On Sunday night, one of my friends booked a taxi (With Mercury) to take us to the Sheffield Wednesday sports centre on monday morning, as we had an exam. They told her that we would be given priority booking as we had rang up the day before and we had an important exam to get to.

The taxi was booked for 8.15, and by 8.25 on monday morning the taxi still hadn't come, so we rang them up to ask where it was. The woman on the phone told us that it would be another 20 or so minutes.

By 8.45 the taxi still hadn't turned up, so we rang back asking where our taxi was, and told them how important it was for us to get to this exam, but the woman then told us that she "couldn't promise anything" and the taxi may be another 30 minutes or so.

We were, by this point, extremely angry and anxious, so we just attempted to get another taxi, but none would take us. We had to leg it down to the tram stop (with huge bags and a suitcase, as 2 of my mates were goin home straight after), and eventually turned up at the exam 20 minutes late. We couldn't believe the appalling service they provided, after promising us a taxi would be there on time, only to to tell us that one wouldn't come. They genuinely seemed as if they didn't give a *****.

Has anyone else had any experiences with this taxi firm like this? We definitely won't be using them again.

I've used mercury a few times and never had any problems but try RCA - they are one of the larger firms in Sheffield (I think) and I've never really had any problems with them apart from on Fri/Sat night when you can be waiting over a hour .. but if you don't book I guess that's to be expected as everyone is going out :P

Sorry to hear about that but I'm unsuprised. I used to use Mercury but after they were responsible for me missing numerous trains and knackering a couple of weekends I stopped.

Taxi companies work on different timescales to us mere mortals, 5 mins can mean up to an hour or not at all, and they've yet to hear of customer care.

If I can avoid using cabs, I will as I've been bitten too many times to be convinced that they are anything else but unreliable.

The problem is that many of the companies no longer allocate advance bookings like they used to.
Most of them just put them in the diary and then put a call out on the radio calling for takers a few minutes before you want it. If there a no takers, then you are left in the lurch.

The only way I have come to live with this is to book cabs at least 15 minutes before the latest time that I need it.
OK if they come on time, I have to kill time on the station or wherever. If they are late, I still have time to chase them, call another company or kick someone out of bed.

Oh, how I wish that performance could be used as a determining factor in renewing their licenses!

I use Mercury regularly and always find them reliable, on time (in fact usually early) and polite.
Being students I would have thought getting the tram would have been more sensible anyway, money wise. I have had a number of exams at Hillsborough and it's really easy to get to on public transport, and most likely quicker than going by car. There are buses from both Crookes and town, and the tram makes it ridiculously easy so you've got no excuse for being late really!

Originally posted by sciencegirl
I use Mercury regularly and always find them reliable, on time (in fact usually early) and polite.
Being students I would have thought getting the tram would have been more sensible anyway, money wise. I have had a number of exams at Hillsborough and it's really easy to get to on public transport, and most likely quicker than going by car. There are buses from both Crookes and town, and the tram makes it ridiculously easy so you've got no excuse for being late really!

The point of getting a taxi was because my friends were loaded up with luggage and they didn't want to have to drag a suitcase around with them.

And when you book a taxi (especially so far in advance), you expect it come, even if its gonna be a bit late. But since she couldnt even promise it would turn up...i think we did have an excuse :)

I attend a special playgroup for children with autism 3 times a week. Taxis are provided for parents who don't drive and one mum is regularly up to an hour late due to her taxi not arriving on time. She misses half the session because of this and so her son misses out on valuable help. Taxis are booked weeks in advance and the company (Mercury) just say 'there's no guarantee'- pretty useless I reckon.

Sunday night isn't really "far in advance" of Monday morning to book a taxi. There wasn't exactly a lot of time for them to ensure they could meet the booking. Granted, if this was the case they shouldn't have perhaps taken the booking. Still it was rush hour, perhaps booking one earlier than you need it is the thing to take from this experience.
Also, perhaps you could have hailed a black cab.

The only problem I have had with a cab is that me and a friend went to the Arena to see Meatloaf the other year and as you may know he finished a little late.... over an hour and a half more than he was supposed to be on stage... not that I complained about that, by the time we got back to the city center we had missed the last bus and train, so I called my usual taxi service which was fully booked, which is understandable on a saturday night.

I called mercury and they sent a cab... when we got back he charged us £28, with the firm I usually have its about £15 for the taxi and in a black cab its about £20, i was annoyed to say the least...

Susie
xx

i've had similar problems in the past,
try booking four taxis with different companies,one is sure to turn up!
i do the same thing at the weekends aswell,phone three or four and get in the first one that turns up.

