Taxi Driver Online

Not sure if there's any coverage of this in the press, but this was recently posted by a local firm on their website

Not sure any of this is particularly new either, or whether it's becoming more widespread. But, for example, the need for calendar meters has been self-evident since I started in the trade here about 25 years ago. But as someone who's generally lurched from one financial crisis to another in that time, I've just never fancied having to shell out hundreds for a new meter

But this is the same firm that recently published the 'greenwashing' stuff and who won the certificate for their green business practices etc.

And if we're familiar with reading PR and comms stuff from councils and bigger firms in particular, this one here in St Andrews is off the scale in that regard. Very clever people, but relatively new to the trade. So to the extent they're making this sound like it's all some huge discovery, that's because their, er, historical perspective is limited


Behind the Meter: Exposing Taxi Scams in St Andrews

https://standrewstaxis.com/2023/06/behi ... t-andrews/

In the idyllic town of St Andrews, Fife, a concerning undercurrent has been discovered within the taxi industry. Over the course of a month, a series of fraudulent practices have been exposed. These deceptive acts, perpetrated by a significant minority of taxi operators, have been carried out at the expense of unsuspecting passengers.

One of the primary tactics uncovered involves the misuse of badges. In St Andrews, licensed taxi drivers are required to display badges issued by Fife Council. However, some rogue operators have been creating counterfeit badges by photocopying a genuine one, reprinting it, and then laminating the copy to pass off as legitimate.

Further, the manipulation of regulated taxi fares is another concern. Fife Council stipulates Rate 1 for day-time fares until 10pm and Rate 2 from 10pm until 6am, with an exception for trips outside Fife where Rate 2 can be applied. Alarmingly, some operators were found manipulating their meters to Rate 2 during the daytime and even bumping it up to Rate 3 in the evening, grossly overcharging customers.

Adding to the list of scams, a number of operators have been found using names strikingly similar to those of well-established companies. Variations on the names of Golf City Taxis, St Andrews Taxis, Club Cars, and St Andrews Shuttle are being falsely used to mislead customers, capitalising on the trust and reputation of these legitimate businesses.

There have also been instances of operators showing up at wedding venues, hotels, and events without bookings and falsely claiming to be from well-known companies. In this audacious act, they manage to steal pre-booked fares. These fraudulent drivers then give the customers their direct phone numbers, insisting that the official number for the company they’re impersonating has changed.

Lastly, it was revealed that some operators are purchasing fake reviews on Google Business, often numbering over 100, to bury any negative feedback from genuine customers. This tactic allows them to maintain high ratings and continue their deceptive practices largely unchecked.

This expose serves as a stark warning to residents and visitors in St Andrews. Always verify the identity of your driver, familiarise yourself with the regulated rates, and scrutinise reviews from multiple sources. Don’t fall victim to these crafty cons; ensure your taxi trip in St Andrews is as safe and fair as it should be.

John McLean
Former Edinburgh hackney driver, semi-retired and enjoying writing about the taxi trade.

I daresay that has happened on occasion, but I suspect some of this is about drivers being flagged down when passing hotels and guest houses etc, or they're dropping at venues while people are waiting to be picked up, therefore...

So sometimes it may be unscrupulous punters rather than drivers to blame - despite booking a car, they flag down anything that passes, or jump into a car that's dropping.

(And of course, there's the daftie but scrupulous people who book a car, but then assume any taxi driving past is their car, so just have to flag it down . The amount of runs like that I could have grabbed over the years... )


Not a clue who this person is, or his precise involvement with the firm, but I don't think he's one of the proprietors.

But they have news stuff on their site written about St Andrews stuff more generally from a tourist/visitor/student perspective, and apparently written by third parties, but it's not clear precisely what the third parties' precise relationship with the firm is.

But, again, that's all part of the marketing/PR/comms angle, which they're obviously very good at, with snazzy, top notch website etc. And, as is often the case with this kind of stuff, makes them look a lot bigger than five or so cars

You can get a flavour of some of their news stuff here just by having a quick look at the headlines - some of it is about taxi fares etc, while some of it is more touristy/visitor stuff, but obviously tied-in with the marketing stuff about how the firm can transport you there 'in style', blah, blah...

https://standrewstaxis.com/our-blog/

Could say LOADS more about all this stuff, but

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Well they've managed to get the press interested, and more meat on the bones here. And there's another driver and proprietor from another firm quoted in this article

As I said, nothing particularly new, but some of the figures quoted seem a lot worse than I've heard in the past

The article doesn't seem to have gone with the laminated fake badge stuff, though. Maybe there's action in the offing regarding that, so they've ignored it for legal reasons. Or similar.

I try to keep out of the fray, and avoid the council if I possibly can, so to an extent all this is as much news to me as the average reader on here

Most of the drivers I know are the old guard who've seen it all before, and like me tend to just keep their heads down and ignore it all the best they can.

Photos are a tad big, but I've included them anyway, except the very big one. But you don't want to see a 1,500 pixel-wide photo of Davie anyway


St Andrews taxi firms warn rogue drivers are ripping-off customers

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/fi ... customers/

It's alleged one visitor was charged £150 to travel from St Andrews to Leuchars railway station during The Open last year.


