Trying to Contact a Taxi Driver

Kintarō Hattori

Folks,

Long story short but the missus and myself got a taxi yesterday in the pouring rain from Drumcondra to Balbriggan. We agreed a price beforehand and he took us to Balbriggan for said price. However I think he didn't realise how far away it was and we both feel he undercharged us. We want to give him another few quid as to be honest, he did undercharge us. It was €30 from Drumcondra to Balbriggan.

I know his name, make of car, reg and roof number. Is there any way I can ensure that an envelope will make it to his hands? Is it a case of calling the carriage office?

foggy_lad

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Folks,

Long story short but the missus and myself got a taxi yesterday in the pouring rain from Drumcondra to Balbriggan. We agreed a price beforehand and he took us to Balbriggan for said price. However I think he didn't realise how far away it was and we both feel he undercharged us. We want to give him another few quid as to be honest, he did undercharge us. It was €30 from Drumcondra to Balbriggan.

I know his name, make of car, reg and roof number. Is there any way I can ensure that an envelope will make it to his hands? Is it a case of calling the carriage office?

This may give details of the driver or the company that owns the taxi http://www.transportforireland.ie/taxi/check-if-a-taxi-driver-is-properly-licensed/

oisindoyle

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Folks,

Long story short but the missus and myself got a taxi yesterday in the pouring rain from Drumcondra to Balbriggan. We agreed a price beforehand and he took us to Balbriggan for said price. However I think he didn't realise how far away it was and we both feel he undercharged us. We want to give him another few quid as to be honest, he did undercharge us. It was €30 from Drumcondra to Balbriggan.

I know his name, make of car, reg and roof number. Is there any way I can ensure that an envelope will make it to his hands? Is it a case of calling the carriage office?

Contact the NTA and they will have all his details ,
Why did you "agree" a price beforehand ? The price on the meter is the price .You wouldnt "agree" a price for your pair of jeans in Jack n Jones or Topman or whatever ,, u wouldnt "agree" a price for your pint of guinness in your local ,u wouldnt agree a price if u were taking the train or a flight
Why people feel the need to "agree" a price "just because its a taxi is ridiculous

L1011

oisindoyle wrote: »

Contact the NTA and they will have all his details ,
Why did you "agree" a price beforehand ? The price on the meter is the price .You wouldnt "agree" a price for your pair of jeans in Jack n Jones or Topman or whatever ,, u wouldnt "agree" a price for your pint of guinness in your local ,u wouldnt agree a price if u were taking the train or a flight
Why people feel the need to "agree" a price "just because its a taxi is ridiculous

Rather a lot of drivers *offer* prices for outer trips, it appears. I've had "I'll do that for X" when I've asked for Maynooth before. X has always been well below the standard meter price, at that.

Cookie_Monster

oisindoyle wrote: »

Contact the NTA and they will have all his details ,
Why did you "agree" a price beforehand ? The price on the meter is the price .You wouldnt "agree" a price for your pair of jeans in Jack n Jones or Topman or whatever ,, u wouldnt "agree" a price for your pint of guinness in your local ,u wouldnt agree a price if u were taking the train or a flight
Why people feel the need to "agree" a price "just because its a taxi is ridiculous

cheaper for the customer and cheaper for the driver as it can be unrecorded untaxed cash in hand.

foggy_lad

MYOB wrote: »

oisindoyle wrote: »

Contact the NTA and they will have all his details ,
Why did you "agree" a price beforehand ? The price on the meter is the price .You wouldnt "agree" a price for your pair of jeans in Jack n Jones or Topman or whatever ,, u wouldnt "agree" a price for your pint of guinness in your local ,u wouldnt agree a price if u were taking the train or a flight
Why people feel the need to "agree" a price "just because its a taxi is ridiculous

Rather a lot of drivers *offer* prices for outer trips, it appears. I've had "I'll do that for X" when I've asked for Maynooth before. X has always been well below the standard meter price, at that.

They will make a bit more from those longer journeys so are happy to offer/agree discounts, and many are glad of the chance to get out of town and city traffic for a while.

mikemac1

Pouring rain, not many people on the streets

He was delighted to get your fare

And there's a fair chance he lives in Balbriggan and so he can head home with a fare
That's a guess, I don't know where he lives but it's very possible

oisindoyle wrote: »

Why people feel the need to "agree" a price "just because its a taxi is ridiculous

Regulator encouraged us to do it

oisindoyle

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

cheaper for the customer and cheaper for the driver as it can be unrecorded untaxed cash in hand.

