Taxi driver got lost then tried to charge more

vandriver

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Turning the metre off smacks of a cash job. The taxi driver seems to be pushing his luck.

But, the story could be just that - a story. More than likely that, imo.

With a credit card payment?

Avatar MIA

vandriver wrote: »

With a credit card payment?

*cough* you're right.

Leaning towards it being a story rather than reality.

AndrewJRenko

Spook_ie wrote: »

So therefore the answer ( because of the lack of mobile broad band coverage, which is beyond the control of the driver ) is NOT to take credit cards but instead insist on cash.

If that's your solution, then so be it. But you could consider other options, like having two separate phones on two separate networks to protect yourself from failure of any one network.

What's your solution?

Marty Bird

Marty Bird wrote: »

It’s a sad state of affairs if it takes the police of this country 6 months to look for a private citizen, no wonder we are a laughingstock.

I can only assume finding the OP was on the very bottom of the list for the Garda’s priorities. It just happened that he came to the station.

coylemj

Like the OP's taxi, this thread is seriously wandering off the beaten track.

Apologies if this sounds like backseat modding but the OP paid by credit card and is not making an issue of that i.e. the payment technology is not the issue here.

Desiree Burch

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Turning the metre off smacks of a cash job. The taxi driver seems to be pushing his luck.

But, the story could be just that - a story. More than likely that, imo.

You're not very bright are you? Where did I mention cash payment?

A story? Yes, because I've nothing better to be doing. :rolleyes:

Spook_ie

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

If that's your solution, then so be it. But you could consider other options, like having two separate phones on two separate networks to protect yourself from failure of any one network.

What's your solution?

So now you want to double the costs of doing business ( 2 phones or at least a dual sim phone ) 2 contracts, why not 2 suppliers of the credit card machine just in case?

Spook_ie

coylemj wrote: »

Like the OP's taxi, this thread is seriously wandering off the beaten track.

Apologies if this sounds like backseat modding but the OP paid by credit card and is not making an issue of that i.e. the payment technology is not the issue here.

We don't actually know how far off the beaten track the taxi went, likewise we're unlikely to know were off the beaten track a thread will go when people throw their little nuggets in as to who's responsible for an infrastructural problem for no access to a network.

AndrewJRenko

Spook_ie wrote: »

So now you want to double the costs of doing business ( 2 phones or at least a dual sim phone ) 2 contracts, why not 2 suppliers of the credit card machine just in case?

I don't 'want' to do anything. You're the one raising the unreliability of the machines and technology. If they are so unreliable that there is a significant risk of failure, then it's up to you to find solutions.


Once again, what's your solution? Do you plan to kidnap the passenger for as long as it takes to bring them to an ATM to make up for your technology failure?

Spook_ie

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

I don't 'want' to do anything. You're the one raising the unreliability of the machines and technology. If they are so unreliable that there is a significant risk of failure, then it's up to you to find solutions.


Once again, what's your solution? Do you plan to kidnap the passenger for as long as it takes to bring them to an ATM to make up for your technology failure?

If your attitude became prevalent then I'd just stop offering CC services. You seem to forget Taxis are a mobile business not a static site.

AndrewJRenko

Spook_ie wrote: »

If your attitude became prevalent then I'd just stop offering CC services. You seem to forget Taxis are a mobile business not a static site.

So no solutions from you then?

Spook_ie

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

So no solutions from you then?

No seeing as I don't have my own private mobile broadband service, therefore as it isn't a legal requirement for me to take CCards if your attitude were to become prevalent I would cease to offer the voluntary service of taking CCards where possible.

coylemj

Spook_ie wrote: »

We don't actually know how far off the beaten track the taxi went. .....

€60 worth of a trip according to the OP.

Spook_ie wrote: »

...... likewise we're unlikely to know were off the beaten track a thread will go when people throw their little nuggets in as to who's responsible for an infrastructural problem for no access to a network.

You've lost me there. Can we discuss the presidential election?

Spook_ie

coylemj wrote: »

€60 worth of a trip according to the OP.



You've lost me there. But I'm not surprised, given that you're determined to flog this dead horse.

No a €100 deal according to the op, an extra €60 or €100 depending on where you read the story demanded by the taxi driver, the taxi driver would one assumes thought that €100 was a good enough deal initially and by all rights should stand by it.

As I said in the thread for my own curiosity I would like to know from where to where to even see if accepting a €100 would even cross my mind, not that I'm likely to do so as I've said I'll use the meter every time and expect to get paid the meter every time.

