Max Power Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 I have travelled several times by ferry back to the island as a foot passenger to find that there is always a queue for non existent taxis at the supposed taxi rank, a great first impression to any first time visitor. A phone call to the usual saved numbers reveals that they are very busy and it's likely to be an hour!!!!! Try getting one when the clubs kick out at their enforced closing time or pub to club time.. We don't need any more taxi's?? As far as the airport is concerned, the same faces are always there waiting for some poor sucker willing to pay the inflated prices they charge. Once I was forced to take them up on their offer and the usual taxi chat revealed that most of the time they only get one or two fares a day! Well duh!! Ever thought what the reason might be by any chance? The car park is full of the cars of people who find it's cheaper to park their car for a couple of days than take a taxi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Ayres Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 But if it is de-zoned (my word for it) it could be worth me waiting at the airport for a fare rather than just going back to Ramsey empty, thereby lowering my carbon footprint, or even half way to Douglas. I don't particularly like the idea of de-zoning but I can live with it because the idea of Douglas drivers coming to Ramsey to nick my business is laughable. Conclusion, threat is only to Douglas business, who some say have had it all their own way too long. (not me, I've not been in the trade long enough to have an opinion) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newsbot Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Taxi drivers are to go on strike overnight over government plans to remove restrictions on the number of licences issued. Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/...man/7405916.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
True Grit Posted May 16, 2008 Share Posted May 16, 2008 Hopefully I will be on the road all night, as will other drivers I know.Don't know about one firm that holds 25 plates (allegedly) and only has 6 cars though. The answer is, come to Ramsey, plenty of cabs. With family up in the North and having had experience of the situation while visiting and enjoying a pint in the town, trying to get a wee bit further south is nigh on impossible. No harm meant Skrappey, plenty of cabs alright and plenty of licensed drivers, just can not get one on a Sunday or Saturday Evening after 11pm unless previously booked. Why? Secondly why do non Douglas cabs insist that they can not give a day rate to Peel, Castletown or Ramsey and persist in putting their client on the meter? You are plated have a meter and Island rates but continue to rip the client off, staggering!!! This bollocks has been going on since 1983 - a quarter of a century - it could only happen in the Isle of Sham. One post office opens next door to another - weak at the least - how many sandwich bars have to compete with each, within yards of each to goad the pound from the suit (that is just one example, perhaps say - clothes shops - cafés and restaurants - bars - financial companies)? Grow up, a free market tough it and see. This is not a rant towards Skrappey. Period I have in the past and present used Douglas cabs quite frequently and have always found them to be chatty, happy and courteous and also extremely patient, I can see no reason why this can not be Island wide. We live on an Island not a country. Has a Douglas cab dropped off in Peel or Castletown and not hawked for a fare back to town? And vis versa. It has being going on for yonks. Prams and toys in and out. True Grit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EPOXY Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 Somebody should look in to the laxey taxi farce. Nobodys been able to get a taxi in the village for bloody months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phildo Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 But if it is de-zoned (my word for it) it could be worth me waiting at the airport for a fare rather than just going back to Ramsey empty, thereby lowering my carbon footprint, or even half way to Douglas. Yeah, but time it wrong, and you're waiting three hours or more - with the possibility of a nice trip to King Bill's and straight to the back of the rank. Not a barrel of laughs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesultanofsheight Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 For many of them it will be the only day of action they've had all year. Tell me what this is all about again ... oh yes ... perpetuating the black market in overpriced taxi plates that they have bought into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wideload Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 We live on an Island not a country. ??????, i think you'll find its both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loaf Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 Is there a place in the world with similar geography and population distribution to the island where people think "D'you know, they've really got the taxi thing right around here!", and the cab drivers share that view? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mission Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 I don't know what its like these days but it was pretty hard to fault the Guernsey cabbies during the time I lived there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Port Erin Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 The 1 hour strike at the airport is a shining example to the business folk and Finance Sector of how backward this banana republic is. The 2 hour strike on Fri night just pisses people off and doesn't endear the masses to their cause. Get the Poles, Slovaks and Turks over to do the donkey work that these lazy, rip off merchants aren't prepared to do. They're lucky they can afford to take 2 hours off at peak times, given the price of diesel, etc. The taxi fares are a complete piss take at the best of times, and the only tip they will get out of me from now on is to stop whinging and get the job done. If you're not prepared to do the work, move aside and let a Pole do it for half the price with good service to boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hboy Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 The 1 hour strike at the airport is a shining example to the business folk and Finance Sector of how backward this banana republic is. Well its part of the new manx experience. You lose money on your euromanx ticket and then you re book and pay again with Flybe to fly at a different time and then when you finally arrive at the Island there's a big f**k you waiting from the taxi drivers if you want to get in to town. (Then you get to the hotel and find the chambermaid has shit in your bed ) I don't believe this Island wants visitors although I suppose at least by not working the taxi drivers are not being given the chance to tell your clients how completely shit the Island is before they even get to your office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Ayres Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 I don't know what its like these days but it was pretty hard to fault the Guernsey cabbies during the time I lived there. They were pretty good, I had a little thing going once where I got old taxis from Guernsey and flogged them in Brighton. "Only one owner and just 50,000 on the clock. low mileage Diesel Peugeot" because they didn't screw their plates on the back bumper like most cabs used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Port Erin Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 The 1 hour strike at the airport is a shining example to the business folk and Finance Sector of how backward this banana republic is. Well its part of the new manx experience. You lose money on your euromanx ticket and then you re book and pay again with Flybe to fly at a different time and then when you finally arrive at the Island there's a big f**k you waiting from the taxi drivers if you want to get in to town. (Then you get to the hotel and find the chambermaid has shit in your bed ) I don't believe this Island wants visitors although I suppose at least by not working the taxi drivers are not being given the chance to tell your clients how completely shit the Island is before they even get to your office. The famous Manx welcome...what a fucking joke. Why anyone comes here on holiday is a mystery, given that nobody in the hospitality industry (apart from the Eastern Europeans) seem to make any sort of effort. The taxi drivers may whinge about their wages, etc but nobody forced them to do this for a living. This Island offers endless opportunities to anyone who is prepared to make an effort...if you don't like it, do something else and move aside and let the proper workers (Poles et al) do twice the job for half the cost. Lazy, whinging bastards! Open it up and reap the benefits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pale Rider Posted May 17, 2008 Share Posted May 17, 2008 The only time I used a taxi into Douglas from the airport it cost nigh on £20! Most visits to the island I rely on the people I am visiting to collect me. However the last time everyone was working and I decided to get the bus. £2 and the journey wasn't that much longer than the cabbie, and I didn't have to make conversation with the driver! Its not just the IOM, even if you get a cab from an airport in the UK it seems to automatically cost you more, and that isn't right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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