Advertisement
Help Keep Boards Alive. Support us by going ad free today. See here: https://subscriptions.boards.ie/.
https://www.boards.ie/group/1878-subscribers-forum

Private Group for paid up members of Boards.ie. Join the club.
Hi all, please see this major site announcement: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058427594/boards-ie-2026

Scummy thing to do.

  • 06-12-2012 09:45PM
    #1
    lazygal
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,644 ✭✭✭✭


    I got a taxi yesterday and the driver told me about his previous fare. Four students going from UCD into town and they did a runner without paying. The driver was genuinely upset about this, not in a 'poor me' way but that a group of lads would do that. Does anyone actually think this is funny or an acceptable thing to do? Really made me angry thinking of those lads not paying their way and costing this guy time and money.

    I know there might be an AH thing of taxi drivers whinging and moaning and that I've fallen for a sob story and this guy needs to get over it. But it seems like a really scummy thing to do.


«13

Comments

  • #2
    Oh hai
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 170 ✭✭Oh hai


    I hear that's a pretty common thing unfortunately. Lousy.


  • #3
    Israel_Dagg
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 454 ✭✭Israel_Dagg


    Easy. Get the fare before bringing them.


  • #4
    Hilly Bill
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,055 ✭✭✭Hilly Bill


    Thats students for you.


  • #5
    Hande hoche!
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,967 ✭✭✭Hande hoche!


    Fairly lousy thing to do, no doubt they are having a laugh about it and thinking what legends they are.


  • #6
    Staff Infection
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 208 ✭✭Staff Infection


    Hilly Bill wrote: »
    Thats students for you.


    Sadly. Just out of college myself and am happy I always paid my way and never did a runner or stole stuff from pubs but too many people I know did.
    One lad I know tried to nick/pilfer a broom because he was (quite rightly) told he was too drunk and refused a drink in a pub.


  • Advertisement
  • #7
    Where To
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,455 ✭✭✭Where To


    I must be the only taxidriver in the world who doesn't mind when a fare does a runner. If it means that much to them let them run, let them have their fun. Fun doesn't last.




    BUT MY MEMORY LASTS.:)


  • #8
    Luap
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,649 ✭✭✭Luap


    Take a poo on a bus. Hate when scummers do that.


  • #9
    Irishcrx
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,861 ✭✭✭Irishcrx


    Yeah it's an awful thing to do, I did it once a good few years ago. Had no intention of doing it when I got the taxi but I realised as I was nearly home that I had lost my money and had nothing else on me , nobody at home either so I legged it when I got out.

    I really should have just explained and paid the man the next day but I was pissed and wasn't thinking , ashamed I was..


  • #10
    The Royal Scam
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,007 ✭✭✭The Royal Scam


    Surely he could track them down through the college from CCTV near where he picked them up


  • #11
    laoch na mona
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,970 ✭✭✭laoch na mona


    Where To wrote: »



    BUT MY MEMORY LASTS.:)

    I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for a free lift, I can tell you I don't have the petrol. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you pay the fare now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.:D


  • Advertisement
  • #12
    AckwelFoley
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,556 ✭✭✭✭AckwelFoley


    Luap wrote: »
    Take a poo on a bus. Hate when scummers do that.


    One peach took a dump on the floor of the toilet in a late bar in town. Right beside the urinals. Cubicles must have being occupied. Another gent decided to piss at the bar while ordering a pint.


  • #13
    Hilly Bill
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,055 ✭✭✭Hilly Bill


    A woman once took a dump on the dart and another a piss on platform 6 in Connolly. Both from the same background.


  • #14
    Czarcasm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,076 ✭✭✭✭Czarcasm


    Where To wrote: »
    I must be the only taxidriver in the world who doesn't mind when a fare does a runner. If it means that much to them let them run, let them have their fun. Fun doesn't last.




    BUT MY MEMORY LASTS.:)


    Quick one Where To but can taxi drivers not ask that their passengers belt up before they start the car?

