Since when do taxi drivers get to pick and choose their fares?

genericguy · 29-03-2014 01:24PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Longer journeys took in more money.

Shorter journeys made most profit.

Whiskey tango foxtrot?

The Backwards Man · 29-03-2014 01:26PM

Chazz Michael Michaels wrote: »

Ok, now you're just being silly.

How? Even on fuel alone, and ignoring the fact that we we were initially discussing fares that were a lot shorter than airport to Swords, the shorter journeys are still giving a bigger return.

Factor in the extra labour and depreciation and it's a no brainer.

riveratom · 29-03-2014 01:27PM

Trigger Happy wrote: »

Talk about throwing your toys out of the pram OP.
Taxi won't take you 400 yards so you stand beside him reciting his plate number.
But you dont have time to ask the second driver in the queue?
And you then come on here to tell your tale?

The lad was perfectly entitled to refuse your fare, same as he is entitled to refuse to take a drunk, a skanger or someone he thinks is a prick.
Airport rules are different in that the driver must take the fare offered unless very good reason not to.

Yeah I actually agree (OP here). Frivolous thread is frivolous (as another poster alluded to). I had a crap night so was just having a bit of a vent at that and took it out on this driver, who in fairness was sitting there for ages hoping for a decent fare.

I have been self-employed myself so I know how much of a struggle it can be, and taxi driving must be one of the least nice jobs out there.

So no complaint from me, and hope the driver had a decent night of fares

29-03-2014 01:30PM

riveratom wrote: »

Yeah I actually agree (OP here). Frivolous thread is frivolous (as another poster alluded to). I had a crap night so was just having a bit of a vent at that and took it out on this driver, who in fairness was sitting there for ages hoping for a decent fare.

I have been self-employed myself so I know how much of a struggle it can be, and taxi driving must be one of the least nice jobs out there.

So no complaint from me, and hope the driver had a decent night of fares

Fair play ( no pun intended )

gallag · 29-03-2014 01:33PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Longer journeys took in more money.

Shorter journeys made most profit.

So at the end of my shift with your plan I would have less money and less profit but my margins would be higher so all is good? Are you special?

The Backwards Man · 29-03-2014 01:42PM

gallag wrote: »

So at the end of my shift with your plan I would have less money and less profit but my margins would be higher so all is good? Are you special?

Na, I just believe that maximising income and minimising outlay are sound concepts to base a business on.

gallag · 29-03-2014 01:55PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Na, I just believe that maximising income and minimising outlay are sound concepts to base a business on.

Must tell the the wife that, not to worry that my income is way down and we can't make the mortgage/car payments anymore but not to worry the small amount I do have is high margin and I am now a super business man! Have you told tescos about this, they could massively downsize and only sell the 3 items with the highest margin! !! You are on to something here!!!

Albertofrog · 29-03-2014 01:56PM

I arrived into Dublin Port a few weeks ago at 6.00 am.
There was a taxi by the rank outside the ferry terminal. So being knackered I thought "that's handy! Hurrah!"
So I got in and asked the driver to bring me to Tallaght.
I was amazed to hear her say "No. I've another fare to pick up at 06.45 so I'm not bringing you"
I thought it is illegal for a driver to refuse a fare?

The Backwards Man · 29-03-2014 01:57PM

gallag wrote: »

Must tell the the wife that, not to worry that my income is way down and we can't make the mortgage/car payments anymore but not to worry the small amount I do have is high margin and I am now a super business man! Have you told tescos about this, they could massively downsize and only sell the 3 items with the highest margin! !! You are on to something here!!!

Tescos have nothing to learn from me, never fear about that.:pac:

Il Trap · 29-03-2014 01:58PM

riveratom wrote: »

You're either available for hire or you're not so who cares whether you or this driver thinks it's a ridiculous distance.

Isn't the reason that a taxi fare on the meter starts at around €4.50 to ensure a decent minimum fare for the driver if the journey is a short one??

In the OP's case the driver would have gotten about a fiver for two minutes drive. From what I can see, the driver had little real cause for complaint and should have taken the OP to Pearse Station.

gallag · 29-03-2014 01:58PM

Albertofrog wrote: »

I arrived into Dublin Port a few weeks ago at 6.00 am.
There was a taxi by the rank outside the ferry terminal. So being knackered I thought "that's handy! Hurrah!"
So I got in and asked the driver to bring me to Tallaght.
I was amazed to hear her say "No. I've another fare to pick up at 06.45 so I'm not bringing you"
I thought it is illegal for a driver to refuse a fare?

How can it be illegal if they are there to pick someone else up? Pre booked fares would be impossible there? ??

The Backwards Man · 29-03-2014 02:00PM

Albertofrog wrote: »

I arrived into Dublin Port a few weeks ago at 6.00 am.
There was a taxi by the rank outside the ferry terminal. So being knackered I thought "that's handy! Hurrah!"
So I got in and asked the driver to bring me to Tallaght.
I was amazed to hear her say "No. I've another fare to pick up at 06.45 so I'm not bringing you"
I thought it is illegal for a driver to refuse a fare?

