Unfortunately we just learned we have been victimized by taxi driver and/or company in Melbourne.
We took a cab ride that cost approx. $10 to the airport from the Comfort Inn and Suites Essendon and used our credit card to pay. The cabbie indicated that his EFTPOS machine was not working and used an old style swipe carbon copy machine to take our information. We received our statement this week and were charged $90.09 for this ride! Also, we have received another charge for a limo service in Australia for a date 2 weeks after we returned to Canada. We have been told that this is not the first time this has happened to cab customers in Melbourne. There has been a number of instances where a 'limo' charge has been applied to a credit card after taking a taxi in Melbourne.
The first charge, for the $90.09 came up on our statement as Black/Yellow Taxis Nth Melbourne AU. Does anyone know which company this is? I have contacted the Yellow Cabs and they say that their charges only come up as Black Cab.
The second charge, for the ride we never took. Comes up as Cab Account Aust Brunswick AU. When we called our credit card company they indicated that this was a limousine company.
We are disputing the charges with our credit card company and have filed a complaint with the Victoria Taxi Directorate.
First of all I want to warn all travelers to Melbourne about this scam (well all people that use taxis for that matter). If you have used your credit card to pay for a cab in Melbourne you should definitely keep an eye on your statements for weird charges or overcharges.
Also, I would like to know if anyone has had a similar situation or if anyone has any more information on this scam. Or if anyone knows which cab company's charges are listed as Black/Yellow Taxis Nth Melbourne.
Thank you and beware!!!
Why is the taxi credit card machine always broken?
What's up with Red Top cab drivers who always have credit card machines that are not working or they do not have the credit card slips? If this was a one time thing, I could understand but it's not. I am a regular cab passenger or I hire cabs to take our company's business associates to the airport or other destination. I am not sure why a good majority of cab driver's only want to deal in cash; maybe because they loose money paying fees, or they don't want traceable transactions....but I have a feeling there must be some regulations/guidelines governing these types of transactions. In the future, I will make note of every cab I take or get for another person, where the driver gives the same line about broken machines or no slips.
1 in 7 credit card rides successfully refused in NYC (more attempted)
47—"slightly" accepted credit cards.
9 drivers refused to accept credit cards at all.
1 driver accepted the credit card, and then tried to levy his own $0.35 transaction fee.
The nine drivers who refused offered a litany of poor excuses, including:
"There is a minimum cab fare for credit card use." (There isn't, according to the Taxi and Limousine Commission.)
There is a 35-cent transaction fee for credit cards." (Not so.)
"It's too short a ride." (No such thing.)
"It better be a good credit card." (Passengers can always pay with cash if the card is declined.)
The device doesn't have to be activated until the new year. (If it is installed, passengers can use it.)
If a cabbie gives you a hard time, you are in good company—Matthew Daus, New York's Taxi Commissioner, has been twice refused.
9 drivers refused to accept credit cards at all.
1 driver accepted the credit card, and then tried to levy his own $0.35 transaction fee.
The nine drivers who refused offered a litany of poor excuses, including:
"There is a minimum cab fare for credit card use." (There isn't, according to the Taxi and Limousine Commission.)
There is a 35-cent transaction fee for credit cards." (Not so.)
"It's too short a ride." (No such thing.)
"It better be a good credit card." (Passengers can always pay with cash if the card is declined.)
The device doesn't have to be activated until the new year. (If it is installed, passengers can use it.)
If a cabbie gives you a hard time, you are in good company—Matthew Daus, New York's Taxi Commissioner, has been twice refused.
Credit Card failed so forced to pay with Ipod
A 20-year old California college student touring New York City with a bum credit card was forced to pay her cab fare with an iPod nano, according to MSNBC.
According to reports, Natalie Lenhart took a cab from Manhattan to JFK airport, but when she tried to pay the $59 fare her credit card was rejected. So instead of running, like 95 percent of Americans would do, Lenhart faced officers at the airport who made her hand over her iPod nano, packed full of oldies such as James Taylor, valued at $140.
What kind of communist cop makes you pay a bill with personal property that is nearly twice as much as the debt? It sounds like some sort of gypsy cab scam that an American tourist would encounter in Eastern Europe.
When James Taylor read the story in the New York Post he was pretty peeved. So upset, in fact, that he decided to send Lehart a new iPod filled with his music.
A New Yorker “Would never have put up with it,” Taylor told the Post.
A true New Yorker would have had a few choice words for the driver and the cops I would imagine.
The cab driver has offered to return the iPod if the fare is paid.
According to reports, Natalie Lenhart took a cab from Manhattan to JFK airport, but when she tried to pay the $59 fare her credit card was rejected. So instead of running, like 95 percent of Americans would do, Lenhart faced officers at the airport who made her hand over her iPod nano, packed full of oldies such as James Taylor, valued at $140.
