Taxi Driver Online

Hotel staff in cabbie fare scam

Hotel and restaurant staff are charging private hire drivers up to £2 to call them for a customer. Drivers have no choice but to add the charge to the final fare - or end up out of pocket.

Private hire vehicle bosses, the city council and hotel managers have slammed the practice, which is leaving passengers unwittingly worse off. The council was told about the secret tips in January and sent a letter to all private hire taxi companies in the city, saying an investigation would take place.

But the Manchester Evening News has discovered that passengers are still unknowingly paying the tips. An M.E.N. reporter spotted staff at city centre hotels carrying out the unofficial money-making scheme when customers asked for transport to be arranged.

Bryan Roland, of the National Private Hire Association, condemned the practice as "seedy business". He said: "I totally disagree with what is happening, but it has been happening for many years all over the city. "Call your own cab and don't get caught in this seedy business, and remember to ask for a quote from the private hire companies before you get in the car."

While sitting in the reception for an hour at Jury's Inn in the city centre, our reporter saw £8 being passed over the desk for four jobs. At the Rossetti, drivers had to give £1 for a fare to the airport and were asked for 20p to cover the phone call on city centre jobs. When quizzed, a member of staff on the reception desk conceded that a pound was taken from each airport fare as a tip.

Management at both hotels claimed to be unaware of the practice but said they would put a stop to it immediately. The general manager at Jury's, Billy Roche, said: "That practice will stop. No one at my hotel has the right to take money from a customer or demand money off a driver."

Anthony Powell, manager at Rossetti, said: "I am not aware of any activity of this kind and it is certainly not in line with our practice. However, our general manager has said he will be dealing with it immediately."

A spokesman for Manchester city council said: "We did receive a complaint from a private hire taxi driver regarding this issue and, as a result, we wrote to a number of private hire operators in the city centre to remind them of their obligations under their licence conditions."

The owner of Rainbow Cars, Frank Zahwr, said he made a decision to stop complying with hotels' requests when this letter was sent and said he ended contracts with any hotels unwilling to comply. He said: "I was lucky, because we could afford to say no to people who were still asking for money."

But he added: "At the end of the day, the drivers are self-employed, so I can only ask them not to do it and try to ask the hotels not to ask for it." Drivers have told the M.E.N. that staff at certain restaurants are also operating the tips scam.

A private hire driver, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "It is the greedy hotel staff who started it and now many staff at restaurants are asking £1 for a job. That adds up to a lot of money in their pocket."

A spokesman for the Institute of Licensing of private hire taxis in the north west said: "The customer should be made aware that the hotel staff are adding to their bill."

Jury's Inn is part of the quality assurance scheme known as Manchester Standard, which aims to guarantee world-class service for customers. Founder Howard Raynor was shocked to hear about the scam. He said: "There is no justification for this behaviour."

Mr Raynor is taking action to stamp out the trend in hotels which are associated with Manchester Standard. He is going to implement a new written protocol which will state that customers must be made aware of any extra charges in calling a cab.

This will take three to four weeks to be approved, but an audit in six months will ensure that any staff still asking for back-handed tips will face the consequences. The council say they have not received any complaints since January but will continue to monitor the situation.

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IDFIMH

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IDFIMH

Happen's everywhere, if you want the work, you have to pay, not fair I know, but who said life is fair!

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stressed controller!!!

This practise is rife in London, its as prevelant within the Taxi trade as it is within the Minicab trade.

You see them loading up at the back door when theres Taxi's on the rank at the front.

I'm aware of the hotels that do it, and theres always a degree of satisfaction late at night when Taxi's are busy, and its raining and the old linkman (doorman) asks if your free to take some Hotel guests?

I'm sure you know what I and other drivers tell them where to stick their request, even better if the customers are standing there and you tell them their posh hotel has corrupt door staff.

Hotels like the Hilton Park Lane and the Edgware Road Hilton always have a supply of Taxi's because the front of house staff are honest and fair.

Some take a bung of up to £15 for a trip to the airport!!!

No way.

We used to pay a bung but stopped it years ago. Must admit I was far better off when we did. Its just another marketing expense just like a advert in the paper but with a better return !

Commission payments as I would call them are an incentive to attract custom. The practice is long standing whether we agree with it or not? I don't think the practice will ever be eradicated but the story in the Manchester Evening News was mainly about overcharging the customer by adding the commission fee to the Taxi fare.

I think that is the point, which should be highlighted, and not just the fact that a commission is paid for the job itself. It should also be remembered that Taxi/PH drivers in many areas get commission from some hotels and even restaurants so the practice is not confined to one section of society.

I hope this contribution helps the thread along.

Regards

JD

Airports and Train Stations have been doing it for years under the guise of permits. I don't think there is any real difference in the reasoning behind the activity whether it be supermarkets, Airports, Train stations, or Hotels. At the end of the day the practice is designed at making money from the Taxi driver and if the work is lucrative then the in most cases the Taxi/PH driver will pay the going rate.

Regards

JD

Manchester City Council may find themselves in a predicament here because it was they who sanctioned the recovery of the permit fee at Piccadilly Station. They allowed the charge to be recovered from the customer in the form of an additional 20p extra on the fare.

I don't see that much difference in what is taking place at Piccadilly Station and that which is taking place at some hotels. I am very surprised the Manchester Evening News didn't pick up on the permit activity at Piccadilly station. While the subject is highlighted perhaps some pressure should be brought to recover permit charges from passengers at other Stations and Airports throughout the country. Controversial suggestion perhaps? But only a thought and not necessarily my own personal view?

Regards

JD

all the main hotel doormen down here take a bung for airport work but not local work.
the bung price is paid for by the punter on top of the normal fare.
bent as nine bob notes.

Allegedly the conciege team at one Heathrow hotel are paid 30K per year by a PH firm to be their 'prefered' supplier.

But how much does an office cost to run that will bring in 600K of income a year?

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

Methinks we are in the wrong game.

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IDFIMH

Not really.

Apparently a concierge works 60 hours a week and takes home less than £200.

The hotel industry takes advantage of the guy's ability to supplement his income!

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

Is it not the same as a firm payin a pub/club/restarant to use their company, as I am sure the business doesnt show it in their books.

The law in respect of adding a suplementary fee to the meter or asking the passenger to pay a suplementary fee as part of the fare?

Bassam v Green
(DC) Divisional Court
13 January 1981

[1981] R.T.R. 362

Subject: Road traffic

Abstract: A taxi driver commits an offence either by asking for an excessive fare or by asking for a supplemental payment in addition to the proper fare.

B drove a licensed radio taxi cab in London. He was called to a club by a porter who agreed to pay a booking fee. B entered the booking fee on the meter and demanded from his passenger the aggregate displayed, B retaining the booking fee. B was convicted of demanding more than the proper fare.

Summary: Held, dismissing the defendant's appeal, that (1) a driver commits an offence when he asks for some supplemental payment which is not part of the fare; (2) a booking fee is part of the monetary compensation paid for use of the cab within the London Cab & Stage Carriage Act 1907 s. 6. (House v. Reynolds [1977] 1 W.L.R. 88 distinguished).

Cases Cited

House v Reynolds, [1977] 1 W.L.R. 88; [1977] 1 All E.R. 689; [1977] R.T.R. 135; 75 L.G.R. 311; [1977] Crim. L.R. 42; (1976) 120 S.J. 820 (DC)

Legislation Cited

London Cab & Stage Carriage Act 1907 s. 6