If it was past 11 o'clock (I think) the tariff changes, which may explain your increased fare.

I thought that too phill, but when we were charged £15 by our regular one that was at 3am after leaving the corporation

Susie
xx

I'm surprised they accepted your booking - I thought most taxis were booked solid between 8 - 9 with regular fares to schools. I can see why you'd be pretty hacked off though - no point in promising what they can't deliver.

Originally posted by misterseven
i've had similar problems in the past,
try booking four taxis with different companies,one is sure to turn up!
i do the same thing at the weekends aswell,phone three or four and get in the first one that turns up.

You're the reason I can never get a taxi! Three quarters of them are obviously busy chasing pickups that no longer exist!

disgusting, especially mercury, useless. try RCA next time, they're a little better, but only cos its 3 taxi firms in one, (Regency, City cars and Alpha,) hence the R.C.A, they were set up to rival Ace, so i was told. But even they can be rubbish.

Once, me an my other half went shopping to netto's on queens rd, we lived just off city rd/duke st junction near the barracuda chippy, as we always do the shoppin for the month, and theres always lot of it, we choose to ring a cab, we always do wen we go shoppin cos of shrewsbury rd bein' a stinker to walk up,, it was a thursday, bout 6:30 - 7:00pm. rang Ace, they'd got nowt for about half an hour, we thought sod that, now its starting to rain, rang RCA, sorry, got nothing in that area for 40 mins. now i'm getting cheesed off. so in my ultimate wisdom i decided to stand on the junction to flag a black cab down, normally you say loads. so now im soaked thru, cold fed up and well p*****d off. half an hour goes by, i manage to flag a black cab, ironically, its got RCA on the side!!! if only i'd said i'd wait the 40 mins for one to arrive!!
never again.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jonluvsnique
[B]disgusting, especially mercury, useless. try RCA next time, they're a little better, but only cos its 3 taxi firms in one, (Regency, City cars and Alpha,) hence the R.C.A, they were set up to rival Ace, so i was told. But even they can be rubbish[QUOTE]



I use Ace regular and they have this week been completely taken over by R-C-A, Maybe they should now be called RCAA. Fewer taxi firms of such huge size is bound to lead to impersonal service. Taxi firm serving a dedicated area with drivers familiar with their clients seems to work best. These couple of firms are just too big and are trying to cover a too large an area. The thing is to make a friend who also may just happen to be a taxi driver and even better if he lives just round the corner.

Poor service is bad enough, but why can't taxi drivers be a bit more pleasant? If they don't like the job then pack it up and get out of it, it embarrasses me and makes me feel uncomfortable to sit and not say a word,even if it's only hello, or worse they don't answer.I am not being racial here,and I must stress not all do this, but quite a few do. the Pakistani drivers make me feel very uncomfortable, until resently I always went shopping with my husband, but he is now very ill and can't drive anymore and I have to do most things for him, plus I also have a disabled son, I now have to take a taxi back home when I have done my shopping, but even if they bother to get out of the car at all, they will stand and watch me load all my bags in the boot rather than give me a hand, which would be quicker for all concerned plus I would give them a tip,and when I do get home the situation is in reverse, they stand and watch me going backwards and forwards with the bags, but don't offer to help, I have even considered home deliveries because of this, but I would rather choose my own food.

My mother who is 82 had to get a taxi from hillsborough to her home at the beginning of december.When the taxi got to her house the driver charged £5 my mother only had a tenner.O K said the driver i'll drop you the change off when i'm in the area.
After a week my mother rang the taxi company, oh right, said the telephonist the driver in question is on his honeymoon!
Another week later he'll definetely drop it in this week.
My wife rings up .no problem you'll get it soon.
I ring up oh that driver has left the firm there's nothing we can do about it.Yes there is ,that driver was employed or used by your firm.
The owner will give you a ring that was a week ago strill nothing.
A taxi firm that rips off an 82 year old pensioner deserves naming and shaming


DO NOT USE PHOENIX TAXIS !!:mad:

Originally posted by HarderFaster


Has anyone else had any experiences with this taxi firm like this? We definitely won't be using them again.

Yes, quite recently too. And one of the companies concerned was the same as the one you had trouble with. I commented recently on how they seem to more often be using the phrase 'sorry, nothing in that area' with no intention of trying to get anything in the area. It's no way to run a business IMO and I won't consider using the companies concerned again.

i usually use mercury as the place is near to where i live but been told not to use them alone ... ive never had a problem but apparently a while ago someone got raped by one of their drivers .... dunno if its just a rumour though ... i generally find their service pretty good. ringing up taxis does my head in, sometimes the first place you call sends a taxi straight out , but i bloody hate it when its a case of "sorry luv theres none in your area" for every firm .... like you said Lickszz , why not send one to my area if there arent already any there !! i wouldnt mind paying a few quid extra to get a taxi to come halfway across the city if it had to.

