Taxi driver emotionally blackmailing me

[AmberAndAlexsMum]

Sounds drastic I know, but my ds (17) goes to an SEN college, which is 25 miles away. He gets a taxi, paid for by the council, to take him and bring him back.

Now ds has severe sleep issues, he's had all his life, and sometimes he simply cannot sleep at night and ends up too exhausted to go in. If this happens I always text the driver as early as possible.

Over the last 6 months or so, every time I've texted him to say ds isn't going in, he's responded by complaining that he's losing money as he only gets paid when the kids go in.

I appreciate that, but surely he doesn't have the right to emotionally blackmail me? He knows I'm empathic and don't like causing problems, but I'm beginning to think that he is deliberately doing this.

AIBU to expect him to accept that ds can't always go to college? I've had no problems with previous drivers and I always make sure to let them know before they leave home.

Its not the Ops fault!! If the kid is not well...he cant go to College... simple as! So the Taxi driver should not be getting annoyed with the OP! He should not take the Job on if he is going to behave that way...it is inappropriate and out of order!

As someone who works with special needs students, I completely disagree that you should feel any guilt. I would be open to driver about this and let them know that this might be a regular occurrence due to medical and personal circumstances out of your control. You are not in breach of contract in any way, and should not feel guilty. Furthermore, one of my friends works as a private tutor. She never charges for cancellations, no matter at how short a notice. All jobs come with their perks and downsides, and your driver should be well aware of this.

I do know how the system works as a friend of mind has an autistic child that ysed to use the free taxi service, they stopped last year as the child turned 18, but none of that changes the point about how frequent are the cancellations and the taxi driver has a right to earn a living.

That’s not how it works with SEN funded transport. Parents don’t decide who drives or have any input in which company provides the driver or the vehicle.. that’s done by the local authority and who they award contracts to that year.

No, if my other half were self-employed in a job which is by its nature dependent on factors out of his control, I'd basically accept that that is the nature of the job. If I didn't like it, I would be suggesting he look for another job. I would not regard it as a valid excuse for him to try to guilt-trip a parent for having a disabled child.

And, @waynesworldpartytimeexcellent, I suggest you quit the silly shouty slogans.

Sure. If he doesn't want to earn it this way, he should be looking for a job that doesn't involve doing the school runs, or one where whoever receives the contract payment passes it on to the drivers properly. He shouldn't be taking it out on OP and her child.