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Child Item

taxi experience

leitmotiv

I booked a taxi evening from my home to a street address about 4 miles away.

The taxi arrived and we left. The driver asked me where my destination address was but I only knew it was in Mount Merrion. He said not to worry, that he would find it. As we arrived in the vicinity of Mount Merrion, he was not able to find my destination and drove around rather aimlessly. When I suggested that he should know local addresses or else use a satnav device or ask the dispatcher, he grew very aggressive, raised his voice and insulted me along the lines of how dare I as a foreigner to tell Irish people how to do their job. When I protested about his verbal abuse, he became even more aggressive. I became quite worried at this stage and we still had not found my destination. I asked to leave the taxi but the driver now demanded money and grabbed my bag containing presents and tried to violently pull it from my hands. He then centrally locked the car which was stationary at this stage, and shouted at me demanding money. I refused. He then drove off keeping me against my will in the locked car. I was very concerned now about my safety and asked where he was bringing me. He said (to my relief!) Dundrum Garda Station. When we arrived there, he left me locked in the car and went into the station returning with a Gard. The Gard suggested that I owed money to the driver. I said that I was not brought to my destination but attacked and insulted and that I did not owe the fare under the circumstances. The Gard noted my details, let me go and remained with the driver.
I hired a taxi at the Dundrum rank and was safely and friendly brought to my original destination.

I should say, that I have used taxis both for business and privately many times. I have never made a complaint or was scared in a taxi. I am a bit worried about my safety as I think that this driver is very angry, threatening and aggressive. And he knows where I live!

Was I right not to pay?

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The Backwards Man

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

OP should make a complaint

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/public_transport/making_a_complaint_about_spsv_in_ireland.html

If you booked the service through a dispatch operator, you should first make a complaint to the dispatch operator. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can then make your complaint to the National Transport Authority.

The NTA would only be able to deal with the insufficient knowledge of the local area, if they bothered their ass at all.

The false imprisonment is a criminal matter, and the complaint should be made to the Gardai.

MarkY91

so you refused to pay a taxi man his fare..

leitmotiv

MarkY91 wrote: »

so you refused to pay a taxi man his fare..

No, he wasn't able to find my destination and insulted and intimidated me....

Pawwed Rig

The Backwards Man wrote: »

The NTA would only be able to deal with the insufficient knowledge of the local area, if they bothered their ass at all.

The false imprisonment is a criminal matter, and the complaint should be made to the Gardai.

On the complaint form are the following options

Please select the category of complaint which best suits the nature of the incident:

The vehicle
The conduct & behaviour of the driver
Overcharging and other matters related to the fare
Matters related to the hiring of the vehicle
Lost property in a small public service vehicle
Road traffic offence involving a taxi
Allegations of a criminal nature

But yes you are correct in that he should also follow up with the Garda he was speaking to and lodeg a formal complaint there too.

Playboy

mikemac1 wrote: »

Black cab drivers in central London do.

And that's far a more difficult task then urban sprawl low rise Dublin, Cork or Galway.

Absolutely... the have to do quite a difficult exam. It's a taxi drivers job to know how to get to a destination.. thats part of what you are paying him for. If he doesn't know every back street and lane in Dublin then he needs to invest in a sat nav. The taxi driver was an a**... if he spoken to me in that way he wouldn't be locking the car doors for sure. Too many assholes out there who cant do a simple job and then get aggressive when you point out their incompetence

leitmotiv

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

But yes you are correct in that he should also follow up with the Garda he was speaking to and lodeg a formal complaint there too.

I don't really want to make life difficult for anyone, least for myself. I posted originally to gauge whether I was right or wrong to refuse payment on this occasion.

y0pperz

I would be getting onto a solicitor and pressing charges against him for assault. That's just me though.

arybvtcw0eolkf

leitmotiv wrote: »

Was I right not to pay?

No, you should have paid then disputed the fare. Instead you caused a scene and cost the taxi driver to lose more money and time.

Pawwed Rig

leitmotiv wrote: »

I don't really want to make life difficult for anyone, least for myself. I posted originally to gauge whether I was right or wrong to refuse payment on this occasion.

Of course you were right not to pay. I wouldn't have paid either.
I would encourage you to take this further though as most people don't bother and these lunatics are left alone to attack the next unsuspecting person with possible worse consequences.

Gummy Panda

leitmotiv wrote: »

I don't really want to make life difficult for anyone, least for myself. I posted originally to gauge whether I was right or wrong to refuse payment on this occasion.

Get hailo then you can see their rating and preload your destination on Google maps. Also don't have to carry cash so no messing around with the driver "looking for change".

michael999999

Kailani Freezing Magnet wrote: »

No, you should have paid then disputed the fare. Instead you caused a scene and cost the taxi driver to lose more money and time.

Ya, because the taxi driver probably had a whole list of other customers whom needed to be driven around in circles!

Dietsquirt

syklops wrote: »

Ah, a taxi thread. We've not had one of these in a while.

You didn't know the address you were going to but you criticised him for not memorising every street, lane and road in Dublin? Why didn't you just get out when you were in Mt Merrion and go and find your destination?

99% of disputes I have had with taxi drivers have been solved by saying "Let me out here, I'll walk the rest of the way", and then paying what it said on the meter, or close enough.

