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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Taxi journey - was I BU

69 replies

Bingowashisnameo · 08/12/2017 17:24

Got a taxi from local train station as I felt really unwell and couldn’t face the bus. It was 1.15 pm and the roads were quiet and there were no roadworks etc. It wasn’t booked I just got it in the taxi tank there.

The driver was going at 26 mph and the majority of the journey was through 40 mph zones. It was painfully slow. And for no apparent reason. There was a queue of traffic behind us. I’d had a crap journey both to the station at the start of my trip home And the train was late. I was in a shit mood so don’t know if what I did was plain unreasonable.

I asked the driver if he could speed up. He muttered and did for a bit and then went back to under 30:again. When we got to my street I commented that I’d never had such a slow journey and that I could only pay him £10 ( fair was £10.65 so not far off) as I’d never ever had to pay more for the same journey by the same firm and because (truthfully) I’d only got that much cash on me as I’d taken £10 out the atm to pay for the taxi. I sort of feel I was taking my irritability out on him now.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bingowashisnameo · 08/12/2017 17:59

Ok so if he caught ever red light because he seemed to be slowing down in order to catch them, would that/should that have made no difference to fare at the end of the journey?

OP posts:
Migraleve · 08/12/2017 18:01

Ok so if he caught ever red light because he seemed to be slowing down in order to catch them, would that/should that have made no difference to fare at the end of the journey?. Very very slightly. Only a stupid taxi driver would deliberately catch red lights though. It's in their best interests to complete each job asap. An extra 20p from sitting at red lights is not as good as an extra £3 (or whatever) starting fare from the next job....

Original poster
Bingowashisnameo · 08/12/2017 18:02

The journey is 5.5 miles Mumof56

OP posts:
TheVanguardSix · 08/12/2017 18:02

No way we're YBU. I totally feel your pain. Maybe he had a fear of speed cameras... but how likely is that?
Not very. I think he liked the sound of a ticking metre. I get palpitations in a cab when I hear the metre ticking.

Original poster
Bingowashisnameo · 08/12/2017 18:05

TheVanguardSix I never usually think of the speed a taxi is going unless it’s crazily fast but this felt so slow it was painful.

OP posts:
Nanny0gg · 08/12/2017 18:06

It might have been £10 before, but how do you know that the fare hasn't gone up?

You cheated him out of the full fare. Let's call it what it is really - theft. Might only be 65p but he still lost it.

Original poster
Bingowashisnameo · 08/12/2017 18:06

Amber0685 I didn’t get out because I was nearly home, I had a big suitcase, a bad cold and was pissed off with his crap driving tbh

OP posts:
Migraleve · 08/12/2017 18:09

He may have added on an extra for the suitcase which would explain the fare being higher. This isn't perfectly normal practise.

Look on your local council website for tariff details.

Original poster
Bingowashisnameo · 08/12/2017 18:09

the fare going in the opposite direction 4 days earlier was £9.45. I suppose it could have gone up to £10.65 NannyOgg

OP posts:
Migraleve · 08/12/2017 18:09

This Is perfectly normal.....

Original poster
Bingowashisnameo · 08/12/2017 18:10

Migraleve it was a huge people carrier type taxi with sliding doors from a train station so would be surprised if they charged for one suitcase?

OP posts:
cloudchasing · 08/12/2017 18:11

You can't just pay how much you think the journey was worth Confused You underpaid him for a service that you asked for.

I know you won't get it. I speak to people like you all the time.

Migraleve · 08/12/2017 18:11

The vehicle is irrelevant. If it's in the tariff list that they can charge for cases then they can charge for cases.

Nanny0gg · 08/12/2017 18:13

Taxi journey - was I BU

Yes.

Original poster
Bingowashisnameo · 08/12/2017 18:15

Nanny I did ask because it’s not something I’d do normally so suspected my grim mood and feeling unwell played a big part in what I did. Not great though bearing in mind the responses. Will not do that again.

OP posts:
Emerald92 · 08/12/2017 18:18

Most taxi services I know charge by mileage not the time it takes Hmm YABU you should of paid the whole fare.

Nanny0gg · 08/12/2017 18:18

Glad to hear it.

Hope you feel better.

LinoVentura · 08/12/2017 18:20

Ring the company, ask for a quote: your house to the station with the same luggage you had today. If it's over a tenner then take in a pound to the company if they can work out who took you. Or look out for him next time you are at the station and give it to him with a brief apology.

I've had a few horrendous taxi drivers over the years. One asked me if he could do his prayers on the journey, to which I agreed. He prayed for the entire journey then overcharged me. When I asked for a receipt he wrote one for the amount it should have been. If I were the xenophobic type I would have had a field day.

But it sounds like your guy was (probably) not at fault.

LinoVentura · 08/12/2017 18:21

Maybe even 2 pounds if you are really guilt-ridden.

Pemba · 08/12/2017 18:22

This has never happened to me, but it does seem as though he deliberately slowed down to increase the fare. It was poor driving too, and he held up other traffic. Therefore perhaps YANBU. But for the sake of 65p, I might have let it go. No tip though!

Migraleve · 08/12/2017 18:22

Ring the company, ask for a quote:. A quote made on computer is not accurate in terms of a real 'live' metered fare, which will often have variations.

StarWarsFanatic · 08/12/2017 18:23

I got a taxi (booked) the other day to work. He couldn't get his meter to work so spent about five minutes trying to get it started and asking if I was in a rush, and I said I was trying to get to work. He didn't know where it was (it is a place lots of people get taxis from, think walk in centre or similar), I kept explaining it was down the straight road we were travelling on and he kept asking where to turn (Him "Left here yeah?", me "No, straight"). And drove at about 20 mph the whole way Angry . Still cost me the normal fare though.

A couple of days before a guy from the same firm asked what I normally pay, pointed out I normally use a different firm but it was about £4.50 but I give a fiver. He said the normal way was pretty gridlocked so he would take me the back roads but charge me the same. He left the meter running and it came to about £3 more than normal so I gave him all the cash I had which was about 20p short and he was grateful.

Another guy from the same firm tried to give me an old £1 coin in my change (no fivers) and told me I could take it the bank, I said he could and he swapped it for two fiftees. Not relevant but annoyed the crap out of me

Also people go into shops surprisingly regularly and try to pay less. Used to work in a petrol station and people would go over by a few pence and not have any change and not want to break a note. Or the price of cigs would have increased and they would have only brought the old price.

SparkleFizz · 08/12/2017 18:25

Bit surprised you only made provision for a £10 fare if the fare going the other way was £9.45 four days ago. Cutting it a bit too fine surely?

Even without excessively slow driving, it’s entirely plausible that things like temporary roadworks, breakdowns, car accidents, could have caused enough of a delay, or enough of a detour, to push the fare up by an extra 56p to bring it over £10.

FluttershysCutieMark · 08/12/2017 18:31

Seems like you don't think you're being unreasonable OP so what does it matter? The difference between saying you would withhold payment at a restaurant and withholding payments from the taxi driver is that the taxi driver is usually self-employed, all your doing when you withhold payment is taking money from his personal earnings.

Of course YABU but you have enough people who think that the meter works on time alone rather than distance so you will probably just ignore the people who disagree with you.

LinoVentura · 08/12/2017 18:37

A quote made on computer is not accurate in terms of a real 'live' metered fare, which will often have variations.

The company I use gives the price in advance, so it must be purely based on number of people and distance. However if that's not the norm then my idea was not practical.

Personally I'd look out for the guy and give him a quid next time I saw him.