Taxi scam or not? No change given.

I recently took a short taxi journey which came to €6.10. I handed a €10 note to the driver who said he had no change. (Which was odd?)

I said I had no change either and he eventually said he has €1.80. I was in a bit of a rush and not really interested in an arguement and just took the €1.80 which means the taxi man kept an extra €2.10.

I supposed I could have argued with him and asked him to go and get change from a shop or something but I am just wondering if this is a common thing? It seems like a handy way of getting a few extra euros per fare?

Re: Taxi scam or not?

Hard to believe a taxi man doesn't have change of a ten. I'd say he was chancing his arm.

Re: Taxi scam or not?

I can't believe that! My love for taxi drivers is documented on the following thread, maybe you've already seen it.

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=38671

I think we need to compile a list of these taxi scams.

What if a barman shrugged his shoulders said he had no change? I doubt we would be as quick to leave the tenner with him.

I would have made him drive off to get change, drive back to my house, then he could have the tenner. What a chancer!!!!

Re: Taxi scam or not?

Interesting... something similar happened to my wife few weeks ago..
Fare was €25, she handed €40 and the driver had no change at all.. no coins, no €5, no €10 notes... which I found very hard to believe at 11pm... and he would not take a cheque.
I tried to convince my wife that it was her problem, and that she should give him €40 full stop...
She went in , routed through pockets/boxes/drawers to come with €25...and then the guy said she now owned €27.50 as he had been waiting!!!

Re: Taxi scam or not?

Looking back when I told the taxi driver where I was going he would have known it was a short journey and that he would have needed change.

Actually I cant believe he didnt have change...well he mysteriously found 1.80 after I didnt leave him the 10 straight off.

Yep, I was ripped off. It wont happen again though. Bloody taxi rip offs.

Re: Taxi scam or not?

bacchus said:

Interesting... something similar happened to my wife few weeks ago..
Fare was €25, she handed €40 and the driver had no change at all.. no coins, no €5, no €10 notes... which I found very hard to believe at 11pm... and he would not take a cheque.
I tried to convince my wife that it was her problem, and that she should give him €40 full stop...
She went in , routed through pockets/boxes/drawers to come with €25...and then the guy said she now owned €27.50 as he had been waiting!!!

Click to expand...

Also had similar experience a few years ago but for lesser amount. Taxi driver drove me up the road to a petrol station to get change (as he had none) and the meter kept running while I went in! The petrol station was only a hundred yards up the road from the house.

I think I need to be more vigilent.

Re: Taxi scam or not?

Important to note in these cases that the fare on the meter is the maximum amount the taxi driver is allowed to charge, not necessarily the amount he has to charge.

Re: Taxi scam or not?

Bluetonic said:

Important to note in these cases that the fare on the meter is the maximum amount the taxi driver is allowed to charge, not necessarily the amount he has to charge.

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I have yet to come across a taxi man who give me a discount on what was displayed on the meter...

Re: Taxi scam or not?

SteelBlue05 said:

I have yet to come across a taxi man who give me a discount on what was displayed on the meter...

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I have to say I have been lucky enough to meet a few.... and even a few in Dublin.
I've had fares of €12.70 rounded down to €10, but definatly the exception more than the rule.

Re: Taxi scam or not?

SteelBlue05 said:

I have yet to come across a taxi man who give me a discount on what was displayed on the meter...

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Me neither, but it might be worth mentioning to them the next time they have no change.

Re: Taxi scam or not?

bacchus said:

...and then the guy said she now owned €27.50 as he had been waiting!!!

Click to expand...

You see folks, this is why taxi drivers have a bad name. It's just pure greed. I really am STAGGERED by the dishonesty of some of these people.

If this happened to me, I would have called the gardai. Simple as that. That is blatant thieving!!

I think we all need to educate ourselves about the charging structures. For anyone new here, the thread I mention above contains a link to the taxi regulator site.

In a perverse way, I am now looking forward to the next time a taxi driver tries to rip me off. I now have all the facts, and am not afraid to use them! :mad:

Re: Taxi scam or not?

I have also had drivers discount fares for me occasionally - like €12.30 down to €12.00 on his own bidding.

Rare, but it has happened a few times.

z

Re: Taxi scam or not?

