Exactly, I was hoping someone from that neck of the woods would be able to answer.
Morning all, I've had the following response from BAA;
Dear Sgt Ryan,
Thank you for getting in touch about your recent visit to Terminal 5. I am very sorry you had such a poor experience while finding a taxi to your hotel, you are right to be frustrated.
Black cabs are licensed by the Public Carriage Office and BAA have no power to regulate taxi charges from Heathrow. Our airport falls just outside the boundary of the Greater London Authority so black cabs are not required to take a fare from the airport and there is no payment structure if they do.
To incentivise taxi drivers to take passengers outside the boundary without overcharging we have introduced a voluntary scheme called 'Fares Fare' where if taxi drivers charge no more than £35 for a journey outside of the Greater London Authority area then we allow them to go to the front of the Heathrow taxi feeder park and pay a reduced rate on their return. £35 is a maximum fare, not a fixed or recommended fare. We do not believe that £35 for a two mile journey is an acceptable fare.
I am sorry that the taxi marshalls gave you misleading information on your visit and were not more helpful in the circumstances. We will raise this with the appropriate team and ask them to carry out retraining so they are able to give passengers the best information.
For your next visit, we work with Green Tomato cars who provide a private hire vehicle service from our terminals giving customers an alternative choice if they feel that a licensed taxi driver is overcharging for their journey. To book in advance you can visit their website at:
http://www.greentomatocars.com/Once again I am sorry this happened. If you're able to email me your postal address I will arrange for £35.00 in vouchers to be mailed to you. I hope this will in some way make up for the frustration you have faced. You can email me at
feedback@baa.com.
Thanks again for getting in touch.
Yours sincerely,