Bargaining with Taxi drivers

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evoke

Registered User
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Has anyone offered a taxi driver a fixed fair to take you home. There are some night i see in town and the quene of taxis is 40 cars long. I was always wondering if you could say to a passing taxi driver before he goes into the quene to give him an offer.

Just wondering if people have done it or can you do it? I dont think you can do it with hackneys cause you have to book a hackney before you can get in it.

It just some times it cost me loads of money to go home on my own and do not know what the price is. I was always thinking of setting the price in my favour.

Anyone ever heard of this happening in ireland before?
 
I recently flagged down a taxi, told him I had only a fiver and he took me on a trip that would normally cost over eight euro. Not a huge saving (and it was cheap) but obviously it can be done. It was a Sunday morning on a quiet road so I guess he wasn't going to get any other business, not sure they'd be so keen on it in the city centre or at night.
 
In the early nineties, while waiting for a bus to the airport, a taxi slowed down and offered me a fare of 3.50 pounds from O'Connell Street to Dublin Airport, I didn't live in Ireland at the time, thought it was so odd I turned it down, I guess it was a sign of the times.

Bargaining times are back, yipee!
 
A friend of mine is a taxi driver and he has said that he is more than willing to negotiate fare reductions for longer journeys. He was talking in the order of knocking 5euro off a 30-40euro fare. He said he was actually surprised it doesn't happen more often.
 


i would say more than likely he was based at the rank at airport arrivals and instead of going back empty, he might aswell go back with somebody eben if its for basically nothing, it would of bought his dinner for the day back then, and i suppose he was prob hoping of a small tip to get it to a fiver.

agreed fairs are ok for the 40euro journey, but if you start trying to knock a 10 fair to a 5, he will prob just tell you to fcuk off LOL
 
That what i was thinking of doing.Usually it cost €20 for me if i go home on my own. Was thinking if i went up to the guy at the end of the taxi rank and offered him €15 for the journey.I will try it one of these nights when it is not busy and see how the taxi drivers react to the purposal.
 
the taxi regulator advises that we start haggling/bargaining with taxi drivers before getting into the car...she said that the meter was the maximum fare...have yet to try iy myself though!!!
 
I got two interesting facts from a recent boards.ie thread on taxi drivers;

1) You don't have to go in the first car on the rank. You can pick any car/driver you like.
2) To go with an 'off meter' fare, the driver has to get the customer to sign a waiver at the start of the journey
 
Is it not the case though that the taxi driver will tell you to go back to the taxi at the top of the queue if you try and pick another car? Isn't it a kind of honour system with them??

Got a taxi from Dundrum TC to Crumlin the other night - Eur25!!! I knew it would cost a bit, but it wasn't late (around 9pm) and I had no idea it would be that much...

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muffin1973 said:
Is it not the case though that the taxi driver will tell you to go back to the taxi at the top of the queue if you try and pick another car? Isn't it a kind of honour system with them??
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Well I guess you have to remind them of [broken link removed]and make a formal complaint to the Regulator if they mess around.

muffin1973 said:
Got a taxi from Dundrum TC to Crumlin the other night - Eur25!!! I knew it would cost a bit, but it wasn't late (around 9pm) and I had no idea it would be that much...
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Was that the fare on the meter? Did you get a receipt?
 
When a journey is pre-booked, customers may waive their right to have a particular journey charged on the meter. In this situation both the driver and the passenger must sign a prior written (waiver) agreement.

Does that mean then that you can not walk to a taxi driver and make a deal with him.

I am definitely going to try this out. But not on new years eve cause they will be spoiled for choice that night.

I wonder would they have the waiver form in the Taxi or do you have to bring your own.
 
I consulted a cabbie mate and as above you dont have to get into the first cab on a rank, thats more a rank rule of thumb and punter etiquette.

If any of the taximen in front have an issue with it, your cabbie of choice may ask you to get out and tell them you dont want to go with them or he'll tell them for you.
 
I've been trying to bargain them down for about 3 months now for the craic. I think on average im getting them down by 25%. Some wont budge so i just go to the next one.

They are much more desperate now than they used to be. I find that non-Irish drivers are most willing to bargain.
 
passat said:
Would you do the same at the checkout at Tesco or Dunnes.
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The difference is that the person on the checkout in Dunnes or Tesco are not the ones pocketing the cash and thus have no authority to enter into a bargaining process. The Taxi driver is a sole trader who hs full control of what he/she charges and is the sole person in receipt of the cash at the end of the transaction
 
Then i suggest you try and bargain in you local shop where the owner is a sole trader.
 
If you log onto the taxi regulator's website you will see that it is up to the driver to give discount and it is entirely at his or her discretion.

As a driver myself when I get to the person's destination and for example if the fare is 21 or 22 euro I would usually say to the punter to just give me 20 euro even. Thats the way I give a discount. People do try to bargain with me. Some people have asked me to do a run somewhere for a fiver and if the fare was on the meter it could come to 10 or 12 euros. I may be a bit generous but I'm not that generous.

All very well the regulator telling people to bargain with drivers etc. but just remember the cars don't run on fresh air. We have to keep our cars regularly serviced which is becoming more costly by the day and having to have public liability insurance is a big expense. For myself and my other driver it costs me 2500 a year for this insurance. I know now that petrol and diesel has come down and thank god it has as during the summer months the costs of filling the car was unreal. But there are other expenses as well like servicing and tyre replacement etc due to the appalling condition of the roads where I operate.

Remember we are providing a service and I like to think I am providing a good service. We are not doing it for the good of our health. I am trying to make a living plus keep another person in employment and off the dole. So remember these things when you start trying to bargain with drivers over fares.
 
steph1 said:
As a driver myself when I get to the person's destination and for example if the fare is 21 or 22 euro I would usually say to the punter to just give me 20 euro even. Thats the way I give a discount.
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Steph1 - why do you do that? You've already got your fare agreed at that stage. It's not like a high street retail store where they can come back to you the next time they go shopping.
 
Bob_tg said:
Steph1 - why do you do that? You've already got your fare agreed at that stage. It's not like a high street retail store where they can come back to you the next time they go shopping.
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Well you see Bob I'm working in a rural town in the west of ireland. I have regular and I mean very regular punters. Some of them we could get twice a day. Its a bit of psychology really. Give them a euro or two off and bingo they become regular punters plus tell all their family, friends etc. People appreciate a euro or two off.
 
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