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Black cabs haven't been cash only since 2016, its now required to accept card.
by AdamGibbins 6y ago
Black cabs haven't been cash only since 2016, its now required to accept card.
- dx034 6y agoUber has been in London since before that, competition by Uber and other minicabs was probably a reason for card requirements for black cabs.
- twic 6y agoThe card machine is often mysteriously broken.
- alasdair_ 6y agoTerrible shame that you’re mysteriously only carrying a credit card and no other form of payment then, isn’t it? :)
- shawabawa3 6y agothey used to pull this a lot - if they try it now call them out. They aren't allowed to operate with a broken card machine
- smileysteve 6y ago> if they try it now call them out This is a fun way to make tourists feel insecure. Call them out, where you wait on a foreign police, prove your identity, file a report -- in a non native accent / language -- in the best case... or in the worst case, where they'll take you where you don't want to go (or other cabs to pickup), potentially drive off in a dangerous way as you forcibly exit the vehicle, and blacklist you from other cars -- all while you're hoping to make it to a hotel, airport, tour safely and on time.
- JAlexoid 6y agoYep. Most people forget that. Tourist places are a literal gold mine for fraudsters and other kinds of bad people.
- unicornfinder 6y agoIndeed and I don't know if it's just me but I genuinely feel like London has gotten a lot worse for fraudsters in recent years...
- JAlexoid 6y agoCooonsiderably.
- renewiltord 6y agoI don’t want to call them out. I want to never have to call them out. With Uber I don’t have to so I’ll take that.
- maccard 6y agoAnd uber launched in london in 2012. Meanwhile, the last time I got a black cab, the card machine was broken, and the driver "helpfully" offered to take a detour to an ATM, with the meter running, on my dime of course.
- alasdair_ 6y agoIf you are ever in that situation again, just tell them you only have a credit card, nothing else. Of course, only do that at the end of the ride. They are not allowed to pick up passengers if the machine (or meter, or lots of other things) is broken. If it’s genuinely broken and you still want to pay, you can call the number displayed below the machine and pay over the phone.
- throwaway287391 6y agoThis is good to know for London specifically. It's not as satisfying as yours but my general technique that works everywhere in the world where cabs are competing is: ask them if they take credit cards and their reader is working before you get into the cab. If they say no you find another cab. (In my experience they never say no anyway. But I learned to do this every single time I use a cab anywhere because this scam is so unbelievably common everywhere in the world.)
- iso1631 6y agoMy general technique is to use Uber, or pre-book a cab from the office. I have to admit I was stuck last time I was in Beijing, and of course nobody* takes cash in Beijing.
- maccard 6y agoYep indeed, I've asked before I got in. In this case I was getting a cab from the airport after a long haul flight. I'd normally use Uber but to try and speed things up I took a black cab because they're allowed use bus lanes and it was 9am.
- iso1631 6y ago
- mytailorisrich 6y agoThanks to Uber...
- kerng 6y agoYes, Uber really helped change that. Pretty amazing, probably still would be cash only otherwise...