Taxi soiling fee - Driver followed me for 5km

FaceCakesFi

TLDR - friend got sick in taxi. Friend leaves without paying soiling charge. Driver follows me for 5KM through pitch black park, taking videos & pics of me.


Hi, curious to know other people's opinions on this. I do not know whether to take this any further or report it. Or might be best to just write it off as a bad night.

Got a taxi home last night. My friend beside the window got sick. We get to her street and he says soiling fee is 140. We look at the damage. Tiny bit of watery sick on the car door, rest on her dress. No smell.

So we try to reason with him, talk him down to 70 since 140 is the upper limit & this could be cleaned with a baby wipe. He refuses. So the girl & her BF leave the cab. Then myself & my BF do also. He doesn't follow the girl who soiled the car, he follows us. I guess we were more sober.

We walk through an estate. Jump over a wall. I had heels on, fall & scrap my legs. He follows us into a pitch black park, at this stage I'm getting scared. I tell him he should follow the person who soiled his cab, that I didn't cause the damage so I am not liable for it.

We get onto a main road (thank God, I am bleeding and shaking at this point, with my heart racing). He starts to put his phone camera into face to take videos and pictures of me. Walks right in front of my face and I panic, push him back out of the way. Then he says to the video that I am attacking him. I'm not sure if this constitutes an attack, but on a quiet road, in the dead of night I am TERRIFIED of him.

Anyway after I push him, I run for about 1km and eventually flag a cab home. Seriously shook and cried for over an hour before I calmed down. SO....if you're still reading...would you do anything about this? I know his reg.

To add, full cab fare was paid.

Cushie Butterfield

Get some sleep.

El Tarangu

So, you soiled his cab, and then physically assaulted him, which he has video evidence of?

I hope that he reports you (but I doubt he will).

Brian201888

El Tarangu wrote: »

So, you soiled his cab, and then physically assaulted him, which he has video evidence of?

I hope that he reports you (but I doubt he will).

Neither of those things were mentioned in the post but enjoy being a lovely human

dobman88

Why didn't your boyfriend step in and tell him to move on when he was following you and had a camera phone in your face?

Anyway, sleep it off and have a happy hangover

El Tarangu

Eoghan_2 wrote: »

Neither of those things were mentioned in the post but enjoy being a lovely human

You must be have been reading a different post than me; in the one I read, four people get into a taxi, one of them throws up in it, and then they all walk off without paying the soiling fee. Later, the OP mentioned that she pushed the taxi driver.

If I drove a cab and someone vomited in it, I would probably not let them out of my sight until they paid me what I was owed, either.

FaceCakesFi

I didn't vomit in his cab. I am not liable for any fee.

I pushed as he was aggressively in my face taking pictures of me. Which I considered tantamount to harassment.

The driver would have been better served calling the Garda when the soiling fee was refused.

Not excusing his actions as you have outlined them, but the Garda would have taken everyone's details and ensured the fee was paid

Blazer

El Tarangu wrote: »

You must be have been reading a different post than me; in the one I read, four people get into a taxi, one of them throws up in it, and then they all walk off without paying the soiling fee. Later, the OP mentioned that she pushed the taxi driver.

If I drove a cab and someone vomited in it, I would probably not let them out of my sight until they paid me what I was owed, either.

Well you’re obviously not reading the same post as me too. She didn’t do anything. In fact the taxi driver followed after the wrong couple

bertsmom

To be honest my sympathies totally lie with the driver. There is a soiling fee for a reason. €140 is not too much to pay as it is bodily fluids from somebody else. If I was the driver I'd want my cab valeted and not just a bloody babywipe and €70 offered.
If I were you I would be extremely angry too but not with your taxi driver but your so called friend who had the brass neck to leave a taxi with her vomit in it and not compensate the driver but leave her friend to deal with her mess.
Only person I would be having sharp words with is this immature idiot

El Tarangu

Blazer wrote: »

Well you’re obviously not reading the same post as me too. She didn’t do anything. In fact the taxi driver followed after the wrong couple

Well, from the way that I read it, the OP and her bf were involved in earlier negotiations as to the soiling fee. If she was arguing that 70 instead of 140 should be paid, it wouldn't be a huge leap of logic from the taxi driver that she and her bf would be on the hook for said fee.

FaceCakesFi

Soiling fees are payable by the person doing the soiling.

We were negotiating the charge along with my friend, to assist her. Obviously I would not have been paying any amount other than the fare. Why would I pay any money when I have done nothing wrong?

Eamonn8448

5kms through a park in the dark ? yeah right , try making a movie out of it but i doubt it will get too far

bertsmom

FaceCakesFi wrote:

We were negotiating the charge along with my friend, to assist her. Obviously I would not have been paying any amount other than the fare. Why would I pay any money when I have done nothing wrong?

Well maby you should choose your friends a bit more wisely. I would wait until morning and ring her and pass on the taxi drivers details so she can pay her way then I would expect an apology from her for being a complete idiot and landing you in trouble.
As for 'helping' her negotiate with the taxi driver, can you imagine trying to have a conversation with not just one drunk passenger but also with her friends interrupting and arguing the fixed soiling fee. Maby next time get your own taxi and let your friend cop on and be an adult and deal with her own mess

FaceCakesFi

Sorry, you are incorrect bertsmom. It is not a fixed fee or anything like it.

Per the national transport authority: Soiling – a fee may be charged where a passenger either soils the vehicle or damages it so much that the driver has to take it out of service or has to pay to have it cleaned or repaired. The maximum such fee is €140, but the actual fee charged may be lower – it should reflect the costs reasonably incurred by the operator; fee is incurred by the occupant causing the damage

bertsmom

FaceCakesFi wrote:

Sorry, you are incorrect bertsmom. It is not a fixed fee or anything like it.

Apologies I did think it was a fixed fee. I was wrong it is not. However taking a taxi out of service to get it valeted with the loss of earnings for that night and the actual fee to get it properly cleaned I think €140 is the very least deserved.

Eamonn8448

its a troll post bertsmom, was ops first post dont feed it

Losty Dublin

FaceCakesFi wrote: »

Soiling fees are payable by the person doing the soiling.

We were negotiating the charge along with my friend, to assist her. Obviously I would not have been paying any amount other than the fare. Why would I pay any money when I have done nothing wrong?

Incorrect. It is payable by the hirer/s of the taxi as an add on to the fare. By your own admission you were the last to leave the cab so I can't see why you are shocked that the driver make an effort to collect the due fare that none of you seem to be worried about.

As regards soiling the taxi, whatever way you make this out but the fact is that your friend has soiled the taxi by getting sick inside of the taxi. I don't know about your or your friends vomit but everybody else's vomit smells pretty foul and that's not allowing for whatever else you ate or drank over the course of the evening. Think about the next passengers and what they'd make of the smell? No baby wipe can sort out that smell nor a shoot of Lynx or Febreeze.

If I were you I'd pay up whatever is owed to the driver, along with something extra to apologise for the stress that you've caused them. You've spoilt their night as well as taking their car off the road and costing them income.

NinetyTwoTeam

if he wants 140 you should give it to him but if he accepts i believe you are legally entitled to have a sh!te in the cab.

i recommend conducting the transaction tomorrow for full value, especially if you were on the stout.

AndrewJRenko

How much did the four of ye spend on booze on your night out?

tedpan

FaceCakesFi wrote:

Got a taxi home last night. My friend beside the window got sick. We get to her street and he says soiling fee is 140. We look at the damage. Tiny bit of watery sick on the car door, rest on her dress. No smell.

No smell....

Afroshack

I feel so sorry for that taxi driver. Are you not even the tiniest bit ashamed that ye soiled his cab, argued about the payment, walked off and then asaulted him when he pursued?

You are not the victims in this. He is.

Pay the fine and apologise

FaceCakesFi

FaceCakesFi wrote: »

Sorry, you are incorrect bertsmom. It is not a fixed fee or anything like it.

Per the national transport authority: Soiling – a fee may be charged where a passenger either soils the vehicle or damages it so much that the driver has to take it out of service or has to pay to have it cleaned or repaired. The maximum such fee is €140, but the actual fee charged may be lower – it should reflect the costs reasonably incurred by the operator; fee is incurred by the occupant causing the damage

Bodily fluids were deposited in a vehicle carrying 4 passengers. The driver rightly sought a fee to cover the cost of cleaning the vehicle and covering loss of income while it was off the road. He has no choice in the matter. Nor do you and your friends. Pay the man his money and hope the Gardai don’t arrive on your doorstep investigating charges of assault.

dubrov

If it was as the OP says (and I doubt it) the taxi driver should have just wiped down the door and got on with his night.

If it was worse than that he should've called the guards to ensure the soilage fee was paid.

Following a couple of drunk teens late at night through a park with a camera was a stupid thing to do and could've got him in a lot of trouble

tedpan

FaceCakesFi wrote:

I didn't vomit in his cab. I am not liable for any fee.

Why are you whinging on boards then?

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

corks finest

FaceCakesFi wrote: »

I didn't vomit in his cab. I am not liable for any fee.

