did you not say you asked him "was he okay to go to ........"

why did you ask that question - why didn't you just sit in the taxi and tell him where you wanted to go - I'm sure he would have brought you.

the fact that you asked him if he was "okay" to bring to to your destination gave him a choice to say yes or no. Not his fault.

Next time be more pro-active - sit in and tell him where you are going. The end. :rolleyes:

Also if it was not a big deal why are you still going on about it.

TheCosmicFrog

dolphin city wrote: »

did you not say you asked him "was he okay to go to ........"

The exact thing I said was, "Are you okay to go?". It's my slightly awkward and poorly phrased way of being polite towards taxi drivers. As I mentioned in my last post, it was actually him who asked me where I wanted to go - I can't edit my original post.

why did you ask that question - why didn't you just sit in the taxi and tell him where you wanted to go - I'm sure he would have brought you.

Common courtesy I guess. Also the back door was locked (fair enough - I'd do the same) but his front window was down. I asked him the question through the window.

the fact that you asked him if he was "okay" to bring to to your destination gave him a choice to say yes or no. Not his fault.

Not really. According to the Taxi Regulator it's not his right to refuse me based on where I'm going as long as it's <30km.

Next time be more pro-active - sit in and tell him where you are going. The end. :rolleyes:

Fair enough. If the door is open.

Also if it was not a big deal why are you still going on about it.

It's easy to confuse regular replies to other peoples' posts as "still going on about it". I post a lot. I'm also subscribed to this thread so I get emails as soon as someone posts in it, which means I usually reply quickly.

dolphin city

i find the whole thing a bit strange really. First you say you asked was he okay to go to a certain destination and then you say that no you didn't actually mention a destination - that you just said "are you okay to go" obviously he is going to say "go where"? You still gave him the choice.

now a new fact, that the car was all locked up except for an open window even tho he was the next person off the rank. Strange.

I say next time keep your mouth closed - get in and tell him where you are going. Saves hassle.

Also, to be honest I don't think the driver would have refused you because the journey wasn't long enough. At 3 a.m. in the morning, most of the journeys would be local and within a ten minute drive radius. If he was to refuse all of these less than ten minute journeys he wouldn't have moved at all. I'm sure if the driver was here he would have a different story.

No offence, but taxi drivers get a bad rap as it is - and have to put up with a lot of abuse, assault, and ignorence that people have no idea about.

Overall, (and I am not talking about you here) I think they have a hard job to do and get an unfair rap. They can't open their mouths but there is fault with it. People think that they can do what they like in a taxi with no consequences, screaming, shouting, banging seats, sneaking alcohol in, fiddling with the radio, antagonising the driver - they seem to forget that they are paying for a lift home, not to treat the car and the driver like dirt. IMO taxi drivers are entitled to make an informed choice on whether the person getting into their taxi is going to cause them hassle or not.

Somebody mentioned something about "oh he'd be the first one to complain about lack of business" or something like that. Just because you are a taxi driver it does not mean that you have to put up with abuse/assault - you don't - believe me sometimes it's better to forget the fiver, and not take a passenger. Why should he have to put up with abuse for a fiver. Would you? I would suggest you might look at both sides of the story before coming out with statements like that.

dolphin city

also you say it was in Eyre Square at 3 a.m. on a Saturday night - you obviously weren't coming from mass. The worst place you could possible be at that time of night - outside Supermacs at 3 a.m. This would the the taxi person busiest night with nightclubs out and people wanting to go home.

What kind of state were you in - had the taxi man maybe have been watching your behaviour and locked his doors when he saw you coming - if he was at the top of the rank. You state that the taxi regulator can refuse a fare if it is over 30 km. but they can also refuse passengers who are acting in a disorderly, abusive or offensive manner or passengers who are likely to soil or damage the vehicle. They can also refuse you if you want to bring food or drink into the cab.

Another thing to consider - are you a student? Are you living in a student village? Wasn't there lots of trouble last week with students - hurling bottles at emergency services, barricading themselves in, etc. Did you want the taxi man to drive to one of these student areas at 3 a.m.m on a saturday morning after night clubs are out. Would you drive into one of these areas after hearing what was going on during the week there? Lots of things to consider.

the_syco

Personally, I get into the passenger seat, and tell the taxi driver where i want to go. The only place I don't do this is in Belfast, as I know some taxi drivers won't go into certain estates as their registration plates are from the wrong area, or something, which is fair enough, so I'd usually ask them can they goto X before i get into the taxi.

TheCosmicFrog

dolphin city wrote: »

now a new fact, that the car was all locked up except for an open window even tho he was the next person off the rank. Strange.

I agree. I started this thread about 3 hours after it happened. I didn't think at the time that the exact details would matter to anyone.