I think that the taxis in sheffield are better than in other places. Where i grew up (Dudley) they are awful. The firms merge and split up every week. The fare is different avery time you make the same journey . They are not safe if your on your own. (the constant mirror perving by the drivers). As for sheffield i used mercury regularly to get home from work alone and never had any major problems although maybe i was just lucky?

All these problems with taxi driver's attitudes make bus drivers seem like little angels in comparison.

Originally posted by zombiekillah
i bloody hate it when its a case of "sorry luv theres none in your area" for every firm .... like you said Lickszz , why not send one to my area if there arent already any there !! i wouldnt mind paying a few quid extra to get a taxi to come halfway across the city if it had to.

I live in Hilsborough, and when you try to book a taxi that's always the response that you get, as if it's impossible for a taxi to be sent to that part of the city! I got really ****** off one time and demanded an explanation from the woman on the other end of the line as to why a company that advertised a professional and reliable taxi service in the city of Sheffield was unable to send a taxi to such a well known and highly populated area as Hilsborough or even to explain why they could not...needless to say the reaction was disrespectful and insulting to the paying customer.

Then there was the time I tried to book a taxi on New Years Eve to travel from behind the United ground to Walkley. I called on the day, but at 4 in the afternoon as I wanted the taxi for about 8.15 that night. The person who spoke to me actually insisted that I call back half an hour before I wanted the taxi! I did so an by some miracle managed to book the taxi for 8.15. At 7.45 my partner and I were in the middle of getting ready when the taxi pulled up outside and started sounding his horn impatiently. We rushed out and asked why he was 30 minutes early, to which he repsonded:

"Not my fault, I've just got a ******* job to do."

Charming, I'm sure you agree!

hi all,

try using SWIFT NETWORK taxi's - i stopped using mercury when one night whilst out with friends.. i called and asked for a cab.. my phone was on loudspeaker.. and was told it would be with me in about 2 mins.. it was raining, we were outside the harley.. and it still did not arrive!!! So i called them again, and was told by a very rude and obnoxious women(sounded like a man) that
''she couldnt give a **** if i had ******* aids, i would not get a taxi any quicker''

JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW - I DONT HAVE AIDS!!

but i then called up in the week and spoke to MARK the manager and he did.... guess what!!! nothing about it..

SWIFT NETWORK - (0114) 2555 111, always guaranteed me a cab in five mins wherever i am, and its always arrived in less than 4 mins..

And....................er er er just wondering how much they paid you to say that? lolz:D
No taxi company can be that good, especially one formed out of two already failing companies, maybe you must be just a lucky guy, or maybe one of their own drivers??:confused:

Originally posted by Tom23
hi all,

try using SWIFT NETWORK taxi's - i stopped using mercury when one night whilst out with friends.. i called and asked for a cab.. my phone was on loudspeaker.. and was told it would be with me in about 2 mins.. it was raining, we were outside the harley.. and it still did not arrive!!! So i called them again, and was told by a very rude and obnoxious women(sounded like a man) that
''she couldnt give a **** if i had ******* aids, i would not get a taxi any quicker''

JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW - I DONT HAVE AIDS!!

but i then called up in the week and spoke to MARK the manager and he did.... guess what!!! nothing about it..

SWIFT NETWORK - (0114) 2555 111, always guaranteed me a cab in five mins wherever i am, and its always arrived in less than 4 mins..


I really hope you were drunk when you wrote this. What has your phone being on loudspeaker got to do with the story. The woman on the phone was obnoxious? The statement that the woman made, if she ever did, which I doubt very much, is in itself quite correct, she really could not magic a taxi for some drunk shouting at her down the phone.
Clearly she would not have been as obnoxious, if she got you the cab, and at the same time you would give her more respect for being a person and she wouldn't have sounded like a man? , maybe it was a man, So we see who really was the rude one.

Did she make it rain on you as well, the rude spiteful woman, aren’t they all so so nasty at Mercury taxis?, they even have the cheek to talk back to you, even give you some of your own medicine when you shout and swear at them,-------- shouldn’t be allowed, you really have been hard done by pal!!!!!!!!!!!
If Swift send you a car every time within 4 minutes why would you phone Mercury, I would stick to very swift taxis and stay lucky.

