4 ms·

All London black cabs must take card payments. If their machine isn't working, they're not allowed to be on the road.

by PaulRobinson 9y ago

vixen99 9y ago
And that applies to tips?
- lmm 9y ago
  "Tips" are not a thing for London taxis. It's not the US, the price is the actual price.
  - Jaruzel 9y ago
    Well you kinda do... If he's done a good job (direct route, not taken the piss, been polite) then the custom is to round up the fare to the nearest £1.
- abbot2 9y ago
  It's England. You don't tip here.
  - jamiegreen 9y ago
    Apart from restaurants
    - orf 9y ago
      Not really, it's a service charge that in most places is charged for groups over a certain size (4 or 5). There is no culture of compulsory tipping for anything, because it's ridiculous.
      - jamiegreen 9y ago
        My experience does not match what you are saying. I was always taught that (unless a service charge is already included) you should tip 10-20% in good restaurants. Not to tip I believe is generally seen as rude/a sign that service was bad.
        vertex-four 9y ago
        Of course, most of us don't regularly eat in "good restaurants" - pretty much anything on the high street/your local shopping centre isn't, and anywhere you can get a meal for under £15 a head before drinks doesn't count as a "good restaurant", in my books.
        jamiegreen 9y ago
        I mean where you draw the line is up to you, but if there are three of you x £15, plus drinks lets say total of £64 , I would normally round it up to 70. By good restaurants I meant anything that isn't fast food (Subway, McDs). But perhaps I am not a typical customer, I don't know.
        vertex-four 9y ago
        Often I go out to a restaurant with a friend and order fairly common food - totalling <£30 including drinks, and not making many demands of the staff. I don't think tipping someone to do the bare bones of their job is reasonable. On the other hand, if I were to go with a reasonably sized group of people, had to get a table big enough for the lot of us, have people with dietary requirements or order cocktails or who otherwise make many demands of the staff... it's worth tipping as we're a pain in the ass, basically. And many restaurants automatically add a service charge in that case anyway.
        jamiegreen 9y ago
        Seems reasonable!
        orf 9y ago
      - kahnpro 9y ago
        In London I see this charge all over the place even for only two people... usually it's 10-12%.
  - mittermayr 9y ago
    Well, in restaurants now the tip's already on the bill, unless you want to make your entire group or date uncomfortable by "talking to the waiter about taking it off".
    - Sean1708 9y ago
      To be fair, I've only ever seen this in expensive restaurants.
      - mittermayr 9y ago
        Really? I rarely have dinner over 20 pounds a person (which isn't cheap, I get it, but for London prices it's also not expensive), and I haven't seen a bill without service charge added in months (excluding Whetherspoons). As soon as I don't manage to order at the register, and instead someone brings a menu, there will be a service charge. There was one restaurant recently that didn't have one, and we almost freaked out about it.
      - pebers 9y ago
        Really? I've seen it in heaps of places in London - adding 12.5% "gratuity" is common at many places where you'd pay ~£15+ pp.
  - vixen99 9y ago
    http://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/getting-around-london/taxis http://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/getting-aro... "You can tip taxi drivers as much as you like, but most people round up to the nearest pound."
  - walshemj 9y ago
    I normally round up or if I have called a minicab in real bad weather I might add an extra couple of pounds to a £7 ride to say 10
- PaulRobinson 9y ago
  Always nice to tip. Not expected or required. Uber, it's worth pointing out, does not currently allow for tipping either, I believe.
  - bsmithers 9y ago
    It does now
    - isostatic 9y ago
      Didn't in Delhi yesterday
mittermayr 9y ago
True, but not taken seriously by cab drivers. I've had many broken card machines in a black cab, and when challenged, it almost always lead to a, "alrite, get out mate" — or a, "well I can try if it works again, it didn't earlier..." I didn't report them, and with their ongoing nonsense and this now, I'll definitely make sure I will from here on forward.
- nailer 9y ago
  I have the same experiences.
- PaulRobinson 9y ago
  You absolutely 100% must report them. Seriously. Every time. It's the only way we make it better for everybody. The requirement for it to always be available is a new one - it was introduced in recent months. So if your experience pre-date that, that behaviour may have changed. If it hasn't you absolutely 100% need to report the driver to TfL.
  - mittermayr 9y ago
    Was after October last year, I should've reported and will do so now. It's a bit intimidating to take a photo of the license, but I guess it's easier when outside the cab. Which is, again, one more thing I like about Uber, I open the app, and it's all there. If a driver takes a wonky route, I complain and don't need to proof it much and get into an argument with the driver, the evidence is there, I merely deal with customer support, and I always get my money back.
  - kodablah 9y ago
    > It's the only way we make it better for everybody. Not true. Alternatively, you can have competition and consumer choice which can also make it better for everybody. Not everyone wants to be a squeaky wheel on these things, nor should they be forced to.
  - JumpCrisscross 9y ago
    > It's the only way we make it better for everybody All the reporting in the world didn’t help my black friend hail a yellow New York City taxi. You know what did ? Uber exerting competitive pressure on the Taxi & Limousine Commission and its drivers.