I say next time keep your mouth closed - get in and tell him where you are going. Saves hassle.

Again, if the door is open.

Also, to be honest I don't think the driver would have refused you because the journey wasn't long enough. At 3 a.m. in the morning, most of the journeys would be local and within a ten minute drive radius. If he was to refuse all of these less than ten minute journeys he wouldn't have moved at all. I'm sure if the driver was here he would have a different story.

Agreed. I'd be curious to hear his reason too.

No offence, but taxi drivers get a bad rap as it is

Why would I be offended? This thread was just an observation.

The worst place you could possible be at that time of night - outside Supermacs at 3 a.m. This would the the taxi person busiest night with nightclubs out and people wanting to go home.

It was completely dead. There was nobody around. I even commented on this to the next taxi driver.

What kind of state were you in - had the taxi man maybe have been watching your behaviour and locked his doors when he saw you coming - if he was at the top of the rank.

I wasn't drinking. I was in a friend's house and walked to Gala with him to get a 3V voucher and a litre of milk.

Another thing to consider - are you a student? Are you living in a student village? Wasn't there lots of trouble last week with students - hurling bottles at emergency services, barricading themselves in, etc. Did you want the taxi man to drive to one of these student areas at 3 a.m.m on a saturday morning after night clubs are out. Would you drive into one of these areas after hearing what was going on during the week there? Lots of things to consider.

I'm a student, but I wasn't going to a student estate. Also, it was a Saturday night - that's a locals night, there's no students around.

dolphin city

jeez ya must have been gasping for a cuppa tae to be going out at 3a.m. on a saturday night for a carton of milk

TheCosmicFrog

dolphin city wrote: »

jeez ya must have been gasping for a cuppa tae to be going out at 3a.m. on a saturday night for a carton of milk

Haha, it was my friend buying the milk for his house after we had to borrow his roommate's. I only wanted a 3V voucher!

Columc

dolphin city wrote: »

jeez ya must have been gasping for a cuppa tae to be going out at 3a.m. on a saturday night for a carton of milk

A quick note to you dolphin not every student drinks. Plenty of times I would be crawling out of squareyes at 5am on a friday night, drunk on video games.


From what TheCosmicFrog have said, he had full rights to go into the taxi, even quoting the taxi regulations. And also he inst complaining of not going into it, as ther was no hassle for him just to get the next taxi i nthe rank, he was just stating this on boards and asked the question if anyone else had this happen to them.

This just proves that the taxi situation in Galway and Ireland needs to go under invsetigations. The traffic Taxis cause on the roads due to queing is ridiculas(foster street, bridge street/millstreet) and the increase of taxi drivers within the last 5+ years is incrediable.

westies4ever

i was refused by a taxi driver in inchicore a few years ago. it was new years eve (well new years day early morning). I had been at my brothers house. we flagged down a taxi to get home to fairview on the northside.

his reason was that 'it was miles away - on the other side of the city'! when i told him that was the point - otherwise i'd walk - he got thick and drove off.

i'd had a few drinks but i wasnt too bad - def not bad enough to refuse to take me. we were stranded for a good hour after that.

SONIC2008

In Ennis at night on weekends, a limited few taxi drivers often refuse the longer journeys. I have been advised their reason for doing this is because they make more money from people just going 1 mile by charging them the minimum fare.

Columc

SONIC2008 wrote: »

In Ennis at night on weekends, a limited few taxi drivers often refuse the longer journeys. I have been advised their reason for doing this is because they make more money from people just going 1 mile by charging them the minimum fare.

Is there much compition in Ennis for taxis?

If you'd have got in first before askng I doubt he would have refused.

Spook_ie

There is also the possibility that you would have been taking him out of his "comfort zone".

I know that I don't really like being taken to areas of Dublin that I don't know inside out, just because there are too many nooks and crannies where the seasoned fare jumper will take you to, sad to say almost all of my fare jumpers involve the student fraternity and as such I have often refused them, unless they are prepared to comply with a "cash on the dash" request ( pay up in advance and settle the difference on arrival! )

Columc

Spook_ie wrote: »

There is also the possibility that you would have been taking him out of his "comfort zone".

Comfort zone or not, from taxi regulations he cannot refuse the fair if:

A taxi driver may reasonably refuse:
To undertake journeys of more than 30km;
To allow passengers to consume food or drink in the vehicle;
To carry, or continue to carry, passengers who are acting in a disorderly, abusive or offensive manner; and
To carry, or continue to carry, passengers who are likely to soil or damage the vehicle.

If going to certain areas is out of his comfort zone he shouldnt be a taxi driver!