Were they on the rank or by the rank? Illegal to refuse you on the rank, illegal to take you by the rank.

Aren't laws great?:pac:

Albertofrog · 29-03-2014 02:00PM

gallag wrote: »

How can it be illegal if they are there to pick someone else up? Pre booked fares would be impossible there? ??

She wasn't there prebooked as she picked someone else up off the ferry who was going a shorter distance

Il Trap · 29-03-2014 02:02PM

Albertofrog wrote: »

I arrived into Dublin Port a few weeks ago at 6.00 am.
There was a taxi by the rank outside the ferry terminal. So being knackered I thought "that's handy! Hurrah!"
So I got in and asked the driver to bring me to Tallaght.
I was amazed to hear her say "No. I've another fare to pick up at 06.45 so I'm not bringing you"
I thought it is illegal for a driver to refuse a fare?

The driver had a fare booked, he was waiting for it and would have missed it had he driven you to Tallaght so he refused on those grounds. Might be missing something but I fail to see any misdoing on the taxi driver's part.

Albertofrog · 29-03-2014 02:06PM

Il Trap wrote: »

The driver had a fare booked, he was waiting for it and would have missed it had he driven you to Tallaght so he refused on those grounds. Might be missing something but I fail to see any misdoing on the taxi driver's part.

Why be on a rank if you are prebooked?

mikemac1 · 29-03-2014 02:10PM

Use the Hailo, the rating system keeps em honest and routes are recorded so no laps around the world

It keeps you honest too as Hailo can kick customers from their service.

Il Trap · 29-03-2014 02:30PM

Albertofrog wrote: »

Why be on a rank if you are prebooked?

True; I was assuming that there was nowhere else for the driver to park.

conorhal · 29-03-2014 03:13PM

So the OP is dusgruntled that he was forced to walk 5 minutes from Dawson St. to Pearse station because a taxi driver that's probably been sitting for an hour at a rank refused a two minute fare?
Clearly the OP has mistaken 'service industery' for 'servant industry' and badly needs to get a grip and some perspective. By the time that taxi returned to the back of the rank and recieved another fare he'd be loosing money on the trip and that's not going to happen, personally I'd be embarrased to ask a taxi driver to take me that kind of distance. How would the op feel about working for about two quid an hour? And out of that has to come the running costs of fuel, tax, maintainance and insurance
Give your lazy ass some excercise OP!

conorhal · 29-03-2014 03:26PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I'm saying the opposite.

Ten runs around the corner for a fiver each are more profitable than five runs a few miles up the road for fifteen euros each.

In wich case the driver would have been delighted to see the op. So either the driver hates making money or you're calculation isn't correct. Ten runs around the corner for a fiver may be more profitable than five runs a few miles up the road, but how profitable is two runs around the corner and nothing a few miles up the road? Which is the situation that many taxi drivers face since deregulation.

Spook_ie · 29-03-2014 03:28PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Longer journeys took in more money.

Shorter journeys made most profit.

This is what I love about AH, so many people reckon they know better than people who actually drive taxis for a living, shorter journeys are fine if you are banging them out one after the other with little or no waiting time between fares, however there are few days ( if any ) when this is the case anymore

Spook_ie · 29-03-2014 03:32PM

Albertofrog wrote: »

I arrived into Dublin Port a few weeks ago at 6.00 am.
There was a taxi by the rank outside the ferry terminal. So being knackered I thought "that's handy! Hurrah!"
So I got in and asked the driver to bring me to Tallaght.
I was amazed to hear her say "No. I've another fare to pick up at 06.45 so I'm not bringing you"
I thought it is illegal for a driver to refuse a fare?

gallag wrote: »

How can it be illegal if they are there to pick someone else up? Pre booked fares would be impossible there? ??

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Were they on the rank or by the rank? Illegal to refuse you on the rank, illegal to take you by the rank.

Aren't laws great?:pac:

Albertofrog wrote: »

She wasn't there prebooked as she picked someone else up off the ferry who was going a shorter distance

Had a similar thing with Hailo last night in Swords, told them I was booked and just got a mouthfull of abuse for it and the leaving the door wide open treatment, and you wonder why taxidrivers get narky sometimes

caustic 1 · 29-03-2014 03:33PM

If it were a tourist new to the city and didn't know it at all and asked that driver and he refused because it was around the corner how would that look? They didn't know how far or near it was. He is in a job providing a service to public. He was not doing his job by refusing. I understand the point of view being self employed etc., No excuse in my opinion. I think the service in this country has gone down the pan in all sectors. Staff don't seem to give a flying fook about customers or customer service. Very sad I think. Good manners cost nothing. It's nice to be nice, and I don't mean if the customer is rude to you. But people are not even polite any more.

