RANT:Far West Taxi

[buttercup]

On Sunday I attempted to order a cab to Westwood Village to take me home. IGave the address of the store I was at tok be picked up aaat, but I was told to furnish the address I was going to. I refused to do this because my home was empty and did not feel comfortable with it. I gave the cross street intersection that was 3 houses from my home but was told they HAD to give the home street address . I again refused to give this citing safety reasons. The female phone representative told me to luse ankother cab company and hung up . When I called back and asked to speak with a manager she said SHE was the manager and there were no cabs in the area.( could have told me that the !st time I called). I talked to the manager this morning(not a woman) and he said the same thing, you must give an address of where you are going. Im sorry but I don’t want someone knowing that my house is empty when I call for a cab nor where I am going to be dropped off. Not all cab drivers are safe. Admittedly the majority of them are polite and respectful. I have never had company ask me ahead of time the sstreet address and dont feel it is necessary. During a time when money is tight and cab drivers need the money, this was poor customer service. This company could take a lesson from the other companies , I will use Eastside or For Hire in the future.

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[JanS]

umm..a quick question. How would they know your house is empty unless you told them? I’ve always been asked a destination by any cab company, and I tell them. The driver isn’t gonna get there before you and take everything..he’s driving.

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[dhg]

There’s no reason to think the house is empty. Especially if the vibe you give off is of an old woman in the shoe.

I suspect they do this reasons of safety, having noticed that people who intend to rob the driver usually give no specific address when they get into the car.

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[Ms. Sparkles]

I used to use yellow or orange cab, and they never asked for a specific desitination address – weird.

After a very bad experience (I called the 800 number on the inside of the door and filed a complaint) with a different cab company I signed up for Lyft and used it the first time on 10/30/13.

I really liked Lyft – I could see where the driver was on my phone and knew before I ordered the ride exactly how long before the driver arrived.

Why taxi’s don’t switch to a GPS / smart phone based system is beyond me. I just hope they (the taxis) aren’t sucessful in their fight against Lyft and other ride sharing programs.

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[TanDL]

You could give an address that’s one or two digits off so they’d drop you a house or two away from your own…

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[shed22]

Uber is another smart phone/gps based option. I love them. When you register, your credit card goes on file. No direct exchange of money, no tipping. A receipt is emailed to you. You do not need to provide a destination address (unless you are looking for a fare estimate).

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[singularname]

I’ve been using Orange Cab for 10+ years after some initial exceptional customer service. They’ve never disappointed. They also have a good working web-based service with IM status, too, if you swing that way. They’ve never asked me where I’m headed before arriving.

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[Kevin]

I have used Yellow Cab on numerous occasions, and they are quite efficient. They give me an automated courtesy call when the cab has arrived at my house so I need not bother with watching out the window for the arriving cab.

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[JimmyG]

I’m another one that doesn’t get the issue here.

Telling the taxi dispatcher your destination address doesn’t tell them that the house is empty. They only know that if you say “I’d like to be dropped off at the vacant house at 3744 48 SW”.

Or as suggested above, just lie and give them a neighbors address.

Taxi drivers are often crime targets and I’m guessing their asking for your address is a part of their attempts to weed out those calling for lifts that may be looking to rob their drivers or skip out on their fare.

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