Taxi Driver Online

From the Daily Telegraph, Saturday 2nd August 2008

Travel Section P21

"On May 12 we were collected from our home in Islington, north London, by an Airport Direct car to take us to Heathrow. The company advised an 0830 pick up to give ample time to reach Heathrow by 1015 for our 1120 flight.
To our dismay, the driver insisted on using Satellite Navigation, which took him through the City and the West End. We told him this was a ridiculous route to take during rush hour, but he ignored us. He also ignored a warning given to him by Airport Direct over an intercom about congestion in Hammersmith, in West London. We ended up missing our flights. What was particularly annoying was hearing over the intercom that other drivers had not had similar problems. I sent an e-mail to Airport Direct the following day telling of our experience and followed this up with a letter on our return. In response, the company said that it had complied with our wishes by sending the driver on time with instructions on how to get to Heathrow (!) on time, and it took no responsibility for the outcome. A suggestion was made that we contact the driver, as he was no longer in the employ of Airport Direct. I find the respose inadequate. we ended up paying an extra £275:58 costs. Is there anything more we could do?"

GBC, do you do airport runs?

I'll leave this open to comment, and print Gill Charlton's reply later

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Former taxi driver

For the record, this company is licensed by the PCO. Passengers should always give themselves plenty of time to reach their destination.

Who knows whose to blame in this instance, without all the facts?

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

the driver fecked up .
what more facts do you need ?
Mind you.seems a bit iffy to me.wishing to arrive at 10.15 for an 11.20 flight,
Unless you leave from city airport,I thought you need to be at the airport at least2/3 hours before flight.

Only for international flights where you need to check in luggage. If you are travellingwithin the british isles or you use on line check in you can arrive much later.

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Grandad,

I do, and use the quickest route.

I also have the advantage of being able to communicate in English, and an even bigger advantage in knowing where I am going anywhere in London.

Pay for a second rate service and that's what they get, all to save a tenner on what I'd charge.

It's also a prime example of how the PCO takes no interest in Minicab complaints, instead directing complainants direct to the company involved.

What a joke.

Like GBC mentioned above ^^^^ you pay cheap fares you get cheap service. This couple were only saving £10 on what GBC would have charged, they ended up paying over £200 for another flight. Maybe next time they will use the right form of transport.

I can't what price has to with it.

Its simple Mr Bo.. Bloodnock, people in the capital perceive that Minicab (PH) companies are cheaper than taking a real Taxi. The truth probably could'nt be further from that.

So they book these 'airport specialist transfer' (whatever that means?) who of course charge about a tenner less than we do, or in some cases about £10 more, and this is what happens.

You get a Somalian / Bosnian / Polish / etc driver who has'nt got a clue where he's going, where the major works are, what route is best at certain times of the day, back doubles, u-turns that save another 10 mins etc, and the end result is that the punter misses his / her flight.

In short, they don't have a feckin clue where they're going.

We do.

last night whilst waiting for an account passenger in islington,
I was messing about with my sat nav.
As a median,I tapped in The Angel station (in Islington,North London for you out of towners)to heathrow airport.
On both shortest distance,and fastest time,it went nowhere near the city or west end.
Still not sure this letter is true.I think it could be a generic complaint about miniscab drivers.How whould the passengers hear over the intercom that other drivers had not had similar problems?

sorry for the break.
this "letter" to the times still seems a bit iffy to me.
these people say, what was annoying was hearing over the intercom that other drivers did not have a similar problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How could that be ? How could thet hear another driver talking?
surely if I remember from my minicabbing days the radio is between driver and controller.
any way how can you prove a negative?
the drivers surely dont all get on the radio and say,hey were going to the airport and weve got no problems,do they.
I am afraid i have no sympathy for these people,you pay peanuts,you get monkeys.
And I dont care what grandad says ,intelligent people leave themselves more than I hour to get themselves sorted at the airport.

The punters used this mob because, no doubt, they were cheaper than the rest.

Do they use this firm when going out on the pi**? Oh no, so my view of them being late for the airport is tough.

That said, surely a firm by the name of Airport Direct should really have drivers that know where the airports are. FFS there aren't that many of them.

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IDFIMH

Whenever I do an airport/rail/bus drop off I ALWAYS, but ALWAYS ask the punter what time the plane/train/bus departs and recommend a pick up time based on my vast experience. If the punter is late, (which they never are, if they take my advice) I would be at fault. If they were to disregard my advice, (which they never do,) it would be their fault. Simple, really.

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Former taxi driver

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The ompany advised an 0830 pick-up. They are to blame.

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Former taxi driver

The travel writers (Gill Charlton) answer.

"I see that Airport Direct has admitted that it's driver was at fault in it's letter to you by saying "This is a result of his poor judgement and not acting on the instructions he received from the office" When I telephoned the company, it said it had done all it could under it's remit as a licensed private hire operator and that the fault lay with the driver,who was self-employed and registered with the public carriage office (PCO).

A spokesman for the PCO told me: "Private Hire operators like Airport Direct have a responsibility to record details of complaints, investigate them and record the outcome. The role of the PCO is to ensure that operators comply, and to act when thet don't. When an operator fails to handle a complaint correctly, the PCO would carry out an investigation."

However the PCO does not have any powers to force an operator to provide compensation, as a private hire booking is a contract between the passenger and the OPERATOR .
Apart from complaining to the PCO about this licenced driver, you could take Airport Direct to court using the small claims procedure to sue for the the expences you incurred- although the law does not appear to be clear on this issue."

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Former taxi driver