Originally posted by tab1
I really hope you were drunk when you wrote this. What has your phone being on loudspeaker got to do with the story. The woman on the phone was obnoxious? The statement that the woman made, if she ever did, which I doubt very much, is in itself quite correct, she really could not magic a taxi for some drunk shouting at her down the phone.
Clearly she would not have been as obnoxious, if she got you the cab, and at the same time you would give her more respect for being a person and she wouldn't have sounded like a man? , maybe it was a man, So we see who really was the rude one.

Did she make it rain on you as well, the rude spiteful woman, aren’t they all so so nasty at Mercury taxis?, they even have the cheek to talk back to you, even give you some of your own medicine when you shout and swear at them,-------- shouldn’t be allowed, you really have been hard done by pal!!!!!!!!!!!
If Swift send you a car every time within 4 minutes why would you phone Mercury, I would stick to very swift taxis and stay lucky.

Have to agree! Mercury re always fabulous with me, but there again, I tip well, and don't mess them around!

K x

Originally posted by Fantomas
You're the reason I can never get a taxi! Three quarters of them are obviously busy chasing pickups that no longer exist!

Hear Hear. So, when I am next on a night shift at a weekend, and find myself waiting ages for my taxi home, I know who to complain to!

Just be ready for a very angry and tired ranter misterseven

We've ordered 2 cabs from RCA about 2 hrs in advance, and after about a dozen phonecalls had 1 arrive 30 mins late and the other 45 mins late.
You just can't rely on them.

tab1 - are you a driver?

I have found mercury and rca to be equally appaling and totally unreliable. The usual taxi firm that I use is A1, they normally have better availability than RCA and Mercury and are extrememly polite and helpful on the phone which makes the whole phone call far more pleasant. Their drivers all seem to be friendly too. I have found them to be reliable too when booked in advance.

I recently had a run in with mercury who almost made me miss a train to London where I was connecting with a £200 Eurostar train. How about we stop tipping drivers when the dispatchers send them late - hopefully the drivers will get the message and hassle thier bosses and dispathers to be a bit more efficient?!

Well i'v had my good days and my bad 1s with mercury. Once we booked a taxi to come as soon as they could as it was a tuesday night and didnt see any need to be home at a certain time. After an hour of waiting nothing came so we phoned and they said "the driver has already made the pickup" needless to say he seemed to have taken our neighbors :loopy: so we asked for another... (big mistake) again after an hour they said "oops we forgot to put you in the computer" (not quite in them words but u get the idea) so again i said we need 1 and to get it here asap. eventually it arrived and g/f was taken home safley and she said that the driver was nice enough. Then 30min later another mercury taxi turned up saying he was the 1st 1 we booked :suspect:
Other days its on time if not early and the driver is pleasant and a good laugh deserving of a tip.
(i'll never forget the time i had the scary pakistani driver who was miserable and well...kinda creepy. Said at end "£9.50 please" i gave him a £10 and he gave me £2.50 change :hihi: guess i was a good customer and he was tipping me)

i have an account with mercury, not saying what company i belong to but i will say this when you book taxis you should expect to be picked up no later than ten mins, theres been times when myself and my staff have been waiting up to 2 hours in the rain for a taxi and the laimest excuse they can come up with is either, had to change a wheel, already picked up or no one there. best thing always loads of empty mercury taxis come past and pick people up of the street.
The biggest cheak is when they add waiting time ha ha maybe i should add 2 hours my waiting time. and wanna know what a driver told me once. we dont like accounts because the taxi firm take a percentage of us so we dont pick them up. not bad for one of sheffield elite maybe tarding standards should investigate.
and as for changing we have used most of the taxi firms in sheffield and they are all to shame

Originally posted by Applegrim
Poor service is bad enough, but why can't taxi drivers be a bit more pleasant? If they don't like the job then pack it up and get out of it, it embarrasses me and makes me feel uncomfortable to sit and not say a word,even if it's only hello, or worse they don't answer.I am not being racial here,and I must stress not all do this, but quite a few do. the Pakistani drivers make me feel very uncomfortable......

See now that very posting of yours is racial. Do you think because they are brown they automatically become 'Pakistani' I might stress that although a large number of the citys cabbies are from minority groups, the fact they are coloured doesnt make them pakistani, infact some might be offended as being called such, especially if they are indian or kashmiri or whatever else they want to call themselves.

If you want help from the cabbie, 9/10 just ask for it and Im sure they will, even if they dont smile.

I have to note Mercury as being one of the worst cab firms in sheffield, especially when you ring back an hour after booking a cab to be told you not on the system.

Anyway who are these women who operate the control rooms? Most of them sound like Marge Simpsons sisters so there! :P

Originally posted by Cyclone

tab1 - are you a driver?

