Taxi Driver Online

Anger as taxi firms hit Flintshire customers in the pocket

TAXI firms who charge extra for travelling to pick up customers have been slammed by Flintshire village residents. Bagillt councillor Mike Reece has joined forces with a number of unhappy residents, who say they have had problems with local taxi firms charging them much more than they would expect for their journeys.

He said that one firm sends cars to collect Bagillt customers, who then have to foot the bill for the cab's journey to the village, as well as the fee for their journey. Resident Dennis Williams said: "It is just ridiculous that the firm is making people pay for their taxi's journey to Bagillt.

When the customer has phoned the Bagillt office in the first place, they should not be sending cabs from somewhere else. "I called to book a taxi recently, as I wanted to take my two young grandchildren home and I had had a couple of drinks.

"I was only travelling about a mile down the road, but I had to pay much more to cover the cost of the cab's journey to my house. "There used to be a limit imposed on how much a taxi could charge, but that seems to have gone out the window and firms are just doing what they want.

"We are constantly being told not to drink and drive, but with taxi firms behaving like this, I wouldn't be surprised if the number of people getting behind the wheel after having a drink increased."

Cllr Reece said: "I have been contacted by a few people who have had problems like this and I am doing all I can to improve the situation. "It is very unreasonable for taxi firms to do this and people just cannot afford to be paying so much extra for a cab."

A spokesman for Flintshire Council said that although taxis are licensed by the local authority, it has little control over the fares private companies can charge. The spokesman said: "There are two types of taxi – hackney carriages (the traditional black cab – which has a meter that displays the cost during the journey) and private hire vehicles (sometimes called mini cabs).

"The legislation requires that the council sets a maximum fare rate for hackneys (though individuals can charge any rate below this). "The council, however, has no ability to set fares in the private hire sector.

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IDFIMH

many years ago (18 I think) our local council took a cab firm to court for charging a customer to go out to a village 10 miles away to take the passengers 4 miles up the road

THE COUNCIL LOST !!!!

and after landing themselves with a £25000 legal bill promptly deregulated fares as a way of dealing with the situation.


There is still the " Post office rule" from the victorian act which is still valid I think which states that you can put your meter on when more than a prescribed distance from the main post office. A bizarre rule but one which applies in those situations I believe

I'm sure sussex or TDO can confirm this

if any local company conceded to these whining Villagers and charged 4 miles worth of runs for a 28 Mile journey theyed be bankrupt within a few months....would the Villagers expect a company to go to the wall just to please them..on there Bike..literally.

if theyre so concerned why dont they start a local Taxi Business between them by ploughing in some cash and paying a drivers wages..then they can see what nonsense they spout..


PS..Ive just Googled Bagilt..the place has a Population of nearly 4000 people...I live in town half that size and we have two resident Taxi/Ph firms that make a living from it....Bagilts just 2 miles away from 2 bigger towns...hell...these Villagers have very little to complain about in my book...and we Scots are supposed to be tight....we're not half as tight as the bagilt folk are

Supposed?

CC

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

Aye..supposed!....we'd give you english guys the very clothes we wear and your women the contents..how generous is that

We've had this discussion before and I ended up seeing fellas in frilly frocks I hope you are referring to the contents of your pockets and not the contents of your clothes

Perhaps the council should look into setting up some kind of taxi service for the village folk if they are so concerned. Perhaps they could run an advert encouraging people to licence as taxi drivers, who knows something maybe achieved

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

If they phone the Bagillt telephone number surely they expect a Baglitt car
not one from miles away charging them the distance travelled.What would the company do if they had a car in the area still charge as if they had travelled

not neccessarily...a Dialing code can cover areas of half a dozen different towns..it happens here

If theres a true demand someone will surely set up their own firm?

The chances are there's no profit in it......so nobody will.......cant see how the council or the villagers expect a vehicle to travel 10 miles to a job only to go round the corner for minimum fare.....as the thread says, we're not a charity.

What about the much subsidised bus service?????

CC

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

Like all subsidised bus services..buses run late or not at all and at times that only suit the subsidised bus company in order to allow the same bus to be used at other similarily useless times for more subsidised journeys....and usually theyre empty buses at that

My local Taxi firm does'nt charge me extra, the meter starts when we get in.

I think thats quite decent of them, considering after going through the security checkpoint, they then have to travel two miles up my front drive.

You surely haven't been put in prison for not paying that parking ticket?

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IDFIMH

I think you will find that the taxi company in question moved its some of its cars into flint as they are now sighted around the town. The problem is that if you are still advertising that your office is in Bagillt, then you should only charge from Bagillt. Not from were the car started its journey. The company should come clean and say they are moving to Flint and then charge a small extra fee if necessary. However we are only talking of a couple of miles to Bagillt from Flint town center. Extortion! maybe but the costomers do have a choice.