As to the bit about dead horses if you follow the thread we have several posters referring to paying by credit card and not expecting to go to an ATM and my argument is that mobile technology is not 100% guaranteed to work.

goat2

Before the trio it was agreed that the fare would be 100, then he was asked for 60 more onto that, because the taxi driver did not know his way to destination, went astray,

Deal was done first,
that should have been it.

Should have thought taxi persons would have studied up on locations and routes, it is their job to know best way to get to places,

Or at least have a good version of up to date google maps handy to help them

AndrewJRenko

Spook_ie wrote: »

No seeing as I don't have my own private mobile broadband service, therefore as it isn't a legal requirement for me to take CCards if your attitude were to become prevalent I would cease to offer the voluntary service of taking CCards where possible.

It's not a legal requirement. It is a commercial issue.


If you want to attract the customers for whom credit card payment is important, then you need to provide this service. And either you make sure it is reliable, or show flexibility on the rare occasions when it doesn't work.



If you don't want to attract those customers, I'm sure lots of your colleagues will be more enthusiastic and flexible.

Spook_ie

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Spook_ie wrote: »

No seeing as I don't have my own private mobile broadband service, therefore as it isn't a legal requirement for me to take CCards if your attitude were to become prevalent I would cease to offer the voluntary service of taking CCards where possible.

It's not a legal requirement. It is a commercial issue.


If you want to attract the customers for whom credit card payment is important, then you need to provide this service. And either you make sure it is reliable, or show flexibility on the rare occasions when it doesn't work.



If you don't want to attract those customers, I'm sure lots of your colleagues will be more enthusiastic and flexible.

Don't think they'll be that enthusiastic if the majority of the customers exhibit the level of flexibility that you seem willing to exhibit.

AndrewJRenko

Spook_ie wrote: »

Don't think they'll be that enthusiastic if the majority of the customers exhibit the level of flexibility that you seem willing to exhibit.

Seems to be a fairly standard feature for a good few of the cab companies, and for anyone booking by MyTaxi or Lynk.


Does the idea of customers expecting you to deliver the service that you commit come as some kind of shock to you?

Spook_ie

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Seems to be a fairly standard feature for a good few of the cab companies, and for anyone booking by MyTaxi or Lynk.


Does the idea of customers expecting you to deliver the service that you commit come as some kind of shock to you?

Anyone booking a MyTaxi with a credit card has already provided the card details including CVV number for prior approval before taking a taxi, in fact neither the card holder or card itself actually need to be present or presented on the journey or when the fare details are being entered on the app, so an internet connection to process the card isn't required and ( as I have actually done myself ) the closure of the details on the app can be carried out when internet coverage is resumed, I imagine the scenario is similarly repeated for the majority of cab companies.

The thing that you can't seem to understand is that the broadband infrastructure is not under the control of the driver and there are and will be circumstances that arise that will not allow a card transaction to be completed, because unlike the cab companies where you have already provided the details chip n pin and contactless require the card to be present and the transaction to be "real" time.

Probably the only legally enforceable solution as regards taxi journeys requiring chip and pin or contactless is that a driver could take a credit card transaction at the start of the journey for what ever figure they estimate a fare is likely to be and then process a refund at the end ( assuming that there is internet coverage ) This would already be covered by current taxi legislation that provides for a driver being able to take a deposit or for the passenger to prove their ability to pay.

AndrewJRenko

Spook_ie wrote: »

The thing that you can't seem to understand is that the broadband infrastructure is not under the control of the driver and there are and will be circumstances that arise that will not allow a card transaction to be completed, because unlike the cab companies where you have already provided the details chip n pin and contactless require the card to be present and the transaction to be "real" time.

Funnily enough, having been involved in building systems based on mobile data services for more than 30 years, since before GSM came to Ireland, I've a pretty good understanding of these issues.


You actually don't need a deep understanding of the issues to know how this has to work. It's the same as a mechanical failure in the car. It's your failure, so it's your problem. You need an alternative to cover those cases where it doesn't work. Maybe that's a different phone on a different network. Maybe that's a telephone payment option via the office. Maybe it suits for you to bring the customer to an ATM at your expense. Maybe you just trust the customer and arrange to call back later to get your payment.



There are probably a few more options there that you, as the industry expert can come up with. But the key point is, it is YOUR problem to solve - not your passenger's problem.