Well this is all very confusing, and I think something has been lost in the translation here.
For a start, I'm assuming here that when the word 'rank' is used, it's actually a reference to a cab office. And that the cars and drivers referred to are private hire. Not that it would make much difference, but reading it at face value, some of it sounds like she's speaking to HCDs on a street rank
Woman scared and frightened after Burnley taxi firms 'refuse' farehttps://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/n ... fuse-fare/A young woman was left feeling vulnerable, petrified and helpless after two taxi firms refused to take her home, leaving her stranded in a town centre at 10.30pm.Elizabeth Grimshaw works for Burnley Leisure and was finishing her shift at St Peter’s Centre in Burnley town centre when she called a taxi to take her to her boyfriend’s in Oswaldtwistle.
The 20-year-old would usually drive to work but on that day, Thursday February 2, her car had broken down and her boyfriend was unable to pick her up.
Miss Grimshaw said she booked a taxi via a Burnley-based cab firm, who quoted her £8 for the fare.
However, when she got to the taxi rank and got into the taxi, the driver demanded £15 from her upfront, and when she said she couldn’t pay he told her to get out.
Miss Grimshaw said: “After locking up I went to the taxi rank which is just outside work and one of my colleagues came with me to make sure I got in the taxi ok.
“I had no battery left on my phone and only had £10 on me.
“The door to the taxi rank was closed when we got there so Gary, my work mate, phoned the number on the door to book me a taxi and agreed £8 over the phone.
“Before the taxi came there was a weird man who kept asking me to get in his car, which made me feel really uncomfortable, so Gary waited with me until the taxi came.
“I got in the taxi and Gary left and we set off and then the driver said he wanted the cash up front so I tried to give him £8 but he was like ‘no chance’.”
Miss Grimshaw said she was then told to get out of the taxi, but refused as she was worried about the weird man.
She told this to the taxi driver who agreed to take her to the bus station and said he would phone her another cab.
She went on: “He took me to the bus station and I got out and he told me he’d phoned me another taxi and directed me to the rank across the road. By then I’d found an extra £2.50 in my bag so I had £12.50.
“The other taxi rank told me there’d been no taxi called for me, and when I asked them if I could ring my mum or charge my phone they said no.”
At this point, Miss Grimshaw said she was crying in the taxi rank, begging them for help. She attempted to switch her phone on and it started with one per cent battery so she made a quick call to her boyfriend who managed to call her friend.
She said: “I then had to go and sit under the canopy at the bus station for half an hour, on my own, until my friend came. I was absolutely petrified. I just felt so vulnerable and helpless.
“I’d said to the taxi drivers that I was a young girl and I’d asked for help but they wouldn’t even let me use the phone.
“I had £12.50 and I told them I’d get more money when I got home. But to leave me like that and not even help, I felt very vulnerable.
“I left work at 10.30pm but didn’t get in till after midnight. It was really scary and I shouldn’t have been put in a position like that.”
A Burnley Council spokesperson said: "A complaint has been made to us. We will investigate this fully and determine an appropriate response."
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