What kind of communist cop makes you pay a bill with personal property that is nearly twice as much as the debt? It sounds like some sort of gypsy cab scam that an American tourist would encounter in Eastern Europe.
When James Taylor read the story in the New York Post he was pretty peeved. So upset, in fact, that he decided to send Lehart a new iPod filled with his music.
A New Yorker “Would never have put up with it,” Taylor told the Post.
A true New Yorker would have had a few choice words for the driver and the cops I would imagine.
The cab driver has offered to return the iPod if the fare is paid.
Forced to use ATM vs. Credit Card Machine
The last time i wanted to pay with credit card, the guy made me go to an ATM (LGA to water street ride) and pay him in cash... his machine was broken. As a matter of fact, I have yet to see a cab with cc machine that isn't broken...
Why Chicago cabs don't take credit cards
Chicago cab drivers really, really, don't want to take your credit card. While the non-independent drivers are required to do so, they have no problem expressing their open disdain for the holy trinity of Visa/MasterCard/AmEx.
As a passenger, there's nothing I hate more than being made to feel like an asshole for simply paying what I owe.
Last Thursday, after arriving back at O'Hare from a long four-day trip to Canada, I dragged my luggage to the cab stand. I always ask cabbies before getting in their ride, "will you take my credit card?" Though the required answer is "yes," if I see a flash of resistance, I'll opt for another driver. I simply don't want the hassle or annoyance.
When I asked the cab driver at the front of the cab line whether he took credit cards, he nodded and smiled, so I jumped in the backseat. Within seconds--we hadn't even left the "Arrivals" area, he started complaining. "It's rush hour, and you're paying with a credit card," he mumbled. "I don't need this."
"If you don't want to take it," I said, "let me out. No harm."
"No, no. It's okay. I take your card."
"That's great. Thanks."
The complaints started up again the second we hit the Kennedy. "This traffic is very bad. I'm losing money sitting here," he said, making eye contact with me in his rearview mirror.
"Sorry?" I said, more as a question than empathetic statement.
"You're wasting my time," he said.
"Then you shouldn't have pulled out of O'Hare with me in your backseat," I said with a voice that was atypically loud. I'm not a yeller.
He mumbled something in another language. Actually, it may have been English. All I could understand was that he was pissed off.
"Paying with a credit card," he said, shaking his head histrionically. We were approaching Cumberland, and I eyed the Renaissance Hotel on the south side of the expressway. "Get off here," I said, "take me to the Renaissance. I'm done."
"What? You want to go to the Renaissance now?"
"Yes. I'm getting the fuck out of your cab, just like you wanted."
"No, no. It's okay. I take you where you want."
"Perfect. I want to go to the Renaissance."
"It's no big deal. I keep driving you."
"It is a big deal. Let me out at the hotel."
We parted ways without any further conversation. I gave him my credit card...he ran it...and I approached the first cab I saw in front of the hotel.
I asked my standard question of the new driver. "Sure, I'll take a credit card," he said. And with that, we were off.
My new driver didn't complain like the previous one. Instead, he lectured me throughout the entire trip on the reasons why cab drivers hate taking credit cards. The gist is that they have to pay a percentage for each credit card transaction; which, depending on the cost of the fare and tip, could find them losing money.
"That's rough," I said. "But aren't we moving towards becoming a cashless society? Isn't it only going to get worse?"
"Yes," he replied. "And it's fucking bullshit."
By all accounts, cab drivers have it rough. They have to deal with random strangers who can be rude, drunk, and/or dangerous. They don't have the luxury of being able to call in sick--if they're not behind the wheel, they're not making money. They also have to drive in traffic that's rarely rational or moderate. In short, driving a taxi is a suck job.
I can't speak to the costs of being a taxi operator, nor am I conversant on the rules and regulations that the city of Chicago imposes on them. All I know is that when I'm paying for a service, I don't want to be belittled or demeaned for doing so.
As a passenger, there's nothing I hate more than being made to feel like an asshole for simply paying what I owe.
Last Thursday, after arriving back at O'Hare from a long four-day trip to Canada, I dragged my luggage to the cab stand. I always ask cabbies before getting in their ride, "will you take my credit card?" Though the required answer is "yes," if I see a flash of resistance, I'll opt for another driver. I simply don't want the hassle or annoyance.
When I asked the cab driver at the front of the cab line whether he took credit cards, he nodded and smiled, so I jumped in the backseat. Within seconds--we hadn't even left the "Arrivals" area, he started complaining. "It's rush hour, and you're paying with a credit card," he mumbled. "I don't need this."
"If you don't want to take it," I said, "let me out. No harm."
"No, no. It's okay. I take your card."
"That's great. Thanks."
The complaints started up again the second we hit the Kennedy. "This traffic is very bad. I'm losing money sitting here," he said, making eye contact with me in his rearview mirror.
