Then report them! Im honestly not too sure if I even believe your statement. I had to put a gps tracking device in my fathers taxi because of idiots that are so drunk they claim he is taking them the “long way” so he’ll have evidence.

As I said, most taxi drivers are honest and decent. I have a few I regularly call upon because I’ve got to know them
Ad trust them. There’s always at least a few people in any profession who do not have the same level of integrity, and that’s why we need mini tiring but also consumer awareness!

Mini tiring?! Monitoring even #facepalm

Fair enough but for all the talk of generalising of people here it seems to be fine when it comes to taxi drivers.

Yeah few people from Dublin realise you can pick any taxi you want, outside of Dublin it’s the norm. I always check the state of the car first before I get in. If the tyres are bare/ dents in the body/ lights not working, etc I’m not getting in, couldn’t care less if it’s front in the queue!

I always ask for a receipt and the wiggling taxi drivers do to try and get out of it. They’ve tried to give me hand-written receipts, they take ages hooking up the receipt machine hoping i’ll tell them to leave it or they ask me a load of questions why i need one and then pretend to get insulted that i don’t trust them

Careful what you wish for Declan, forcing cab drivers to fork out for a London style black cabbie would be a significant barrier to entry and probably take us back to the days when you’d be queuing for 3-4 hours for a lift home on busy nights. If a car is dirty don’t take it simple as that.

But they own the road, in case you did not know.

Lunatics some of them. Had a fella driving a taxi I was in before have a argument with another driver at the traffic lights.

or a nokia version?

Hi James, I’m the developer of the app. An android version is in the works and will be joining the iOS version soon.

The price is on the meter. If you feel it’s extortionate get the bus, or get out of the taxi when the meter reads the amount you want to pay.

Its up to u which way u want taxi to bring you.

Amy I suggest you read the guidelines, the fare is based on distance and speed.

Thanks Paul

Until the car goes under a certain speed and then it uses time. people i think should read the information presented to them.

Mark I was talking about the app itself not the meter cos I couldn’t access the info in the app store to check.

Sorry Amy I was referring to referring to Paul.

Hi Amy, I’m the developer of the app.

I can confirm that TaxiFair implements the Irish taxi tariff spectrum in full.
It knows what portion of your journey was time spent in traffic and what portion was time spent moving. It will dynamically change the rates depending on these factors along with what tariff category you fall into at that exact time.

Tip !!!!! – Why would you tip someone for doing the exact job you paid them to do ?

John — Yeah I tip. I worked more than 25 years in customer services and I can tell you the industry pays squat. Most people work for minimum wage and survive on gratuities.

Ireland doesn’t have a history of tipping because customer service here is crap. If service people were nicer and actually did the jobs they were paid to do, as you said, then they’d probably see a lot more in the way of tipping. Most especially in food service industries.

How many times have you gone into any shop and found the staff there are more concerned with talking about the previous night’s match or their piss up than with helping you. You’re the customer in the shop. Shop staff don’t realize that YOU are the reason they have a job. Without your custom, the shop couldn’t afford to hire them. The least they can do is be friendly and attentive . . . doing the job they’re paid to do. A smile, a hello and a thank you should be the norm from shop staff.

As for taxis, every day we put our trust into the hands of absolute strangers. We don’t know these people, we don’t have a history with them and have no reason to put our trust in them. Trust is earned, not expected. But we put our absolute trust in the hands of strangers every day when we get into taxis which get us to our destination without having to walk. A gratuity at the end of the journey is a way of saying ‘thank you for getting me here safely.’ They could just as easily take you on a wild ride and drop you out in the middle of no where, and I’m sure they’d like to with some of the disrespectful carry-on that passengers get up to in their cars. But they still take you to your destination unharmed.

For me, the nicer the driver is, the more I’ll tip. Be friendly, outgoing, helpful . . . and don’t take me on a tour across town . . . and I’ll be a generous tipper. Hello, how are you, and thank you go a long way in any job . . . as the customer and the service person. But, be rude to me and I won’t leave any gratuity. And shops which have a history of employing nasty employees will lose my custom . . . ie my money . . . and I will tell everyone I know not to shop there. And knowing me, I’ll probably also have a word with the management or owners so they know why I’m leaving. There’s no excuse for rudeness other than utter lack of respect. That’s learned in the home . . . respect or lack there of!

