Scammed By Taxi Driver Please Read!!!

[LilyLily1999]

Hi all, I had a rather stressful experience today with a taxi company and it’s left me quite shaken up…even thinking about it now I feel like I’m gonna cry. Please read as I’m in need of some support right now.

I booked a taxi today to a family members house, I normally get uber but thought a taxi would be cheaper, I phoned a taxi company and explained I don’t have cash and I’ve currently lost my card and the guy said that’s fine I can pay by bank transfer. I got into the taxi and straight away the guy called his manager up and they spoke in their language…he then turned the metre off and I stupidly thought nothing of it (I suffer from mental health and am considered vulnerable).

The journey was only a 4 minute drive, halfway through the guy said his manager has messaged me the bank account details so I can transfer the money…I looked at my messages and saw the manager had told me it would cost £15 and I need to send a screenshot to prove I’ve sent the money. I may be vulnerable but I instantly knew £15 for a 4minute journey wasn’t right as even on uber it’s cheaper then that…I realised that must’ve been why the guy turned the metre off as if they charged me by the metre it would’ve been too cheap for them and they wanted to try and get more money out of me. To make things worse the taxi driver drove past my family members house and pulled up further down the road to wait for me to send the money…I felt extremely uncomfortable and due to the bad signal my bank app was frozen so I was unable to send the money, I continued to message the manager and told him £15 is a lot and how the metre should’ve been on and he said he can lower it to £12 and I agreed feeling like I had no other choice. I called my family member and they said they have cash and if I get the driver to pull up outside their house then I can collect the cash from them and pay him…I told the driver and he took me to the house and then followed me to the front door to collect the money, which again was rather uncomfortable, I assume he thought I’d run off.

I bursted into tears when I got inside my family members house as I felt so uncomfortable in the car with the driver and feel like they were tryna scam me into paying more then I should’ve. I’m now back home and have messaged the company letting them know how I feel and that they should’ve had the metre on…the company is saying I chose to not have the metre on and I agreed to a set price of £12 which is bullshit (excuse my language) but who in their right mind would “agree” to pay more then they need to…I didn’t get a choice regarding the metre as the guy turned it off the minute I got in and I had to agree to £12 as I was in this random man’s car down the road from my family members house and he was sitting their huffing and puffing and constantly asking me if I’ve paid…they told me the “fixed price” once I got to my location yet they’re acting like I got in the car, told the man to turn the metre off and agreed to pay £12.

I feel like they’re taking the mick and it’s just their way of tryna scam people and make more money. Not sure what action I can take, it’s only £12 but I’m really really not happy with their service and want to do something. As mentioned I suffer from mental health and am vulnerable and this has messed with my anxiety quite a lot. I feel so stupid I barely get out the house due to anxiety etc this is the first time I’ve been out in weeks and it’s made me feel even more scared to go outside. Would really like to do something about this.

You did actually, look at your comment at 5:02am. Sorry you were wrong, accept your mistake and how daft you look now 😂

Also to play devil's advocate. Uber fares change on availability/popularity of location. So it's not out of the realms of normality that they'd charge based on that. Or just switch to a flat fare when OP said they had no funds to pay...

In reality... I use Uber for work a lot! And I can access 2 "free rides", that I can pay later. If I don't have funds on my account. So logistically I believe they offer that option for at least 1 ride? So surely OP could have just done that

Genuinely, and I mean this in the nicest sense... Nobody cares 👍

I rest my case 😂🤣

You haven’t been scammed.

Time is money, if you were on the meter, they’d have had to have sit for 5 minutes at the end whilst you transferred the money and wait to see they’ve received it. Your journey becomes a 11 minute service.

You say yourself you then couldn’t actually transfer for the money - luckily your family member had cash!

With kindness, they aren’t a charity. In the future you need to have cash available or wait until your new bank card has arrived, companies won’t bend over to help at a risk of no payment.

I think £12 sounds reasonable considering the faff you caused.

Let's all hope it doesn't squish you, so you live to post another day 🙂

Exactly

@SassyCow and @Poppyseeds79 … surely you have better things to do?

This. Complaint to the council obviously OP if you’re not happy with the service supplied by one of their licences taxi operators.

Tbf unfortunately I really don't! 😅 If I did I wouldn't be bickering on AIBU at this crazy time

You over paid by a few £. Forget it and move on with your life.

You weren’t scammed OP. I would expect to pay that for a short taxi ride and they actually could have refused your travel request as you did not have the means to pay using their standard systems. This is not being scammed, this is evidence of your anxiety skewing a situation and you not being able to cope when things don’t go as your anxiety wants them to.

