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Someone's not being wholly truthful here

Edinburgh dad slams ‘disgusting’ Council taxi service after daughter left in cold

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ ... -1-4848196


Image: Edinburgh Evening News

The concerned father of a disabled schoolgirl has branded the city council’s taxi service “absolutely disgusting” after claiming his daughter was left stranded in the cold for more than hour.

Broughton High School pupil Shannon Reiss has cerebral palsy and relies on an electric wheelchair for her mobility.

With dad, Aiden, working in Livingston, Shannon gets transport to and from school by a driver provided by Central Taxis through the city council.

But on Thursday night, Mr Reiss claims his daughter was left stranded waiting outside school for more than an hour waiting for her pre-booked taxi to arrive. He says this is the seventh occasion this academic year that the fifth year’s lift has not arrived on time, leaving her vulnerable.

Mr Reiss said: “In today’s society, anything can happen. I think it is absolutely disgusting. I work in Livingston so I can’t help. She had been outside for around 40 minutes on Thursday, no-one at the school reception and it was a tutor who noticed her sat outside in the cold and let her back in and phoned me to let me know she was OK. She didn’t get home until 6pm. Considering college finished at 4pm it’s utterly unacceptable.”

He claims his daughter’s education is being affected by the punctuality of Central Taxis after occasions when drivers have been late picking her up to take her to school.

He added: “It’s only a five to 10-minute drive down the road. I go to work at 6am and don’t get back until 5pm to 6pm. Shannon’s mum died earlier this year and so I’m essentially having to be mum and dad and have to provide for us both.

“My concern is who else is this happening to in Edinburgh? I want an apology and reassurances that this will not happen again.”

The council said there have been occasions when a taxi has arrived for Shannon, but she has not been at the designated pick-up point. On Thursday, Central Taxis say a driver arrived seven minutes early and waited 20 minutes for Shannon outside reception before leaving.

Tony Kenmuir, director of Central Taxis said: “We always endeavour to be on time. However, we live in the real world in a Capital city where there can be a number of reasons for one of our drivers being late. If anyone is kept waiting then I apologise. We always look at our service and we will see what we can do to improve.

“I am going to contact Mr Reiss directly and give him my details so if he has any issues in the future then he can call me.”

A City of Edinburgh Council spokesman said: “We are aware of the transport issues Shannon has been experiencing and have apologised. We have discussed with the family about giving Shannon her own pin number and are waiting for their response to this solution. The benefits include allowing her to track the booked transport if it was late, giving her control by changing her agreed pick up times and providing her with additional independence.”

This is why we have trackers in all our vehicles. The times people say we haven't turned up on time or to the correct place and we have been able to prove otherwise.

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Grandad,

Is a youth in a vulnerable situation waiting outside a school, and even if she is then surely the answer is for her to wait inside.

Wouldn't be surprised if the contract changed recently and the old contractor is winding dad up.

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IDFIMH

I would be very surprised if Central Taxis data system doesn't have a tracking function.

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IDFIMH

So would I but they haven't mentioned it.

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Grandad,

Sort of got the impression that it was implied that the council believed Central's claim that on occasion the girl wasn't at the designated pick-up point on time.

And the bit about giving the girl her own PIN number to track the vehicle and/or change the pickup time also implies that the vehicles are tracked and to that extent why the council believes Central's version of events.

Of course, problem with this kind of thing is that even if it was always the girl's fault the council and Central will be in the dock, so have to be careful how they respond. Some of the comments on the website are that basically Central are crooks, based on this and that one time a driver maybe took the wrong route

So it's as much about PR as the absolute rights and wrongs of the thing.

No doubt the taxi is late on occasion, which is what the council and Central are apologising for, but suspect the dad making a bit of a meal of it, and thus attempting to deflect the blame for his daughter not turning up on time. Of course, he may not have been told the full story

We used to have a problem with a couple of kids who regularly missed the taxi from school. Mum used to play merry hell saying that the car hadn't turned up or had left early or late. Problem for her was that there were 4 other students in the car. County hall's immediate response was to blame the driver. I asked them to provide a list of dates when this occurred and then proved that the car was there and even sent them a copy of the CCTV from the car to show the car going into the school and the other students getting in the car and then leaving. Mum had a lot of humble pie to eat after that.

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Grandad,

School parents who's children receive free school transport can be the worst customers any of us have.

Sense of entitlement is striking, and because they often shout the loudest both firms and councils just want to please them to keep them quiet.

My view is f*** em. Which is why my car isn't, and never will be, a schools car.

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IDFIMH

It should be responsibility of the School to ensure that their Pupils are escorted to the Taxi, that protects both parties from wrongful blame and if the Taxi is late they can chase it up.

Only the School would know if any pupil actually attended school on any given day.