And how do you work that one out ?

oisindoyle

foggy_lad wrote: »

They will make a bit more from those longer journeys so are happy to offer/agree discounts, and many are glad of the chance to get out of town and city traffic for a while.

Really ?? You're a driver now are you or still an armchair know it all/critic?

oisindoyle

mikemac1 wrote: »

Pouring rain, not many people on the streets

He was delighted to get your fare

And there's a fair chance he lives in Balbriggan and so he can head home with a fare
That's a guess, I don't know where he lives but it's very possible



Regulator encouraged us to do it

No one knows if he lives in Balbriggan so that assumption is exactly that an assumption
and yes you are right she did say such a thing which was shot down by all involved in the business includeing the oireachtas comittee on transport.It has caused trouble and many arguments and punch ups with many a passenger/driver.
It was a disgraceful thing to say.The same woman refused to take a reduction in her 280,000 salary!

Spook_ie

foggy_lad wrote: »

They will make a bit more from those longer journeys so are happy to offer/agree discounts, and many are glad of the chance to get out of town and city traffic for a while.

Why would he make a bit more?

More fuel+More Time+More Miles = bit more

but he's doing it at below the metered rate and even the OP says it was way to cheap so I'd say he was making a fair bit less ( probably out of desperation because of the way people try to chisel ever cheaper fares out of ever more desperate taxi drivers )

Cookie_Monster

oisindoyle wrote: »

And how do you work that one out ?

off meter, cash in hand, don't write it in the books, therefor no tax payable etc. it's pretty simple.
I presume what gets put on the meter (ie daily cashup printed etc) is used as a calculation of earnings though, like any other business?

slimjimmc

oisindoyle wrote: »

Contact the NTA and they will have all his details ,
Why did you "agree" a price beforehand ? The price on the meter is the price .You wouldnt "agree" a price for your pair of jeans in Jack n Jones or Topman or whatever ,, u wouldnt "agree" a price for your pint of guinness in your local ,u wouldnt agree a price if u were taking the train or a flight
Why people feel the need to "agree" a price "just because its a taxi is ridiculous

The meter fare is the maximum fare the driver can charge.
It's perfectly legitimate and legal under the taxi regulations for the driver to charge less than the meter or to get written agreement of the fare before setting off. The OP was perfectly within his rights to negotiate a fare.

BlueEyedNigel

on a weekday its about a 55 euro fair

oisindoyle

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

off meter, cash in hand, don't write it in the books, therefor no tax payable etc. it's pretty simple.
I presume what gets put on the meter (ie daily cashup printed etc) is used as a calculation of earnings though, like any other business?

Well if that's your explanation , then brilliant

oisindoyle

slimjimmc wrote: »

The meter fare is the maximum fare the driver can charge.
It's perfectly legitimate and legal under the taxi regulations for the driver to charge less than the meter or to get written agreement of the fare before setting off. The OP was perfectly within his rights to negotiate a fare.

It is the metered price that one should pay ,However for reasons best known to herself the taxi regulator decided to sa it was the "maxium" fare and insinuated that people can "haggle" leading to fights and arguments with many a driver.
She was berated by TDs and others and obviously by taxi drivers for putting this forward,,the same woman wouldnt reduce her 6 figure salary when all other civil servants were asked to do so ,,she had some nerve
You go to a shop for a jacket and the price on the label is the price you pay ,its "the maxium price" the same applies for any other item be it shoes clothes alcohol whatever ,,,Yet people pay the price without any problem ,,but when it comes to taxis they think they can haggle WHY?? WHY should the taxi driver be at a loss ? when daily their livilhood is going down the drain becasue of "haggleing",,,

TouchingVirus

oisindoyle wrote: »

Yet people pay the price without any problem ,,but when it comes to taxis they think they can haggle WHY?? WHY should the taxi driver be at a loss ? when daily their livilhood is going down the drain becasue of "haggleing",,,

