Lost Taxi drivers

hotshots85 · 17-07-2008 03:12PM

this kind of thing is happening too much lately ffs if anyone of yous in your profession only knew half of what yous are supposed to know to get the job done ,guaranteed you,d be out on your ass in a flash .
why cant their be a proper knowledge test and training before taxi drivers ever sit behind the wheel .
my dad has driven a taxi for the past ten years and tells me stories recited to him from passengers about being taken everywhere bar the right place
e,g girl got a taxi on dame st going to tallaght and ended up in leixlip when the driver eventully found tallaght he insisted on the 48e fare .again she did,nt report it .
please take it from a person who knows about the taxi industry (from my dad) dont put up with it insist on the driver knowing where he is going before you travel its you who are paying for what should be a good decent service

The_Conductor · 17-07-2008 03:17PM

I rang the taxi regulator to complain- and was informed that while I could make a formal complaint- that licensing of the taxis and testing of drivers etc, was a matter for the "Carriage Office" and not a function of the Regulator. I can make a formal written complaint about a specific incident to the regulator- but queries regarding testing of drivers geographic knowledge etc are for the Gardai in the Carriage Office.

hotshots85 · 17-07-2008 03:28PM

smccarrick wrote: »

I rang the taxi regulator to complain- and was informed that while I could make a formal complaint- that licensing of the taxis and testing of drivers etc, was a matter for the "Carriage Office" and not a function of the Regulator. I can make a formal written complaint about a specific incident to the regulator- but queries regarding testing of drivers geographic knowledge etc are for the Gardai in the Carriage Office.

sounds like the passing of the buck ;)isnt the taxi regulator another ff quango btw wait till you try and make that formal complaint more red tape (download complaint forms or wait till you recieve them in the post by which time your fed up and dont bother )

arybvtcw0eolkf · 17-07-2008 03:33PM

smccarrick wrote: »

I rang the taxi regulator to complain- and was informed that while I could make a formal complaint- that licensing of the taxis and testing of drivers etc, was a matter for the "Carriage Office" and not a function of the Regulator. I can make a formal written complaint about a specific incident to the regulator- but queries regarding testing of drivers geographic knowledge etc are for the Gardai in the Carriage Office.

The taxi regulators 'Mission & Ojectives', maybe you should have brought this to the attention of the person you spoke to.

Reading further into the taxi regulators site I see any mention of the carriage office, indeed the regulator has a COMPLAINTS INFORMATION PAGE

OP, I think your complaint should be directed at the officer of the Taxi Regulator for not providing the public with her (Kathleen Doyle) promise of a "a first class, professional, efficient, safe and accessible, customer-friendly service for small public service vehicle passengers".

Capri · 17-07-2008 10:31PM

'I was going to ring the Taxi Regulator to ask whether taxi drivers here need to do a test, similar to the one cabbies in London have to do- but after exploring the taxi-regulator's website for a few minutes (www.taxiregulator.ie) I simply gave up'

I'm wondering how much can Taxi customers take before they complain to the TaxiReg. She said to the Oireachtas ctte. that she doesn't get many complaints, but judging by this thread there's plenty of dissatisfied customers out there.
Complaining seems to be a lost art these days but it's quiet simple - first thing to do is dial in the taxi roof sign number onto your phone, say 54543, press 'dial', then when you get in , dial in the drivers number J6756 (56756), press dial, at the end of the journey ask him for a printed reciept, he HAS to give you one of these - no reciept, no cash !!!!
If there's a problem, calling the Gardai won't work, they always seem to side with the cabbie just to get away from doing something. Phone the TR and ask them to send you out a complaint form, then follow through until you get satisfaction ( Mind you, after doing ALL that, the TR won't get you your money back - best bet is don't get into a cab unless the driver looks trustworthy, there's more than enought taxis out there now ! )

Tha Gopher · 17-07-2008 11:19PM

Wertz wrote: »

Allow me to throw the cat amongst the pigeons here and suggest that some of these drivers may not be of Irish extraction?