I am a driver Cyclone, but not a taxi driver if that was your question. I have had a lot to do with taxis and some taxi companies through my job. over the past twenty years or so, I have come to understand gripes on both sides.

One of the taxi drivers gripes was that "the passengers apart from the service that we readily provide expect us to entertain them. After driving around all day working under pressure you just are not in the mood to start being a b*****y stand up comedian, but I do the job that is expected of me, taking people to where they want to go safely."


I have explained earlier in the thread though, that in reality it's the drivers who are the bosses, because they pay the company rental for the radios. The company( all companies) treats them as customers to be kept happy rather than you the passenger, who is in fact the customer of the driver. Mercury is only an agent for the drivers to provide your addresses or locations to pick up.
When Mercury clamp down on the driver he just goes to another company like RCA or DB and hires their radio. The argument that a certain company's drivers are polite or otherwise is ridiculous, any driver can work for any company he chooses, and would be welcomed because he is the bread and butter for the company not you!!!!

Originally posted by tab1
I am a driver Cyclone, but not a taxi driver if that was your question. I have had a lot to do with taxis and some taxi companies through my job. over the past twenty years or so, I have come to understand gripes on both sides.

One of the taxi drivers gripes was that "the passengers apart from the service that we readily provide expect us to entertain them. After driving around all day working under pressure you just are not in the mood to start being a b*****y stand up comedian, but I do the job that is expected of me, taking people to where they want to go safely."


I have explained earlier in the thread though, that in reality it's the drivers who are the bosses, because they pay the company rental for the radios. The company( all companies) treats them as customers to be kept happy rather than you the passenger, who is in fact the customer of the driver. Mercury is only an agent for the drivers to provide your addresses or locations to pick up.
When Mercury clamp down on the driver he just goes to another company like RCA or DB and hires their radio. The argument that a certain company's drivers are polite or otherwise is ridiculous, any driver can work for any company he chooses, and would be welcomed because he is the bread and butter for the company not you!!!!

I suppose that's how the business model works. Sure ****** off the real customers though (that's the people who are paying to travel).
Personally I feel put upon if the driver insists on engaging me in conversation, i'm much happier to sit back and let them drive me to where i'm going.
Maybe someone should try an alternative business model. Hire the drivers, pay them a fixed wage and tell them to go wherever they are sent. Of course I suppose the company would have to provide the taxi's then.

Originally posted by Cyclone
I suppose that's how the business model works. Sure p8sses off the real customers though (that's the people who are paying to travel).
Personally I feel put upon if the driver insists on engaging me in conversation, i'm much happier to sit back and let them drive me to where i'm going.
Maybe someone should try an alternative business model. Hire the drivers, pay them a fixed wage and tell them to go wherever they are sent. Of course I suppose the company would have to provide the taxi's then.

That is exactly what did work for a while going back some years now with the old Abbey Taxis on Rutland Road. They were based at the place where Challenger Tyres is now, and every few years would buy a fleet of cars and as you suggest they did employ drivers. The company seemed to be doing very well and invested in mini-buses and also some coaches, they even had stretch limos back in the late seventies. The mismanagement crept in and instead of drivers working to the given business model, would pass backhanders to the more than willing office staff for changing records etc. so that company ended up with very little of the driver's earnings. Needless to say ABBEY Taxis went bankrupt in the eighties, and the whole thing was sold off by the Liquidators to, then a rival company, Shefftax.
What you suggest can indeed be done under a tight ship management, but the investment required huge. The experience required is probably only gained through being in the trade for years and years, and then of course you have drivers who have been in the job years and years. They are not businessmen; if they were they wouldn't have stayed in that sort of a job for years and years.
:hihi:
Nobody seems to want to risk investing in such huge variables as vehicle purchase and then the maintenance, public liability insurance, Council legislation, and after all that to try and compete against the established companies like Mercury and RCA with fleets of over 300 cars each, just where do you start? Maybe that is why we still have to make do with the system that has sort of evolved. Its a serious concern but who has the answers?

of course, if one of the existing companies was more strict with their drivers, they might loose some, but what was left would be a taxi company providing a superior service.
The business would then grow based on this popularity, hell, they could even charge a 50p guaranteed arrival within 5 mins of the agreed time charge. I'd pay it.

Originally posted by simjns
theres been times when myself and my staff have been waiting up to 2 hours in the rain for a taxi.....wanna know what a driver told me once. we dont like accounts because the taxi firm take a percentage of us so we dont pick them up.

Hmm...curious. We've just had Mercury pitching for business from us, and saying the drivers don't get any less for contract pick-ups. That info is quite useful...thanks.