Spook_ie · 29-03-2014 03:42PM

Albertofrog wrote: »

Why be on a rank if you are prebooked?

Is there an actual rank at Dublin Port?

http://www.dublincity.ie/ROADSANDTRAFFIC/GENERALTRAFFICMEASURES/Pages/TaxiRanks.aspx

oppenheimer1 · 29-03-2014 03:43PM

conorhal wrote: »

So the OP is dusgruntled that he was forced to walk 5 minutes from Dawson St. to Pearse station because a taxi driver that's probably been sitting for an hour at a rank refused a two minute fare?
Clearly the OP has mistaken 'service industery' for 'servant industry' and badly needs to get a grip and some perspective. By the time that taxi returned to the back of the rank and recieved another fare he'd be loosing money on the trip and that's not going to happen, personally I'd be embarrased to ask a taxi driver to take me that kind of distance. How would the op feel about working for about two quid an hour? And out of that has to come the running costs of fuel, tax, maintainance and insurance
Give your lazy ass some excercise OP!

It's actually a 10 min walk. The taxi driver was obviously wrong to refuse the fare since they have to accept all fares within something like 30km. The regulations are very clear.

If I were right for time for making a train, and I thought a taxi would help me get there faster, I wouldn't think twice about taking one. While this trip might not be that profitable when you include time sitting at a rank, the next one night be more. When you're a taxi driver you have to accept that some journeys will not be as profitable as others but in the long term it balances out.

A taxi driver that sits in a city centre rank that has their business based on always getting long distance fares is living in dreamland and probably won't last to much longer in the business.

riveratom · 29-03-2014 04:24PM

conorhal wrote: »

So the OP is dusgruntled that he was forced to walk 5 minutes from Dawson St. to Pearse station because a taxi driver that's probably been sitting for an hour at a rank refused a two minute fare?
Clearly the OP has mistaken 'service industery' for 'servant industry' and badly needs to get a grip and some perspective. By the time that taxi returned to the back of the rank and recieved another fare he'd be loosing money on the trip and that's not going to happen, personally I'd be embarrased to ask a taxi driver to take me that kind of distance. How would the op feel about working for about two quid an hour? And out of that has to come the running costs of fuel, tax, maintainance and insurance
Give your lazy ass some excercise OP!

Are you saying I owe the taxi man a living?!

Go get some exercise yourself mate, I get plenty myself. I said I happened to be in a hurry (you must not have read that), and two minutes on I would have missed my train and had to hang around for another hour. All because I had the misfortune to not be the right fare for this guy!!

I wouldn't normally get a taxi that distance only there was a good chance I was going to miss my train. As the last poster correctly said, it's a ten minute walk. The folks on here saying I am lazy and that it's a few hundred feet need to consult Google Maps. It is actually almost a kilometer folks - try walking it and see (or maybe sprint it on wet slippy footpaths like I had to).

The Diabolical Monocle · 29-03-2014 04:25PM

riveratom wrote: »

And have him say the same thing?

And then go to the third guy and risk having him say the same thing. Then miss my train given I had a two minute window to make it after sprinting down to catch it.

Sound like a good service to you?

What offer?

You can't make someone do business with you.
I demand you sell me your computer. PM me the details Ill be there in an hour.

riveratom · 29-03-2014 04:29PM

Merkin wrote: »

To be honest OP I lost interest the moment you said you wanted to get the taxi from the rank in Dawson Street to Pearce Street which is JUST around the corner.

Have you ever seen the film The Jerk with Steve Martin? In it he hitches a lift from a randomer to the end of his house picket fence. Your story reminds me of that.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3ohBUYQJflU

'Just around the corner' would be KC Peaches or Reads bookshop. It is a ten minute walk approx.

riveratom · 29-03-2014 04:29PM

The Diabolical Monocle wrote: »

You can't make someone do business with you.
I demand you sell me your computer. PM me the details Ill be there in an hour.

Don't think your analogy works tbf...

The Diabolical Monocle · 29-03-2014 04:31PM

riveratom wrote: »

Don't think your analogy works tbf...

I demand you accept my analogy.

riveratom · 29-03-2014 04:33PM

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

It's actually a 10 min walk. The taxi driver was obviously wrong to refuse the fare since they have to accept all fares within something like 30km. The regulations are very clear.

If I were right for time for making a train, and I thought a taxi would help me get there faster, I wouldn't think twice about taking one. While this trip might not be that profitable when you include time sitting at a rank, the next one night be more. When you're a taxi driver you have to accept that some journeys will not be as profitable as others but in the long term it balances out.

A taxi driver that sits in a city centre rank that has their business based on always getting long distance fares is living in dreamland and probably won't last to much longer in the business.

Yep. And I should also point out I have gotten taxis on this same route no problem before.

This guy last night - for all he knew he could have driven me to the station like I politely asked, and then picked up a fare on Westland Row going to Blanchardstown or somewhere.

Since when do taxi drivers get to pick and choose their fares?

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