Port Erin Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Who dreamt up the idea of charging 50p per suitcase / large parcel, 50p for 2 kids under 12 / each adult and £1 extra for an airport fare? We can accept a modest hike, as running a car isn't cheap for anyone. However, this is amazing. At least Dick Turpin had the courtesy to wear a mask when he went out robbing folk. Here, it seems to be a badge of honour nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScope Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Paging Lonan3 to topic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Explains when I've been working in the UK and popping back and forth why it's often cheaper to bring the car over - instead of paying £5 everyday for a car park at Heysham and using taxi's on the Isle of Man (firms who's concept of 'we'll be there in 5 minutes' rivals 'Microsoft minutes'). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 The 50p per bag thing has been around since well before I started driving a taxi. Personally I don't bother charging it, I don't think any of the drivers in our company do. Can't speak for the industry as a whole though, obviously. Please remember, the fare levels are decided by the RTLC and ratified by Tynwald. It isn't the drivers or cab firms who decide the pricing structure so if you don't like how much you are being charged write to your MHK instead of moaning at the driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Who dreamt up the idea of charging 50p per suitcase / large parcel, 50p for 2 kids under 12 / each adult and £1 extra for an airport fare? We can accept a modest hike, as running a car isn't cheap for anyone. However, this is amazing. At least Dick Turpin had the courtesy to wear a mask when he went out robbing folk. Here, it seems to be a badge of honour nowadays. The 'extras' have been around for far longer than I've been involved in the taxi business. Personally, I've no problem with charging for each additional adult passenger. However, unless the suitcase/large parcel is either so large that it's difficult to fit in the cab, or so heavy that there's a real threat of a hernia, I've never bothered with making the charge. As for 2 kids under 12, I wouldn't dream of charging - unless they or their parents so utterly obnoxious that its a justifiable form of retribution. The £1 extra for an airport fare is an anachronism IMO. It is due to be phased out over the next couple of years - and not before time. Incidentally: The spurious legend of Dick Turpin was established in 1739 with the book Life of Richard Turpin, and sealed with the novel Rookwood (1834) by Harrison Ainsworth in which the highwayman 'Dauntless Dick Turpin' with his horse Black Bess is a secondary character. Ainsworth's description of an epic ride from Westminster to York caught the popular imagination and turned a fairly average pot-boiler into a runaway best-seller. During the next 50 years, replays of the Turpin story, as told by Ainsworth, appeared in magazines, cheap novels, and ballads, not just in Great Britain but around the world. History, romance, and legend rapidly blurred and, eventually, the fictional ride of Ainsworth's Turpin totally eclipsed the villain's real exploits. The metamorphosis of Dick Turpin, house-breaker, torturer, murderer, horse-stealer and all-round real nasty piece of work into Dick Turpin, Highwayman and Knight of the Road was complete. Source: http://www.stand-and-deliver.org.uk/highwa...dick_turpin.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Who dreamt up the idea of charging 50p per suitcase / large parcel, 50p for 2 kids under 12 / each adult and £1 extra for an airport fare? We can accept a modest hike, as running a car isn't cheap for anyone. However, this is amazing. At least Dick Turpin had the courtesy to wear a mask when he went out robbing folk. Here, it seems to be a badge of honour nowadays. Scary huh? You been waiting over an hour and a half for an answer - and now two answers arrive from taxi drivers at the same time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Isn't there a general increase in fares coming up ? Remember seing something in the paper Normal fares go up a bit, but nights and w/e - b/h stay the same or something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caringwife Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Ive been charged a pound just for ordering a taxi to get me from the doctors to my house in Douglas. Ive been charged for my baby daughter and her pram, 2 separate charges to make it clear. And the best of all, a driver who i flagged down outside Safeways, set his meter going before opening his door to get out to open the boot. And not only that but didnt lift a finger to help. But praise to the good taxi drivers over here (they know who they are), i know they arent all this bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Port Erin Posted April 4, 2006 Author Share Posted April 4, 2006 And I would put my house on the fact that he would still have the brass neck to expect a tip as well? I'd have given the lazy, greedy sod a teabag and tell him to have a drink on me. It just seems to be a sign of the times and people take a pride in not only robbing you, but doing it with an air of complacency and a degree of incompetence as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Port Erin Posted April 4, 2006 Author Share Posted April 4, 2006 Indeed my friend, this was all rolled out on April Fool's Day...the new price structure and all the additional rip off ideas that were dreamt up and ratified at the same time. You have to admire them for their neck - more neck than a giraffe, I'd say. It's in The Examiner this week, so it must be true! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desperate Dan Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 I'm waiting on the day a bored millionaire picks everyone up for free and takes them everywhere in his personal use bus. Come on millionaires, just think how much of a liked person in the community you would be, why not have your free post office stamps counter in the back and become an MHK while your at it. That was one messed up dream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Indeed my friend, this was all rolled out on April Fool's Day...the new price structure and all the additional rip off ideas that were dreamt up and ratified at the same time. Far be it from me to spoil your post with facts - but the simple truth is that "the additional rip off ideas that were dreamt up and ratified at the same time" have been the same for many years. You really should try to get out a little more often! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Jampton Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Tipping was only for the toffs when they took an Hansome Cab, but the practice continues today for some reason. Nobody else gets extra money for doing a job which you don't know how much it will cost you in the first place. There must be more deserving trades. The other thing which is annoying is a cab pulling up outside a neighbours house, giving a blast on the horn then letting the engine run. I find this most annoying if I have gone to bed early or having a lie in on a Sunday. I have hired a cab to the airport once and had no complaints he was punctual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.