Taxi Driver Online

Cabbie Overcharged Newlyweds

Wednesday 10th March 2010

A cabbie who overcharged a couple on their wedding night has ended up with a bill for almost £550.

Solo taxi operator Michiel Scribbins, 67, of Mill Leat, Hemyock, pleaded guilty by letter to the offence to Taunton Deane magistrates.

The court heard he charged the newlyweds £30 for the journey from their wedding reception at West Bagborough House to Cedar Falls, in Bishops Lydeard, and also failed to use his taxi meter.

Licensing officers who investigated the incident calculated that the fare should have been no more than £22, even after making allowances for disputed waiting times.

Scribbins was ordered by the court to pay a £235 fine. £285 costs, a £15 victim surcharge and £8 compensation to his passengers.

After last Thursday’s case, Cllr Tim Slattery, Taunton Deane Council’s environmental services portfolio holder, said: “Overcharging is a serious matter.

“The public has a right to expect fairness and honesty from licensed taxi drivers and this is clearly not acceptable practice.

“I would urge the public to make sure that taxi drivers use their meters for every journey without exception, and to ask the driver if the correct tariff is being used.

“The amount shown on the meter is the maximum amount that the driver can charge, and waiting time is automatically taken into account.”

Source; http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/n ... newlyweds/

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Brummie Cabbie.

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Another knob bringing the trade into disrepute, deserves everything he gets.....

“I would urge the public to make sure that taxi drivers use their meters for every journey without exception, and to ask the driver if the correct tariff is being used.

Another lump of wood who knows nothing of the Trade....It is illegal to meter any out of town job. The tarrif is set for the LA only !

No quite true, in fact it's not correct at all!!

The legislation states;

LG(MP) Act 1976 Section 66;

66. Fares for long journeys

(1) No person, being the driver of a hackney carriage licensed by a district council, and undertaking for any hirer a journey ending outside the district and in respect of which no fare and no rate of fare was agreed before the hiring was effected, shall require for such journey a fare greater than that indicated on the taximeter with which the hackney carriage is equipped or, if it is not equipped with a taximeter, greater than that which, if the current byelaws fixing rates or fares and in force in the district in pursuance of section 68 of the Act of 1847 or, as the case may be, the current table of fares in force within the district in pursuance of section 65 of this Act had applied to the journey, would have been authorised for the journey by the byelaws or table.

(2) If any person knowingly contravenes the provisions of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence.

The bottom line of all that is, if you don't agree the fare for a hiring terminating outside your LA BEFORE THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE HIRING / JOURNEY, whether that fare is at a premium to what the metered fare would be or not, then all you can charge is the metered rate for that journey.

Many drivers do still go on the meter to destinations outside their LA & there is nothing wrong or illegal with that.

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Brummie Cabbie.

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I should have stated Scotland....soz..

Sorry, I didn't look at your location, otherwise I would have noticed you are in Dundee.

But again it shows that north of the border they have sensible legislation.

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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How is that sensible?

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Grandad,

There are many problems that can be encountered with hirings to destinations outside your LA. Just a few are;

Getting to the destination & finding that the passenger does not have enough money; "I didn't think it would be that much" , if you were using the meter for out of LA work.

Runners at the other end, so you collect MUF after quoting the fare.

Quoting & collecting the fare up-front (if you suspect you might have difficulty getting the fare at the destination) allows you to negotiate a fare that is acceptable to you & the passenger.

The passenger cannot be in any doubt what the fare will be, if he is told at the beginning of the journey.

Fares to destinations outside your LA can & do run into three figure sums. You'd have to be stupid if you didn't take sensible precautions at the outset of the journey.

Do you collect your limousine fares at the end of your hirings?

I bet you don't!!

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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Here is another scenario, council areas that are zoned, you take a punter to another zone, that you not licenced to pick up in do you ask for MUF and run the meter or leave the meter off.
Council insists that the meter is on in there area are they correct or wrong

That's a good question; LA zones v LA as a whole.

The obvious answer has to be that your meter must be on & you can only charge the metered fare, because the hiring terminates within your LA.

But how unfair, because you can't pick up there, so it's as good as being taken out of the area in which you can work in.

I don't like this zones business, but I have a feeling that more councils might be looking to introduce them to try to spread out the hoards of taxis that they have created.

De-restriction KO!! (as the dyslexic LO said)

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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We dont like the zones 4 of them in the Borders, but if you pay an extra £150 you can get another plate for the zone of your choice, you could if your daft enough have 4 plates on your cab, Yellow already have 2 but that is stopping in April TF so it will stop them coming from zone 3 late on a weekend night and ranking in zone 2

Like them or not I actually think it would be beneficial if our LA was zoned. The concentration of the taxis only working in 2 or 3 areas here isn't doing them or the travelling public any favours

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Looking at a map......it looks like the entire fare was within the same district and it was a point B to point C job.

Very much like the case reported the other month near Brummie's manor.

The vehicle was obviously a HC....the story states the driver was a solo operator.....so I wonder how he got the job?

The figure of £30 sounds like a quote........the fact the job appears to be shorter than the distance the guy went for the fare would tell me the passengers were happy enough to get home......but on the Monday morning decided to complain?

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

That reminds me.

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
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I do recall you were going to keep us updated

CC

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin