AIBU regarding the complaint about the taxi driver?

Yes, whatever way he works he shouldn't have spoken to her like that & if reported to our council he'd get points on his taxi licence & would soon lose it.

a lot of the drivers around here work for a couple of taxi companies. They are contracted to do whatever jobs are called through to them, end of.

the owners of these companies undercut independent drivers because they still get their %age.

ours is one of the strictest boroughs re the cars, (year, presentation etc) & driver behaviour. I imagine some are rather lax, but if this was reported he'd get it explained that it's NOT acceptable! At the very least.

I was going to suggest this - I hired one.

Your comprehension skills seem to have left the room.

I was calling YOU rude asking 'who do they think they are' not the OP as you well know AND I said the driver shouldn't have spoken to her like that.

so, do you think a driver doesn't use any time or fuel getting to the OP's house or to the next job? Do you think the next customer is going to be waiting where the OP finishes her journey? Running a taxi is expensive, it's not just the cost of petrol.

in many cases, no he couldn't refuse the job because many taxi drivers are contracted to do whatever job is sent to them. They don't get to pick & choose.

I have already said he shouldn't have spoken to her like that 🙄🙄

Yes it does. Either way he shouldn't have spoken to her like that, but many people seem to think taxi drivers should just be grateful for any fare, even ones that cost them to do.

and asking 'who do they think they are' SO rude.

you think that criticising someone in a public facing job for being bullying and aggressive towards a paying customer is rude, but not the actual shouting at a woman on crutches and a 5 year old? Priorities!

Busy time of day or not - OP's journey takes 5 minutes to walk, so, what 1-2 mins to drive, so didn't stop him from taking multiple other fares before, or after hers. Be logical. How on earth would a 1 minute journey cost the driver more than £10? It's a huge mark up, if anything!

But either way that misses the point - if he didn't want to take the fare, he could have just said so like an adult professional. His response was completely inappropriate and arrogant so, yes, fully deserves criticism.

Sorry, I didn’t realise under this system drivers were obliged to take whatever fares they were given despite not knowing the journey or what they would be paid beforehand.

I know taxi employment is complicated but unless he has ‘employee’ status in which case he would be assigned to jobs to fit his contract, he would be ‘self-employed’ and would usually be able to assess whether he wanted to take the fare.

Whichever it was he was in the wrong to be rude to a fare.

I'd have said 'I've got a broken ankle'. Are you not on crutches? He sounds like an arsehole.
Definitely complain.

Do you not have Uber near you?

I think it's pretty clear it's system described by @ChickpeaCauliflowerSalad or he would've ignored the job or only had himself to blame if it was the system you're describing. If he'd actively chosen to take the job, it would have been no surprise to him. The waste of his time angle means he could've used the time for a more profitable job in the school run slot if he hadn't been assigned this fare. Again, that's the manager's fault not the OP's, but I can see why it's galling for the driver.

You see, this is exactly the opposite of what happens here in that all the drivers are able to pick or ignore the rides shown on the app.

Of course, the drivers don't know how much their customers are paying for their trip, just what they will get.

I guess it depends what sort of system there is locally to the OP or other posters.

@ChickpeaCauliflowerSalad I would, if not for the fact it’s me that’s been waiting in the queue for 45 minutes because demand for taxis here far outstrips supply, and the fare for the 4 minute drive is typically circa £12.

While you're busy 'telling them what's what' 🙄🙇🏻‍♀️, ask yourself if you'd like to spend a few hours in a queue of taxis waiting for your turn, to end up with a £3.70 job and then having to return to the back of the queue.

who do they think get are

What? How rude!

they are people trying to pay their bills, not run a charity.

No, any fare is not better than no fare, a job that costs you money to do is clearly not better than not doing it.

It's a very busy time of day for taxi drivers.

I’d complain OP. Some taxi drivers are just dickheads. I live a 20 minute walk / 4 minute drive from our town centre but the last half of the walk is through or round an unlit park, so if I’m out late at night without DH I get a taxi from the rank. I’ve also been told I should walk as it’s not worth their time, however (steeled by wine) I’ve always told them what’s what. I must add that other drivers have assured me that getting people home safe is what they’re there for, so it’s NATD.

He shouldn't have spoken to you like that. Absolutely not.

but what many people don't seem to understand is the way most taxi companies work. Drivers are contracted to take jobs they get assigned, irrespective of whether they're financially viable or not. Being tied into a school run twice a day for £10 is going to prevent the driver taking jobs that are actually profitable, not done at a loss.

Sadly, no old style taxi firms round here but even then, surely the manager and driver would communicate?

sounds more like an old school cab firm set up than an uber/app based one if OP agreed it with manager who’d schedule it for a driver for several days till OP is better. There’s lots of proper cab firms around still, esp in quieter areas.

Meh, he might have still been pissed off and rude to a man but i agree with the other poster probably not in the exact same way - not necessarily even because he might respect men more (although that could also be the case) but solely out of cowardice that shouting at a man might get himself thumped.

Op this has brought back memories of being told the same thing when I was a student getting a lift to the club! Which, yes was a short distance but I doubt the driver has ever walked half a mile in stilettos! Who do they think they are - better any fare than sitting about twiddling their thumbs.

£10 is a decent payment for a very short, easy, and most importantly repeated/regular (at least short term) run, I doubt there's a huge call for drivers at that time of the morning, and even if there is, if he'd just taken you quickly instead of twatting about arguing he could have been free again in 5 minutes to do a longer one.

Absolutely complain, and unless the head office is suitably apologetic I'd be splashing it all over Google reviews and, their social media pages as well. We've finally managed to get my gran to give up her car and encoyrage her to take taxis whenever she wants to go anywhere as although famiky see her very regularly none of us live in the same town (she's late 80s so not far, we're talking to a mile or two to church or the shops) - if a taxi driver spoke to her like that it would really upset her and stop her going out. I imagine the same might apply to some one with mh difficulties or whatever.

I thought most regular school runs were regular drivers but even if not, most drivers now are able to see from their app the trip and price/reward on offer. Certainly Uber drivers can and our local taxi company too. This allows them to accept trips or not take them.
He could have just not taken the trip.

I imagine it's different at school run time, which can be more lucrative with regular gigs taking kids some distance to schools. But if you've got a short drive like this taking up that school run slot, it's not like you can do more school runs to make up for it. I can see why the driver wouldn't want to do it for that price, but it's what his manager agreed to so he'd have to take it up with him not OP.

I'm surprised you say that as the taxi drivers I've been using prefer short journeys. I apologised to one about my journey being short and he said they prefer more short journeys to one or two longer ones.
Considering the cost of my shorter journeys against the longer ones I understand that.

Its not an excuse. Its an observation. Unless they're pretty confident in their ability to handle themselves, these types don't tend to dish it out to other men. Not necessarily misogyny, just plain old cowardice.

Hate it all you like, doesn't stop it being true that many cunts are a lot less cunty towards men than they are towards women. It's not an excuse at all.

Yes they would. These drivers hate short journeys, regardless of who’s booked them. 🙄

I hate that people use this excuse all the time “it wouldn’t happen if you were a man”. Not everything is misogynistic fml. Some people are just cunts

Taxi driver this morning shouted at me for wasting his time and that to come here for a 2 minute drive is ridiculous, that I'm lazy and I need to walk.

Did he really?

This is more batshit than the thread where the bus driver shouted at the woman and wouldn't let her on.