With having the taxi doors locked and the window down, and also being first in a long taxi rank, he wants to force the customers to the window saying "going xyz" if he finds that its a long enough journey were he can get enough money from he will take them, if not he just passes them on. Generally most costumers will, the very few will actually start giving out about the taxi regulations, and want to force him to drive you... then wouldn't that be an awkward conversation

Spook_ie

Columc wrote: »

Comfort zone or not, from taxi regulations he cannot refuse the fair if:

A taxi driver may reasonably refuse:
To undertake journeys of more than 30km;
To allow passengers to consume food or drink in the vehicle;
To carry, or continue to carry, passengers who are acting in a disorderly, abusive or offensive manner; and
To carry, or continue to carry, passengers who are likely to soil or damage the vehicle.

If going to certain areas is out of his comfort zone he shouldnt be a taxi driver!

With having the taxi doors locked and the window down, and also being first in a long taxi rank, he wants to force the customers to the window saying "going xyz" if he finds that its a long enough journey were he can get enough money from he will take them, if not he just passes them on. Generally most costumers will, the very few will actually start giving out about the taxi regulations, and want to force him to drive you... then wouldn't that be an awkward conversation

For "comfort zone" re-read as meaning " I don't trust you to pay the fare "

Unreasonable refusal of service

Taxi drivers may not unreasonably refuse service for journeys of 30km or less.

If for ANY reason a taxi driver feels they may not get paid at the end of a fare that would be a reasonable reason to refuse the fare

dolphin city

I refer to my previous points. I think people on here think that it is their god given right to get into a taxi, act however they want, no questions asked.

I would ask especially students to consider the point of the taxi driver - do you actually sit down and think about what they go through especially with students - and I have no qualms about saying that.

Again if the taxi man refused this person it must be for a reason - after all most of their business at this time of night is local . We can only take the word of the person writing here, who, at the end of the day can say whatever they want.

Just bear in mind that taxi drivers are not there for students abuse.

Dan_Solo

dolphin city wrote: »

I refer to my previous points. I think people on here think that it is their god given right to get into a taxi, act however they want, no questions asked.

I would ask especially students to consider the point of the taxi driver - do you actually sit down and think about what they go through especially with students - and I have no qualms about saying that.

Again if the taxi man refused this person it must be for a reason - after all most of their business at this time of night is local . We can only take the word of the person writing here, who, at the end of the day can say whatever they want.

Just bear in mind that taxi drivers are not there for students abuse.

None of which has been brought up by anybody except you. I'm sure taxi drivers don't want their families hunted down and killed by blood crazed vampires, but that's equally irrelevant.
Stop trying to conflate this with "taxi driver abuse" to suit your agenda.

Dan_Solo

Spook_ie wrote: »

If for ANY reason a taxi driver feels they may not get paid at the end of a fare that would be a reasonable reason to refuse the fare

Really? Can you specify exactly where this is written into the regulations?

Spook_ie

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Really? Can you specify exactly where this is written into the regulations?

It would be upto a court to decide if the driver was being unreasonable for refusing a fare where he thought he was at risk of either not getting paid or being robbed, I'd stand up in court and use it as a defence with no hesitation.

That's the problem with terms like reasonable and unreasonable they can be very grey

Dan_Solo

Certainly all taxi ranks are (or should be) under CCTV. It'd be easy to spot when a punter was being abusive or too pissed for the taxi driver to handle.
This thread has nothing to do with that though. Posters are saying it has nothing to do with the person or the destination, only the distance to the destination.

JimiTime

TheCosmicFrog wrote: »

So I had an interesting experience a few hours ago, the first of my kind in Galway. I'm a frequent taxi customer in the city. Usually it's a simple case of "Hello, can I go to <destination> please? Thank you.", but tonight (around 3am) I went to the head of the taxi queue in Eyre Square and, as the driver had his front window down, I asked as a courtesy, "Are you okay to go to <destination>?" I was pretty surprised to hear the driver say, "Sorry, I'm not going that direction."

Direction? This is Galway, not London. The city isn't big enough to have "directions".

I moved on and hopped into another taxi. I asked the driver, out of curiosity, if such a thing happens regularly in Galway. He sounded pretty surprised and told me I should have taken his roof number and contacted the Taxi Regulator. When I asked why he thought the first guy had refused me in my "direction", the driver said, "Your fare probably wasn't high enough for him." I live about a ten minute drive from Eyre Square, which I thought would have been an average fare distance anyway. I just checked the Taxi Regulator website and spotted this line:

Unreasonable refusal of service
Taxi drivers may not unreasonably refuse service for journeys of 30km or less.


It's hard to put a definition on what "unreasonable" refusal of service is, but I reckon this probably falls under it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not annoyed in the slightest. There were plenty of other taxis to choose from, I was just a little embarrassed. I felt like I was rejected by a taxi driver, like my business wasn't good enough for him.