"Sorry?" I said, more as a question than empathetic statement.
"You're wasting my time," he said.
"Then you shouldn't have pulled out of O'Hare with me in your backseat," I said with a voice that was atypically loud. I'm not a yeller.
He mumbled something in another language. Actually, it may have been English. All I could understand was that he was pissed off.
"Paying with a credit card," he said, shaking his head histrionically. We were approaching Cumberland, and I eyed the Renaissance Hotel on the south side of the expressway. "Get off here," I said, "take me to the Renaissance. I'm done."
"What? You want to go to the Renaissance now?"
"Yes. I'm getting the fuck out of your cab, just like you wanted."
"No, no. It's okay. I take you where you want."
"Perfect. I want to go to the Renaissance."
"It's no big deal. I keep driving you."
"It is a big deal. Let me out at the hotel."
We parted ways without any further conversation. I gave him my credit card...he ran it...and I approached the first cab I saw in front of the hotel.
I asked my standard question of the new driver. "Sure, I'll take a credit card," he said. And with that, we were off.
My new driver didn't complain like the previous one. Instead, he lectured me throughout the entire trip on the reasons why cab drivers hate taking credit cards. The gist is that they have to pay a percentage for each credit card transaction; which, depending on the cost of the fare and tip, could find them losing money.
"That's rough," I said. "But aren't we moving towards becoming a cashless society? Isn't it only going to get worse?"
"Yes," he replied. "And it's fucking bullshit."
By all accounts, cab drivers have it rough. They have to deal with random strangers who can be rude, drunk, and/or dangerous. They don't have the luxury of being able to call in sick--if they're not behind the wheel, they're not making money. They also have to drive in traffic that's rarely rational or moderate. In short, driving a taxi is a suck job.
I can't speak to the costs of being a taxi operator, nor am I conversant on the rules and regulations that the city of Chicago imposes on them. All I know is that when I'm paying for a service, I don't want to be belittled or demeaned for doing so.
Locked in by a cabbie who didn't want to take a credit card
"He put his face into the plexiglass separation, the section that is left open, and screamed 'You f------ b----!' and spit at me, which I could feel spray all over my face. I screamed the loudest I have ever screamed in my life: 'Let me out of this cab!'" So ended a ride home to the Upper West Side for 24-year-old Sarah Snedeker, who claims her driver became irate when she insisted on paying by credit card, locking her in the cab for five minutes while they argued.
Earlier this month an East Village woman claimed a cab driver punched her in the face after refusing to accept her credit card payment; now more people are coming forward with stories of abusive cabbies. Michael Blumenthal, 28, tells the News how he narrowly escaped his driver’s wrath: The driver claimed his credit card machine was broken and during the ensuing argument he threatened to drive Blumenthal back to Manhattan.
Then Blumenthal attempted to get out of the car, opening the door at two red lights. Each time, the cabbie hit the gas. He finally got out of the cab at a red light in Long Island City.
"He then jumps out to come after me and I start to run," Blumenthal said. "He ran back to his cab and threw it in reverse. I run into an alley and he stops to go in after me with the car." Blumenthal said the cabbie couldn't catch him because the taxi got stuck behind a street-cleaning truck.
Neither Snedeker or Blumenthal took note of the cabs’ license plates or medallion numbers. Drivers have been trying to dissuade passengers from paying with plastic because they lose up to 5% of the fare on transaction fees. An undercover sting operation last month resulted in 93 summonses and calculated that cabbies refuse the cards about 7% of the time.
But judging by the anecdotal chatter we're hearing, hacks have been refusing plastic much more than that. Have you tried paying the fare with plastic lately?
Earlier this month an East Village woman claimed a cab driver punched her in the face after refusing to accept her credit card payment; now more people are coming forward with stories of abusive cabbies. Michael Blumenthal, 28, tells the News how he narrowly escaped his driver’s wrath: The driver claimed his credit card machine was broken and during the ensuing argument he threatened to drive Blumenthal back to Manhattan.
Then Blumenthal attempted to get out of the car, opening the door at two red lights. Each time, the cabbie hit the gas. He finally got out of the cab at a red light in Long Island City.
"He then jumps out to come after me and I start to run," Blumenthal said. "He ran back to his cab and threw it in reverse. I run into an alley and he stops to go in after me with the car." Blumenthal said the cabbie couldn't catch him because the taxi got stuck behind a street-cleaning truck.
Neither Snedeker or Blumenthal took note of the cabs’ license plates or medallion numbers. Drivers have been trying to dissuade passengers from paying with plastic because they lose up to 5% of the fare on transaction fees. An undercover sting operation last month resulted in 93 summonses and calculated that cabbies refuse the cards about 7% of the time.
But judging by the anecdotal chatter we're hearing, hacks have been refusing plastic much more than that. Have you tried paying the fare with plastic lately?
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