James Glen of St Andrews Taxis and Davie Wilcox of Club Cabs are concerned about unscrupulous taxi drivers. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson.

Visitors to St Andrews are being warned of rogue taxi drivers intent on ripping-off tourists.

Legitimate taxi firms report customers are complaining of being charged well over the odds for some journeys.

And they claim some unscrupulous drivers are turning up at venues pretending to be from a pre-booked company to steal clients.


James Glen from St Andrews Taxis is concerned about rogue drivers. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson.

James Glen, from St Andrews Taxis, says one of his customers reported being charged £300 for a 10-mile trip to Colinsburgh – normally a £30 fare.

And Trudie Williamson from Club Cars claims someone paid £20 for a six minute journey to the Fairmont Hotel – double the usual fare.

Several other companies have been discussing the issue via a Facebook forum.

And some have reported their concerns to Fife Council’s licensing officers and to police.

‘Customer charged £150 for a £15 fare’

James says unscrupulous drivers were particularly prevalent during last year’s Open golf championship.

He said: “During The Open, some operators were charging up to £150 to go from St Andrews to Leuchars railway station.

“That should be a £15 fare.


One of the posts on a Facebook page set up by concerned taxi firms.

“I had someone in my taxi the other week complaining they were charged £65 to be taken to Crail. The fare should be £30.”

Mr Glen also alleges some of the rogue drivers are using the names of established St Andrews taxi companies when collecting clients.

“We’ve been established since 1998, yet they’re showing up at weddings and claiming they are St Andrews Taxis,” he said.

“They hand them a card saying this is the new number. I witnessed it first hand.”

Claim customers are being ‘done’

Trudie has run Club Cabs for 23 years and says her drivers began mentioning issues during the last year.

“Tourists are getting into our cars and reporting their experiences to our drivers,” she said.

“It wasn’t until they got into our cabs and asked the fare that they realised they had been done.

https://wpcluster.dctdigital.com/wp-con ... 6x1024.jpg
Driver Dave Wilcox (61) of Club Cabs, who are highlighting problems with unlicensed taxi drivers ripping off customers. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson.

“My own son got into a taxi at St Andrews bus station and went to Lamond Drive, just up the road, and was driven all round the town first.

“I’ve said to him if it ever happens again, get a badge number and report it.”

Trudie says she now takes customers’ phone numbers when they book a cab and drivers text them when they arrive.

“That’s for our peace of mind as well as for the customers,” she said.

‘We need to protect our reputation from these people’

Both James and Trudie advise if a fare seems high to check with an established firm.

Trudie said: “It’s hard to speak about because you don’t know who you’ll offend.

“But we can’t sit back and do nothing.

“We need to protect our reputation from these people.”

Meanwhile, James said some firms were considering getting together to set up a secret shopper-type scheme.

“We’ll get them to take a few rides and tell them what to look out for, just so we can collect evidence to give to the council,” he said.

“Some of the companies have been operating for years and are fed-up with the situation.”

Fife Council investigation

Fife Council’s lead licensing officer Gillian Love said: “We work closely with the police to investigate any complaints and a recent joint inspection actively looked into these allegations.

“If any evidence is found then appropriate action is taken.

“We would urge anyone with concerns to get in touch with our enforcement officer at enforcementofficer@fife.gov.uk.”

Useful information can also be found here.

Wonder what Trudie's alluding to there

That's quite a serious accusation and has huge safeguarding implications.

If anyone has any evidence, even anecdotal evidence, they should pass it on to the police and/or the council.

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IDFIMH

I mean the above only really happens just about everywhere, for every trade, every minute of every day.

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IDFIMH

Yes, Sussex, and as regards the impersonation kind of thing, the problem is that some of the major players in the area have quite generic names, so hardly surprising that these more established names accuse others of copying them.

I mean, St Andrews Taxis. More or less speaks for itself

Golf City Taxis. Obviously quite a specific name. But, for example, informally many people refer to it as 'golf taxis', and it's St Andrews, therefore...

(I won't mention another informal name for Golf City Taxis on here, but suffice to say the middle word begins 'Sh....' )

Club Cars. Again, that kind of speaks for itself as regards being located in a place like St Andrews. (Note - unlike the usual practice, Club Cars is actually an HC despatch office, whereas the word 'Cars' rather than 'Taxis' in business names is generally used by PH operations.)

Kind of reminds me of tourists who ask to be taken to the 'golf hotel'. Which is usually what's officially known as the Old Course Hotel, named after the world-famous golf course, obviously.

But there used to be another - and totally unrelated - business called the St Andrews Golf Hotel. I recall in my early days taking someone there who just asked to be taken to the 'golf hotel', while they actually wanted to be taken to the Old Course Hotel

Another related issue is there are dozens of one-man bands and micro-firms around here. And with smart phones, it's very easy to get a number and hand out cards, and a more viable way to do things as compared to a big city, because in a big city it's not so viable for a one-man band to offer any kind of cover across the area.

And unless you have at least four cars, you don't need a despatch licence.

So, for example, I could get a PAYG sim today, print out a few cards at lunchtime, call myself 'Golf Club Taxis, St Andrews', start handing out cards in the afternoon, set up a website etc in just a few hours, and I doubt there's anything anyone could do about it, and certainly wouldn't fall foul of any licensing requirement