"You will pay me my 10 percent tip, or I will not let you go," according to the police report.
While many people that work in positions where tips are expected, it doesn't make them mandatory, but a taxi driver thought different after kidnapping his passenger for not giving him a little extra for his services.
The driver was charged with extortion, false imprisonment and simple assault after his actions, along with having his cabbie license revoked.
Sohail Kahn, 57, taking a woman in New Orleans from her hotel to the airport, insisted on placing a $10 tip for the ride, but without her at first offering to actually tip.
Upon making the statement, the woman refused to allow the extra charge on her credit card and Kahn proceeded to hold her hostage until she gave him 10%, while waving his fist in her face.
Looking to make a point, the driver cut off the engine and locked the doors as the two engaged in an argument that lasted around half-an-hour until she dialed 911.
When authorities arrived, Khan was caught in a lie once he stated that he was simply trying to just cover the transaction fee for processing her card.
Good old public transportation there. I'll stick to good old bike or walking method. Better yet, just ask a friend
Taxi Rage: Woman Punched For Trying To Charge Ride
There have been a number of reports of cab drivers balking at customers who try to pay with credit cards, but a woman is accusing a cabbie of actually punching her after she tried to charge a ride.
Tamara Perez tells CBS 2 HD she still can't believe it happened.
The incident happened Tuesday after Perez ran to her East Village home to pick up some papers. Once in the cab, the 35-year-old realized she had no cash the pay the $10 fare. Instead, she pulled out a credit card, but the cabbie wasn't having it.
"He wouldn't let me use the card, he wouldn't press the button," she tells CBS 2. "I said, 'You have to press the button,' and he's like, 'No, no I don't know, I don't know how to use it.'"
Perez says the driver got out of the cab and told her to go get cash. She refused, said she wanted to use the machine and would tip well.
"I tried to walk past him and he pushed me back into the cab. I got up and told him I was calling my husband who is a professional boxer," she says. "I started dialing the phone and he said, 'I give you a punch in the mouth' and he turned around and he socked me in the mouth."
Perez tried to copy down the driver's license number, but mixed up the numbers as he took off. She's hoping police can track down the crooked cabbie.
"I want new york to find him and prosecute him," she says.
Perez called 311 and 911 after the incident and filed complaints.
"We haven't yet identified the driver, but when we do he will be suspended. It is an aberration," says Matthew Daus, Commissioner of the Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Just yesterday, the TLC announced it had launched an undercover operation in place to try and catch cabbies if they refuse to use the credit card machine. Now the NYPD will be getting involved, too.
"When she got out of the car there was some kind of pushing event that she described that we heard initially. Now the story is that she was punched which is an assault, and obviously we will investigate that as an assault," says Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
The TLC says you should be able to tell if a taxi's credit card system is working by whether or not the machine's display light comes on when you get in a cab. If a driver refuses to use it, call 311.
Tamara Perez tells CBS 2 HD she still can't believe it happened.
The incident happened Tuesday after Perez ran to her East Village home to pick up some papers. Once in the cab, the 35-year-old realized she had no cash the pay the $10 fare. Instead, she pulled out a credit card, but the cabbie wasn't having it.
"He wouldn't let me use the card, he wouldn't press the button," she tells CBS 2. "I said, 'You have to press the button,' and he's like, 'No, no I don't know, I don't know how to use it.'"
Perez says the driver got out of the cab and told her to go get cash. She refused, said she wanted to use the machine and would tip well.
"I tried to walk past him and he pushed me back into the cab. I got up and told him I was calling my husband who is a professional boxer," she says. "I started dialing the phone and he said, 'I give you a punch in the mouth' and he turned around and he socked me in the mouth."
Perez tried to copy down the driver's license number, but mixed up the numbers as he took off. She's hoping police can track down the crooked cabbie.
"I want new york to find him and prosecute him," she says.
Perez called 311 and 911 after the incident and filed complaints.
"We haven't yet identified the driver, but when we do he will be suspended. It is an aberration," says Matthew Daus, Commissioner of the Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Just yesterday, the TLC announced it had launched an undercover operation in place to try and catch cabbies if they refuse to use the credit card machine. Now the NYPD will be getting involved, too.
"When she got out of the car there was some kind of pushing event that she described that we heard initially. Now the story is that she was punched which is an assault, and obviously we will investigate that as an assault," says Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
The TLC says you should be able to tell if a taxi's credit card system is working by whether or not the machine's display light comes on when you get in a cab. If a driver refuses to use it, call 311.
Why do Taxi drivers always say their credit card machine is giving them problems?
