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Original poster

Did I screw the taxi driver over?!

223 replies

DontBiteTheBoobThatFeedsYou · 19/07/2020 09:31

A taxi driver flipped out at me yesterday. Over £1.
And I'm feeling guilty and cross about it.

I took a taxi to the train station yesterday, called a particular company who are reliable and asked if they had a card machine or do I need to organise cash?

They said they have card machines so that's fine.

The guy who took me was lovely, but said he's lucky if he makes £20 a day now. He used to make £200-£300 a day.

2 hours later I call a taxi to take us home.
We get home, I ask how much and it's £12something.
I get my card out but he says the card machine isn't working. So I say I'll run upstairs and get some cash. I have £3 in my wallet and a £10 upstairs.
I went to say "don't worry about the change" and
he then says it was £14something.

I was like, whaaaaat? He charged me for the time him and I took the bags out the boot, and for the matter or minutes it took me to run upstairs and grab the £10.

I said no sorry, I was ready to pay with my card. I'm not being charged extra while I ran upstairs and got cash, it was his card machine that was broken after all.

He starts shouting fuck you! Fuck you! You screwed me over, over £1.

I was thinking is this really happening?! He's shouting at me as he's driving away.

Now I'm thinking about what that guy said about only making £20 a day.

I feel like one of us was an arsehole and I'm not sure how it is.

Are taxi drivers furloughed??? Are things so desperate he's shouting at customers over a quid? I'm worried he flipped out because life is shit and he has no bloody food for his kids or something?!

Am I over thinking this?!

OP posts:
MidnightCitrus · 19/07/2020 16:58

[quote arethereanyleftatall]@midnightcitrus
Because our outgoings are £8000 a month [/quote]
bloody hell!! thats eye watering

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 19/07/2020 18:11

JustAnotherPosters but the OP was intending to pay. It's the taxi firm/taxi driver who frustrated that attempt.

In the daytime I might have been happy to be told by the taxi driver that it's cash only - at night time not a chance that I would have gone to a cash point.

I would have taken the driver's details, vehicle reg etc. and gone to the taxi firm the next day... to pay by card.

The points that you're making don't align with OP's circumstances and what actually happened. There was no intention to not pay for starters.

JustAnotherPoster00 · 19/07/2020 20:36

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe

JustAnotherPosters but the OP was intending to pay. It's the taxi firm/taxi driver who frustrated that attempt.

In the daytime I might have been happy to be told by the taxi driver that it's cash only - at night time not a chance that I would have gone to a cash point.

I would have taken the driver's details, vehicle reg etc. and gone to the taxi firm the next day... to pay by card.

The points that you're making don't align with OP's circumstances and what actually happened. There was no intention to not pay for starters.

I was answering a pp thats why I quoted their posts

I would have taken the driver's details, vehicle reg etc. and gone to the taxi firm the next day... to pay by card.

Yeah if a taxi driver believed that they would never make any money

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 19/07/2020 20:38

What's with all of this false representation or refusing/running off without paying? How on earth is that relevant here?

What would happen if you did have the cash to pay, but you're in Carlisle and the driver decides he doesn't like Scottish notes (or in Jedburgh and won't accept English ones)? Or further afield for that matter, but it's obviously more common nearer the border. Is he allowed to report you to the police because he didn't accept the legal tender that you tried to pay with? What if you offered a £20 note but he only accepted tenners for some reason?

What if OP hadn't been travelling home, where she might have some cash, but away from home? What if OP didn't have any cash available - on her person, at home or to withdraw from the bank - because it was the day before pay day and she was needing to bridge it by using a credit card - as the taxi company's terms of business clearly allow?

How can you possibly call the police out for alleged not being able/willing to pay when the fault is with you for not being able/willing to accept your payment? Madness.

sergeilavrov · 19/07/2020 20:41

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll Unsure if you’re purposefully misreading the posts made by @JustAnotherPoster00? Seems to be a lot of that about today.