I pushed as he was aggressively in my face taking pictures of me. Which I considered tantamount to harassment.

You assaulted him,end of

Pelvis

The taxi driver didn't handle the situation particularly well, but op you are in the wrong.

corks finest

FaceCakesFi wrote: »

TLDR - friend got sick in taxi. Friend leaves without paying soiling charge. Driver follows me for 5KM through pitch black park, taking videos & pics of me.


Hi, curious to know other people's opinions on this. I do not know whether to take this any further or report it. Or might be best to just write it off as a bad night.

Got a taxi home last night. My friend beside the window got sick. We get to her street and he says soiling fee is 140. We look at the damage. Tiny bit of watery sick on the car door, rest on her dress. No smell.

So we try to reason with him, talk him down to 70 since 140 is the upper limit & this could be cleaned with a baby wipe. He refuses. So the girl & her BF leave the cab. Then myself & my BF do also. He doesn't follow the girl who soiled the car, he follows us. I guess we were more sober.

We walk through an estate. Jump over a wall. I had heels on, fall & scrap my legs. He follows us into a pitch black park, at this stage I'm getting scared. I tell him he should follow the person who soiled his cab, that I didn't cause the damage so I am not liable for it.

We get onto a main road (thank God, I am bleeding and shaking at this point, with my heart racing). He starts to put his phone camera into face to take videos and pictures of me. Walks right in front of my face and I panic, push him back out of the way. Then he says to the video that I am attacking him. I'm not sure if this constitutes an attack, but on a quiet road, in the dead of night I am TERRIFIED of him.

Anyway after I push him, I run for about 1km and eventually flag a cab home. Seriously shook and cried for over an hour before I calmed down. SO....if you're still reading...would you do anything about this? I know his reg.

To add, full cab fare was paid.

That's called assault,must ppl get so drunk that they vomit? Wow say twas a great night alright/not,grow up,and if he /she was a friend then split the damage

lawred2

FaceCakesFi wrote: »

I didn't vomit in his cab. I am not liable for any fee.

I pushed as he was aggressively in my face taking pictures of me. Which I considered tantamount to harassment.

Where did your fella disappear off to when you were running away?

CeilingFly

tedpan wrote: »

No smell....

Yes there is...


... a distinctive stench of a troll.

TerrorFirmer

The boyfriend was with her during this high-stakes pursuit, but he mysteriously disappears half way through the story leaving her to race a kilometer through the early morning mists of an 80's slasher film, alone, cut and bleeding.

We can only suppose the taxi driver slit his throat and left him for dead in a bush.

This is clearly a wind-up post, the story doesn't really make any sense at all.

kuntboy

Why dont taxi drivers have paper sick bags in the back, like in planes?

Then you can puke in the bag and pour it over the driver's head when he starts trying to regale you with his "conversation" that nobody wants. Just shut the fukc up and drive, for fukc sake.

bucketybuck

Clearly the taxi driver murdered the boyfriend at the start of the parkrun yet the OP is mainly concerned with her scraped knees?

Wait, how did you scrape your knees again? Did you pay in kind?

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

Have you ever been sick on a Ryanair flight? :pac:

Hint: no sick bags

I would have presumed that the soiling charge is added onto the meter as an 'additional fare'. The fact it was not you that got sick is irrelevant, you shared a taxi and all passengers are liable for the shared total taxi fare. It's up to you OP to go after your 'friend' for the soiling charge.

kuntboy wrote: »

Why dont taxi drivers have paper sick bags in the back, like in planes?
...

T-Maxx

Is this a wind-up? You do the crime you pay the fine.

Proper scumbag behaviour trying to wiggle your ass out of it.

SteM

tedpan wrote: »

No smell....

Yeah, her vomit doesn't smell and I'm sure her **** don't stink.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Ronan|Raven

Plot twist. There was no friend.

5rtytry56

As an AH Thread, this thread is a bad thread - well it's Sunday.

As a Commuting & Transport Thread this is sheer PUKE.

Mr.Crinklewood

Ronan|Raven wrote: »

Plot twist. There was no friend.

...and the boyfriend was the taxi man (which explains his disappearance)

Pelvis

Patww79 wrote: »

Ermmm.

Shared cab shared responsibility.

FaceCakesFi

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I still can't understand why he followed, photographed & videod me and not the person who soiled the cab (whose actual street the taxi was stopped on, she gave directions, though of course he may not have known it was her street).