Surely someone who spends, presumably, 40 hours a week in a car for a living should possess a GPS. Why would he have to memorise every street?

The Backwards Man

leitmotiv wrote: »

I don't really want to make life difficult for anyone, least for myself. I posted originally to gauge whether I was right or wrong to refuse payment on this occasion.

That's the main reason why cnuts get away with being cnuts. Passenger has a genuine grievance and refuses to pay, taxi driver takes passenger to barracks, easy option for the Guard is to tell the passenger to pay up and move on.

Of course there are many cases where the shoe is on the other foot, passengers can be cnuts too.

leitmotiv

Kailani Freezing Magnet wrote: »

No, you should have paid then disputed the fare. Instead you caused a scene and cost the taxi driver to lose more money and time.

I don't think I caused the scene, to be honest...

OnTheCouch

OP, I sympathise with what happened to you, as it sounds like quite a frightening experience, plus no one deserves to be abused just because of where they come from. He does sound like a piece of work and should have acted far more professionally.

However, to play devil's advocate, in future I would choose another form of negotiation other than infer he was not good at his job. For many people, their employment defines them and what they are about and therefore can be a very sore subject if you happen to question their competence. Simply turning it around, I'm sure if you were told that you were absolutely useless at your profession you would at the very least be taken aback. I'm not saying this is what happened here, merely that you should be careful at breaching this subject, even if like on this occasion, you appear to have been correct regarding his lack of knowledge.

Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much, I imagine he just lost his temper that on that occasion. Maybe just be a little more wary for the next while, but I think on the whole, you can relax. No one died at the end of the day.

Femme_Fatale

suicide_circus wrote: »

If i bought a fridge/freezer from Harvey Norman and they delivered a fridge, would i be expected to pay half and go off on my merry way?

jack presley wrote: »

If a hairdresser cut half your hair, would you pay half the bill?

These are the wrong product/service, so no, I wouldn't pay for half, I'd ask for the correct product/service.

mikemac1

+1 for Hailo

You can rate the driver afterwards and they take complaints very seriously. All trips are recorded so they'd see the OP doing a tour of Mount Merrion.

Still a very young presence in Ireland and Hailo don't want a bad reputation. If you email them you'll get an reply in 2-3 hours.

The OP could have typed the address into the map before the taximan showed up to help this you show I go fella

leitmotiv

mikemac1 wrote: »

The OP could have typed the address into the map before the taximan showed up to help this you show I go fella

Should the customer really be expected to provide a map?

mikemac1

Hailo: The driver will have you and your destination on their own map on the phone

dmc17

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

These are the wrong product/service, so no, I wouldn't pay for half, I'd ask for the correct product/service.

What this taxi driver provided was the wrong service too. Why pay for half of the wrong service?

starviewadams

suicide_circus wrote: »

Indeed, quite worrying behaviour for someone is a relative position of trust. Presumably completely illegal. I would lose the ****ing plot if a taxi driver did that to me.

Fairly regular occurence if a passenger is unable or refuses to pay.Lock the doors and bring the passenger to the Garda station.

Doors of any black cab I've been inside of in England are locked by the driver for the duration of the journey too iirc.

suicide_circus

starviewadams wrote: »

Fairly regular occurence if a passenger is unable or refuses to pay.Lock the doors and bring the passenger to the Garda station.

Doors of any black cab I've been inside of in England are locked by the driver for the duration of the journey too iirc.

I think any taxi driver who locks a person into their car against their will is running the risk of having their skull caved in.

jjpep

Can't believe that anyone thinks the taxi driver should have been paid. His job is to get you to a place. Didn't do his job. Why should he get paid? And the rest of it is a criminal matter TBH.

suicide_circus

jjpep wrote: »

Can't believe that anyone thinks the taxi driver should have been paid. His job is to get you to a place. Didn't do his job. Why should he get paid? And the rest of it is a criminal matter TBH.

Are there any other service providers who have the right to abduct you for non payment even after they fail to provide the service?

Pawwed Rig

starviewadams wrote: »

Fairly regular occurence if a passenger is unable or refuses to pay.Lock the doors and bring the passenger to the Garda station.

Taxidrivers have powers of detention now?
Can you point me to that in any statute/law or code of practise?

[Deleted User]

Op, use every mechanism to make that taxi drivers life miserable.

jjpep

suicide_circus wrote: »

Are there any other service providers who have the right to abduct you for non payment even after they fail to provide the service?

Exactly. Like I said, the rest of it is a criminal matter and the OP should be reporting this as same to the gardai.

suicide_circus

NoDrama wrote: »

Op, use every mechanism to make that taxi drivers life miserable.

Not a suitable Username for such a post

suicide_circus

Deleted User wrote: »

You're mixing up goods and services.

They are both covered by the same law - sale of goods and supply of services act 1980

SparkySpitfire

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

For driving you most of the way.

If I make someone half a cheeseburger when they ordered a full one should I get paid 2 quid instead of 4?

Or perhaps I should get paid nothing until I do my job right and give the customer a full cheeseburger.

Just a thought.

EDIT: I didn't realise there were so many posts along this line! Not trying to make you feel ganged up on!