Taxi Driver Online

Fuming Edinburgh taxi driver 'charged £5,500' by faulty airport drop off system

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/ed ... d-27431301

Edinburgh taxi drivers have said that a fault with the short stay drop off at Edinburgh Airport over the months of June and July 2023 led to them being asked to stump up thousands by mistake.

A taxi driver has told how the Edinburgh Airport drop off system tried to charge him a £5,500 drop off fee earlier this month.

The black cabbie, who also acts as Unite union rep, says that the problem has hit a number of drivers who have found themselves stung by a glitch in the system. They said that shortly after the new drop off zone had opened, they approached the barrier only to find that the airport was requesting a thousands from them.

Somehow the system had calculated that the cab had been in the short stay drop off from June 1-19, despite the vehicle only being in the space for under ten minutes. Another driver captured a picture of their charge which was calculated at £2,386 for one day, 15 hours and 55 minutes - this was despite them exiting the space within the allotted ten-minute period.


Image: Edinburgh Live

Those dropping off customers or family and friends in the short stay drop off for less than 10 minutes would normally incur a £4/5 fee in June and July 2023 but there appears to have been an issue with the system as prices were calculated incorrectly. The union rep says that on both occasions the above incidents were swiftly dealt with by staff at the airport after contactless card payments would not process the extortionate fee.

But on another occasion a driver was charged £73 for a one hour 22-minute stay when they again left within the allotted 10-minute window - their system showed that they picked up their customer at 5.45pm and dropped them at the airport at 6.04pm before leaving promptly.

Another driver was also charged £30 incorrectly but both have been made to wait weeks to be refunded.

Edinburgh Airport bosses have said that the issue has been rectified as of July 20 and that issues should not continue to persist in the future. They added that all of those affected will be offered a refund.

“It happened to me back in June when I dropped off a customer and I was asked to pay £5,500 at the barrier as it had calculated my stay from June 1 until June 19,” said the union rep, who wished to remain anonymous.

“This was despite me only being in there for a few minutes dropping folk off. I was then charged £302 again about a fortnight ago.

“On both occasions I pressed the button at the barrier and someone let me out. They just said they had been having issues with it.

“Another one of our drivers was charged over £2,000 but didn’t have to pay it again because the contactless knocked back with limits over £100. Unfortunately though a couple of other drivers were stung as they just tapped their cards and later saw the charges.

“They have been trying to get that money back for weeks now. One of them was told that if they try to chase it they will get put back to the end of the queue for a refund.

“It used to be £4 per drop off but it went up to £5 on July 14. You used to get 10 minutes but now you only get eight. It seems like they are just trying to make as much money as possible.”

He added that while taxi drivers notice such wrong charges, members of the public may not or would not bother fighting the extra fees.

“I worry folk won’t challenge it and the airport is just raking in a fortune,” he continued. “The way they treat passengers is a scandal. It's as if passengers are an inconvenience as far as they are concerned.

“It is annoying me because the public are turning up there and they are forgotten about. I dropped off an elderly couple this morning at 6am and requested trolleys to be brought for their luggage but two hours later when I returned there was still nothing.

“This was an elderly couple going to America and a young family going to Dubai. It is like those running the airport think people just show up at the airport with no luggage. The attitude just stinks and they should investigate these issues.”

Airport bosses say that the issue of incorrect drop off fees has been sorted. They added that refunds are always offered when fees are incorrect but these take time to process.

A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: “We are aware of a technical issue which affected some drivers using the Pickup & Dropoff area. This was resolved by July 20 and no longer persists.

“Those affected will be refunded and any queries raised at the exit barrier were resolved at the time. We apologise for any inconvenience.”

A bit of misinformation here, by the looks of it. It was Juy 17 the charges went up. And as far as I can see you still get ten minutes, albeit for the increased charge of £5.

I can go months without a pickup at Edinburgh airport but by coincidence I was 99% certain of one on the evening of Monday July 17, when the new regime came into force. They merged the short-term drop-off and pick-up zones, and upped the charge, as above. So it's £5 for ten minutes, then £10 for up to 15 minutes, then £1 per minute. Which was why I was a bit apprehensive about the pickup and going into the new zone. Any kind of delay or problem could rack up a huge bill. And this article demonstrates in spades what can go wrong if the whole thing basically goes haywire

Anyway, at the last minute I didn't get the job, and haven't been near the airport since. And reading this, I'm kind of thankful for that

I'd imagine the £1 per minute charge might explain some of the numbers in the article, assuming the system thinks the vehicle has been in the area for 24+ hours, or whatever. But the article doesn't mention the £1 per minute excess charge

https://www.edinburghairport.com/car-pa ... om-july-17

Is this about the norm elsewhere?

EDI Charged Pickup & Dropoff
Up to 10 minutes £5
10 to 15 minutes £10
15 minutes and above £1 per minute

Isn't there a call button on the machine at the barrier? We had a similar issue at East Midlands a few years ago when the screen asked the driver for something like £1900.00 He pressed the call button and the issue was resolved in seconds.

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Grandad,

Who would have thought?

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IDFIMH

Similar to Gatwick, but Heathrow seems to be £5 drop-off for as long as you can get away with it.

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IDFIMH

looks the same as glasgow airport charges

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i started out with nothing and ive still got most of it left

The £5 drop off/Pickup fee is just the start of the woes, you can't do a meet and greet type pick up because you can't leave your vehicle, you can't even go for a pee, then if your clients are being delayed exiting the airport you'll get charged an extra pound for every minute you wait.

I'll drop off there in the future but I probably won't want do any more pick ups as their so called improvements are the exact opposite.

The trouble is airports these days can't make money out of the airlines or retail because Mr Ryannaire changed the game by making them compete for airline business and people just don't spend at airports like they used to.


Car parking is the only way airports make money these days and it is proving very lucrative for them !

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

Bloodnock, that's pretty much what I've been thinking, although it's very rare for me to do a 'meet and greet' style pick-up.

Will check out the options if that eventuality arises, but unless it's a total stranger who doesn't know the airport, I'll arrange a quick pickup in the new area, but no fannying about with nameboards in arrivals, or that kind of stuff, unless it's totally unavoidable, and there's adequate recompense.

Of course, to a degree that's what we're all doing already, no doubt, but with this £1-per-minute nonsense and no leaving cars unattended in the short-stay bit, it's even more imperative not to get caught up in that area.

And that's even assuming the cameras are working properly, and we're not billed £1-per-minute for a seven-day wait, or whatever

Delighted to announce they now have a Greggs at Gatwick South Terminal arrivals.

And I have never seen a busier outlet at an airport than what I saw today at that Greggs.

Talk about printing money.

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IDFIMH

My Meet n Greet clients are wealthty foreign clients who use the airport rarely, they often dont speak english and would not wish to walk the 500 yards to the 1 hour pick up zone where I can leave my car to go and greet them...