I haven’t been back to my hometown in ages and assumed taxis were still as cheap as they used to be. When the driver told me the fare, I thought he was trying to rip me off. I ended up snapping at him and even insulted his profession… I was already having a bad day and took it out on him, which is no excuse.
I realize I was wrong, feel terrible…… I use ‘Tip’ features on the payment app to send him triple the original fare. He hasn’t replied yet, I’m not sure if this makes up for it. Am I the asshole?
You self diagnosed. Why bother asking when you know yourself you were
Why are you expecting him to reply? That’s kinda weird.
You were the AH, but you’ve made an amends of sorts by tipping big. So now let it go and don’t do it again.
YTA and it does not make up for it. Even if the prices had gone up you took anger out on somebody who was just doing their job. Learn to deal with your anger in a better way.
YTA.
And you damn well know you are.
And no, money doesn’t change the fact that you’re an AH.
YTA for assuming the worst and snapping. If you calmly queried it then NTA.
YTA. Obviously. Money doesn’t make up for dehumanizing a taxi diver (or anybody for that matter).
YTA. You admit you took out on the driver something that was entirely your fault.
YTA – obviously
You seem to think that because you didn’t know prices had changed, it’s somehow not your fault? It is.
You behaved like an asshole, and you know it.
As a licenced Hackney Cariage taxi driver, a couple of points.
Yes, your the asshole. No mitigating circumstances.
Here are some things about taxis and fares that everyone should know.
Some bylaws are specific to certain licencing regions, but the following are common law and therefore common to all.
If it was a hackney licensed TAXI, there would have been a meter in the car. It should have been on.
Its illegal not to have the meter running when a fare is in the car unless a fixed price has been agreed before the journey starts.
Prices are set by the local authority taxi licencing department at licensing comitee meetings. They are not set by the drivers or the taxi companies.
Meters are fitted by a licensed third party that is licensed by the local authority taxi licensing department.
The meters are fitted calibrated and sealed.
As a driver we cant access any settings ot make any changes.
When the local authority makes fare changes, we have to take the car with the fitted meter to the licenced meter company who make the changes, recalibrate the meter and re seal it.
The drivers hackney licence is on display in the car.
If you ever have an issue with the fare price, take a photo of the meter, the drives licence, and report it to the local authority licencing dept.
If the fare is wrong you will get it refunded and the driver will face a sanction of some kind.
A continual offender will lose his licence.
We dont over charge people. We just dont. Its not worth losing your entire livelihood over.
If there was no meter in the car, then you are not ina TAXI.
You are in a PRIVATE HIRE vehicle. These usually have yellow license plate on the back of the car instead of a white hackney license plate.
People think these are the same. They are not.
Its illegal for a PH vehicle to have the word TAXI anywhere on the vehicle.
Its illegal for a PH vehicle to be flagged at the roadside or to use taxi ranks.
All PH journeys have to be booked through the operators office before you get in the car.
All hackney carriage vehicles must have a working meter, PH vehicles do not and most dont.
PH cars are abkle to set their own prices for set journeys, ts not regulated by the local authority like taxis fares are.
If you are in a private hire vehicle that does not have a meter, you should get the price, or agree the price for the journey before you move.
If you dont like the price at the end of the journey and the PH driver says “thats what we charge as a set rate for that journey sir” and you didnt check the price or agree the price, thats on **you** for not knowing the difference between a TAXI and a private hire vehicle.
You dont have recourse for complaint like you do with a taxi.
Also, if you ladies out there are getting cars late at night on your own, you should know this.
Hackney Licenced Taxi drivers have passed the local knowledge examination, are vetted with rolling criminal record and enhanhanced DBS checks and are under constant scrutiny from the licencing dept.
PH drivers in most licencing authorities fill in a form, dont have the DBS checks and in some areas (not pointing any fingers) there are PH drivers that even dont speak english.
You decide which one you are safer with.
Thanks for the reply. However, the taxi situation here is a bit different. While every cab is fitted with a meter and there are official regulated rates, I live in a very small town where “not turning on the meter” has become a local tradition.
It doesn’t always mean we get overcharged—for instance, trips to the railway station are usually quite cheap. But the opposite can also be true. Every year, my fare from the station fluctuates by about ±20, but this time it jumped by a staggering 60%. I’ve since confirmed with relatives that this is indeed the new going rate for this year.
I completely agree that keeping my temper is crucial, and I was 100% the asshole in how I handled it. But I just wanted to clarify that the taxi industry here operates quite differently.
>I just wanted to clarify that the taxi industry here operates quite differently.
It doesnt. Its the same rules UK wide, Taxis in Scotland are the same as Taxis in Brighton, and its the same where you are as where I am.
It doesnt matter how rural you are.
A driver not using the meter is technically not complyig with the licencing laws and risking a complaint.
Which is fine and happens everywhere, especially with regular customers, but technically its still wrong.
The risk is, if someone, say in the situation you were in, instead of doing what you did, i.e. calmig down and realsing you were wrong, but instead reported the driver to the authority for possibly overcharging and not using the meter, they will be in trouble and can be fined and can potentially lose their licence.