This has really pissed me off lately, but I’ve been on several business trips where the Taxi driver says - "Oh my credit card machine is giving me problems, sorry."
It got worse with my recent business trip to Boston, where 3 out of the 4 taxi drivers told me the same thing, and the last one said that his machine was giving him problems all day, and he didnt even try to see if it was working.
So he said, "how much cash you got?" I said which is all I had, so then he gave a big sigh and then pressed his machine and swiped my card and VIOLA! it worked on the first try, what a load of crap he was giving me.
It got worse with my recent business trip to Boston, where 3 out of the 4 taxi drivers told me the same thing, and the last one said that his machine was giving him problems all day, and he didnt even try to see if it was working.
So he said, "how much cash you got?" I said which is all I had, so then he gave a big sigh and then pressed his machine and swiped my card and VIOLA! it worked on the first try, what a load of crap he was giving me.
Cabdrivers Deported for taking Credit Cards
Weeks ago the Philadelphia Parking Authority mailed a letter to immigrant cabdrivers telling them that credit-card payments were owed to them and to come to the PPA to get paid, drivers said.
When 26 drivers showed up at the PPA garage and impoundment offices in South Philadelphia Wednesday, 23 wound up handcuffed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who determined the cabbies were in the United States illegally, according to ICE spokesman Mark Medvesky.
All but four were released but their names were placed on a deportation list. Medvesky didn't detail why the four others were held.
PPA spokesman Marty O'Rourke would say only that "the Parking Authority worked with federal authorities on this operation."
Two of the three cleared drivers identified themselves as American citizens and said that the experience had been both harrowing and humiliating and that they, too, had been handcuffed and interrogated.
One of them, Oliver, who didn't want his last name used, said a receptionist greeted him when he went into the PPA offices on Swanson Street near Ritner Wednesday morning.
"She asked for my Social Security number and said they had a check for me and that a gentleman was going to walk me into the next room to pick [it] up," he said.
Once inside, Oliver said, Immigration and Customs officers "grabbed me and pushed me against the wall and put handcuffs on me."
"I said I am an American citizen but they didn't listen to me," he said. "They took me to the warehouse behind the office. I met a lot of guys that were handcuffed there."
Oliver, who is from Nigeria and said he has been a U.S. citizen for nine years, said that he happened to have his passport in his cab and that after he presented it to ICE officials, they let him go.
He worked briefly yesterday, he said, but "I was really emotionally messed up. My leg was still shaking. It was terrible."
Oloyede, a cabbie born in Burkina Faso, West Africa, and naturalized here in 2006, said he, too, was traumatized. "I didn't know what I did wrong," he said.
Medvesky said the sting had been conducted because cabdrivers have access to areas of Philadelphia International Airport where the public doesn't normally go. "We consider this a public-safety issue. We're constantly looking for places with vulnerabilities, like the airport," he said.
He said those arrested were from the United Kingdom, Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Senegal, Jamaica, Ivory Coast and India.
Ronald Blount, president of the Unified Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania, said that he had received different figures from the PPA but that even if the arrested drivers were illegals, the 23 were "out of a pool of 5,000 drivers."
"It's not like it's a big problem in this industry," Blount said. "At least 85 percent [of taxi drivers] are first-generation immigrants and here legally."
He said the Parking Authority itself screens cabbies every year, and they must present proof that they are here legally when their licenses come up for renewal.
When 26 drivers showed up at the PPA garage and impoundment offices in South Philadelphia Wednesday, 23 wound up handcuffed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who determined the cabbies were in the United States illegally, according to ICE spokesman Mark Medvesky.
All but four were released but their names were placed on a deportation list. Medvesky didn't detail why the four others were held.
PPA spokesman Marty O'Rourke would say only that "the Parking Authority worked with federal authorities on this operation."
Two of the three cleared drivers identified themselves as American citizens and said that the experience had been both harrowing and humiliating and that they, too, had been handcuffed and interrogated.
One of them, Oliver, who didn't want his last name used, said a receptionist greeted him when he went into the PPA offices on Swanson Street near Ritner Wednesday morning.
"She asked for my Social Security number and said they had a check for me and that a gentleman was going to walk me into the next room to pick [it] up," he said.
Once inside, Oliver said, Immigration and Customs officers "grabbed me and pushed me against the wall and put handcuffs on me."
"I said I am an American citizen but they didn't listen to me," he said. "They took me to the warehouse behind the office. I met a lot of guys that were handcuffed there."
Oliver, who is from Nigeria and said he has been a U.S. citizen for nine years, said that he happened to have his passport in his cab and that after he presented it to ICE officials, they let him go.