Surely not! :eek:

I havent many gripes with the taximen tbh, most of them are a bang on crowd. Of times Ive suffered from clueless clowns:

An Arab who dropped me somewhere in the south inner city a half mile from where I was meant to be at a party. We only realised when my mate realised the landmarks i was describing on the phone was a good distance away

A middle aged waffling woman who deliberately "missed" a turn, earning extra 3 quid (of which she kindly knocked off a euro. Cnut)

A Pole who never heard of the Porterhouse

Another chap who didnt know where Bolton Street IT was

Gumbo · 17-07-2008 11:34PM

the problem is the compliant proceddure, its too long and awkward to complain.

they take your name, send you a form, you fill it in and post it back.

the TR should make it easy to complain, even over the phone or by website submission.

a lot of taxi drivers, the good ones are pretty peeded off with the situation at the moment, and there is loads of bad stoeies out there.

but its the public that NEED to complain, without the complaints, the TR will do nothing!

my dad and alot of other guys now carry in the car a copy of the complaints forms and if a passenger telles them of a story, they will offer to them the form there and then so it cuts out a bit of the long process of a complaint, but as i said thats the good one, but there a few newbies that are genuine too, its such a hit and miss in the trade at the moment.

taxi men dont need to be embarreded about not knowing where a particular place is, considering the amount of new estates that popped up over the last 10 years, but just ask the passenger what route they would like to be taken, i would rather a taxi man ask me for the best directions then to bring me home from town to finglas via the M50.

Tha Gopher · 17-07-2008 11:39PM

kceire wrote: »

considering the amount of new estates that popped up over the last 10 years, .

Never mind the design. My mate used to live in a 300 odd house estate all with the same address! As in it was a square estate with maybe nine sections the developers could have designated with individual street names, but instead decided to number the houses from 1 to 320 odd and give the entire estate a single name! Waiting on a taxi you phoned was a nightmare if the weather was too bad to go out and wait, the estate was in no particular order so they took years to find the house.

phantom_lord · 17-07-2008 11:43PM

pvt.joker wrote: »

regurarly happens me. Taxi driver doesnt know how to get to Whitehall / Collins Avenue from city centre. End up directing them the whole way . Shambles of a system

yeah, took me 40mins to get from o'connell street to dcu one time.

stepbar · 17-07-2008 11:47PM

I remember getting a taxi home with one of my work collegues a few months ago. I was heading to Ranelagh and she was going to Ringsend. Said we would leave her home first. Fair enough. He got as far at the Ringsend area and she gave him specific directions to her house, Fair enough. She got out and my pakistani taxi friend proceeded to stop the meter and start it again instead of keeping it running as normal taxi drivers would do. Of course I was over charged but was too drunk to care at that stage. So I sended up paying about 4 eur extra for the journey (had the meter been kept running). Not a big deal TBH but I'd rather it in my pocket then his.

fredzer · 18-07-2008 12:36AM

I got a cab from dame st and asked to go to Ballsbridge. I picked the cab up at Dublin Castle and expected him to do a U-turn and head back for College Green.. no dice! I asked the guy where he thought Ballsbridge was. Phoenix Park somewhere was his reply! I told the driver to pull over and let me out as he wasn't able to do his job properly. He demanded I pay what was on the meter but I refused and walked off after we exchanged a few pleasantries..not sure if that was legal!! But f''k it I was in a rush!

So hailed another taxi, this time a Dub, after I told him what had happened he started into his racist rant about black taxi drivers. Funny thing was I never mentioned the color of the first driver to him, just said he was a foreign guy that hadn't a clue where he was going! Anyway got to where I wanted to go... eventually! Taxi's in dublin = out of control!

arybvtcw0eolkf · 18-07-2008 12:58AM

Guys, for crying out loud.

