And that's 15 minutes I'll never get back

[Deserted]

So, I arrived at a house to pick someone up. I rang the doorbell, and a guy stuck his head out. Told him who I was there for, and he said, "I'll let her know."

I stood outside that door for 15 minutes before ringing the doorbell again. When I did, a different guy stuck his head out.

Me: Is she about ready?
Him: Oh, well she rescheduled.
Me: Are you fucking kidding me? You let me stand here for 15 minutes for nothing? [Yes, I really said that.]
Him: Yeah.

Well, thanks, assholes. For that, you go straight on to my personal blacklist. I refuse to drive someone who has no consideration for their drivers.

[catcul]

I've had clients cancel on me at the last minute. That is one of the most aggravating things I have to face.

I have a friend who dropped a client because she cancelled at the last minute three consecutive times.

[Limescale]

I'd bill them for the 15 minutes seeing as they apparently deliberately let you stand out there...

[eltf177]

I too would bill for the wait time, and any more shenanigans like this and they find themselves permanently blacklisted...

[Deserted]

I've had clients cancel on me at the last minute. That is one of the most aggravating things I have to face.

I have a friend who dropped a client because she cancelled at the last minute three consecutive times.

People cancel all the time, that's just part of the business. But usually, it's more like, knock knock, "Hi, Big Green Cab Co for [name]." "Sorry, I'm not going." This was rather different.

I'd bill them for the 15 minutes seeing as they apparently deliberately let you stand out there...

I too would bill for the wait time, and any more shenanigans like this and they find themselves permanently blacklisted...

Unfortunately, I can't bill them for anything. With the cab industry, nobody owes anybody anything until the passenger is physically in the cab. For a non-wheelchair trip, I give them five minutes, then knock a second time. If they aren't ready to go after another five minutes, I'll leave. But folks in wheelchairs often need more time, that's just the nature of the beast.

Also, I can't blacklist for the entire company, just for myself. My blacklist is actually very short. The first person I ever put on there no showed three trips in a row. There will not be a 4th trip involving me. (Also, everyone on my blacklist is there permanently.)

[WishfulSpirit]

Cabs here will only wait 5 minutes and they leave. We had one drive off while his elderly fare was already out the front exit of the hotel and trying to hobble her walker to his door because she "took too long." I tell people around here to take Uber or Lyft. I'm sure OP is a great driver but that kind of driver is in the minority around here.

[Deserted]

Honestly, I point people at Uber myself. We can't compete with their rates. But Uber can't do much in the way of wheelchair trips in Desert Hell just yet; to my knowledge, they only have one van here.

[WishfulSpirit]

Depends on the type of trip needed, though, Deserted. Hubby uses a wheelchair but he has enough mobility to get out of the chair and limp into a standard car. All Ubers have to have room for a folding chair as part of the company's ADA stuff. If someone can get out of the chair, or transfer into a standard seat (I have one guest at the hotel right now who is paralyzed from the upper chest down and he can use a drop-side chair and transfer board to use a standard vehicle), they can use Uber. If they need a lift is when it's more of an issue.

[Deserted]

You're right, of course, and those people use normal cabs (ETA: and Uber) here. My passengers are the ones that can't transfer, and those with power chairs (which tend to be too heavy to easily lift, and don't usually disassemble conveniently).

[Argabarga]

This used to piss me right off when we did more motor club calls.

Someone would call for us, maybe from a town about 45 minutes to and hour away, we'd accept the call, get 90% of the way there, and it would cancel. Why? "It was taking too long, so I called my buddy"

We'd get our pittance of a GOA fee, but, in the final equation, that would barely cover the fuel. The idea being that GOAs would be few and far between, so there was no harm in "losing" on one because you'd have 15 or more paying calls to offset it.

But, as more and more tow companies went out of business in the mid-naughties (diesel was at nearly $5.80 a gallon there for a bit) or decided to drop motor clubs altogether, the service areas got so big that we were servicing an 80 or 90 mile area, alone, 1 or 2 hour waits were COMMONPLACE and 2/3rds of our calls were cancelling, meaning we were losing money out-of-town, and, with one or all of our trucks out-of-town, we were missing local calls because we had nobody available. (the other issue was having to fight tooth and nail for payment, in order to maximize their profits, the clubs were getting anal with their paperwork, and missing dotting an "i" metaphorically, became cause to deny your claim. Short term gain, long term loss as we weren't looking forward to re upping THAT contract. The old owner was an old-school guy who never seemed to grasp the changing economics of the industry, but, once he sold it on to the new owner in 2012, things changed rapidly, we dropped everyone except AAA.

I'm not sure the ones we dropped are even in business anymore. When I started in 2008, my pricing guide had 10 or so clubs in it. The final version I remember having, was down to 4, nowadays, we don't even have a guide, you memorize the AAA rates and you're all set....

[Racket_Man]

I hate to say this but welcome to my world of pizza delivery.

[Deserted]

Nah, I think my job is easier than yours.

[Racket_Man]

Nah, I think my job is easier than yours.

To a point I will agree with you.

[Deserted]

Your customers get sucky if their order isn't perfect, takes longer than they think it should, and a million other problems. My customers tend to not get sucky; if they're mad, it's usually for a good reason (i.e. something that is Big Green Cab Co's fault, or their insurance's).

Hell, I don't hardly even get tipped any more. I'd say that about 90% of my business is vouchers (meaning someone besides the passenger is footing the bill, usually medical insurance or some government agency) -- there are no tips allowed on vouchers. (Wheelchair cash calls are pretty rare around here. I average one sent to me per month, not including people who call me direct.)

[BlaqueKatt]

Unfortunately, I can't bill them for anything. With the cab industry, nobody owes anybody anything until the passenger is physically in the cab.

in the city my sister drives cab in they attach a $2-$5 "no load" fee to the phone number , next time they call in they pay the fee or don't get a cab, and yes the fee goes to the original driver.