All London black cabs must take card payments. If their machine isn't working, they're not allowed to be on the road.

vixen99 9y ago

And that applies to tips?

lmm 9y ago
"Tips" are not a thing for London taxis. It's not the US, the price is the actual price.
- Jaruzel 9y ago
  Well you kinda do... If he's done a good job (direct route, not taken the piss, been polite) then the custom is to round up the fare to the nearest £1.
abbot2 9y ago
It's England. You don't tip here.
- jamiegreen 9y ago
  Apart from restaurants
  - orf 9y ago
    Not really, it's a service charge that in most places is charged for groups over a certain size (4 or 5). There is no culture of compulsory tipping for anything, because it's ridiculous.
    - jamiegreen 9y ago
      My experience does not match what you are saying. I was always taught that (unless a service charge is already included) you should tip 10-20% in good restaurants. Not to tip I believe is generally seen as rude/a sign that service was bad.
      - vertex-four 9y ago
        Of course, most of us don't regularly eat in "good restaurants" - pretty much anything on the high street/your local shopping centre isn't, and anywhere you can get a meal for under £15 a head before drinks doesn't count as a "good restaurant", in my books.
        jamiegreen 9y ago
        I mean where you draw the line is up to you, but if there are three of you x £15, plus drinks lets say total of £64 , I would normally round it up to 70. By good restaurants I meant anything that isn't fast food (Subway, McDs). But perhaps I am not a typical customer, I don't know.
        vertex-four 9y ago
        Often I go out to a restaurant with a friend and order fairly common food - totalling <£30 including drinks, and not making many demands of the staff. I don't think tipping someone to do the bare bones of their job is reasonable. On the other hand, if I were to go with a reasonably sized group of people, had to get a table big enough for the lot of us, have people with dietary requirements or order cocktails or who otherwise make many demands of the staff... it's worth tipping as we're a pain in the ass, basically. And many restaurants automatically add a service charge in that case anyway.
        jamiegreen 9y ago
        Seems reasonable!
      - orf 9y ago
    - kahnpro 9y ago
      In London I see this charge all over the place even for only two people... usually it's 10-12%.
- mittermayr 9y ago
  Well, in restaurants now the tip's already on the bill, unless you want to make your entire group or date uncomfortable by "talking to the waiter about taking it off".
  - Sean1708 9y ago
    To be fair, I've only ever seen this in expensive restaurants.
    - mittermayr 9y ago
      Really? I rarely have dinner over 20 pounds a person (which isn't cheap, I get it, but for London prices it's also not expensive), and I haven't seen a bill without service charge added in months (excluding Whetherspoons). As soon as I don't manage to order at the register, and instead someone brings a menu, there will be a service charge. There was one restaurant recently that didn't have one, and we almost freaked out about it.
    - pebers 9y ago
      Really? I've seen it in heaps of places in London - adding 12.5% "gratuity" is common at many places where you'd pay ~£15+ pp.
- vixen99 9y ago
  http://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/getting-around-london/taxis http://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/getting-aro... "You can tip taxi drivers as much as you like, but most people round up to the nearest pound."
- walshemj 9y ago
  I normally round up or if I have called a minicab in real bad weather I might add an extra couple of pounds to a £7 ride to say 10
PaulRobinson 9y ago
Always nice to tip. Not expected or required. Uber, it's worth pointing out, does not currently allow for tipping either, I believe.
- bsmithers 9y ago
  It does now
  - isostatic 9y ago
    Didn't in Delhi yesterday

mittermayr 9y ago

True, but not taken seriously by cab drivers. I've had many broken card machines in a black cab, and when challenged, it almost always lead to a, "alrite, get out mate" — or a, "well I can try if it works again, it didn't earlier..." I didn't report them, and with their ongoing nonsense and this now, I'll definitely make sure I will from here on forward.

nailer 9y ago
I have the same experiences.
PaulRobinson 9y ago
You absolutely 100% must report them. Seriously. Every time. It's the only way we make it better for everybody. The requirement for it to always be available is a new one - it was introduced in recent months. So if your experience pre-date that, that behaviour may have changed. If it hasn't you absolutely 100% need to report the driver to TfL.
- mittermayr 9y ago
  Was after October last year, I should've reported and will do so now. It's a bit intimidating to take a photo of the license, but I guess it's easier when outside the cab. Which is, again, one more thing I like about Uber, I open the app, and it's all there. If a driver takes a wonky route, I complain and don't need to proof it much and get into an argument with the driver, the evidence is there, I merely deal with customer support, and I always get my money back.
- kodablah 9y ago
  > It's the only way we make it better for everybody. Not true. Alternatively, you can have competition and consumer choice which can also make it better for everybody. Not everyone wants to be a squeaky wheel on these things, nor should they be forced to.
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago
  > It's the only way we make it better for everybody All the reporting in the world didn’t help my black friend hail a yellow New York City taxi. You know what did ? Uber exerting competitive pressure on the Taxi & Limousine Commission and its drivers.