Taxi Driver Online

seemd a complete shambles

was only there 2 days but got 5 taxis

was twice asked how to get to the hotel i was staying at or the pubs/bars i was meeting my friends at as the driver didnt have a clue

also no 2 meters seemed to be working at the same rate or have the same increment scale

bloody shocking - next time im down there i'll walk i think

Or ring for a PH.

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IDFIMH

apart from 1 taxi i hailed on the street they where all PH

fecking joke

A bizarre tale indeed.

Isn't Cardiff derestricted? And presumably they hand badges out willy nilly, if the driver didn't know where he was going.

Yet the ranks don't seem to be overflowing with taxis.

About time it came to Edinburgh - think of the money you'd be making Mr LongshanksEd

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Sorry guys being late on this post weekend and all that.

You are right re our taxis, loads & loads of cherry pickers, I think the trouble is that the council have handed out so many badges to the ethnics that they are afraid of the race card.

As some of you will know they tried it with me, (but they would I am a true Brit) but failed miserably.

Picked up some young ladies the other night - no great distance and my fare was £4 cheaper than the previous cab. These guys P**s me off because it does our trade no favours whatsoever, and we can still make a good living without ripping the punters off.

I have said it before,I blame the L.As because of the way that they treat the job. It is not rocket science, but to hand out badges just because they pass some sort of knowledge test is not enough. The L.As are not doing enough, i.e on a busy night (this Sunday) cabs on the rank with their lights off, "where are you going mate" and if no distance, Ohh sorry booked.

We do have problems, but the L.As have got to sort it out.

If you are down here again you can always e-mail me beforehand and I will get you sorted.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

sorted

I think it is now time, that the rules where changed and set in stone, where by the punter must take the first cab from any rank, and the driver at the front must not refuse to take them, regardless.
I know its the punters prerogative at the moment, that they can take any cab on a rank as they see fit, but a simple rule change could put an end to this,
Perhaps JD could start a campaign by contacting all councils in the UK and start the ball rolling, or the NTA.
The sooner this is introduced the better.
We have asked Scottish Borders Council time and time again to introduce this but until its set in stone they will not listen.

I do not know if it is a written rule here but we never pick up behind the first car on a rank and if anyone does they sharp learn and 99%do not do it again

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=z07K29Fc15U

I think many councils have bylaws saying this type of thing shouldn't happen.

But from my experience a self-policing proceedure often does the trick.

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IDFIMH

You want to be down here on a Thursday night - NOT!

A rank right in the middle of the City is absolute carnage and nobody does anything about it.

e.g's Cars deliberately held back so that the "brothers" can jump the rank, sometimes six cars at a time - double ranking so as one goes out another jumps in, a gap in the middle or the front of the rank due to a seven seater legally picking up, someone will go from the back to that position.

It has got that bad, and there are so many bad asses out there ,not much gets said. All done by the ethnics - need I say more.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

Doesn't surprise me at all, and I think some on here could give equally bad examples.

But the only answer, other than a smack from Mr Skull ( ), is for the council to get it's act together.

And therein lies the problem.

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IDFIMH

I think I prefer your second answer mr Sussex.

Self-policing may work if it's just the occassional driver who's doing it, but when there are loads at it then the council has to act or it just gets worse.

I recall a disagreement with one of the local association stalwarts who accuses me and others of being good at "shooting our mouth off on taxi ranks" but not coming to the association meetings. I've told him a few times that since some of the attendees at the meetings would have the shirt off your back given the chance then I didn't think this was a good basis for discussion.

At one point I wrote several letters to the local press and set up a website and forum like this one, but no one seemed interested.

A while later I had another disagreement with Mr Asscociation,who accused me of being good at "shooting my mouth off" on taxi ranks but not coming to the association meetings. I told him that since some of the atendees would have the shirt off your back given the chance...blah blah blah...sounds familiar?

Anyway, this time I said to Mr Ass that he was as bad as the rest since he would hang up at the towns main rank which just happened to have the students' union half way down it.

He replied that everyone was at it, so what's my point, but I said that we're not all at it at all, and that's one of the reasons why I steered clear of the meetings.

So he changed tack and said that the meetings were about fighting the council, thus our own disputes had nothing to do with it.

Sorry for being so long-winded, but my point basically is that some of our so-called reps are the worst at this kind of thing, so who does the policing? They think we should all get together and let bygones be bygones if we're all in agreement against the council, but then we all get back to the ranks and it's everyone for themselves.

Even if the council were interested I can't see them being able to do much anyway. As I said the other week, the mish mash of vehicle types, the shambolic taxi ranks and the increase in fare discounting are all contributory factors and these problems can all be attributed to the council.

We went through a spell like that about 7 years ago but i must admit that it all runs smoothly these days If on the rare occation it happens,it is sorted there and then without any outside interference.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=z07K29Fc15U

I know this has got nowt to do with this thread but at the end of the day you must never be beaten .And that is coming from a driver of 19 years service whom is 5ft 4inch tall and had a hell of a life in the first 2 years or more but soon learned how to fight back

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=z07K29Fc15U

Why dont you do the decent drivers in Cardiff a favour and write to Cardiff County Council.

Let them know that they're dishing out badges to people who have just memorised 25 different routes on a piece of paper !!!!
And they have NO IDEA of anything else !!!!!!!!!

Ive had the same problem myself, Saturday night out hails down a cab to go home and says "Splott please mate"
Anyone who knows Cardiff will know that Splott is right next to the city centre !!!!

The driver said "I am sorry, could you tell me where it is please"
I got out and walked in the rain !

Like cabby john says the council are afraid of the race card when it comes to the HC/PH trade in Cardiff

Just out of interest LongshanksED what hotel where you staying at? Was it a major hotel or a small local one ?

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HOW MUCH !!!!!!