He worked briefly yesterday, he said, but "I was really emotionally messed up. My leg was still shaking. It was terrible."
Oloyede, a cabbie born in Burkina Faso, West Africa, and naturalized here in 2006, said he, too, was traumatized. "I didn't know what I did wrong," he said.
Medvesky said the sting had been conducted because cabdrivers have access to areas of Philadelphia International Airport where the public doesn't normally go. "We consider this a public-safety issue. We're constantly looking for places with vulnerabilities, like the airport," he said.
He said those arrested were from the United Kingdom, Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Senegal, Jamaica, Ivory Coast and India.
Ronald Blount, president of the Unified Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania, said that he had received different figures from the PPA but that even if the arrested drivers were illegals, the 23 were "out of a pool of 5,000 drivers."
"It's not like it's a big problem in this industry," Blount said. "At least 85 percent [of taxi drivers] are first-generation immigrants and here legally."
He said the Parking Authority itself screens cabbies every year, and they must present proof that they are here legally when their licenses come up for renewal.
Taken for a Ride?
Taken for a ride.
You grab a cab, you should be able to swipe your card and pay your way. But we found some who try to cab it on credit are told the machine is broken. Our hidden camera investigation found that may not be true. Are you getting taken for a ride? Hank investigates.
Our undercover producers are hailing cabs for just one reason.
"Taxi!"
We want to see if they will let them pay with a credit card.
If you've been in the back seat of a Boston cab lately, you've seen the fancy brand new machines. Last July, the city's Hackney division -- part of the Boston Police Department -- told drivers: You've got to take plastic, or you can't take passengers.
Mark Cohen, Director of Licensing, Boston Police Dept.
"The police department is absolutely dedicated to make this work."
We found lots of cabs were with the program we hopped in, tapped the screen, swiped the card and were on our way. But we found some cab drivers trying to trick passengers into paying cash.
Watch this: "Do you take credit cards?"
The driver first asks: "How much cash do you have?" And then he tells our producer his credit card machine "doesn't always work." Knowing the score, she pushes the buttons, and it works just fine.
And our investigation found passengers say this driving deception is happening all over town.
Taxi Passengers:
"They say oh no the credit card machine is broken today."
"There will be a sign right by the credit card machine, or over the credit card machine, that says its broken."
"They'll insist that the machine is broken."
But then, when these savvy passengers insisted they had no cash, suddenly the machines were fine.
Taxi Passengers:
"It always works."
"If I try it, it does work."
"First it was broken, then it worked."
Officials admit, they know the "machine is broken" line is frequently just a line.
Hank Phillippi Ryan, 7NEWS
"How often are the drivers just not telling the truth?"
Mark Cohen, Director of Licensing, Boston Police Dept.
"More often than not."
In fact, over and over, drivers told our undercover riders their machines were out of order.
And it's not just us. We found complaints about this are pouring into the police department. Just since last July, they've gotten 245 of them. That's more than one every day.
Hank Phillippi Ryan, 7NEWS
"That's a lot of complaints."
Mark Cohen, Director of Licensing, Boston Police Dept.
"Well, I think we have our work cut out for us."
Why would cabbies do it? Credit card companies charge the drivers a fee for each transaction, so that mean they make less money for each trip. If they can get you to pay in cash, they cash in. That's against the rules, but here's what drivers don't know.
Police showed us this computer in police headquarters. It runs 24/7, recording and storing every taxi trip and every taxi transaction. So when customers report a broken credit card machine, the police can check to see if the claim is true.
Mark Cohen, Director of Licensing, Boston Police Dept.
What will happen is we we bring that driver in, and if he doesn't have a good reason, there's a chance that he will lose his license for a day or two.
Police hope cabbies will realize that in the long run taking credit cards is a good thing, encouraging more passengers and bringing bigger tips. But if you think you've been deceived, check out the link below for how to report it!
In the newsroom, I'm Hank Philippi Ryan.
To report something to Boston Police Hackney's Division: http://www.cityofboston.gov/police/taxi.asp
(Copyright (c) 2010 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
My cabdriver forced me to pump gas bec. he didn't take cards
In the middle of my cabride, my cabdriver mentioned he didn't take credit cards. Since I didn't have an ATM, the question became how to pay for my ride.
His answer, 'fill up his tank.'
Not only was I forced to pay for my driver's gas (as that was the only way he took credit cards)...he even made me pump!
His answer, 'fill up his tank.'
Not only was I forced to pay for my driver's gas (as that was the only way he took credit cards)...he even made me pump!
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