Yeah...I've waited hours (which at 2am isn't nice) to go home after work before now. It's very annoying, to say the least. Why should we pay waiting time if we are 5 minutes late getting into the cab, but they can be 2 hours late and we still pay the same bill? In addition to wating time, we've had cabs turn up 10 minutes early then try to charge the staff waiting time when they get into the cab at the RIGHT TIME IT WAS BOOKED FOR!

On the flipside, there are some great drivers out there. If I need a cab in on a Sunday morning, it is always the same guy who picks me up, and he has said he will always check for my pickup when he starts work at 6am.

Someone mentioned that drivers should do their job, transport people, and not be expected to be a stand up comedian. I agree, although I would also ask that the first words out of their mouths is not "What films are worth watching?" when I have just worked a busy Saturday night! A few have been replied with "Any nice roads you've driven down today?" As much as I love film, when I'm knackered, I just want to go home! :)

Originally posted by Beakerzoid
Hmm...curious. We've just had Mercury pitching for business from us, and saying the drivers don't get any less for contract pick-ups. That info is quite useful...thanks.

:)



Having worked with mercury in the past, I can confirm Mercury do take a 10% off of the account money that they pay their drivers. That practice however is across all the companies for doing the admin paperwork involved in invoicing and collecting on the contract. Only a small number would object to doing account work simply because the drivers don't find out it's an account job until he has accepted to do the job, and then he cannot refuse on grounds of job being none-cash.

I drive a black cab which like most cabs is adapted to carrying wheelchair bound passengers and I worked for mercury. I was flagged down by a wheelchair user who complained that mercury have let her down by not sending her a cab when she needed it. I was, according to the taxi-computer link next on the list to receive the next booking at nether-edge. This lady phoned mercury in front of me and asked for a wheelchair carrying cab at nether-edge, and on the speaker phone I heard her being told that they didn't have a cab in the area. I was paying radio rental to a company that was not doing its job so the following day I handed my radio in and now work off the city ranks. Most of the time the management doesn’t even know what is being said to the customers. The lady in the wheelchair phones me direct now whenever she needs a cab, but inexperienced staff are really hurting mercury.
Taxi service works best on a smaller locality basis, where drivers are not chasing from one side of the city to the other and passengers are familiar with the drivers too.

haha phoned a mercury 12is asking the soonest they could get round a taxi round.. go on have a guess......
..
..
..
no?
..
..
..
well i'll tell you, 1-3 hours :mad: what a usefull estimate. :rolleyes:
i guess the walking did me good

While we are on the subject does anyone know (on average) what percent of a taxi shift is spent earning as opposed to waiting?

If the black cabs can afford to sit half the day at the station doing nothing would it suggest that fares are too high?

Originally posted by cgksheff
While we are on the subject does anyone know (on average) what percent of a taxi shift is spent earning as opposed to waiting?

If the black cabs can afford to sit half the day at the station doing nothing would it suggest that fares are too high?

do they really spend that long waiting? I'd have thought not, otherwise they'd head of elsewhere.

We feel that some of the stories told are very unfounded and if our customers have complaints then we should be given the opportunity to deal with them .
since mercury was start in 1988 the industry in general has changed , mercury have invested greatly in the latest technology to provide a high standard of service .
as yorkshires largest taxi company not just sheffields we provide a service to some 30,000 pleople per week including our 550 corporate account holders . Granted sometimes we do get it wrong and may run late at peak traffic and busy times ie friday,saturday night , mainly we give a very good service .
alot of people are not aware how the taxi industry operates, mercury have "open days" for the public and our corporate clients to come to the call centre , meet the management team and be shown exactly how the system works .
if anyone involved in this discussion would like to come to the next open day please let us know .

MERCURYCARS

If you do represent Mercury, could you answer a question?

Why can you not operate a guaranteed allocation of pre-booked taxis, instead of just sticking them out on the radio half-an-hour beforehand, hoping that someone will accept the fare?

If you accept a booking from me, say, one day in advance, why can you not ensure that a car is at my door at the correct time?

Not bothered about "open days", just want a taxi to turn up when I've booked it.

Mercurycars:
You say that your company should be given a chance to address the complaints levelled against you and then proceed to blather on about the company history and how super you really are, although a lot of your ex customers are not convinced. I have also been on the receiving end of your poor service, foolishly expecting a cab to turn up at the pre-booked time and being subsequently fobbed off by a couldn't-be-arsed operator. I then had to get a neighbour out of bed to get us to the station just in the nick of time.
Listen to what these people are telling you, and if you want your business to thrive, address the problems. IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!!

