New Taxi Service in Canberra

Its just occured to me that perhaps the booked taxi was indeed for the lady who arrived at 10.30 at the train station… and they just didnt find eachother… so maybe I jumped the gun somewhat with my comments. Its possible that the cab was ordered and the driver & guest stuffed it up between themselves. So I guess the fair thing to do is take back my earlier comments. We all go through bad patches. I mean technology changes and we must change with the times… I’m sure Canberra Cabs will get through these teething problems & we will al be better off in the end.
Its just very frustrating when you work hard to provide a service and do everything to make everyone happy and then someone loses it at you for something that is beyond your control. Things should be taken in context before accusations are made… I realise that. Maybe we should be more supportive of them as they are an important player in our cities infrastructure… our feedback should perhaps be more constructive…. anyway I’m rambling again… just wanted to be fair.

Just a few comments about the biggest problem in Canberra and thats the fiasco of Canberra Cabs. I work in a hotel which has a taxi phone and the voice recognition system does not recognise accents, visitors to Canberra do not know the suburb of every attraction in Canberra, and the elderly just can’t work the system at all. We also house the nations top Judges, Politicians, professors & intellectuals of all shapes and sizes who frequently curse and swear and slam down the phone (in our lobby) in sheer frustration. If having to put up with aggresive behaviour from frustrated guests who can’t negotiate this rediculous system isn’t enough…. the operators are just as useless. I saw one guest who was hung up on simply because he could not understand and the poor chap eventually missed his flight as a result. The newest and most laughable incident was when I tried to book a cab to pick up and elderly lady from the train station (at 1035 pm) to bring her to the hotel before it closed at 11. Well I was told that they cannot book a cab for the train station because there was a cab rank there, so effectively we did not know if she would be picked up or not. Of course when she arrived the rank was empty. So after finding a man with a mobile who knew the number they phoned (and booked) a cab. The first cab that showed up would not take them because it was a booking. It is so bad its worse than laughable… its a disgrace and an embarrassment to Canberra. How can we operate a city without a reliable means of getting from A to B…. it enfuriates me every day!!!!!

Good comments Jon. I read them! The whole situation just doesn’t seem to be working for the customers or the cabbies.

G’day,
This comment is more than likely late considering the dates at the bottom of the posts, but, I have just found it so here it is.
I drive taxi’s in Canberra and to answer some of the q’s above. Elite Taxi’s is run by the same mob there is no differnce to Canberra cabs (ecxept name on car) the pricing is the same the call centre same. The cost Of Chisholm to airport is about $40 bucks but this depends on time and day. From 9pm till 6am mon – thu and 9pm Fri till 6am Mon is rate 2 (Dearest) so if you go some where at 7pm and it cost $40 then return after 9pm it will cost $45 or there abouts. There is a new service coming to town just after the new year will be 100% apart from Canberra cabs which is a great thing including competition, better service and so and the fact that Canberra Cabs treat the drivers and the public for that matter like crap and don’t care 2 bob for either. Although I drive taxi’s under the canberra Cabs banner I also do private work which I arrange my self by giving my number to travelling customers and I get a lot of repeat work like this, the price is no dearer than if you booked through canberra Cabs themselves except you talk to a human when you call me and you have a more conferdent feeling that a cab is turning up. Anyways, Cabbies are trying to do the right thing but like any profession you do get mungrels. We also cop a lot of abuse from the public, I my self have picked people up 1 hour after they called but I have had the job for only a couple of minutes but try and tell the passenger that before they rip your head off. All this is part of the job BUT it should’nt be!!!
Most of us work hard and are honest and helpful, even at night with all the party goers we get your kids home safe under very trying situations at times. I have had runners I have also taken people home for free, I also let my regulars catch a ride home with no money and let them pay me later just to get them home safe. We don’t set the taxi rate nor can we charge what we want and if any one does DON’T PAY IT, take down their taxi plate number (it is also on the sticker on windscreen passenger side) and report it to Canberra cabs admin. Well I won’t write to much because as I said this is pretty late and I don’t want to get a blister on my 1 finger I type with if no ones going to read it. Please contact me if you require any help or q’s answered or a lift.
Jon

id like to see some of the whinging marsh mallow that either treat the cabbie like a lower life form or those who think that living at a wage less than they earn is appropriate

go out and try to keep the fares low. in the act the distance is the tyrant and to try to offer good customer service to those who expect servility is very stress full also unlike those marsh mallows yes you bulldog, who jump in the relative safety of thier car after work knowing they wont be injured other than in a car crash,

think that the cabbie should be the same when some one jumps in beside them with the intent o bashing stabbing cabbie to get thier jollies

next time think of the poor sod trying to make a buck and surviving be fore you put the boot in
you bastard. and i think if we were to try and put you and others spouting garbage off about knowing the act as well as the cabbies have to, wed find that youd starve and owe the cab master a tank of lpg.
as i think alot of pubes reading this wouldnt put up with the stress, the uncertainty and the pressure in thier own work places, so why do it to others, especially when its the cabbies who usualy report burlaries house fires stolen cars ect long be for others do

I was a cab driver from 1996-2001 and got fed up with whingers like those spoilt people who expect every thing handed to them and thought that they were from mt olympus when they tossed 5 cents in a tip. also those longer routings? usually its the passengers fault as the cabbie by laww has to take direction even if it conflicts with the training commonsense .

And its usually us who let low life scum off when they do a runner at night after they expend all in the night clubs, although if the poor bugger was serching for a job and couldnyt get home id do it just to lend a hand. even though most runners were broke a lot more were just pubes with tight wallets . heres a thought, if thier bosses did it to them by not paying them theyd be screaming like newbornbabes, and go to thier union

the cabbie has very limited resorces and usually has to cop it sweet.

also the average cabbie has to pay three levels of tax before dollar one gets to the table.

whereas likes of whinging marshmallows only get taxed once on thier wages.

also the tax office also has inspectors who can spring audits without notice and shut the cabbie
down without pay . would you accept this bull dog all for getting you moning whinging cheapskate ass home?

also we are charged more and more for getting kids safley home to and from school, obviously bulldog you havent had to go to work ready to fight parental head cases either.

also in other workplaces its forbidden to ask a worker to interrupt meal breaks and get back to work but when it comes to the cabbies its considered open season. bulldog wouldnt accept this where it works why should we , not all cabbies are that hungry for the pennies just to go round the corner after being interrrupted at the restauraunt, doghouse,burger caravan, then monstered through the meal just to be ordered in to the cab to get arrogant self centered punters back ,so they can leisurly enjoy thier evening meal, whilst whinging to parnter how they were inconvienineced by the coffee swilling burger munching / chinese restauraunt patronising yobbo cabbie .

so remember marsh mallows that there is only a few inches on the passengerside in an accident in a cab.

Treat the Cab and Cabbie with respect and youll be ok dont and one day it will catch up with you

remember the ACT is large but still a small town as well.

and a cabbies memory is long.

Hear ye, OpenYourMind. There are few tougher industries in which to work than taxi-driving. Long hours, poor returns, no super and no paid leave of any kind.

But despite our taxi services being very good compared to the standards of other cities, Canberrans whinge about it, and abuse the drivers, like a pack of spoilt princesses.

Sure, you’ll have trouble getting a taxi on a parliamentary sitting morning at 8am. What do people expect – political staffers to actually walk a kilometre or two to their workplace?

Well, it could always be worse: no one has mentioned camels yet!

I live to give 🙂

oh, well done colsim. that’s every damn post that has mentioned light rail!

Will pay the stir-up though 🙂

Lightrail? 🙂