Black Cab - a polite telling off
Adding to the black cab pile on but when I fly I tend to use the taxi rank at Heathrow over uber or other ride sharing apps. This may change now.
Flew into Heathrow this morning at 5am after a 14 hour flight. Proceeded to get a taxi from the rank. Gave address and off we went.
Nearing completion of the ride - the cabby proceeds to tell me that next time I use a taxi to tell the driver to take me to a point near to my home and then guide him/her from there.
The reason: I live just outside a boundary where drivers can state it was a local drop off and avoid having to rejoin the local queue at the back. Apparently a £70 fare from Heathrow is not sufficient and may make the driver “grumpy” and I was fortunate that my cabby was “tired”.
I am all for supporting black cabs with my custom but surely this is not my problem? It isn’t up to the consumer to adjust their instructions and guide a black cab where the whole point of black cabs (they say) is that you can say and address and they will take you there.
In the end, my trip was way more expensive than an uber. So not only did I give a black cab my business, I paid £20 more than what I would have with an uber and got a telling off for the pleasure.
They really are so entitled.