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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to have only paid the taxi driver half the fare?

46 replies

dancingqueeen · 22/10/2009 20:42

I had to get a taxi home this evening, because the trains weren't running. Most of the journey is along a motorway, for almost all the motorway journey the driver was holding his mobile phone and talking into it, barely looking up at the road (and it was busy, dark and raining). I was really scared for my safety but didn't dare ask him to stop as something about his manner seemed really on edge and I thought it might make things worse.

I asked him to stop at a shop a few minutes from my house, and handed him half the fare and said as I got out that this was because for most of the journey he was driving illegally and was really scared!

he followed me into the shop and was very threatening, but then eventually walked away. but then the shop assistants spotted him waiting outside, so they let me leave by the back of the shop so he couldn't follow me.

was I being unreasonable to have only paid half the £20 fare? He seemed totally outraged that him driving illegally should have any impact on me paying him...

(I have also reported him to the police, but apparently they can only prosecute if a policeman sees the person talking into the phone, so that will come to nothing.)

OP posts:

Ledodgy · 23/10/2009 09:33

Belgo that's what I find strange too.

jasper · 23/10/2009 09:33

YABU.
You should not have withheld the fare that was due to him

borderslass · 23/10/2009 09:44

YABU my husband is a taxi driver and I have also been in the past and what you have done is classified as fraud and you could be charged for it, he always uses hands free on his phone as it is safer and legal you should of. 1.asked him to stop or 2. reported him and taken his badge number.

ChilloHippi · 23/10/2009 10:56

It's not strange, Ledodgy. She was able to give him the money, say her piece and walk away. She couldn't walk out of a car while it was on the motorway.

theworldsgoneDMmad · 23/10/2009 11:11

Giving him a second distraction to his mobile phone would increase the chance of an accident happening even further. As you also couldn't get out on the motorway, YANBU!

mayorquimby · 23/10/2009 11:59

yab-completely-unreasonable. you can't just decide what you're going to pay. if you don't like his driving style then getb out of the taxi or report him.
what you did sounds like opportuniusm at best.

SpookyScattyKatty · 23/10/2009 12:36

YABU- You are basically a thief. If you were really scared you would have said something. I hope he reports YOU!

piratecat · 23/10/2009 12:41

you took a big risk there. glad nothing bad happened to you.

very difficult situation, if you were on the motorway, and if you felt intimidated too.

Not paying him for the full fare was wrong.

SHRIIIEEEKPoolingBearBlood · 23/10/2009 12:42

yes, I agree, saying something once you're on the outside and near a shop is one thing, saying something to someone already distracted while shut in a car on a motorway is another! Surprised that people think they are equivalent!

Original poster

dancingqueeen · 23/10/2009 14:57

I didn't dare say something in the car, there was nowhere for him to pull over on a motorway and I thought it would only make his driving worse, and . I do not really see why I should pay a taxi driver who has broken his side of the bargain and driven illegally and dangerously. I fully intended to pay when I got in the cab, there was no where I could make him stop until where we pulled up. I agree that the best way in these circumstances is to ask the driver to stop, but I simply didn't have that option on the motorway.

It was not a handsfree set, he was holding it in one hand and barely looking at the road.

I realise that maybe it was stupid of me to get his back up more when he seemed quite aggressive. but I also fail to see why I should pay him when for most of the journey he was dirving illegally and dangerously and there was little I could do to stop him.

I would never ever normally not pay a taxi driver. I rely on them quite a lot and normally tip them, if I only have just enough money for the journey I always say that upfront and check they're happy to take me.

however, I do think maybe what I did was dangerous/ that maybe I should have just taken it up with the authorities. but it certainly was not fraud given he had acted illegally. I did ask though because I can sort of see both sides of the argument, and since doing it was wondering what the right thing to do was

I do think IvyKaty makes a good analogy with a cafe though. and in this instance it wasn't just shoddy, it was illegal and dangerous...

