Quote:
Another said: "Since the pandemic there has been a huge increase in customers paying by card which attracts card reader fees. Due to card payments there has also been a very significant loss of tips."
Tell me about it
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| Harrogate call for 5% fare rise from current £7 for two mile http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=37870 |
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| Author: | StuartW [ Wed Jan 12, 2022 5:52 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Harrogate call for 5% fare rise from current £7 for two mile |
Harrogate taxi drivers call for 5% fare increase to cover soaring fuel prices and Covid impacts https://www.harrogateadvertiser.co.uk/n ... ts-3523960 Harrogate cabbies are calling for a 5% increase in taxi fares to help cover soaring fuel prices and a drop in earnings due to the Covid pandemic. "Please help us" is one of several messages sent from taxi drivers to Harrogate Borough Council which will hold a licensing meeting next Wednesday (19 January) to consider the rise request. It comes after 2021 saw record costs for both petrol and diesel in the UK, with diesel hitting prices of over £1.50 per litre for the first time in history. And cabbies say they have also taken further financial hits from rises in vehicle prices and parts, as well as the climbing cost of living. One taxi driver told the council: "It is sometimes very difficult to strike the correct balance between what is a reasonable fare increase and keeping our loyal customers happy. "That said, we have witnessed in the past six months an increase of more than 30% in our fuel costs alone and there is a lot of talk that fuel could reach £2 per litre by mid 2022." Another said: "Since the pandemic there has been a huge increase in customers paying by card which attracts card reader fees. Due to card payments there has also been a very significant loss of tips." The request from taxi drivers is for a 5% rise on the running mile and waiting times of journeys, as well as an increase in starting prices £3.40 to £3.60. According to national trade newspaper Private Hire and Taxi Monthly, the Harrogate district is currently ranked as the 31st most expensive council area in the UK, charging £7 at 2 miles. And if approved, the proposed 5% rise would move the district to 14th in the table. However, taxi drivers have argued Harrogate's position is not as high for journeys above the 2-mile mark. In November, there were warnings that as many as 50 taxi drivers in the district had quit during the previous lockdowns and that many have now found new jobs with little desire to return to the trade. This came shortly before the council froze taxi licence fees for the second year running due to the impacts of the pandemic. Speaking at the time, Gareth Bentley, licensing manager at Harrogate Borough Council, said: "Whether we will get a new set of drivers coming to replace the 50 we have lost – only time will tell." Mr Bentley said in a report to next Wednesday's meeting that a consultation on the proposed fare increase had been held with 500 taxi drivers, although the response rate was low with only 30 - or 6% - taking part. He also said while the council's licensing committee would consider the rise request at the meeting, it would be the cabinet member for housing and safer communities, councillor Mike Chambers, who would make the final decision. Mr Bentley added: "The setting of fares is a statutory duty placed upon the council and it is the council’s responsibility to strike a balance between setting a fare that is acceptable to the customer and to the taxi driver." |
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| Author: | StuartW [ Wed Jan 12, 2022 5:52 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Harrogate call for 5% fare rise from current £7 for two |
Quote: Another said: "Since the pandemic there has been a huge increase in customers paying by card which attracts card reader fees. Due to card payments there has also been a very significant loss of tips." Tell me about it
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| Author: | jimbo [ Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Harrogate call for 5% fare rise from current £7 for two |
StuartW wrote: Quote: Another said: "Since the pandemic there has been a huge increase in customers paying by card which attracts card reader fees. Due to card payments there has also been a very significant loss of tips." Tell me about it OK Stuart, I will. Tipping is not a city in China. Tipping is an outdated anachronism that I wish would disappear completely and forever. Why tip a waiter, a hairdresser, a taxi driver, but not a bus driver, a shop assistant, a police officer, a Royal marine, a doctor, a dentist, a mechanic, a pilot, and so on, and so forth? The one thing that hacked me off when visiting America was the tipping culture, trying to figure out what 15% of a $142 bill is, having a maitre d asking me was there a problem with service, etc. It’s begging by any other name, and life would be easier with out it. So, that’s you told, Stuart. Of course, I don’t refuse them, but I find tipping a pain. |
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| Author: | StuartW [ Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Harrogate call for 5% fare rise from current £7 for two |
Jimbo wrote: Of course, I don’t refuse them, but I find tipping a pain. Who was expecting you to say that you don't actually refuse them?  Yes, I kind of agree with you to a degree, but fact is that it's effectively been the norm for my 20+ years, so you do tend to notice it when it's gone, or at least disappearing. To that degree I kind of wish tips had never been a thing in the trade, because to that degree I wouldn't notice them when I go more than half a shift without getting one (say), or when they're slowly disappearing because of card payments. But if it's been quite a big thing among Uber and other app drivers (who've never known tips) that they don't actually get any, then hardly a surprise that it's an issue among us old hands 
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| Author: | Sussex [ Thu Jan 20, 2022 7:40 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Harrogate call for 5% fare rise from current £7 for two |