Is it just me who thinks that Taxi drivers are worst drivers on the road. They stop anywhere they want,perform u turns continually, never signal and are the most inconsiderate people on the roads.

mercury cars - i have tried to complain before but to no avail, i would happily complain to you personally (if i ever have further greiviances). could you please inform me of your complaints procedure ?

thank you

I've never ever had a problem with a pre-booked taxi. Drivers always polite; never been late, never been early.

After reading this thread - I must either be very fortunate, or folk with genuine moans have taken the opportunity to get things off their chest.

Try to get a taxi to arrive on time in Mosborough.

I use mercury and rca alot and customer service is deterioating. I've complained to Mercury before when my company had an account with them - to their credit they came to see me in person to apologise and sort it out.

I'm used to taxis being a bit early or late - I expect that now - but what ****** me off is the taxi companies know this when they take your booking.

So..I bother to book at taxi in the afternoon for that evening thinking that will give them plenty of time to allocate jobs. But that would be stupid wouldnt it? No they allocate the job to a driver just before the time I want the taxi to turn up. Hey guess what? They're late or don't fancy driving to Mosborough. So I end up driving, turning up late, have to leave my car in town overnight... No wonder people drink and drive (joke folks)

Why does the taxi company take all the bookings knowing full well they wont be able to deliver on them?? Why not give some priority to those that bother to book which should help the company to plan? I don't think they employ the drivers so some of them tell me they'll pick the jobs they wont and refuse the others. Rant over.

Hope mercury answers cgksheff's question for me then...

Actually,

Round of applause to MercuryCars for stepping up to the keyboard and listening - hope we see some feedback from the company in terms of words and actions. :thumbsup:

In the last year, I've stopped relying on taxis when I need to get to the railway station for trains - I hop on a bus. Fortunately I travel light and live on a reasonably good bus route.

I've almost been late for a play because a taxi ordered 24 hours previously came 30 minutes late.

The other evening I was waiting for 40 minutes after being told 20 minutes.

I've also had the rude despatchers, and have been lied to by despatchers on numerous occasions.

Now, to any Hire Car Firms reading this, here's what I'd like :

The car to turn up within 5 minutes either side of the agreed time. If you can't, tell me when I book it. Don't lie to me and hope that it will be OK.

The Despatcher to tell me if the driver is unwilling to take a cat-basket in their car. I don't want to make life awkward for the driver when he arrives and the despatcher hasn't told him that there's a cat in a cat-carrier as well as me. I always tell the Despatcher when this is going to be the case.

I don't necessarily want a conversation; what I would like is politeness from the driver and good driving standards.

There. That's all. In return, I will :

Be ready to go by the time I agreed the pick-up.

Ring you 24 hours in advance wherever possible.

If I call you when I'm out and about to arrange a pick up, I'll wait for your car even if a black cab shows up.

How about the Hire Car companies agreeing to a common 'This is how we would like to do business' and policing it with 'mystery shoppers'?

Joe

we used a taxi to get to the train station a few weeks ago. It wasn't deadly urgent that we were on time, as we could get the next 2 trains and still make it to the airport on time, but to be on the safe side we booked the taxi 30 mins before the train departed.
(The journey is 15 mins).
The car arrived roughly ontime, only a few mins late.

The driver took a really odd route, I have no idea why he took the one he did, and it added at least 10 mins onto the journey, although it didn't cost anymore.

That's it, end of story. Not the most interesting, but just goes to show that they aren't completely awful everytime (just the time when you need to rely on them).

I notice that since his defence of Mercury the poster hasn't replied to any other points, maybe just a fleeting visit.

I got a taxi last Thursday, Network, which in my experience are pretty pants, and the guy arrived on time, and took me all the way to Barlborough, out in the sticks for a reasonable fare.

Cyclone- no its not a "fleeting" visit as you put it we wanted to wait and see what response we got. Before we started answering questions.

Honeygirl - mercury cars are the largest taxi company in yorkshire.

Sciencegirl - thank you for your compliment. People are always eager to complain, but often slow to praise.

Hatter - the playgroup you attend do in fact use our company, booking their taxis one week in advance. We are aware that the children who attend this playgroup are autustic and as such need a timetable to which they can be come accustomed. We were aware that there was a problem with this very valuable account that have used mercury for fourteen years. This problem has now been rectified with certain drivers being assigned to this account. This will now avoid any such future issues for children and parents alike who are involved with this playgroup.

Susie - if you were over-charged and had contacted us then the driver involved would have been made to pay the full fare back to you not just the difference. This has always been mercury cars policy from day one.

Misterseven - not a good idea to book four different taxi companies as eventually no taxi company will send you a car.

