Taxi Driver Online

Firm's freebies are 'conning' cab trade


A TAXI pricing row has erupted after a firm started offering free rides.

A&B Taxis has started giving away between 150 and 200 free rides, per week, through its private hire taxis.

Ralph Morgan, 65, treasurer of the Basildon Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, said this was undercutting all taxis in the district.

He claimed A&B Taxi’s co-director Gary Brand, 40, had a verbal agreement with the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, to charge the same fares as hackney carriage drivers.

Mr Brand said they agreed a rate increase with Basildon Council’s licensing department last month.

Mr Morgan said: “The fair increase went through last month and now they’re undercutting us. We desperately needed that increase to cover our rising running costs. As far as I’m concerned, A&B are conning the rest of the trade.”

Mr Brand defended the decision to offer free rides.He said: “We wanted to give something back to our customers at this difficult economic time and it’s proving really popular.

“Our bookings computer randomly chooses which customers will not be charged. I did not agree with the fare increases.”

Hackney carriage taxis are allowed to stop at taxi ranks and pick people up off the street. Private hire taxis can only be ordered in advance.

The fares increase applies rigidly to hackney carriage taxis.

However, private hire taxis are free to cut their prices below the hackney carriage rates.

Under the increase, the £2.20 start rate, which is the charge on the taxi meter before a journey starts, stayed the same, while charges per mile were put up.

Cabbies can now charge about an extra 20p per mile.

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

Hmmmm.

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IDFIMH

Cabbies in crisis over new low fares


ANGRY taxi drivers could hold more go-slow protests through the streets of Basildon.

Around 100 cabbies, from A and B Taxis, Value Cars, and other private hire firms, attended a crisis meeting at Basildon Rugby Club.

They discussed a range of ideas, to make A and B Taxis reverse its controversial new policy of lowering its minimum fares from £2 to £1.50.

These included bringing traffic to a standstill with more go-slow protests through Basildon, following Monday’s procession of more than 100 taxis to A and B’s office, in Lords Court.

Gary Brand, 40, co-owner of A and B Taxis, said: “More protests would provide us with more welcome publicity, although it wouldn’t be fair on the innocent drivers who would be caught up in the traffic.

“Only a small proportion of my drivers were at the meeting, which tells me most are happy with the situation.”

Another idea discussed was for all taxi firms to offer the same start rate.

Mr Brand claims the 50p minimum fare reduction will benefit both customers and his drivers, who will make more money from the extra work generated.

But unhappy A and B Taxis’ drivers say they will lose £150 a week.

No final decisions were taken by the cabbies on what action should be taken.

l Drivers from Value Cars, based in High Road, Pitsea, were left with virtually no work when a booking phone line went down on Tuesday, thought to be due to a computer virus.

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

Surely it can't be legal to bully somebody into fixing a price jsut because you charge more for a service. Whatever happened to competition

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

It could also be illegal. If private hire firms agree to all charge the same it is called a cartel.

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Grandad,

The only way to sort this out is get the PH fitted with meters

It's still a cartel if the different PH companies agree to charge the same rate. It's the agreement not to compete on price which is illegal.
Not a problem up here where the council set the rate, but i don't think that happens in England or Wales.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

http://taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtop ... 928#122928

If Lancashire can do it so can them all, its the only fair way of sorting the problem out, mind you the fare would be the maximum they could charge but are free to give a discount as long as the meter is on from A to B, even the hacks could do this

Mmmm I remember Gary Brand pretty well, I met him at Donnington a few years ago he'd won the lottery if my memory serves me right??

He was a guest of Auriga for the 2 days, he was championing the Auriga system after coming off Autocab, low and behold a year or 2 later he's come off the Auriga system and gone over to Cordic and was at Coventry championing the Cordic system and telling people how crap Auriga was.

He was on the TV a couple of years ago on a lottery programme, they were asking people who'd won the lottery how it had changed their lives? He'd bought a PH company along with his mate.

This thread is about time locked meters in taxis skippy, not PH

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

The council also wants them in there PH, the paper has done the usual and put them all under 1 umbrella

Do they have the power to insist on PH having them, and the powers to set the tarrif for PH?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

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Yes if the want to, but I think it would have to be done under a by law

sounds like price fixing to me...funny how when it suits its fine...

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most