loaf Posted November 2, 2004 Share Posted November 2, 2004 Thanks very much, will certainly do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carter Posted November 2, 2004 Author Share Posted November 2, 2004 I see it like this. The town where i live in Cheshire, has 70,000 plus inhabitants. To say the place is an up and coming area ia an understatement. Many, many, major companies are now basing themselves in the town, property prices saw the biggest increase anywhere in the UK, Some 58% in less than 12 months. John Caudwell the billionaire mobile phone chap has just had his supply depot extended...now considering it was made of fancy corrigated steel, but cost 5 million, i sense you might understand the size of it. Now Crewe Cheshire, where i live, has the major junction for the whole of the UK railway. There are plans for their to be a direct line to the channel tunnel, hence the attraction for buisness. But...despite trying to get a percentage of 600 nurses to the hospital for 7am, plus numerous other workers, i still managed to get a cab at 6.30am, he apologised for me having to wait 10 minutes, arrived after 5 mins, continued to to apoligise for the 'wait', had a brand new people carrier...and charged me £3.80 for 5 miles. I give him a fiver...'Keep the change old chap' He was geunially grateful, wished me well on my onward journey, and was pleased and interested in my travel plans...and yea me as a customer...a valued customer. Gave me his company card, and made sure i knew his name. Wanted your custom for the future. Now the last time i caught a cab in the IOM, was in 2002, the boat was late got in at 2am, the earliest i could get a cab, via phone was 3.30am, he arrived at 4am, and charged me £18 Douglas to Baldrine. The week before, i had had a tough time down in Douglas, was feeling a bit sensitive but also mellow, again i caught a cab...i gave the guy a £6 tip, me arse raping him would have bought more of a smile to his face, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josie Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 Leave the doors open when you get out lol It comes down to free competition, provide a service that people want and appreciate you will be busy. Act as though the world owes you a living and you are doing them a favour for turning up at all - and I won't use you again. We need to be a lot more fussy when getting taxi's from now on. Paul H - what is your firms number - I'll use you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavros Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 I will be blocking the taxi rank outside the villa marina this week end, probably caused by a "mechanical failure" on my car whilst towing a trailer. Anyone want to join me? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I understand how you feel but don't you think that this may not be the best course of action. Block a taxi driver in day could cause people to be late for a hospital appointment or work etc. It might be an inconvenience to the taxi driver for a few minutes but you have to think about the poor sod that's the fare paying passenger and might be sitting in the taxi waiting and paying for the privilage of you letting the taxi out so that they can go where they are paying to go. This just leaves a bigger smell and would make us no better than them. The easiest way to hurt them is to avoid booking or using a taxi for as long as possible. Use a reputable firm and only that one and avoid the ones that think you owe them a living! If you're going to be stuck in Douglas on Friday or Saturday night, think ahead and see if you can pre-book your preferred firm to come and pick you up at the time you think you will be ready to go home. Stav. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 Is there a distinction on the IOM between private - hire firms (mini cabs) and Hackney licenced taxis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizzbomb Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 yes i think there is, Simon - you have to be a licensed hackney carriage to be able to park up along the ranks.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavros Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 Hackey is public hire, you can pick up of the street without prior booking. Private Hire is a booking made in advance and and no picking up of the street without prior arrangement. Stav. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonto Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 heard brenda cannel on manx radio last night saying that 2 other MHKs had joined with her to support the taxi drivers and that the 'people are supporting this'? well not those of us who were late for work you silly mooo...ooops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 Is there a distinction on the IOM between private - hire firms (mini cabs) and Hackney licenced taxis? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> There are two types of "Public Passenger Vehicle". One is a "Ply-for-Hire" (Taxi) and the other is "Private Hire" (MiniCab/Executive Car". A Ply-for-Hire (Taxi) has a sign on the top, a taximeter and an identification plate on the rear. These cars can sit on ranks or stop to pick up passengers off the street. At the moment these types of licensed taxi can only pick up on ranks or off the streets in the area in which they are licensed for. For example an East District taxi cannot stand on the rank at the airport and vice versa. A Private Hire (Minicab) is not allowed to ply for trade from ranks or pick up passengers off the streets. It is also not alowed to display a sign on it's roof and instead of an identification plate on the rear, it has a small licence plate on display in the windscreen. This type of PPV has the option of having a taximeter fitted to calculate the fare but, where it doesn't the driver should agree the fare with his passengers prior to departure. Both Ply-for-Hire and Private Hire taximeters are set to run at the same rate and are routinely checked by the Road Transport Licensing Committee's taxi inspector. On the Isle of Man Private Hire cars are now restricted to being a certain type of car aimed at the executive end of the market, however, this does not mean that you should pay any more for an executive car than you would for a 'normal' taxi. Just a note of interest; A Ply for Hire license in the East District (Douglas) changes hands for up to £50,000 !! Whereas a private hire license changes hands for less than £10,000! and a Ply for Hire license at the airport is about £20,000 This is because of the restriction on the numbers of licensed taxis. I hope that helps to answer your question? Paul H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 heard brenda cannel on manx radio last night saying that 2 other MHKs had joined with her to support the taxi drivers and that the 'people are supporting this'? well not those of us who were late for work you silly mooo...ooops! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Talking about MHK's on the radio you might of heard Adrian Duggan MHK, claiming that as a taxi proprietor in Douglas he believes that the town should not be flooded by more taxis. Well, Mr Duggan recently sold his Ply for Hire Taxis for rather a large amount of money, but has kept his private hire cars. Do you think that he knows something? Strangely enough, when the last new licenses were issued a couple of years ago Mr Duggan's son was one of the few to receive a license. He wasn't calling for a stop to new licenses then! I wonder will anyone have the bottle to challenge these two faced MHKs? Paul H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripsaw Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 A Ply for Hire license in the East District (Douglas) changes hands for up to £50,000 !! Whereas a private hire license changes hands for less than £10,000! and a Ply for Hire license at the airport is about £20,000 This is because of the restriction on the numbers of licensed taxis. ...And these are the licences that the Authorities give for free? Maybe Public Housing tennents should think about selling their houses on to others, there is a demand, you know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 I hope that helps to answer your question?Thanks for the detailed response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizzbomb Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 Paul H - forgive me if i missed it - but did you mention which firm you work for - and the number - coz i think we all want to assure you of bookings till they are coming out of your ears and guarantee you an income for the next forty years!!! ...and if you need anyone to help you man the operator service...bear me in mind??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cret Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 It comes down to free competition, provide a service that people want and appreciate you will be busy. Act as though the world owes you a living and you are doing them a favour for turning up at all - and I won't use you again. We need to be a lot more fussy when getting taxi's from now on. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I agree with that idea completely but as people have said in practise it's not all that easy as it's already been commented that it can often be difficult to get a taxi at all when you need one, let alone be able to pick & choose between them. Definitely worth doing where possible though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian rush Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 I'm sure if accountants, lawyers, or estate agents had said they wanted to keep the numbers as they were there'd be an uproar. By the way the references by the taxi owners to a survey to establish whether there is any unmet demand is duplictous. Since de-regulation in the UK the local authority keep on issuing plates until it can be shown there is no unmet demand. For too long the number of plates has been kept low in the Douglas/Onchan area by an not disinterested committee of five from douglas corporation and onchan commissioners. Did you know the number of plates had been kept at 91 from the mid 1970's? This despite demand from the public and increase in the physical size of Douglas and a growth in population. Did you also know that a licensee could treat the licence as property and sell it on without returning it back to the body which granted the licence? If the plate owners aren't making a decent living why has there been such a waiting list for plates and why were people prepared to pay so much for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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