    And just while I think of it- are they not allowed use child locks on the doors and release them once the passenger pays their fare?

    Of course it's a scumbag thing to evade paying for a service when you use it! I don't often carry ready cash with me but if I have to get a cab when my regular driver is off duty, any cab driver I've ever travelled with has never had a problem stopping off at an ATM for me to withdraw cash for the fare.


  • #15
    Aint Eazy Being Cheezy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,634 ✭✭✭Aint Eazy Being Cheezy


    Where To wrote: »
    I must be the only taxidriver in the world who doesn't mind when a fare does a runner. If it means that much to them let them run, let them have their fun. Fun doesn't last.




    BUT MY MEMORY LASTS.:)


    How often does it happen, on average? Genuine question. Once/week, once/month maybe more?


  • #16
    Where To
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,455 ✭✭✭Where To


    Czarcasm wrote: »
    Quick one Where To but can taxi drivers not ask that their passengers belt up before they start the car?
    You can ask them, and most people actually do belt up, but with some you might as well ask them to perform open-heart surgery on themselves.
    And just while I think of it- are they not allowed use child locks on the doors and release them once the passenger pays their fare?
    Part of the suitability inspection is ensuring all doors open from inside and out. I use a childlock on the offside rear to prevent people opening the door into traffic but I'd probably be fined for doing this. I don't feel comfortable about locking people in anyway, and I'm sure most customers wouldn't either.
    Of course it's a scumbag thing to evade paying for a service when you use it! I don't often carry ready cash with me but if I have to get a cab when my regular driver is off duty, any cab driver I've ever travelled with has never had a problem stopping off at an ATM for me to withdraw cash for the fare.
    Any driver that has a problem with a passenger stopping at an ATM should have their head examined. And their licence revoked.
    .


  • #17
    Where To
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,455 ✭✭✭Where To


    Johnny Electricity wrote: »
    How often does it happen, on average? Genuine question. Once/week, once/month maybe more?
    Not that often with me, maybe three in the last ten years.

    Most of my work is either contract or repeat custom, and I'm very fussy about my clientele too. When the taxidriver knows you, where you live, and how often you use a taxi it kind of defeats the purpose of doing a runner.


  • #18
    Markcheese
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,240 ✭✭✭Markcheese


    In the uk the black cabs have a central locking system, you get in tell the driver where you want to go, doors lock and don't open again till you pay....
    Driver safe behind a screen too ...

    Slava ukraini 🇺🇦



  • #19
    Where To
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,455 ✭✭✭Where To


    Markcheese wrote: »
    In the uk the black cabs have a central locking system, you get in tell the driver where you want to go, doors lock and don't open again till you pay....
    Driver safe behind a screen too ...
    Yeah, quite a few cities are like that, I couldn't work in that kind of environment though, if I have to take measures to keep myself in my own vehicle then the job's not worth doing.


  • #20
    ToddyDoody
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,419 ✭✭✭ToddyDoody


    dog with a boner (pink)... Fairly scummy


  • #21
    Czarcasm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,076 ✭✭✭✭Czarcasm


    Markcheese wrote: »
    In the uk the black cabs have a central locking system, you get in tell the driver where you want to go, doors lock and don't open again till you pay....
    Driver safe behind a screen too ...


    That's exactly the sort of system I had in mind that should have been introduced here years ago, and a screen for driver safety too, because I've heard on a couple of occasions now of taxi drivers being attacked by scumbags wanting to avoid paying the fare.

    If I was a cab driver, and I never understood this in Ireland, but there is no way in hell I'd allow a customer to sit into the front passenger seat. They'd have to sit in the back. It's also a good thing too to see some cab companies now have introduced a pay by credit card system.


  • Advertisement
  • #22
    Hurricane Carter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 607 ✭✭✭Hurricane Carter


    Ah. That old chestnut.