Harrogate drivers' plea to increase taxi fares by 5% gets backing Taxi fares could rise in Harrogate after councillors backed drivers' calls for an increase to help cover fuel costs and a drop in earnings. The 5% rise proposal comes after some drivers said they'd been badly hit by increasing costs. If approved, Harrogate would become the 14th most expensive council area for fares in the UK, a council report said. The authority has a statutory duty to set hackney carriage fares with the last rise being implemented in 2020. Councillor John Mann told the licensing committee meeting that he appreciated prices may be higher than some areas but taxi drivers needed support. "We seem to be in the middle of a cost of living crisis at the moment and we are all aware prices are going up rapidly. "If you are a taxi driver all of this is not good because it eats into your profit." The 5% rise would be on the running mile and waiting times of journeys, the Local Democracy Report Service said. There would also be an increase in starting prices from £3.40 to £3.60 if approved. The request comes after warnings that as many as 50 taxi drivers in the Harrogate district quit during pandemic lockdowns with many now in other jobs and not wanting to return. Last year also saw record costs for both petrol and diesel in the UK, with diesel hitting prices of over £1.50 per litre for the first time in history. Gareth Bentley, the council's licensing manager, said the needs of the travelling public had to be "balanced with the trade's ability to make a reasonable living". The cabinet member for housing and safer communities will make a final decision on the proposal. |
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| Author: | Rebel-Taxi-Driver [ Fri Jan 21, 2022 12:27 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Harrogate call for 5% fare rise from current £7 for two |
jimbo wrote: StuartW wrote: Quote: Another said: "Since the pandemic there has been a huge increase in customers paying by card which attracts card reader fees. Due to card payments there has also been a very significant loss of tips." Tell me about it OK Stuart, I will. Tipping is not a city in China. Tipping is an outdated anachronism that I wish would disappear completely and forever. Why tip a waiter, a hairdresser, a taxi driver, but not a bus driver, a shop assistant, a police officer, a Royal marine, a doctor, a dentist, a mechanic, a pilot, and so on, and so forth? The one thing that hacked me off when visiting America was the tipping culture, trying to figure out what 15% of a $142 bill is, having a maitre d asking me was there a problem with service, etc. It’s begging by any other name, and life would be easier with out it. So, that’s you told, Stuart. Of course, I don’t refuse them, but I find tipping a pain. Fair comment. Japanese taxi drivers do not accept tips even if you offer. They find it an insult. Let's ensure taxi drivers earn a decent living so they don't have to worry about getting tips. |
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| Author: | StuartW [ Fri Jan 21, 2022 3:31 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Harrogate call for 5% fare rise from current £7 for two |
Rebel-Taxi-Driver wrote: Japanese taxi drivers do not accept tips even if you offer. They find it an insult. Yes, Jimbo thinks tips are insulting as well. But accepts them anyway  RTD wrote: Let's ensure taxi drivers earn a decent living so they don't have to worry about getting tips. Chances of that happening pretty slim, I suspect, for a generation or so at least. I mean, after years of resistance, Uber introduced an in-app tipping option in 2017. But automated payments equate to less tips, so to that degree they're on the wane, and may wither on the vine eventually. |
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| Author: | StuartW [ Wed Apr 27, 2022 9:36 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Harrogate call for 5% fare rise from current £7 for two |
Quote: Another said: "Since the pandemic there has been a huge increase in customers paying by card which attracts card reader fees. Due to card payments there has also been a very significant loss of tips." Well that was a strange one tonight. Just had run up to the big fancy pants hotel couple of miles out of town, which clocks bang on £10 on T1. Obviously more inclined to get a tip up there than on the student runs, and they're more inclined to pay by cash to go there, which increases chance of tip  Anyway, couple of Americans, and they wanted to pay by card  *Bang on* £10 by card So you think you're odds on for a wee tip, but it doesn't happen. Then, when payment goes through, guy fishes out a $20 bill as a tip, which is about £16 apparently  Not unknown for people going to likes of the Old Course Hotel (£5, roughly) to give a tip that's bigger than clock. But can't recall ever having a *cash tip* that's been a lot bigger than what's been *paid on the card*  So turned out good, but to be honest I'd rather have had just a couple of pounds tip either on the card, or in cash. I've still got a couple of $10/20 bills that Americans gave me years and years ago. One day I'll actually do something with them  (Of course, maybe he made a mistake and thought it was a smaller bill, or got confused with the exchange rates, or whatever, and didn't realise the size of the tip, but who knows...) |
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| Author: | Sussex [ Thu Apr 28, 2022 8:05 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Harrogate call for 5% fare rise from current £7 for two |
Quote: I've still got a couple of $10/20 bills that Americans gave me years and years ago. One day I'll actually do something with them If only someone could open up a shop that changes currency.
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| Author: | StuartW [ Fri Jun 03, 2022 5:17 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Harrogate call for 5% fare rise from current £7 for two |
Yes, but it's something I've never done, and kind of assuming it would cost a lot to convert small sums, and years a ago thought I'd wait until I had about $100 dollars or so and do the necessary then. (Tesco, for example, seems to have a minimum £50 order equivalent.) But it's never happened, but I'll wait until after this year's Open Golf and get whatever I have at that point converted. In fact I've probably passed one of these places thousands of times over the years in one of Dundee's Tesco's, but it's something I'd maybe half notice out of the corner of my eye, but when thinking about it just now had to check their website to see whether I was maybe just imagining something was there that wasn't  (Just came across my stash of dollar bills when looking for something else, which reminded me I meant to reply to this post. Another thing at the time was that there was something really odd about my next run (which was slightly odd even in that it went to the same hotel), but didn't think I'd bore the forum to death with the details back then, but the details of which I've forgotten about now. I'll be thinking about this all night now  )
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