Hi Brian, I’m the developer of the app. To answer your questions:

Yes, the app does depend on GPS in order to perform its calculations. However it has been developed to work under a less than ideal conditions. If you lose your gps fix for a time (for example when driving through a tunnel) then the app is smart enough to compensate for the time when the GPS fix was unavailable.

The app will only work on suitable iPhones so it’s not possible to download the app from the app store if your iPhone does not meet the GPS requirements.

An android version in is the works and should be available soon :)

Yup you are entitled to a printed receipt.this should state time of day and kilometres travelled also any extras you have to pay for baggage, call out etc or tolls

Hi, I’m the developer of the app. The problem with the apps you listed is that they perform a crude estimation of the fare based on the distance from point a to point b. The big problem with these apps is that they don’t know what route the taxi driver has actually taken so you can never give an accurate estimation.

TaxiFair works differently in that it calculates the fare in real time as you’re traveling, meter by meter and second by second and is the only application to correctly implement the full spectrum of taxi tariffs in Ireland.

Surely if it works by GPS then if the scenic route is taken the fare will appear to be the same as the meter..so the app checks that the meter is calibrated correctly rather than the best route taken.

No one should have to endure the things you went through, regardless of your occupation. Were you based in Dublin at any point? I recall a wonderful lady taxi driver who looks like you from a few years back. If that was you, I’m shocked anyone would speak to you like that.

But the article is about a new app, which I certainly commend! While there are wonderful decent drivers like yourself, there are the few who aren’t. I think everyone has a horror story about a taxi trip. Sadly, I do too. I’m happy something is being done.

While you do have a point it’s not exactly a case of “well some taxi drivers get verbally abused by some people so it’s okay for some taxi drivers to rip some people off”?

@RBH I think you hit the nail on the head the taxi contingent always make up their own rules, doing 16 hour shifts is against the law and dangerous for both passengers and the public , the fools who choose to do these long shifts are breaking the law and are a health and saftey risk, you have admitted this yourself and am sure you are alone in this practice there are plenty out there that are doing well over 40 hours driving between friday afternoon and sunday evening

U are correct, Rose. I sympathize with what taxi drivers have to endure. When a taxi driver is picking up a fare, the taxi driver needs to use his/her discretion. If someone looks like they are not worth it, move on to someone else. I think heavy fines for the problems you stated may be an answer. Sadly there are many taxi drivers out there who are giving the decent majority of taxi drivers a bad name. The industry itself needs to do much more to weed that out.

Slightly off topic – or are you trying to justify taxi driver’s ripping off the public by taking the longest route possible?

Well said Rose…cab drivers provide a public service and should not be treated as a mobile public toilet or a sickbay on wheels……alternatively the paying and travelling public should expect a competent and knowledgeable driver who knows what they re doing

Hi, I’m the developer of the app. The problem with these is that they perform a crude estimation of the fare based on the distance from point a to point b. The big problem with these apps is that they don’t know what route the taxi driver has actually taken so you can never give an accurate estimation.

What TaxiFair offers on top of it’s real time fare estimation is the ability to view the route you’ve actually taken. This you’ll know whether or not you’ve arrived via the scenic route.

Hey Paul, I’m the developer of the app. 79c was is the lowest price point you can choose without giving it away for free. But doing that is not going to put food on the table so I figured the price of a packet of chewing gum was fair price to charge.

If it’s a thing you want to try out the app but haven’t got the money then send me on your details and I’ll send you a copy for free.

So you think that a measly 79c for a useful app is a ripoff, after you’ve spent hundreds on the phone (or will spend hundreds over the lifetime of the contract)?

Very decent of you Kevin. I’ll buy the app for two reasons; cos its a great idea and cos I like to support Irish talent. Well done! I think 79c is really cheap. I would recommend a limited lite version for the cheapskates who aren’t ready to spend 79c supporting young Irish entrepreneurs. They’ll change their minds once they use it.