OP posts:

risingstar · 23/10/2009 15:30

YABU.

you should have said when driving, please don't drive and phone. You could have paid the fare and reported him. You had the nerve not to pay as you got out of the cab, i can't beleive you were too scared to politely ask.

you have robbed this man of his livlihood- how would you like it if someone ripped you off for half your hourly rate by just walking away?

he prob has a wife and kids somewhere.......

callaird · 24/10/2009 10:49

He may well have a wife and kids somewhere....but driving whilst on a mobile phone is ILLEGAL, if I were to do something illegal in my job I would not get paid at all!! How can anyone say that DQ is a theif?

This man put his life, DQ life and all the other users on that stretch of road in danger. I have seen the aftermath of a road accident where a driver on the phone drove into a stationary car, the stationary car was like a concertina, none of the passagers survived, including a baby and two young children!!

I do, however, think she was a little daft to not pay him as he could have turned nasty!

Do call the taxi licencing authority though.

I think YWNBU at all.

MrsChemist · 24/10/2009 12:06

I don't think I could have cheerfully paid a taxi driver for driving illegally tbh.
Taxi drivers know the law and their passengers should not have to remind them, or pay for the privilege of being put into unnecessary danger.
Although I concede that the best course of action is to ask them to stop (if it is safe to do so), pay whatever you owe them, and then complain to the council or taxi firm, which I have done in the past.

FangsForTheMemories · 24/10/2009 12:12

If you don't think there was a chance you were being unreasonable, why did you post it in the AIBU topic? Surely this would have been better in chat.

Oh and YADBU!! And a thief as well. I can understand why you were angry, but that is not an excuse to withhold payment.

junglist1 · 24/10/2009 12:16

I would've told him I was scared in the cab, in a sorry I'm a bit of a wuss, joking kind of way. He might have got a huff on but probably not as bad as the huff at being paid half. I realise decisions in these situations are often a bit fluffy, like too much time had dragged on with him on the phone to say something now etc.

Blondeshavemorefun · 24/10/2009 14:38

you should have paid him

he did the job you asked him too

said to the driver you were paying half as he drove illegally and if he wanted to discuss it further said you would have called the police

who then could have checked his phone records and know that he was driving and talking

RainRainGoAway · 24/10/2009 14:47

I don't know what I would have done. Probably let him drive me home and then feel awful that he thinks it is ok to drive around on his mobile. It is dangerous and illegal. For that reason part of me applauds you for doing something, even if it probably wasn't the best way in the situation. Not sure I would have said anything either about the phone.

In my job if I did something to a client (I work in healthcare) like chatting on my mobile and therefore scared then half to death I can definitely see why they would withhold money, and complain.

I don't think you are a their but perhaps could have handled it differently. I guess the problem is is that phoning the police seems like too much of a censure to anyone.

RainRainGoAway · 24/10/2009 14:48

Sorry - theif not their!

NormaSknockers · 24/10/2009 14:58

YABU. You should have paid the full fare then reported him to the licensing authority - you should be thankful he didn't call the police on you!

You say he seemed on edge & you didn't feel you could ask him to hang up yet you felt safe enough to pay him only half what you owed? Tell me, had you caught the train & the train driver had been on his phone would you have only paid half your train fare?

mumeeee · 24/10/2009 15:40

YABU. You should have paid him the whole fare. Him talkimg on his mobilehas nothing to do with the cost of the trip. TYou shouldhve asked him to stop using the mobile.

WebDude · 28/11/2009 12:45

I might have done the same, and say to the driver - if you have a complaint, phone the police now, and I'll be obliged to report your driving to them. It seems a bit tit-for-tat to me, so the driver would not have phoned the police and dropped himself in it.

Can see a few descriptions of thief etc, but he has failed in his side of the unwritten "contract" - driving on a motorway in rain with one hand, and using the phone too, so unable to clearly be paying full attention, makes it a serious lapse, and any passenger may have felt unhappy about that (and there's no opportunity on a motorway to get alternative transport - it's not even legal to walk along the motorway, is it!)

For the OP, given your comments about using taxis fairly frequently, it does seem you were just unlucky, and I feel he will have 'learned' from this experience both in how a passenger might react, but more important - not to do it again.

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