The place to repeat these stories is to the regulators office.

We all know there's a problem in Dublin with an abismal taxi service, mostly provided by a sector of our new Irish community, but the Taxi Regulators office promised us a ''a first class, professional, efficient, safe and accessible, customer-friendly service for small public service vehicle passengers''. - DEMAND IT.

Cut and pasted from The Evening Herald..

A Dublin woman was raped by her taxi driver as she was being brought home after a night out in the city.

The sex attack occured as the woman was being taken to her home in Donabate.

In a second incident, a terrified passenger fled a taxi after her driver sexually assaulted her as she was being taken to the Aisling Hotel near Heuston Station

The National Taxi Drivers Union (NTDU) has issued a warning to passengers travelling alone late at night to be careful and to take precautions.

Gardai are investigating the rape and the alleged sexual assault which are not thought to be related.

The incidents occurred within two weeks of each other and are believed to involve foreign national drivers.

In the early hours of last Monday, a woman was travelling in a taxi in the Donabate area when she was raped.

A garda spokesperson has confirmed that officers from Swords garda station are investigating "a serious sexual assault".

The second attack took place during a journey from Dublin city centre to the Aisling Hotel near Heuston Station. The Herald understands that the woman was picked up at Connolly Station and asked to be brought to Heuston Station.

She claims that on her way to the hotel, the male driver groped her leg in a sexually aggressive manner. When the taxi driver pulled over, the woman immediately ran into the hotel and called gardai. She was said to be left in an extremely distressed state.

The man has been questioned by gardai on more than one occasion in relation to this incident but is believed to be protesting his innocence.

In light of the incidents, Ellen O'Malley-Dunlop, Chief Executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) said that, while she didn't want all taxi drivers to be tarnished with the same brush, similar incidents have happened in the past.

President of the National Taxi Drivers' Union (NTDU) Tommy Gorman has also warned all passengers to take precautions when using taxis, particularly when alone.

Although he cannot comment on the specific incidents, he has urged passengers to always ask for a receipt as a way of tracing their driver.

"People using taxis should be conscious of the fact that we've a saturated market," he said.

Ms O'Malley-Dunlop added: "Everybody should have numbers keyed into their phones that can be called by just pressing a button." And she urged that one of those numbers be the DRCC freephone number 1800 77 88 88.

Before the PC brigade jump all over me, these alligation's were printed in a national news paper.

HERALD.ie

There's an issue with vetting procedure's which are clearly being exploited by some, to the detriment of many.

These are concern's for us all. People are being placed in danger by a taxi regulator who is clearly out of touch with 'Joe Public' on our streets.

Terrontress · 18-07-2008 10:14AM

It's disengenuous to suggest that the problems exist solely with drivers who are not Irish born. Everyone who has taken taxis for any length of time in Dublin will have a story of having been ripped off by a Dub.

Those who don't, didn't realise it was going on at the time.

Captain Ginger · 18-07-2008 10:36AM

I was in Spain and my Taxi should of cost 30 euro but the guy got lost and ended up charging me 80. I was not to happy, had everything written down for him as well in Spanish.

Chinafoot · 18-07-2008 11:35AM

There ws a thread full of horror stories like this before Christmas. Here's the story I posted there.

I was heading to my mate's house in Rathfarnham and got a cab outside my place in the IFSC. It took a while to get one as it was pissing rain but told him where we were off to and it all seemed grand. Anyway, as it turned out he didn't know where the street was so he handed me the map and I found the street. This is while we were in the Ballsbridge area, which my friend found odd. Personally I had never been there before so didn't know any different.

Anyway, I show him the street on the map while we're stopped at the lights and he obviously has some difficulty seeing it as he puts the map about an inch from his face. He then pulls out a pair of glasses with really, really thick lenses and seems to be ok then.