Has anyone experienced this before in Galway, or elsewhere?

Happened to me on Parliament street in Dublin. Hopped in and asked to be taken to Chapelizod and he said, 'Sorry, I'm going towards Raheny'. I was already in the cab, so I politely said, 'Sorry, but you are not a bus, and when I beckoned you, you pulled in.' He said, 'All right, fair enough' and away we went. I think some may just chance their arm.

You should see some of them loosing it at Dublin Airport if someone gets in and asks for Swords or Santry. They are not allowed refuse service, but from reports I've heard, its now a regular occurance there.

dolphin city

Dan_Solo wrote: »

None of which has been brought up by anybody except you. I'm sure taxi drivers don't want their families hunted down and killed by blood crazed vampires, but that's equally irrelevant.
Stop trying to conflate this with "taxi driver abuse" to suit your agenda.

don't get upset now, because I brought up the "other point of view". As I say, taxi's get a bad rap but nobody stops to think what they have to go through.

It is always good to look at the other point of view - although students overall think their opinions are the only ones that count, but they grow out of that when the leave college.

Also, I would suggest that there was a valid reason why the taxi man would not take this specific local fare, when at that time of night they thrive on local fares.

maybe I touched a raw point with you??

By the way, there is no such thing as vampires.

littlejp

Where do students come into it? Have you even read the original post?

The only reason the taxi driver gave him was that he wasn't going that direction. That is not a valid reason. Nothing to do with risk of fare jumping, drunken mess... Nothing like that. The taxi driver was just picking and choosing his fares, which he's not aloud to do.

Spook_ie

littlejp wrote: »

Where do students come into it? Have you even read the original post?

The only reason the taxi driver gave him was that he wasn't going that direction. That is not a valid reason. Nothing to do with risk of fare jumping, drunken mess... Nothing like that. The taxi driver was just picking and choosing his fares, which he's not aloud to do.

Not being there I can't agree or disagree with you but when I decide that a fare is probably entailing a risk of more trouble than it's worth I use any and all kinds of excuses to get out of it, usualy I'd look for an excuse that could be deemed reasonable and that isn't likely to lead to things escalating beyond the " All taxi drivers are bastards" stage, needing to get diesel is always a good one, especialy if the garage is in the opposite direction

No I daresay that sometimes I have avoided/declined fares that would not have been any bother ( as regards getting paid etc. ) but I'd sooner lose the money than run the risk, once bitten twice shy

dolphin city

littlejp wrote: »

Where do students come into it? Have you even read the original post?

The only reason the taxi driver gave him was that he wasn't going that direction. That is not a valid reason. Nothing to do with risk of fare jumping, drunken mess... Nothing like that. The taxi driver was just picking and choosing his fares, which he's not aloud to do.

were you sitting beside him then? Unless you were you don't actually know what happened. This is what I mean about giving the other perspective. People read the original post and just assume its accurate and proceed to slate the other person/party. Instead of thinking logically.

Columc

Whats with all the arguing, he got refused, he went to the next taxi in the rank and he got home, he just wondering if it ever happened to anyone befor.

Dan_Solo

dolphin city wrote: »

don't get upset now, because I brought up the "other point of view". As I say, taxi's get a bad rap but nobody stops to think what they have to go through.

Why are you pretending I am upset? You don't agree with me so you're "upset" too I guess!
Every job has its sob story, but that's irrelevant to whether taxi drivers can refuse fares because they don't think there's enough in it for them. Doctors work long hours and get plenty of abuse from patients, but they can't tell one to f*** off because the operation is too long for them to be bothered!

dolphin city wrote: »

It is always good to look at the other point of view - although students overall think their opinions are the only ones that count, but they grow out of that when the leave college.

What has "students" to do with anything? This is about being refused a fare due to the driver thinking he won't make a lot of money. Why are you bringing in "abuse of taxi drivers" or "opinionated students"? Where are these covered in the legislation?

dolphin city wrote: »

Also, I would suggest that there was a valid reason why the taxi man would not take this specific local fare, when at that time of night they thrive on local fares.

I would suggest we trust the OP instead of assuming he's a liar. That's pretty normal I'd have thought!

dolphin city wrote: »

maybe I touched a raw point with you??

Lame in the extreme. What an utterly pathetic, tedious line. Maybe you're a taxi driver who likes to refuse fares that don't make you "enough" money, huh? Just a wild guess...

dolphin city wrote: »

By the way, there is no such thing as vampires.

And there's no such thing as taxi drivers refusing fares for no good reason except their own greed.
Oh, wait, there is!

BTW... GOD BLESS DEREGULATION.
There was a time when this kind of crap would've meant a walk home in the rain. Now there's 50 other cabs queuing for my business!