Taxi Driver Online

hi im posting first time on this website which i think is great as ive learnt a lot of new information... keep up the good work.

wondering if any you fellow ppl in the trade can help me on this incident that occured with one of our drivers:

can a passenger dispute a fare(metered) on the grounds that the driver did not know the exact location of the destination. ie the driver knew the area, knew the road but didnt know the exact turning to get to the small cul-de-sac ... on this ground the stroppy passenger refused to pay and instead took the hackney plate number/drivers details and gave his details and said he will not pay on the above grounds and that this can be disputed via licensing office etc??

i basically think he did a runner and has probably tried this before.. whats the legal situation on this? any legislation/rules/laws that apply here?

p.s. although for the passenger to claim that hes got all the conversation recorded on his mobile phone and then say thats my house, watch me walk in etc ... might leave him with an expensive car repair bill some nite in the future

cheers for any feedback on this post.

Welcome to the site Henry.

To answer you question I would say if there is/was a dispute then the punter could withhold part of the fare, but not all of it.

If the only thing the punter thought went wrong was a missed turning, then they may have a point holding back a small % of the fare, as you would in a restaurant if your pudding was iffy i.e. you wouldn't or shouldn't not pay for the starter.

But getting the money now is the problem.

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IDFIMH

Hello, Henry. I assume you are a Hackney Carriage Taxi driver, although you do not make this abundantly clear. But, if you are, the common sense approach to this occaisional problem is to insist that the passenger pays the full metered fare, or accept part payment, if you think their complaint is justified. Also, give the punter a reciept, and your badge number, and plate number. If they feel they have a grievance, they can contact the licensing office. If you let them go without paying anything, you will never see your money. Offer a small discount, to placate them, if you think they are right. Non payment is theft, call the police, or write it off. Not letting a passenger out of your cab until they have paid, is NOT false imprisonment.

I would make no comment about what happens in the Private Hire trade, in similar circumstances, as I have never worked in it.

Sounds like the punter was just trying to be a clever dick, but if everyone did this everytime a driver was slightly out with an address then there would be a lot of non-payers.

If I don't know the exact address I usually ask the punter for directions, and if there's a disupte of some kind I would usually offer a slight discount and failing that would threaten to call the police if they refused to pay.

The driver should have called his bluff by telling him that he would phone the police since non-payment is a theft and a criminal offence.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

We never get into such a kerfuffle, so wouldn't know.

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IDFIMH