They were abundantly clear that they were responding to a specific question about a situation of someone running off or refusing to pay. No one is suggesting that was the case for OP.

JustAnotherPoster00 · 19/07/2020 20:43

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

What's with all of this false representation or refusing/running off without paying? How on earth is that relevant here?

What would happen if you did have the cash to pay, but you're in Carlisle and the driver decides he doesn't like Scottish notes (or in Jedburgh and won't accept English ones)? Or further afield for that matter, but it's obviously more common nearer the border. Is he allowed to report you to the police because he didn't accept the legal tender that you tried to pay with? What if you offered a £20 note but he only accepted tenners for some reason?

What if OP hadn't been travelling home, where she might have some cash, but away from home? What if OP didn't have any cash available - on her person, at home or to withdraw from the bank - because it was the day before pay day and she was needing to bridge it by using a credit card - as the taxi company's terms of business clearly allow?

How can you possibly call the police out for alleged not being able/willing to pay when the fault is with you for not being able/willing to accept your payment? Madness.

If you rocked up to a Tesco checkout with a trolley full of shopping and your card wasnt working do you think Tesco would allow you to go home with the shopping to get the cash.

I obviously dont agree with how the driver handled it but I think it could have been avoided had the OP mentioned that she wanted to pay by card when she called to book, perhaps the 'base' knew this drivers machine was not working and would have sent an appropriate taxi

Puzzledandpissedoff · 19/07/2020 20:54

Thanks for the excellent information, JustAnotherPoster00

You live and learn!! Smile

BluebellForest836 · 19/07/2020 20:59

Taxi driver is a cheeky bastard. I would of rang and complained.
You asked if you could pay by card. They said yes. It isn’t your fault his machine wasn’t working. Cheeky cunt talking to you like that

tenlittlecygnets · 19/07/2020 21:14

No, op, many self employed people have been given no financial help throughout this. Neither myself (new business, no books prior to April 2019)
You do understand why the govt dud this, @arethereanyleftatall? To prevent thousands of people trying to scam the govt?

nor my se Exh (over £50k) were entitled to anything. We've gone through £30k of savings

If your ex earned over 50k, he wouldn’t be eligible for payment - Because the govt had to draw a line somewhere....

I’m sorry it’s worked out badly for you. But how has it cost you 30k to live since April?

tenlittlecygnets · 19/07/2020 21:17

And I agree with others, op - taxi driver’s card machine was working fine and he was trying it on. Report him. He wouldn’t have talked like that to a man...

arethereanyleftatall · 19/07/2020 21:23

Yes, I absolutely understand why. I don't have a problem with it and fully agree they had to draw the line. My response was to the ops original question as she (and many others) hadn't realised that everyone wasn't entitled to government help. Its cost £30k because our monthly outgoings are £8k (mortgage is half of that, nice house).

Comefromaway · 19/07/2020 21:25

The OP’s card was working though. And at Tesco if their card machine wasn’t working then they would direct you to another till or put notices up to say cash only BEFORE you do your shopping.

arethereanyleftatall · 19/07/2020 21:27

They did have to draw the line but self employed people did draw the short straw. For example employed folk earning over £50k still got something up to a cap (I think it was £2500 pm?) where self employed got 0. It's a shame wherever they decided to draw the line wasn't consistent.

tenlittlecygnets · 19/07/2020 21:30

Oops, just seen that your outgoings are 8k per month. But how does that square up with your ex’s 50k per year?. If you earned a huge amount in your previous job, presumably you had savings when you Started the new company? If so, crappy timing, nothing you could have foreseen...

arethereanyleftatall · 19/07/2020 21:32

Ex earns a lot more than £50k a year.

Ellisandra · 19/07/2020 21:33

I think I have once been to a shop with a sign saying their card machine was broken.