If the taxi driver is unwilling to set a fare then let them say no and let the customer decide to stay or leave based on that. I don't think there's any taxi driver willing to take me from the city centre to Maynooth "at a loss", maybe "at not so much profit" though.

foggy_lad

oisindoyle wrote: »

It is the metered price that one should pay ,However for reasons best known to herself the taxi regulator decided to sa it was the "maxium" fare and insinuated that people can "haggle" leading to fights and arguments with many a driver.
She was berated by TDs and others and obviously by taxi drivers for putting this forward,,the same woman wouldnt reduce her 6 figure salary when all other civil servants were asked to do so ,,she had some nerve
You go to a shop for a jacket and the price on the label is the price you pay ,its "the maxium price" the same applies for any other item be it shoes clothes alcohol whatever ,,,Yet people pay the price without any problem ,,but when it comes to taxis they think they can haggle WHY?? WHY should the taxi driver be at a loss ? when daily their livilhood is going down the drain becasue of "haggleing",,,

Ah Jaysus if the job is making any taxi driver as bitter as you come across in these threads they should just get out of the business and chance their arm on the dole.

hognef

oisindoyle wrote: »

It is the metered price that one should pay ,However for reasons best known to herself the taxi regulator decided to sa it was the "maxium" fare and insinuated that people can "haggle" leading to fights and arguments with many a driver.
She was berated by TDs and others and obviously by taxi drivers for putting this forward,,the same woman wouldnt reduce her 6 figure salary when all other civil servants were asked to do so ,,she had some nerve
You go to a shop for a jacket and the price on the label is the price you pay ,its "the maxium price" the same applies for any other item be it shoes clothes alcohol whatever ,,,Yet people pay the price without any problem ,,but when it comes to taxis they think they can haggle WHY?? WHY should the taxi driver be at a loss ? when daily their livilhood is going down the drain becasue of "haggleing",,,

It is perfectly legitimate to haggle over the price of a jacket or a pair of shoes too.

Also, people are probably more comfortable buying something (like a taxi trip) when they know the cost upfront--a legitimate reason for agreeing a fixed price.

Stark

oisindoyle wrote: »

Why did you "agree" a price beforehand ? The price on the meter is the price .You wouldnt "agree" a price for your pair of jeans in Jack n Jones or Topman or whatever ,, u wouldnt "agree" a price for your pint of guinness in your local ,u wouldnt agree a price if u were taking the train or a flight
Why people feel the need to "agree" a price "just because its a taxi is ridiculous

All of those things have an upfront cost that you either agree to our disagree to, usually have to compete with others on price and are often seen on offer at cheaper prices when not enough people agree to the original. Noone is obliged to avail of a service that they feel isn't worth the price. I personally only travel by train when IE have their "cheaper" fares on offer and certainly wouldn't get on a train knowing the price wouldn't be decided until I arrived at my destination.

Cookie_Monster

oisindoyle wrote: »

Well if that's your explanation , then brilliant

yeah that is my explanation. how or why exactly do you have a problem with it?
Same thing goes on over here in NZ, taxi we got in Auckland was organised via the hotel for a fixed price so they don't have to use the meter and don't have to pay GST and PAYE on the fare as a result. Win win, more cash in the drivers pocket since the tax man gets none and cheaper for the customer too. Driver explained it to us on the way because we were wondering why it was so much cheaper.

bk

oisindoyle wrote: »

You go to a shop for a jacket and the price on the label is the price you pay ,its "the maxium price" the same applies for any other item be it shoes clothes alcohol whatever ,,,

On the contrary, I've haggled and gotten reductions on clothes frequently. It is pretty much expected in the better means clothes shops. Any time I've bought a suit or a few shorts or a nice leather jacket I would always haggle the price or get them to throw in a free shirt, etc.

Recently bought lots of hiking gear, I got them to throw in some of the gear for free.

Buying a TV, sofa or any white goods, you would always haggle.

Haggling really isn't that unusual. My own personal approach with Taxis is, if going the relatively short distance to my own place, just pay the mete, but heading the long distance to my girlfriends place, negotiate a fixed fare upfront. If the driver doesn't want to accept it, then no problem.

mikemac1

Of course you can haggle in shops

Not with the shop assistant in Dunnes but for a local shop in your town, haggling is to be expected

And if it's a farm supplies store run by the local co-op it's strange if the customer doesn't haggle! Spent a summer working in one
"What's yer cash price young lad?"

