Taxi Suck Overload

[blas]

Picture it, Halloween night 2009. Bar close.

All the drunk people just want a ride home. Being smart and not driving. Leaving the bars and going to the special corner where all the local taxi cabs gather and pick people up.

Except....there was something extremely wrong.

My bf and our friends were one of the last groups out of the bar, and when we got to the corner, we heard a lot of commotion and swearing. At first, we thought it was just drunk people being loud and obnoxious.

Then we saw a cab pull up, a small group of people walk towards it with their hands out to "hail" it, and no sooner did they walk up to it and attempt to open the door did the cab just take off.

Then we saw it happen again with another cab. Both cabs were empty, sans the driver.

Cabs kept driving up and down the street, then parking.....and anytime anyone tried to get near it to hail it, they'd take off.

We ended up having to call my bf's mother to come get us. Woke her up and everything. Because the fucking taxi cabs were refusing to pick people up!

This was extremely unusual. All I ever have to normally do is stick my arm out and a cab will come after me, if I'm not already standing by one.....and if I am, the cabbie will usually tell me to get in. What the hell?

[ChaoKuang]

Cabbie Halloween prank?
It does make you kinda though. At least, after it's all said and done and you can look back on it..

[infinitemonkies]

a lot of cabbies won't pick up someone who is obviously intoxicated, cause, well, no one likes to try to clean puke off of the upholstery.

For that matter, time spent cleaning is time spent NOT earning fares, and i know i wouldnt want to work a shift in an enclosed space that smells like puke.

[Sliceanddice]

but why park on a bar street waiting for fairs then...

[mariamousie1]

a lot of cabbies won't pick up someone who is obviously intoxicated, cause, well, no one likes to try to clean puke off of the upholstery.

For that matter, time spent cleaning is time spent NOT earning fares, and i know i wouldnt want to work a shift in an enclosed space that smells like puke.

So they're giving drunk people LESS alternatives to driving, in order to save their upholstery. How wise.

[rageaholic]

So they're giving drunk people LESS alternatives to driving, in order to save their upholstery. How wise.

Yeah, very stupid move on the taxi drivers part.

[Andara Bledin]

Oh, I'd so totally call in with a massive complaint to the cab company about that.

I'd also see if there wasn't some official complaint I could file with whoever regulates taxi licensing, too.

^-.-^

[blas]

That would be a royal nightmare, considering there are so many different taxi cab companies around here, it's hard to tell if there wasn't one or two that actually WERE giving rides.....

I just vote that the next time there's a huge shingdig at the bars (like a major holiday or event) everyone gets carpools together......it may sound silly, but if every little group of people gets a DD and rides together, there won't be a lot of business for the cabs that night.

[Argabarga]

a lot of cabbies won't pick up someone who is obviously intoxicated, cause, well, no one likes to try to clean puke off of the upholstery.

For that matter, time spent cleaning is time spent NOT earning fares, and i know i wouldnt want to work a shift in an enclosed space that smells like puke.

THat seems the most likely, I certainly would try to find the soberest bunch to pick up if I had the option. COnsidering the number of times drunk people have tried to climb into MY CAR at stoplights, thinking I'm a cab, can't say that I blame them for having little sympathy for the visibly drunk.

they're under no obligation to put up with crap anymore than the rest of us are.

[Seshat]

Cab drivers are workers who are alone, in a confined space, with a wide variety of total strangers.

As such, their own safety must be their top priority.

My guess is that whoever was at the front of the queue was visibly unsafe to pick up.

[Food Lady]

So they're giving drunk people LESS alternatives to driving, in order to save their upholstery. How wise.

Who made it the cab companies' responsibility to take care of drunks? We've all seen the quote on this board: "Failure to plan on your part...." I understand your point that they shouldn't be driving, but then, maybe they shouldn't be getting drunk. Doesn't personal responsibility include that? I guess I'm getting into fratching, so I'll shut up now.

[blas]

My biggest issue was they were parking their cabs where they normally do, but anytime anyone went near it, they'd just take off!

It's not like everyone was drunkenly zombie-like thrashing towards the cabs and pounding on the windows......

It was freezing....granted people should have dressed more weather appropriate but then it would have limited Halloween for everyone.....everyone was cold and just wanted to go home.

[Bella_Vixen]

I'm with Blas on this one.

These cabs were taking off without letting ANYONE in. Again and again. I have a problem with this scenario.

[MrSmiley]

These cabs were taking off without letting ANYONE in. Again and again. I have a problem with this scenario.

Right to refuse service to anyone...

I agree with you that this is crappy on their part, but at the same time working at my job... I always keep happily in the back of my mind that I can just say No to someone and refuse to help them in any way.

Besides, I've already had cabs drop people off and then have to argue or phone the police to actually get their money/fare from the deadbeat. And a couple of times a drunk guy has passed out during the trip, during one or two cases... nobody could wake them up at all and the police ended up taking them out of the cab into their own vehicle.

of course i also hate the cab wars going on where someone phones up a cab and another company shows up and steals the fare. Of course it's also sucky customers sometimes in they don't care *which* cab they get in... I get to see a lot of confused and frustrated drivers looking for whichever yahoo they came to pick up.

[blas]

Now would be a good time to mention that at night, ALL cabs require pre-pay. No reason to refuse service unless that person cannot pay straight up.

That started just a few months ago, why it took so long, I'm not sure, but obviously pre-pay was meant to ensure that drunks don't stiff.

Sometimes, if I take a cab both to AND from the bar, I'll notice that some cabs are really lenient on the way TO the bar and don't make me pay until we get there. But for sure, later in the night, you pay once you get in and state your destination.