My Taxi Revenge

poodlek · Post by **poodlek** » Sun, 18 Dec 2011 12:54 pm

Asian_Geekette wrote:My hubby (Wow! This is the first time I'm posting here as a married woman)...

Congratulations!

Post by **nakatago** » Sun, 18 Dec 2011 1:05 pm

poodlek wrote:
Asian_Geekette wrote:My hubby (Wow! This is the first time I'm posting here as a married woman)...
Congratulations!

Here, here!

BigSis · Post by **BigSis** » Sun, 18 Dec 2011 11:48 pm

My hubby (Wow! This is the first time I'm posting here as a married woman)

Gratz

We got a bolshy cabbie the other week - asked him to drop one person off on Stamford Rd and he wouldn't do it, said he wasn't allowed to do that and drove down to the cab rank at Funan. I'm not sure if it's true or not that they can't do that but the person we were dropping off works near there and often gets dropped off and picked up kerbside without a problem...........it could be that he was right and it's the others who are breaking the law but he was bolshy about other things too.

After that,the rest of us wanted to go to Orchard rd so I asked him if he could do a right down River Valley Rd from Hill Street and he wouldn't - said he couldn't do a right turn there. I don't have a car here so I wasn't entirely sure enough to argue with him on that one, but I am sure that I have been in many vehicles over the years that have done right turns there.......again, I could be wrong, or they could have changed the rules about doing a right there. If anyone around here drives, maybe they know about that junction.

Lastly he drove through the Fort Canning tunnel without asking if we wanted to go through there, adding $1 to the already expensive fare and accused me of only just moving here because I complained:

"I don't think you've been in Singapore very long, you don't know the rules" etc etc etc.

I meant to get a receipt so it'd have his number on and I could complain to Comfort about him but in the end I just wanted to get out of there and forgot to ask for a receipt.

I've lived here 10 years and to be fair, haven't had that many nasty cabbies in that time (bad drivers yes, but not rude and bad tempered like him).

gravida · Post by **gravida** » Mon, 19 Dec 2011 9:34 am

I am driving to and back from work using a taxi. I have been also doing it for 2+ years since 2007. Nightmare. At least right now I can use the phone's app to call a cab, that saves me a lot of trouble with the crappy customer service. There is also the sms option.
However, I have enough bad (and sometimes funny) stories to write a book. And yes, I did report the driver to the LTA before. I would also do it again, if someone will cross the line.
On Wednesday I was so

at one taxi driver. I've been with my kid, his stroller, tons of shopping bags. The guy came out of the taxi, opened the boot and waited. I was buckling the child's car seat and the taxi driver was standing there, staring at me. He did not pick up single bag, nor put the stroller into the boot. I mean, fine - you do not want to help me, than do not, but why on Earth are you coming our of the vehicle, opening the boot and then not helping me at all? What's the whole drama for?

ecureilx · Post by **ecureilx** » Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:58 pm

gravida wrote:He did not pick up single bag, nor put the stroller into the boot. I mean, fine - you do not want to help me, than do not, but why on Earth are you coming our of the vehicle, opening the boot and then not helping me at all? What's the whole drama for?

Be happy you live in Singapore .. in UK, the taxi driver could sue you for elf and safety, if he hurt his back lifting your stuff

No kidding .. as a emergency nurse recently had refused to lift an accident victim claiming he has no prior training in assisting accident victims when it comes to lifting and had said "I will hurt my back if I lift the victim, so I am gonna wait till professionally trained help arrives .. "

maybe I am too engrossed in DailyMail UK

BillyB · Post by **BillyB** » Mon, 19 Dec 2011 1:28 pm

ecureilx wrote:
gravida wrote:He did not pick up single bag, nor put the stroller into the boot. I mean, fine - you do not want to help me, than do not, but why on Earth are you coming our of the vehicle, opening the boot and then not helping me at all? What's the whole drama for?
Be happy you live in Singapore .. in UK, the taxi driver could sue you for elf and safety, if he hurt his back lifting your stuff

No kidding .. as a emergency nurse recently had refused to lift an accident victim claiming he has no prior training in assisting accident victims when it comes to lifting and had said "I will hurt my back if I lift the victim, so I am gonna wait till professionally trained help arrives .. "

maybe I am too engrossed in DailyMail UK

You're quoting 'one-off's' that always make the news in trash-like, right-wing, papers such as the daily mail.

Taxi drivers in the UK are usually really helpful and actually know the roads they drive on!

ecureilx · Post by **ecureilx** » Mon, 19 Dec 2011 1:39 pm

BillyB wrote:

You're quoting 'one-off's' that always make the news in trash-like, right-wing, papers such as the daily mail.

Taxi drivers in the UK are usually really helpful and actually know the roads they drive on!

Ah, so health and safety is not a worry here for taxi drivers to "NOT" help passengers ..

Well, last week I was in a local training course for handling disabled, and one of the comments was if you hurt yourself helping a disabled person, you are NOT entitled to any remedy (not that I looked forward to it .. )

Anyway, the bright side of taxi - last Saturday, got into a cab at Century Square, Tampines, Heading to town. The driver, instead of making a quick right to get to PIE mad a mess and 10 minutes later, I was still going around tampines .. and when I slightly showed my impatience, the driver (lady driver - Transcab) switched off the meter and switched on the meter only when she managed to get the car into PIE, and showed me "see, I am not unfair, I make mistake, and I off the meter and reset .. "

And the taxi fare was much lesser than what it costs to reach Raffles City, and I added a couple of $ on top her meter fare ... and ran out before she could protest ..