Every flat I've ever rented and every TV I've ever bought I've haggled over it

Taximan haggled over insurance, haggles with the garage for service and haggles over tyres and supplies

If you're self employed expect some haggling back. And it's not every fare, just a few of them

Kintarō Hattori

I had better clear this up.

We flagged down a taxi outside the garage we had left our car in with the intention of going to Connolly and getting a train back to Balbriggan. I mentioned how the garage had left our car locked up and as a result we'd have to get the train to Balbriggan. At this point he said he could take us to Balbriggan. I asked for how much and he said €30. Bargain I thought and off we went.

Half an hour later and we arrived in Balbriggan. The meter was on and showed €47. He mentioned he didn't think it would be as much. Sure he agreed the price beforehand but do you know what- he was genuinely a very nice guy. Pleasant, chatty and the car was fantastic, it was a new model Skoda Superb, so I feel we were almost chauffeured home.

Yes he stated the price but I'm happy to pay more. He wasn't from Balbriggan, he was from Ballymun/Ballyfermot.... somewhere on that side of town. He was friendly and the car was immaculate.

brownacid

Ballymun and Balyfermot are on opposite sides of the city!

I haggle on taxis all the time, Ive gotten a taxi from town to rush for 30 quid a few times, a few years ago I had a regular taxi taximan, he used to take me from drogheda to my house at the time (which was a 20 euro fare on the meter for a 10 minute drive) for 14 quid. I would never ask for the discount he would just give it to me, if he couldn't come and get me he would get one of his mates to pick me up and do it for the same price. I did get him a bottle of whiskey every christmas as a thank you.

Spook_ie

Interesting point to note ( which most people seem to gloss over )

Assume the distance was 18 miles ( googlemaps, Drumcondra Rd - Harry Reynolds Rd )

Assume 30 MPG ( an average figure for taxis )

Assume You are returning empty to the same area to carry on working

Then the fuel cost alone would have been circa €9.00 at 153.9 per litre

Even allowing for a MPG increase to 44 to account for motorway would still be circa €6

Ever wondered why they set tariffs for meters?

mikemac1

Mixing and matching gallons and litres, what a pain

Death to mpg, they stopped teaching gallons over twenty years ago. Nobody uses them, not even the farmers

Very offtopic though

CIE

mikemac1 wrote: »

Mixing and matching gallons and litres, what a pain

Death to mpg, they stopped teaching gallons over twenty years ago. Nobody uses them, not even the farmers

Very offtopic though

Well, I say death to metric in that case.

L1011

CIE wrote: »

Well, I say death to metric in that case.

I suspect the rest of the country, other than some wannabe-Torys, don't particularly want to return to using £sd, buying ounces, etc.

Imperial is already dead here, the UK is just holding on to it in extremely limited circumstances for misguided bravado.

n97 mini

MYOB wrote: »

Imperial is already dead here, the UK is just holding on to it in extremely limited circumstances for misguided bravado.

I think they'd argue it's nationalism.

L1011

n97 mini wrote: »

I think they'd argue it's nationalism.

Seeing as the system isn't even theirs for the most part, their argument is incorrect. Hence its pointless bravado. "We're different" solely for the sake of it.

Defending measurements derived from Egyptian emperors body sizes, Roman weights or French casks as being "English" is one of the most surreal acts possible.

They're totally inconsistent about it too - fuel has been priced in litres for a long time before there was any pressure to use metric from the EU; they haven't used Fahrenheit in my lifetime, etc. Campaigns against it based on "protect the pint!" not realising its entirely legal to define a metric pint as is done here just show that its pointless bravado.

CIE

MYOB wrote: »

I suspect the rest of the country, other than some wannabe-Torys, don't particularly want to return to using £sd, buying ounces, etc.

Imperial is already dead here, the UK is just holding on to it in extremely limited circumstances for misguided bravado.

So the Germanisation of Ireland is just about complete, then?

mikemac1

God, I've completely derailed the thread!

Should never have questioned mpg........though is that a US gallon or an imperial gallon?

Hilly Bill

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

I had better clear this up.

