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Out of curiosity, how have black cab drivers tried to rip you off? There's no room for maneuver in the fixed fare structure [1], which is designed to incentivis
by tweetle_beetle 6y ago
Out of curiosity, how have black cab drivers tried to rip you off? There's no room for maneuver in the fixed fare structure [1], which is designed to incentivise taking more low distance fares.
If anything, the traditional trope was that they were "generous" - if you asked for a receipt, they would give you a wedge of empty receipts for you to fill in yourself for tax claims.
[1] https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/taxis-and-minicabs/taxi-fares?intcmp=4223 https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/taxis-and-minicabs/taxi-fares?intcm...
- topicseed 6y agoIn my years of using black cabs, there were no common fixed fares used, they ran on a meter. Fixed fares were mostly arranged and inflated by dealings with hotel concierges with cash exchanging hands before the guest went in their black cab. So, to answer your question clearly, they attempted to rip me and my visiting relatives off multiple times by hearing a strong accent, and starting taking obviously non optimum routes until they are told to take the exact road I know that is in fact much shorter, and much faster. Several times.
- tweetle_beetle 6y agoThe fixed fare structure I linked runs on a meter - there is no interpretation possible. And the structure rewards drivers for taking a higher number of shorter journeys to avoid the situation you are describing. Paying a third party cash before a journey is arranged is not the typical use case for a black cab. In a traditional hotel situation, the concierge would either wander out into the street to hail a taxi for you that you pay for yourself (black cab), or act as a booking agent for a taxi (mini cab). It sounds like your family was being ripped off in the second scenario, and possibly tricked into thinking they were taking a black cab.