Please read as I’m in need of some support right now

in which case, there are MUCH MUCH bigger issues in your life than this OP that you probably need RL (professional) support with

Just to get a taxi to come to our door is £6 then the journey on top so I can easily see a short journey being £12-£15.
They would have also followed you to make sure they were going to be paid as you could have just legged it.
It sounds like you were probably already a little anxious because you didn’t have the money, and were having to do things differently to normal which I think has made the whole experience tricky for you.
It doesn’t sound like you’ve been scammed or anything needs to be reported. Hopefully you’ll be able to use your usual method of transport going forward as it works better for you.

You didn’t have any cash and you’ve lost your card but still booked a taxi. It would have been inconvenient for the taxi driver and his boss (not sure how you knew he’d rung his boss when they were talking ‘in their language’) to then arrange a bank transfer.
I don’t blame him for coming to the door with you to get his money because taxi drivers get runners all the time and they’re trying to make a living, not a charity.
I’m sorry you felt uncomfortable but if you have no means to pay, don’t book a taxi.

Just to say folks don’t suffer with mental health - we all have mental health. They suffer with mental health issues. Sorry OP I know I’m missing the point of the thread but I find it frustrating.

Having mental health is a good thing. The problem lies in having mental illness.

YABU. And if it’s only a four minute drive why not walk it? Also, if you lose your card, with my bank you call them, they send a replacement and straight away from the phone call you can update your Apple wallet with the new card.

That’s not a scam. It’s at worst a couple of quid extra for the risk/hassle of being a tricky customer who took extra time and could’ve been scamming them. Get Ubers in future.

Honestly! This wasnt a scam. It was only £12

You could also get Apple Pay for the future

I think the price you paid £12 for your journey doesn't sound unreasonable, especially at weekend. Taxis charge more at weekend fior the same journey than Mon - Fri. £15, maybe might have been a little excessive, but then we'll never know without the actual meter cost. Why didn't you ask the driver to put the meter back on?
I do a short journey in a taxi regularly, this can be anywhere between £8-£10. The same journey in an uber is usually between £6-£8...so I'm not 'scammed' in the taxi at the higher price, its just they cost more. You're thinking you've been scammed £12...you haven't, your uber would have cost £x.. your chosen method to travel just cost more. Uber prices can vary depending on current demand and driver availability.
As PPs have said cash payment is a risk, the driver should have stopped outside the address you were going to, and perhaps waited at the gate / drive and not followed you to the door but its not unreasonable for them to be concerned about payment.
However, I think due to your anxiety, the whole situation has made you feel vulnerable and at risk and I hope you are ok, and hopefully with the majority of PPs implying the same that it doesn't sound like you have been scammed perhaps you will feel better.

Sorry but I agree this sounds like a normal taxi fee. We paid around £8 for a 5 min journey from the train station to our house 2 years ago so I can see that they would charge more now. They often have a fixed price to begin e.g £5 and then the meter keeps going up.
To the taxi driver you are suspicious as you were unable to pay - you had no cash, no card and now you were saying your bank app didn't work either. I'm not surprised they followed you as I am sure it's a common trick for some people to run off or try to avoid payment (and he honestly has no idea whether you are suffering mental health problems which actually depending on the issue could actually mean you do think you have paid/are entitled to the ride if suffering from delusions).

Maybe next time ask for a quote over the phone and ask if you can pay upfront if you don't have any other means of paying.
This to me sounds like the more worrying part - why do you find yourself in a situation with no cash and no card? How are you doing for food?

Taxis and minicabs are more expensive than uber. So your fare would never have been as cheap as uber.

As far as they were aware, you were trying to avoid payment by saying you have no cash and no card, and then as soon as you arrive at the destination, you suddenly can’t do a bank transfer as you had planned. Taxi drivers do follow passengers who don’t pay, and you were no different.

The meter issue does sound dodgy, but it wasn’t like you were overcharged by much, if at all, for you to say you’ve been ripped off.

All the people saying “it’s your fault for not having cash” or “you’ve had to pay a premium for paying by bank transfer” … really??? Do you lot not know it’s illegal for a taxi driver to turn the meter off in the uk?? Christ alive!

OP, is this local to you? Do you not have a trusted local taxi company? How did you end up using this one? Turning off the meter is a massive red flag and, as mentioned, not legal in the UK, which is where I assume you are by quoting in GBP.

You could try reporting them to the local council, but I’d also definitely warn locals on social media or local news/paper. At least your loss is sub £10, in time the shock will fade for you.