So we get to Rathfarnham and he stops and pulls out the map again. He then starts giving out to me saying I sent him in the wrong direction cos I pointed out the wrong street. I tell him no, I pointed at the right street and I show him again. He then reaches into the glove compartment and takes out a fúcking magnifying glass! I was absolutely speechless. How the hell is this guy driving. I was shocked.

Anyway we eventually get there (after he was chatting on his phone while I tried to tell him to stop because he'd gone well past the house) and he charged me €25 which my mate reckons was a complete rip off as she's never paid that much. I regret to say I didn't take his number as I was in too much of a hurry to get out of that car.

Phoole · 19-07-2008 08:02AM

I'm a taxi driver. I know my way around. I'm nice too. Hire me!

The_Conductor · 19-07-2008 08:21AM

Phoole wrote: »

inally the public are taking notice of the rubbish taxi service in this city. I am a taxi driver. Those of us who do provide a professional service and who do know our way around the city have been warning the public for many months/years now that the quality of the service will only deteriorate with the increasing amount of 'fly-by-nights' coming in to the business. However we have been told by said public, and on this board too, that we should just put up or shut-up.

This forum is not the place for complaints. Get on to the regulator and demand some action.

From personal experience- other than making a formal complaint which is a time consuming and very unsatisfactory procedure- your only option is ring the Carriage Office and chew the ear of whatever unfortunate happens to answer.

Yes- there are an increasing number of "fly-by-nights" in the business- and while many blame immigrants- there are equally as many Irish to blame- but what is the solution?

I was suggesting a more indept geographic test- akin to the test the cabbies in London have to do- the taxi regulators response to this is: Nothing to do with us- all testing is carried out and approved by the Gardai in the Carriage Office- ring them to complain.

Its ridiculous- they simply don't care.

Victor · 19-07-2008 08:24AM

Chinafoot, he was long sighted, so has difficulty seeing things up close.

Phoole wrote: »

I'm a taxi driver. I know my way around. I'm nice too. Hire me!

OK, how many Liffey Streets are there in dublin?

watna · 19-07-2008 08:28AM

When I lived in Ireland we had terrible trouble with taxi drivers. On more than one occasion I'd say dalkey please and they'd say where, then I'd say it's out past Dun Laoghaire and they'd say where? I had to direct about 4 taxis out to our apartment and they complained the whole entire way about having to go so far out.

tbh, the taxi drivers in Wellington aren't much better. They also mostly seem to have arrived on the most recent flight and even though we live very close to town they never know the way.

Although, after getting taxis in Kuala Lumpur I don't think that taxis here or in Dublin will annoy me so much anymore!

The_Conductor · 19-07-2008 08:38AM

watna wrote: »

Although, after getting taxis in Kuala Lumpur I don't think that taxis here or in Dublin will annoy me so much anymore!

Tell me about it- multiple taximen in Delhi insisted that I visit their second cousin thrice removed' carpet shop and inspect their wares, or else they would dump me in the middle of a slum in the middle of nowhere. Eventually I said fine- dump me there. A few did- a cheap tuk-tuk ride sorted that out, most cared too much about their lost fare to follow through.

At least the taximen here aren't on commission with the tourist traps in the city......

Phoole · 19-07-2008 08:55AM

Victor wrote: »

OK, how many Liffey Streets are there in dublin?

There are two. One by Collins Barracks, one in Ballyfermot. You also have a 'Lower Liffey' St.

Victor · 19-07-2008 09:01AM

You forget Upper Liffey Street.

FIRED!

Crumble Froo · 19-07-2008 09:02AM

i do recall getting a taxi from o' connell street to the north circular road (phoenix park end), and the driver was, it does have to be said, a lovely fella, but from donegal, and evidently didnt know his way around dublin. he programmed it into his GPS (despite us telling him not to worry, we could direct him), and it directed him the most round about way you possibly could... lovely fella, and he didnt charge us the extra, but not the best ride home we've ever had.