    So how much did you tip him in the end? :D


  • #23
    jippo nolan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,745 ✭✭✭jippo nolan


    Hilly Bill wrote: »
    A woman once took a dump on the dart and another a piss on platform 6 in Connolly. Both from the same background.
    Were they romingAround?


  • #24
    kowloon
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 14,187 ✭✭✭✭kowloon


    Markcheese wrote: »
    In the uk the black cabs have a central locking system, you get in tell the driver where you want to go, doors lock and don't open again till you pay....
    Driver safe behind a screen too ...

    They have a little red light that tells you when you can and can't open the door. The ones I was in only had the locks on when the cab was moving though. I was living in what would be considered a nice area though.


  • #25
    Piliger
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,741 ✭✭✭Piliger


    Johnny Electricity wrote: »
    How often does it happen, on average? Genuine question. Once/week, once/month maybe more?

    I had a long conversation with a taxi driver in Ranelagh about this back in the summer - he said it happens about once every six months to him. No big deal but I think taxis should all have cameras for this reason and for driver's safety.


  • #26
    Conchir
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 967 ✭✭✭Conchir


    Where To wrote: »
    I must be the only taxidriver in the world who doesn't mind when a fare does a runner. If it means that much to them let them run, let them have their fun. Fun doesn't last.




    BUT MY MEMORY LASTS.:)
    I now finally understand your avatar, username and location. I had always thought they were quite random.




    :pac:


  • #27
    Pottler
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,073 ✭✭✭Pottler


    Hilly Bill wrote: »
    A woman once took a dump on the dart and another a piss on platform 6 in Connolly. Both from the same background.
    I hate that, no matter how often you wash it, every time you're going for a triple 20, you just think - there may still be a bit of poo..


  • #28
    fasttalkerchat
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,652 ✭✭✭fasttalkerchat


    I never did it myself. Although I did underpay one driver who tried to rip me off.
    Another taxi driver who was a rude bollix I told to pull over and let me out, although I had been in the car less than a minute.


  • #29
    Pottler
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,073 ✭✭✭Pottler


    fasttalkerchat wrote: »
    I never did it myself. Although I did underpay one driver who tried to rip me off.
    Another taxi driver who was a rude bollix I told to pull over and let me out, although I had been in the car less than a minute.
    Or the ones who assume everyones a tourist and take you the scenic route. I had one bring me off down the quays to the Point to get me from Heuston to Temple Bar. The fare came to almost €20.:eek: I smiled, gave him a tenner and said keep the tip. Was still a rip off. He seemed a bit annoyed. Doing a runner is just scummy though, just fess up that you don't have the fare, give your mobile no. and say you'll ring driver tomorrow and arrange payment. They might get huffy, but at least you're not going off on your toes like some alleycreeper.


  • #30
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,565 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    lazygal wrote: »
    I got a taxi yesterday and the driver told me about his previous fare. Four students going from UCD into town and they did a runner without paying. The driver was genuinely upset about this, not in a 'poor me' way but that a group of lads would do that. Does anyone actually think this is funny or an acceptable thing to do? Really made me angry thinking of those lads not paying their way and costing this guy time and money.

    I know there might be an AH thing of taxi drivers whinging and moaning and that I've fallen for a sob story and this guy needs to get over it. But it seems like a really scummy thing to do.

    Well from UCD to town isn't that far so there was no need to do something like that.


  • Advertisement
  • #31
    fasttalkerchat
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,652 ✭✭✭fasttalkerchat


    Pottler wrote: »
    Or the ones who assume everyones a tourist and take you the scenic route. I had one bring me off down the quays to the Point to get me from Heuston to Temple Bar. The fare came to almost €20.:eek: I smiled, gave him a tenner and said keep the tip. Was still a rip off. He seemed a bit annoyed. Doing a runner is just scummy though, just fess up that you don't have the fare, give your mobile no. and say you'll ring driver tomorrow and arrange payment. They might get huffy, but at least you're not going off on your toes like some alleycreeper.

    This was my story:
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=77757716&postcount=4534


Advertisement
Advertisement