Taxi Driver Online

Can anyone give me some positive advice as to how I should deal with passengers who bully me by unfairly criticising my choice of route to their destination or those who make negative comments above my driving skills etc? Most of the passengers were sober!
I am 51 years old and I've been a Glasgow Private hire operator for just six weeks. I have found this conduct from passengers to be at times quite upsetting. I experienced bullying in my previous job but that was from bosses. I dealt with that by formal complaints and controlled it. The situation in my car is of course quite different and potentially much more difficult to control as I clearly cannot avoid the bullying whilst the passengers are sitting beside me.
I do of course realize that I am fully empowered to stop the car and "eject" any passenger whose conduct is " unreasonable". I am familiar with basic confrontation avoidance principles but am unsure how to apply them specifically to the taxi driver/ passenger situation.
Any (sensible) advice would be most sincerely appreciated.

sometimes you just need to blank it out. just keep telling your self " another 5 - 10 minutes of this s*it and the they'll be gone"

like last night i had 3 p*ssed up blokes in the car. two of them sharing their stories of how long they've served for GBH and who they've recently givien a kicking, and threatning to do the same to me if i dont speed up or i better give them a couple of quid off the meter fare. ok one was already on crutches and the other two were so drunk they couldn't have punched their way our of a paper bag, a newer or more timid driver may have had serious fear for their safety from these idiots. when i dropped them off they where as good as gold and apologised for winding me up and gave me a nice tip for sticking up with their crap. but thats not the point. you will sometimes get passengers who are the scum of the earth.

you just need to stick your guns and bear with it. a lot of the time stopping the car and trying to get them out will inflame the situation ten fold.

P*ssed up Girls going to throw up? P*ssed blokes threatning to hit you?

I wish I had your job Mr SteveO.

Thats the trouble with pre-booked jobs, you don't get a choice what scum gets in your vehicle.

Black cabs on the other hand, may happen to glance the other way when the drunk with the can of Super strong tries to hail you.

But thats what minicabs were invented for.

That was not the answer he was looking for GBC if we can not help each other on this forum without newcomers feeling like they are being bullied on here as well we may as well all give up. I agree with what you say about being able to pick and choose when in a hackney but even you must admit there are times when you have picked up an a***hole

I was'nt answering him? I was posting a response to SteveO and his never ending line of unusual passengers.

I don't have a definitive answer to Browning. If your a PH and your told to pick up a job, I guess you take the rough with the smooth.

Hardly bullying T ?

Hand on heart, never been threatend.
But thats the advantage of being large and ugly.

Sorry to hear about this, no one should have to put up with it.
Firstly I think you should start as you mean to go on, I do believe it is how you first make contact, you have to give the impression that you are in CONTROL, not them, be firm, when the passengers get in say in a firm loud voice, something like this, RIGHT, you are going to so and so, ok which route do you want me to take, do not listen to wind up talk just talk over it and ask them again, if they start going on at you you could just pull over and say in a firm voice, if you really want me to get you to your destination allow me to drive with out all the silly talk, otherwise I shall terminate the journey, or allow me to carry on and concentrate on the driving without the title tatle

You could give the passengers a pep talk, say something like, would you accept this at your place of work, and the answer from them will be no

Your in command not them, they are only paying for going from a to b

Ask them which route they prefer , or if they have a preferred route, that way they cant criticise you, if they do they are obviously working to an agenda of some sort, you do not need that crap in your life.


This is an area of this job that I have an interest in, I suffered a lot of this for a while, now I dont put up with it in any way shape or form, remember it's their problem not yours.

we do have a choice. i can usually dertermine what sort of passenger they are before they get in the car. it dont happen very often, but i would say at least once a month i turn someone away and radio back to the office explaining my reason for not accepting the fare. usually too drunk and about to chuck up or obviously rowdy and aggressive.

bit too aate when they are already in the seat behind you.

[quote
Thats the trouble with pre-booked jobs, you don't get a choice what scum gets in your vehicle.

Black cabs on the other hand, may happen to glance the other way when the drunk with the can of Super strong tries to hail you.

But thats what minicabs were invented for. [/quote]

What a load of rubbish private hire can do just them same pre booked job or not I have turned lots of customers away from my car if I did not like the look of them. You get the normal rubbish like won't use your firm again but if you work for a decent outfit they will understand and let you judge for yourself who you want to carry in your cab. Sometime s it makes me glad we have private hire and the other lot as I am sure most private hire drivers would admit they would hate to have to rank up with the idiots who are the real taxi drivers.

Always ask them, if there are more than one way to a destination, which way they want to go.

Then if the road is busy, or the way longer, they have only themselves to blame, not you.

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IDFIMH

Personally I think it's the other way around.

With pre-booked work you do get the option of who you take, and with experience you and the firm can blank most of the scum.

With a cab you get no choice.

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IDFIMH

Browning: i have been a taxi driver for approx 15 years, most of which have been working the streets on nights and in that time i have had fights(1 or 2), been attacked, had my car kicked, my windscreen put thru, been spat at. Also verbally abused on a regular basis, the best bit of advice my wife gave me was not to take it personally, as the idiots are abusing a taxi driver not you.
Browning: the idiots don't know you so dont take it personally let it go over you head and think of the money the idiots have got to give you at the end of the journey.
And if they do a runner just put it down to experience and move on to the next fare.
Good luck and dont let the Bar****s grind you down.

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Stay Safe Stay Lucky

On a light note,

I suggest taking up bodybuilding (with steriods), learn kick-boxing & wear short sleeves to show off arms covered in tattoos

The taxi drivers round here seem to have done the above

Seriously though, I have always found that the best policies are to keep your mouth shut & your ears open, or act even cockier (I hope that's a word ?) than the punters & there bluff is called

All the best

Many thanks to you all for the advice. I feel a lot more positive now.