Phoole · 19-07-2008 09:03AM

Victor wrote: »

You forget Upper Liffey Street.

FIRED!

Cars aren't allowed up there!!!:D

Samson · 19-07-2008 10:19AM

I find it hard to comprehend the amount of people that are complaining in this thread, yet the standard conclusion seems to be one of the following:

I forgot to note the taxi plate number and/or driver details;
I was too drunk/tired to care, so I paid up and said nothing;
I couldn't be bothered to make a complaint;
I'll just chalk it up to experience;
I didn't ask for a receipt etc.

As someone pointed out, the regulator has stated that she receives few complaints, and is therefore not in touch with the reality on the ground.
A swift and large hike in numbers following the complaints procedure through to conclusion is the reality check that is needed, and the only way some action may be considered to, at the very least, tighten up the entry requirements.
The current test it seems is either just too easy to pass, or there are shenanigans* going on.

I have heard various rumours, but they are unsubstantiated, so I don't think it is appropriate to repeat them.

Victor wrote: »

You forget Upper Liffey Street.

FIRED!

Victor, whilst trying to catch someone out may make you feel like a big man, frankly it makes you look like an arrogant, pedantic tosser.
Do you just feel that you have to contribute something to every second thread on Boards, no matter how inane, just to keep your post count climbing?

Victor · 19-07-2008 10:38AM

Threads: 761,380
My Posts: 37,231

Thats all of 5%

January · 19-07-2008 10:48AM

The test that they have to do at the moment is:

Point A - Point B (say Heuston Station to RDS) what is the most direct route?

And then you have to name all the streets you go down to get there.

The_Conductor · 19-07-2008 10:57AM

adrieanne__x wrote: »

The test that they have to do at the moment is:

Point A - Point B (say Heuston Station to RDS) what is the most direct route?

And then you have to name all the streets you go down to get there.

Obviously its not working. What the hell is happening- people lining up to the test on behalf of people who either haven't a clue of Dublin's geography, or don't possess sufficient English to take the test themselves? Also- a point to point isn't necessarily a good measure of someone's geography- if they have a set couple of point-to-points that they use- all you have to do is learn off the name of the streets, and bobs your uncle off you go.......

It has reached the stage where something serious does need to be done. As for the official complaints to the Taxi Regulator- most of the time they simply bat you back to the Carriage Office- its a great mechanism for keeping official complaints down. If the number of people calling the carriage office and the nature of their calls got added into the stats you can be certain that an entirely different story would be told.........

nadie101 · 19-07-2008 11:16AM

Oh my god i really didnt know there were so many others in the same boat as myself! I regularly get a taxi from crumlin to clondalkin late inthe evening from my boyfriends.....all of 10 min direct journey! i got in to a taxi about a week ago and told the taxi man...a foreign national....to go to woodford in clondalkin and he looked at me with a complete blank look on his face he tried to type it in to his sat nav an proceeded to ask me how to spell out the name of my road!:eek: he could barely pronounce it let alone know were it was!! i was about 5 mins waiting in the car explaining were i wanted to go before we took off! thankfully he had not turned on the meter....i wouldnt have paid tho if he had it running!
I definitely dont feel very safe in a taxi with a driver who clearly doesnt no where they are going and this is not the first time something like this has happened to me or anyone else as i have clearly witnessed while reading this thread and i highly doubt it will be the last. I really never thougt of taking the licence number and contacting the taxi regulator but i certainly will from now on so thanx for the advice anyone who posted bout that!

4Xcut · 19-07-2008 12:23PM

How is this ever a problem?

You get into the car and ask if he can take you to your destination. If he doesn't know where it is or hesitates, get out and get in the taxi behind him. Its not illegal to go to a taxi that is not first on the rank as far as i'm aware. Even if it is, just let someone go ahead of you and then you don't have to go with the driver who didn't know where he was going. Simple as.

Lost Taxi drivers

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