Canberra Cabs Delays

Unfortunately Cabxpress are no better. A couple of times lately I have waited hours for a pre booked taxi only for them to pass the job on to Canberra Cabs after the third phone call to query the delay.

Once booked a cab from a inner south address at 2pm on a Thursday.. After 30 minutes it never turned up so a rang Canberra Cabs to see where the cab was. Was put through to another operator who informed me that it was sent to 74 Northbourne ave and I’d already been picked up! Said to her “How do you get that address out of my address”? to which she replied “We’ll have a cab there shortly” and she hung up. A cab turned up 5 minute later!

Sorry to bring up a month old thread, but I don’t think my rants warrant their own entry (If Johnboy wants to make one…go ahead). However I am furious about Canberra Craps.
Last night I had an old Canberran friend staying with me in Hackett, who had a buisness meeting in Barton at 9 am. After everything I read in the Canberra times and here, we figured that calling a cab just before 8am, which would allow the cab 40 minutes to come and 20 to get her there. The cab did not come, of course. After 40 minutes we called and the operator waffled something about ‘cluster of three jobs’. After an hour (and my friend missing her meeting), we called again, only to be told ‘we are working on it’. We demanded to speak to a supervisor who – at 9:12 am finally managed to summon a cab out of thin air.
75 minutes (incl. supervisor intervention) for a Cab??? So the lesson is: If you need to go somewhere at a certain time and you are from interstate: Discover the bloody pluses of buses. They are slow, but they get you there.
And the display of Canberra for interstate buisness people? Well, they are laughing their ass off…

Here is the truth of the matter (if anyone is interested). Canberra Cabs is in the process of replacing the dinosaur of a dispatch system it has run for the last 5 years. A big part of this changeover is the call centre and associated IT issues. Unfortunately, the new phone ID recognition system (that as mentioned above can have a cab booked in less than 60 seconds) also has put as drain on IT resources, causing many crashes of the system last week – therefore resulting in the phones going to a manual queue. ALSO, Parliament returned last week – if the people of Canberra haven’t realised that cabs are a LOT busier during Circus weeks yet, then I,m not going to point it out to you.

SOME TIPS:

Say ‘FUTURE’ when asked: If talking to a computer frustrates you, this automatically puts you through to an operator.

Ring ELITE TAXIS on 6239 3666: No recognition system, goes straight to an operator and the number isn’t as well known. If an Elite cab is unable to do the hiring (none near the job) it is given to a Canberra Cab anyway.

Thumper – maybe it was that camel

Um…the new call system is quicker IF you call from a landline (don’t know about mobiles, never tried) and its publicly listed.

When calling from my desk, I have the whole booking thing done in less than 60 seconds.

However, calling from our other office hidden away in a goverment department building. I can’t use the automated system as it has a spat about my location. So yes….I have to wait 10-20 minutes for an operator to take my call. Gah

Now you have to say future if you are booking from a mobile… was smashed out of my brains at the pot last night… when i said future to the phone my mate lost control… he was still laughing 5 minutes later when the cab came…

The only time I have ever had a problem with cabs was when I tried to get a cab to pick me up from the back of phoenix with my music equipment, the motherfucker told me it was illegal, which as absolute garbage… man that pissed me off…

otherwise have never had a prob with cabs, rarely wait anymore htan 10 minutes… melbourne however is a completely different story..

My own personal crackpot theory is that they’ve eliminated the call centre – all calls now are routed through directly to the cab drivers. To ensure safety, they have to pull over before answering, as the cab company will not pay for handsfree kits. I am fairly sure that this is what’s going on.

I love how the elite tranport site never mentions Arial or Canberra Cabs, but if you look at their snd records:

Registrant Canberra Cabs Pty Ltd
Registrant ID ABN 51055026518
Registrant ROID C2961542-AR
Registrant Contact Name Canberra Cabs Pty Ltd
Registrant Email marketing@cancabs.com.au

Agree with you Johnboy. Waiting 10-15 minutes would be a nice change. I don’t think I have ever waited less than 20 minutes to book a cab, peak time or otherwise.