Thats like going to a counter in a shop and them not having a float in the till to offer customers change. Taxi men are meant to have change on them they would have a float for every day it would work the same way as a shopkeeper.

Re: Taxi scam or not?

I once needed to get to Griffith College in time for a night lecture. I needed to be there at 6pm. I didn't want to be late under any circumstances, so I got permission to leave work at 3 and called a cab company that the place I worked with had an account with.

I told them where I was going from and to and that I needed to be there at 6. I would be ready to go anytime they wanted, I didn't care how they did it or how early they needed to pick me up but I needed to be there at 6. They said 4:30 would be early enough, I said make it 3:30 just to be sure, they said OK.

3:30 came and went, 4:30 came and went. The car was always just up the street. I was calling other companies to get an alternative but nothing was available that would pick me up in time to get me there for 6.

At almost 6pm and after a heated call to the original company, a jolly old soul picked me up. I got to the college at about 6:30 or 6:45.

He joked...."I'm sure the lecturer won't notice if you sneak in the back."
I replied..."I am the lecturer"

He didn't get a tip, even though it probably wsn't his fault. The part of that that annoys me most is that I paid at all. I should have gotten out of the car and told him to take it up with his company.

I've learned my lesson though. I drive everywhere now.

-Rd

Re: Taxi scam or not?

bacchus said:

Interesting... something similar happened to my wife few weeks ago..
Fare was €25, she handed €40 and the driver had no change at all.. no coins, no €5, no €10 notes... which I found very hard to believe at 11pm... and he would not take a cheque.

Click to expand...

I would have just given him €20, and told him that not having change was his problem.

Re: Taxi scam or not?

I once got a cab and the driver tried it on with a 60% overcharge, I told him no way that the fare was normally x and he said he would take me to the local garda station, I said I'm fine with that so off we went about a 1 mile down the road to the station the guard came out and asked what was going on, so I explained the situation to him and agreed that I would have no problem paying the correct fare, he said fine so pay him and I will witness the payment, I replied I will pay him when he drops me at my destination which he had to do as the garda followed, I gave him the correct fare and he had done about 2 miles extra without payment. He wasn't a happy camper but neither would I have been if I just layed down and gave him my hard earned cash!

Re: Taxi scam or not?

Had a similar 'row' with a taxi driver two weeks ago. 11.15pm at night, coming from the airport. He was disgusted to have gotten a fare to Finglas Road only (even bitched about it on the phone to his buddy who got Malahide)...When we got to my destination I had a 50Euro note and he had no change...He told me in no uncertain terms that I'd 'better' get the change from somewhere...I argued with him that having no change was his problem not mine...We were stopped outside my apartment complex and he told me to go across the road and get change from a local pub...I told him it was his problem so he reversed sharply with me in the car, informed me gruffly that he was keeping the meter on and we drove over to outside the local pub. He looked inside and said 'looks dodgey in there, you go in' (lovely eh?). I laughed at this stage and he eventually got out and got the change....We then drove back to my place and when he saw me with a pen out recording his number he backed down and didn't charge me for his little drive across the road but we agreed on a slightly lesser amount.... His attitide was disgusting, verging on aggressive...

Like others, I have given up on taxi's and bought a car...

Re: Taxi scam or not?

johndoe64 said:

He wasn't a happy camper but neither would I have been if I just layed down and gave him my hard earned cash!

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I take my hat off to you, sir! If only we all had the same approach as yourself there might be fewer of these crooks around.

Another incident which happened to me, my destination was a service situation:

Me: 8 euro? There you go (handed driver 20)
Driver: Ehhh ... I've no change, anything smaller?
Me: No, I'm afraid not.
Driver: Hmm, you could break the 20 in the garage...
Me: Emmm, there's nothing in there I want.
Driver: You could just ask them for change?
Me: Ehhhh, could YOU maybe get the change??
Driver: 'Grunt'

I eventually got the change. Did he get a tip for this fantastic service? Ehhhh, no. He did not.

Re: Taxi scam or not?

don't think it's a coincidence that its Dublin taxi drivers who are ranting on about the new charges. last week my son got a taxi out from town. €5 as normal. as he said he was embarressed to charge the new amount!

Re: Taxi scam or not?

All the taxis now display the complaint number of the taxi regulator on the side widows. Has anyone actually raised a complaint?