Taxis, however... perhaps all that driving around messes up the little connections? Hmm

I have had this happen multiple times in a taxi - and always only declared when we arrive. I always give them a get out by saying, “oh I wish you’d said at the start - I’m sorry, I don’t have any cash. Is it totally broken or on the blink and unreliable? My dad’s shop one has a mind of its own... could we try it? Or I can call the office any pay by phone?” I have been given a machine “just to try, just in case” more than once Hmm

He was totally in the wrong.

tenlittlecygnets · 19/07/2020 21:33

That’s not quite true @arethereanyleftatall - self employed folk did qualify (though it took the govt a while to clarify this). I’m self employed - I was busy through the pandemic so didn’t have to claim, but plenty of folk I know did.

melj1213 · 19/07/2020 22:54

If you rocked up to a Tesco checkout with a trolley full of shopping and your card wasnt working do you think Tesco would allow you to go home with the shopping to get the cash.

That's a totally different scenario @JustAnotherPoster00 The OPs card was working fine and the OP was more than willing to pay with her working card.

The correct analogy would be if Tesco's card machines were broken and you rocked up to the checkout and had no cash. And in that case the fault would lie with Tesco for not putting up signs/making announcements/directing customers to checkouts with working card readers etc before customers were at the point of packing and paying for shopping. The only way the customer would be at fault would be if Tesco did have signs/announcements etc and the customer willfully ignored them.

The OP had a payment method that worked and that she had already confirmed with the company was accepted by all of their drivers. The fact that the payment method wasnt available with that specific driver is something he should have communicated to the customer at the first available opportunity. He chose not to do that so the fault lies with him.

DancingInDespair · 19/07/2020 23:09

My friends old address was blacklisted. She would just call and say she was going from number 3 (she lived at number 1). As long as she waited outside, nobody knew.

HouchinBawbags · 19/07/2020 23:14

@DontBiteTheBoobThatFeedsYou did you call the taxi company? If not, you really should. If anything to a) check you're not "blacklisted" (and if so, give your version of events) or b) to ensure you never get sent that driver again. He should not be working in that job. Being aggressive, demanding increasing amounts of money from lone females using swearing, shouting and intimidation is not fucking on at all.

excuseforfights · 19/07/2020 23:26

To add to my other posts, (my dad was a taxi driver), I do always ensure I have the right cash for my journey and always tip.

I think that if I was going to rely on my card I would ask in advance if every journey.

Joebloggsss · 20/07/2020 00:09

Most taxis that I have been in don't have a card machine however they have an online app. This is becoming bigger than it needs to be. I personally would have just paid consider the drivers situation and given it’s only £1 did it really need to escalate to thisConfused in future OP make sure you have enough cash if your going to ring a taxi.

Joebloggsss · 20/07/2020 00:11

@melj1213

If you rocked up to a Tesco checkout with a trolley full of shopping and your card wasnt working do you think Tesco would allow you to go home with the shopping to get the cash.

That's a totally different scenario @JustAnotherPoster00 The OPs card was working fine and the OP was more than willing to pay with her working card.

The correct analogy would be if Tesco's card machines were broken and you rocked up to the checkout and had no cash. And in that case the fault would lie with Tesco for not putting up signs/making announcements/directing customers to checkouts with working card readers etc before customers were at the point of packing and paying for shopping. The only way the customer would be at fault would be if Tesco did have signs/announcements etc and the customer willfully ignored them.

The OP had a payment method that worked and that she had already confirmed with the company was accepted by all of their drivers. The fact that the payment method wasnt available with that specific driver is something he should have communicated to the customer at the first available opportunity. He chose not to do that so the fault lies with him.

Faults happen all the time. Tesco would expect you to pay for you shopping if you wanted to take it home.
LH1987 · 20/07/2020 00:50

I would complain, I understand he is going through a difficult time financially but the next time he does that it might be to someone more vulnerable than yourself.

Obviously, YANBU

9PointsOnMyLicence · 20/07/2020 00:59

Am I the only one who hoped that this was a sexy thread about someone who had screwed the taxi driver over the bonnet of the car?

Thought so.