The Student Room Group

when taxi drivers take you the long way....

i got a taxi at 4am the other day and it was £4.50. (from work, not a night out)

a week later, i got 1 from the same company to same place at 9pm and he took me a long way (as well as listening to porn on the journey- but thats a story for another day, was awkward) and it cost me £5.20. I know its not that much difference, but the first time it would have been more expensive anyway because it was after 12. I mentioned it to him and he told me if I wanted to go a shorter way I should have told him the way.

I dont drive so how am i meant to direct someone through a city I dont really know very well.

Just wondered if theyre allowed to take you the long ways or should i ring the company and say?

And on having checked the companys website it should have cost £4.50.
(edited 11 years ago)

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Reply 1
They are. And they will to squeeze extra cash from you.
The fare isnt that bad, i certainly wouldnt complain tbh.
Ive been to nottingham and leeds on nights out and their taxis are dirt cheap compared to birmingham where they will con you :biggrin:.

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Original post by fkthename
The fare isnt that bad, i certainly wouldnt complain tbh.
Ive been to nottingham and leeds on nights out and their taxis are dirt cheap compared to birmingham where they will con you :biggrin:.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my GT-S5830


Well i think your missing the point. Im not complaining about the price, just the fact that he charged me to thieve...

its only 1.6 miles.
They do it but at that moment in time all I want to do is get to wherever I'm going or get home, and I'm not really up for having an argument.
Yeh I get you :smile: If it was 20p i wouldnt have minded, but the fact that when i got it later (4am in the morning) when prices increase and this was still 70p cheaper than the other journey, it just made me annoyed. I was going to work so couldnt argue, plus he locked the doors so i couldnt get out. I think he put me in a bad mood after listening to porn on the journey tbh.
To be honest I'm nearly always too drunk to notice. I wouldn't bother protesting for the sake of 70p though. Where I live it costs about £16-£17 from the nearest town to my house after 12am and it's only a 3 and a half mile journey. Oh the joys of living in the South East! :mad:
A lot of the time they're just going by what the sat nav tells them so they aren't intentionally trying to rip you off.
In my uni town they can never drive you the long way (Aberystwyth) as it's mainly all one-way roads. However, go to Trefechan, Penpercau & Llanbardarn Fawr then they're able to do that (Aber's suburbs)
Reply 9
This has happened to me many a time, but I know the short routes quite well - so I either quickly ask the driver to use the short-route turning if it doesn't seem like he's going that way - or mention when we arrive that I know there was a shorter route, tell him the usual price, and often they're nice enough to give you the difference! Don't feel like you're nitpicking - it doesn't seem like much at the time but it adds up to a lot if you use taxis frequently.
Obviously this will mean getting to know the route a little better - checking out Google Maps before a journey usually gives you the shortest route, remember the street names and see if the driver takes them.

Perhaps try to always use the same taxi company - getting in random ones in taxi ranks can throw up some surprises in terms of how much they charge you. If you know the company's average price for the distance, you can quote that to them!
Original post by Kezzi
This has happened to me many a time, but I know the short routes quite well - so I either quickly ask the driver to use the short-route turning if it doesn't seem like he's going that way - or mention when we arrive that I know there was a shorter route, tell him the usual price, and often they're nice enough to give you the difference! Don't feel like you're nitpicking - it doesn't seem like much at the time but it adds up to a lot if you use taxis frequently.
Obviously this will mean getting to know the route a little better - checking out Google Maps before a journey usually gives you the shortest route, remember the street names and see if the driver takes them.

Perhaps try to always use the same taxi company - getting in random ones in taxi ranks can throw up some surprises in terms of how much they charge you. If you know the company's average price for the distance, you can quote that to them!


That was the problem it was the same taxi company, and i did argue about it for a bit, but he'd locked the doors so i couldnt get out.

He was also playing porn the entire journey which made me very uncomfortable and Im thinking of making a complaint anyway
Reply 11
Original post by pinkangelgirl
That was the problem it was the same taxi company, and i did argue about it for a bit, but he'd locked the doors so i couldnt get out.

He was also playing porn the entire journey which made me very uncomfortable and Im thinking of making a complaint anyway


Oh crikey, I'd feel pretty freaked out if that happened to me. Definitely sounds like a bit of a rogue the company should know about! Hopefully just a one-off..
Original post by pinkangelgirl
Well i think your missing the point. Im not complaining about the price, just the fact that he charged me to thieve...

its only 1.6 miles.


I doubt the driver cares so much for 70p that he would intentionally drive further using up more petrol to try steal minimal profits.
Your quite clearly bothered by this 70p as you even checked the site and made a forum post.
Ive had £10 stolen with the driver swapping a note and saying its not enough :biggrin:... You cant do anything who cares, especially over 70p which contributes nothing to his license payments or fuel expenditure, honest mistake move on :biggrin:

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my GT-S5830
Original post by pinkangelgirl
i got a taxi at 4am the other day and it was £4.50. (from work, not a night out)

a week later, i got 1 from the same company to same place at 9pm and he took me a long way (as well as listening to porn on the journey- but thats a story for another day, was awkward) and it cost me £5.20. I know its not that much difference, but the first time it would have been more expensive anyway because it was after 12. I mentioned it to him and he told me if I wanted to go a shorter way I should have told him the way.

I dont drive so how am i meant to direct someone through a city I dont really know very well.


Just wondered if theyre allowed to take you the long ways or should i ring the company and say?

And on having checked the companys website it should have cost £4.50.


It's your fault, you let him do it. And yo udon't know the city that well, but yet you know he's taking you the long way... pfft

I hate idiots like you who think people are in the wrong, speak up in future.
Listen to porn?

We'll have braille porn magazines next . . .
Reply 15
Original post by Palatial Veranda
Listen to porn?

We'll have braille porn magazines next . . .


We already do :awesome:
Original post by Palatial Veranda
Listen to porn?

We'll have braille porn magazines next . . .


i didnt know it was possible, but i definitely know now!
When you realise they're taking you via a circuitous route, demand to be let out and make it clear that you're not paying. You don't really have any legitimate reason not to pay when you've sat in the taxi all the way to your destination, but if you say something during the journey, you do. I've done that before and, in order to keep our fare, the taxi driver started us from £0 again where he was asked to let us out, about half way there.

Original post by fkthename
I doubt the driver cares so much for 70p that he would intentionally drive further using up more petrol to try steal minimal profits.
Your quite clearly bothered by this 70p as you even checked the site and made a forum post.
Ive had £10 stolen with the driver swapping a note and saying its not enough :biggrin:... You cant do anything who cares, especially over 70p which contributes nothing to his license payments or fuel expenditure, honest mistake move on :biggrin:

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my GT-S5830


It's not the 70p, it's the principle. No-one wants to be ripped off.
Porn while driving?

Who said men can't multitask?
Original post by TimmonaPortella
When you realise they're taking you via a circuitous route, demand to be let out and make it clear that you're not paying. You don't really have any legitimate reason not to pay when you've sat in the taxi all the way to your destination, but if you say something during the journey, you do. I've done that before and, in order to keep our fare, the taxi driver started us from £0 again where he was asked to let us out, about half way there.



It's not the 70p, it's the principle. No-one wants to be ripped off.


Obviously... But the ammount signifies to me there isnt a huge margin of error and was most likely an innocent mistake as there was no significant gain compared to his expenditure, also from what ive already posted has shown my point and empathy, im actually suprised this is being debated still :biggrin: its kind of a rediculous thread

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my GT-S5830

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