We flagged down a taxi outside the garage we had left our car in with the intention of going to Connolly and getting a train back to Balbriggan. I mentioned how the garage had left our car locked up and as a result we'd have to get the train to Balbriggan. At this point he said he could take us to Balbriggan. I asked for how much and he said €30. Bargain I thought and off we went.

Half an hour later and we arrived in Balbriggan. The meter was on and showed €47. He mentioned he didn't think it would be as much. Sure he agreed the price beforehand but do you know what- he was genuinely a very nice guy. Pleasant, chatty and the car was fantastic, it was a new model Skoda Superb, so I feel we were almost chauffeured home.

Yes he stated the price but I'm happy to pay more. He wasn't from Balbriggan, he was from Ballymun/Ballyfermot.... somewhere on that side of town. He was friendly and the car was immaculate.

If you saw the price on the meter and was happy to pay more then why didnt you pay the price on the meter at the time?

L1011

CIE wrote: »

So the Germanisation of Ireland is just about complete, then?

Germans? Might want to move a country to the west...

Great, someone else who thinks that we should hang on to one very foreign measurement system because some other nasty foreigners use the one we've started using.

Esel

MYOB wrote: »

I suspect the rest of the country, other than some wannabe-Torys, don't particularly want to return to using £sd, buying ounces, etc.

Drugz ore bad, m'kay?

OP: Just give a tenner to your favourite charity?

Spook_ie

mikemac1 wrote: »

Mixing and matching gallons and litres, what a pain

Death to mpg, they stopped teaching gallons over twenty years ago. Nobody uses them, not even the farmers

Very offtopic though

So you'd prefer

9.4l /100km or 6.4l/100km, lot of people wouldn't equate either with what they regard as normal MPG.

Anyway stop complaining mixed or not I'd already done the converting to give you the cost for the journey :P

CIE

MYOB wrote: »

Germans? Might want to move a country to the west...

Great, someone else who thinks that we should hang on to one very foreign measurement system because some other nasty foreigners use the one we've started using.

How "very foreign"? Gotta look deeper into Ireland's ancient history.

The French may have invented metric, but their neighbours to the east are the ones that have had the reach to globalise it.

n97 mini

MYOB wrote: »

Seeing as the system isn't even theirs for the most part, their argument is incorrect. Hence its pointless bravado. "We're different" solely for the sake of it..

Well, I don't agree. It's their prerogative.

Not as if we've anything to write home about. We can't even do metric... anyone watching the hurling today? The player stats show their heights in feet and inches and their weights in pounds. RTE weather forecasters still use mph for wind speeds. IE use miles. We buy beer in pints, and spirits in gills... etc etc etc.

And you say imperial is dead here? Far from it!

L1011

CIE wrote: »

How "very foreign"? Gotta look deeper into Ireland's ancient history.

We ruled ancient Egypt and Rome? Never knew that...

CIE wrote: »

The French may have invented metric, but their neighbours to the east are the ones that have had the reach to globalise it.

Paranoid.

n97 mini wrote: »

Well, I don't agree. It's their prerogative.

Not as if we've anything to write home about. We can't even do metric... anyone watching the hurling today? The player stats show their heights in feet and inches and their weights in pounds. RTE weather forecasters still use mph for wind speeds. IE use miles. We buy beer in pints, and spirits in gills... etc etc etc.

And you say imperial is dead here? Far from it!

GAA are traditionalists, IE are backward, beer and spirits are sold in ml amounts - 586ml/35.5ml.

RTE weather is the outlier - but Met Eireann use km/h in the actual reports.

murphaph

oisindoyle wrote: »

Contact the NTA and they will have all his details ,
Why did you "agree" a price beforehand ? The price on the meter is the price .You wouldnt "agree" a price for your pair of jeans in Jack n Jones or Topman or whatever ,, u wouldnt "agree" a price for your pint of guinness in your local ,u wouldnt agree a price if u were taking the train or a flight
Why people feel the need to "agree" a price "just because its a taxi is ridiculous

HUGE LOL. My father owned a motor factors when he was still alive. He hated taxi men because they ALWAYS wanted a trade discount despite not being entitled to one.

A trade price on motor parts is there to allow a mechanic to buy the parts at a discount so he can charge retail + labour to the end user/customer.

Taxi men, as the end users, were of course considered normal retail customers, not trade (they could of course offset the VAT paid against their own VAT liability) but they were always really annoying and pushy about it.