I was happy enough for me to pen a thank you letter to her company, and done that too ..

See, good drivers do exist ..

evehow · Post by **evehow** » Wed, 21 Dec 2011 4:23 pm

BigSis wrote:We got a bolshy cabbie the other week - asked him to drop one person off on Stamford Rd and he wouldn't do it, said he wasn't allowed to do that and drove down to the cab rank at Funan. I'm not sure if it's true or not that they can't do that but the person we were dropping off works near there and often gets dropped off and picked up kerbside without a problem...........it could be that he was right and it's the others who are breaking the law but he was bolshy about other things too.

LTA:
Taxis are not allowed to pick up or alight passengers along roads in the CBD where buses ply between 7am to 10pm from Monday to Saturday, other than a public holiday. They are required to do so at taxi stands/stops and driveways of buildings.

http://www.lta.gov.sg/public_transport/ ... etting.htm

BigSis wrote: After that,the rest of us wanted to go to Orchard rd so I asked him if he could do a right down River Valley Rd from Hill Street and he wouldn't - said he couldn't do a right turn there. I don't have a car here so I wasn't entirely sure enough to argue with him on that one, but I am sure that I have been in many vehicles over the years that have done right turns there.......again, I could be wrong, or they could have changed the rules about doing a right there. If anyone around here drives, maybe they know about that junction.

There is a No Right Turn sign at that junction you mentioned.

http://tinyurl.com/6lpsafv

BigSis · Post by **BigSis** » Wed, 21 Dec 2011 8:05 pm

Thank you Evehow.

I know about the not dropping off in the CBD apart from at ranks but didn't realise that Stamford Rd was classed as part of the CBD

curiousgeorge · Post by **curiousgeorge** » Thu, 22 Dec 2011 7:10 am

evehow wrote:
BigSis wrote: After that,the rest of us wanted to go to Orchard rd so I asked him if he could do a right down River Valley Rd from Hill Street and he wouldn't - said he couldn't do a right turn there. I don't have a car here so I wasn't entirely sure enough to argue with him on that one, but I am sure that I have been in many vehicles over the years that have done right turns there.......again, I could be wrong, or they could have changed the rules about doing a right there. If anyone around here drives, maybe they know about that junction.
There is a No Right Turn sign at that junction you mentioned.

http://tinyurl.com/6lpsafv

Yah, have to go over the bridge and U-turn then come back

Kayleen · Post by **Kayleen** » Thu, 22 Dec 2011 1:08 pm

Hell ya.. Ive come across taxi drivers whom won't, for goodness sake, respond to any of your sentence. So there are a couple of times when they missed the right route to my destinations and go, " I didn't hear you." I glare and retort " excuse me, you've been keeping silent throughout the entire journey, not responding, so how do you expect me to differentiate whether or not you heard me? Who is supposed to acknowlege who? "

ecureilx · Post by **ecureilx** » Thu, 22 Dec 2011 2:04 pm

Kayleen wrote:Hell ya.. Ive come across taxi drivers whom won't, for goodness sake, respond to any of your sentence. So there are a couple of times when they missed the right route to my destinations and go, " I didn't hear you." I glare and retort " excuse me, you've been keeping silent throughout the entire journey, not responding, so how do you expect me to differentiate whether or not you heard me? Who is supposed to acknowlege who? "

sometimes I get mad at taxi drivers, considering that the vocational license covers map reading and today every taxi has a GPS map .. and they get trained before they hit the roads .. but that doesn't stop them from going "can you guide me .. "

I chalk it up to their boredom and long hours on the road. ..

Sometimes I smile, act foreigner (oh I am one .. so right .. ) and say "Uncle, I am foreigner, if you don't know address, can you call 1-800-call-lta and ask for direction ? "

That gives me an ugly look and takes me to the destination ..

Kayleen · Post by **Kayleen** » Thu, 22 Dec 2011 3:07 pm

Yeah.. I seriously don't get them. Hey, they've got gps! Not that we are demanding for extra services that's beyond their duty hey, if they don't know how to get there and we don't too, shouldnt they be the one to make the efforts to help us be there instead of being rude and expect us to direct them ?

ecureilx · Post by **ecureilx** » Thu, 22 Dec 2011 3:12 pm

Kayleen wrote:Yeah.. I seriously don't get them. Hey, they've got gps! Not that we are demanding for extra services that's beyond their duty hey, if they don't know how to get there and we don't too, shouldnt they be the one to make the efforts to help us be there instead of being rude and expect us to direct them ?

many years ago, the taxi drivers had this common gripe that passengers throw tantrum if the driver takes a different route .. but heck, as you say, those days are gone ..

But, sometimes it is better to let the driver go on his own way .. than get on our own nerves

Smile widely, or plug in your headsets, or act busy on your mobile ..

Post by **nakatago** » Thu, 22 Dec 2011 3:12 pm

See my story above. Aside from him having GPS, me having GPS, "dun know how to get there."

SINGAPORE EXPATS FORUM
Singapore Expat Forum and Message Board for Expats in Singapore & Expatriates Relocating to Singapore

My Taxi Revenge

Who is online