Got separated from my BF in the park. Did I mention it was night, there was zero lights, we were running, we were not somewhere either of us knew the layout of etc etc. If it's never happened to you, being pursued by someone, in darkness, in a secluded area that you're not familiar with is quite scary and may cause you to act in a way not usual to your character. Hence, why I pushed him, the 3rd or 4th time he put his phone in my face. I was pushing to get past him. And actually it may be the only thing that got him to leave me alone in the end.

Anyway, my last post on this...thanks for your comments! Was really curious to see what other people thought. New day and all that. My friends has his info, so up to her want she wants to do.

Last note, I do find it curious that at no point did he call the gardai.

SteM

CeilingFly wrote: »

Yes there is...


... a distinctive stench of a troll.

I really believe the incident happened but probably not the story we got here. We got the sanitized version, last night was the messy drunken truth.

SteM

FaceCakesFi wrote: »

I still can't understand why he followed, photographed & videod me and not the person who soiled the cab (whose actual street the taxi was stopped on, she gave directions, though of course he may not have known it was her street).

Got separated from my BF in the park. Did I mention it was night, there was zero lights, we were running, we were not somewhere either of us knew the layout of etc etc. If it's never happened to you, being pursued by someone, in darkness, in a secluded area that you're not familiar with is quite scary and may cause you to act in a way not usual to your character. Hence, why I pushed him, the 3rd or 4th time he put his phone in my face. I was pushing to get past him. And actually it may be the only thing that got him to leave me alone in the end.

Anyway, thanks for your comments! Was really curious to see what other people thought. New day and all that. My friends has his info, so up to her want she wants to do.

Last note, I do find it curious that at no point did he call the gardas.

Why didn't you call the Gardai if all this was actually happening?

doolox

I would never share a taxi with a drinker again. I did not know that everyone in the cab is responsible for the charge. I can understand very well the need for such a charge in view of societies increasing use of alcohol, increasing use of taxis as opposed to private cars ( most people drank a lot less in former times, had sober relations etc...) also drink driving laws were a lot less strict than now and consequences a lot less severe. An increase in vomiting is inevitable.

How on earth do the likes of nite link and busses manage??? Do all the passengers on board at the time of the .....biological event....have to pay for soilage as they are sharing a bus. Is it up to the driver to sort out the culprit involved????

Way back in the distant past I used to take taxis home from Eyre Square in Galway. At that time you could chose your cab, none of this queue control and road marshall dictating to you to take first in line nonsense like you get in Dublin.
The drivers would often warn obviously intoxicated passengers to take a walk for a 1/2 an hour or so to sober up a bit before embarking on their journeys even if this meant losing a fare. Others would admonish fares to keep the windows open and tell them in time if the "need" arose..... You cannot do this now with heavy traffic in Dublin and the risk of being accused of defamation by overly sensitive passengers so no prior precautions can be taken before the beginning of the journey. in these days of cheap booze and industrial levels of consumption among some ( not all ) of our nightlife people you cannot be sure enough time will be available to people to exit that taxi and do the necessary.
Is it allowed for taxi drivers to refuse fares in an intoxicated state?? Similar to bouncers refusing entry to people? Or do cab drivers have to take all comers regardless??

Also in the old days drivers would insist on seeing the fare ahead of time to avoid non payments and dodging, a thing that started to happen in the latter stages of my nightlife experiences.....some would insist on pocketing an approximate amount in advance but others would merely want to see the money to be sure you had enough. Would this be allowed now??

Hitman3000

I was a taxi driver years ago. Taxi was soiled on a few occasions. No aggro I just drove to the nearest Garda station never an issue getting the 'soiling feel.'

AndrewJRenko

doolox wrote: »

At that time you could chose your cab, none of this queue control and road marshall dictating to you to take first in line nonsense like you get in Dublin.

You can choose your own cab at any rank - customer's choice.

LollipopJimmy

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

You can choose your own cab at any rank - customer's choice.

You can but highly unlikely the driver will take you and they will point you to the taxi at the top of the queue.

dr.fuzzenstein

Sooo, I can walk ahead of someone, hinder them and aggressively point a camera right in their face and that is alright with everyone? It has to be, no one on this thread seems to have the slightest issue with it anyway.
I'll do that next time I'm back in Ireland.
Walk ahead of some random person, point a camera in their face and say "I'm not doing anything wrong, you can't touch me, if you do it's assault".
Once they push me I got handy evidence for the court case where I'll get fat compensatory for my "injuries ".
Ireland is a very strange country.

AndrewJRenko

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

You can but highly unlikely the driver will take you and they will point you to the taxi at the top of the queue.

If they try this, you report them to the Regulator and they won't try it again.