Taxi men wanted the best of both worlds, they wanted to buy the parts for trade price and then just pay a "trade labour" price for fitment. They were at this years ago, LONG before their customers started to "dare" haggling with them.

A taxi man would no more be entitled to a trade price on motor parts from my father as my father would be entitled to a "trade price" for his lunch time sandwich from the newsagents around the corner!

lost marbles

murphaph wrote: »

HUGE LOL. My father owned a motor factors when he was still alive. He hated taxi men because they ALWAYS wanted a trade discount despite not being entitled to one.

A trade price on motor parts is there to allow a mechanic to buy the parts at a discount so he can charge retail + labour to the end user/customer.

Taxi men, as the end users, were of course considered normal retail customers, not trade (they could of course offset the VAT paid against their own VAT liability) but they were always really annoying and pushy about it.

Taxi men wanted the best of both worlds, they wanted to buy the parts for trade price and then just pay a "trade labour" price for fitment. They were at this years ago, LONG before their customers started to "dare" haggling with them.

A taxi man would no more be entitled to a trade price on motor parts from my father as my father would be entitled to a "trade price" for his lunch time sandwich from the newsagents around the corner!

taxi owner/drivers dont claim VAT .

n97 mini

MYOB wrote: »

beer and spirits are sold in ml amounts - 586ml/35.5ml.

You don't do metric too well either it seems! 1 pint is 568ml. But tell me, would you ask for a pint or for 568ml when you're in a pub?

MYOB wrote: »

RTE weather is the outlier - but Met Eireann use km/h in the actual reports.

Met Eireann also still use miles.

That's not to forget that many depts still use acres, and even tho building materials are sized in metric, they're described in inches: "3 by 2".

Many more examples of where imperial is alive and well... we're only making a half assed attempt at metric.

fasttalkerchat

oisindoyle wrote: »

Contact the NTA and they will have all his details ,
Why did you "agree" a price beforehand ? The price on the meter is the price .You wouldnt "agree" a price for your pair of jeans in Jack n Jones or Topman or whatever ,, u wouldnt "agree" a price for your pint of guinness in your local ,u wouldnt agree a price if u were taking the train or a flight
Why people feel the need to "agree" a price "just because its a taxi is ridiculous

It makes more sense to agree a price since there can be no dispute later and you can trust the driver not to mess about.

L1011

n97 mini wrote: »

You don't do metric too well either it seems! 1 pint is 568ml. But tell me, would you ask for a pint or for 568ml when you're in a pub?

Simple typo. "Pint" is a valid term for a metric measurement in Ireland.

If I asked for a pint in the US and the UK I'd get different amounts, though, as imperial isn't even a consistent system.

n97 mini wrote: »

Met Eireann also still use miles.

That specific example is because shipping still uses miles.

n97 mini wrote: »

That's not to forget that many depts still use acres

Informally. Same document uses metric for every other measurement.

n97 mini wrote: »

and even tho building materials are sized in metric, they're described in inches: "3 by 2".

Again, informally.

n97 mini wrote: »

Many more examples of where imperial is alive and well... we're only making a half assed attempt at metric.

A few edge cases, specific cases where the measurement is used for one thing alone, and informal usage does not equal "alive and well".

When the older generations who were taught through imperial die, the system dies with them. Thankfully.

murphaph

lost marbles wrote: »

taxi owner/drivers dont claim VAT .

Whatever, way to ignore the substance of my point: Taxi drivers are shameless when it comes to haggling and have been for as long as I have had any contact with them.

I have no problem with them haggling for legitimate discounts, but for them to harp on about passengers doing the same sticks in the throat somewhat when you know what I know.

TheChrisD

n97 mini wrote: »

RTE weather forecasters still use mph for wind speeds.

Have you watched a weather forecast recently? In one of the bottom corners (iirc) is states "temperatures in Celsius, wind speed in km/h".

lost marbles

murphaph wrote: »

Whatever, way to ignore the substance of my point: Taxi drivers are shameless when it comes to haggling and have been for as long as I have had any contact with them.

I have no problem with them haggling for legitimate discounts, but for them to harp on about passengers doing the same sticks in the throat somewhat when you know what I know.

and you know what ?.