Hotphil - mercury cars are a private hire company whose rates do not change with the exception of christmas and new year. Black cabs work on tariff's that change at midnight and when they drive outside the city boundaries. If a black cab works for a private hire company and is doing a job for this company he will charge the company rates. Our rates are £3-00 for the first mile and then £1-00 for each mile thereafter. Waiting time is charged at 20 pence per minute.

Fantomas - your reply to misterseven hits the nail on the head. The only thing i will add is that if two taxis from different companies arrive at the same time, the drivers have a gentlemans agreement that neither will pick the customer up. The taxi company also blocks the address and telephone number so misterseven will eventually have one guarentee - no taxis.

Simjns - all account holders are given priority over all other customers. Yes the company does take ten per cent off drivers on all account work. Drivers that work for mercury cars are fully aware that we have a large amount of account work and it is not an option whether they do it or not. If they refuse an account job they are sent home and not allowed to work for the rest of that day.

1man&hisbmw - as for the operators sounding like marge simpsons sisters perhaps you ought to visit our website - www.mercurycarssheffield.co.uk

tab1 - you are very correct in saying that when mercury clamp down on drivers or ask them to leave they will just approach another company and hire their radio equipment. So the argument that a certain taxi companies drivers are more polite is ridiculous.

Beakerzoid - when mercury came 'pitching' for your business we did in fact tell the truth. Drivers are paid the same amount for contract work as cash. Other companies in fact pay their drivers less for contract work than cash. Mercury cars takes ten per cent off the overall amount of contract work a driver does to cover all administration costs.

Craigy - mercury cars would never quote 1 - 3 hours unless it was snowing and drivers could not move around. On a fri/sat evening at 12ish the maximum we would quote is anything up to one hour.

Cgksheff - we can not guarentee an allocation of pre-booked taxis due to the sheer volume of work, cancellations, amendments, customers not booking en-route pick-ups causing a journey to take 45 mins instead of 10 - the list is endless. We do not, as you put it, stick the jobs out on radio half an hour before hand hoping that someone will take the fare. If the job is not despatched immediately to a vehicle the despatcher will chase up vehicles in surrounding areas to cover the job as soon as possible.

Lickszz - "sorry nothing in that area" surely if we dont have something in the area it is better for us to be truthful than quote five minutes when in fact it could be upto forty minutes.

Zombiekillah - with regards to the rumour that someone got raped by a mercury driver all drivers are police checked before they get a taxi licence and if they are convicted whilst holding a licence then sheffield city council would revoke that licence. I can confirm that you are safe travelling alone with all of our drivers.

Kristian - thank you for your compliment people very rarely praise others, they usually grumble. Hats off to you for breaking the trend.

Beakerzoid - same as above.

Onedizzybird - if you do need to complain again or feel that the telephonist is not being helpful we have a duty manager on site 24-7 who will deal with any such queries. If you wish to write to us then all such complaints are dealt with within 24 hours.

Redrobbo - completely agree not very often you would see so many people joining in to compliment someone.

Joepritchard - thank you for the round of applause no point in burying our head in the sand. Sorry to hear that you nearly missed your plane due to a taxi being late. Over being told 20 minutes and actually waiting 40 minutes, several factors have to be considered. The previous journey/passenger could go further or to a different destination, traffic problems, accidents, roadworks, the weather, a driver could go home. The telephonist is in fact sat in a call centre giving rough quotes on information to hand.
Despatchers and telephonists alike dont deliberately mislead customers(lie) once again they only have a certain amount of information that they can relay to the customer. As to how you would like to do business in an ideal world this would be great but unfortunately we do not, as i am sure you are aware, live in an ideal world. You are more than welcome to come and visit our call centre at any time you wish to see how our business operates as i feel you made some very valid points.

Harderfaster - pre-booking taxis 24 hours in advance is not always the best way to book taxis, if you choose to do this it is always better to ring 30 minutes before the booking time to confirm if we are running behind so that the booking time could be fetched forward.

Cyclone - your comments re the driver taking a different journey other than your normal route was probably the driver attempting to get you to your destination on time avoiding any potential problems that he may have been aware of. Mercury cars actually ask all customers to book 45 mins to an hour in advance of any train departure times, appointment times at hospitals etc so that any such problems that may arise are covered. We dont in fact take into account how long the journey would normally take every eventuality is taken into consideration.

Hope that this answers a lot of questions and welcome any more comments

Cut to the chase.

You confirm that YOUR COMPANY are unable to allocate pre-booked taxis.
You then have the temerity to tell us that WE should call YOU to find out if our booking is still OK 30 minutes before booked time.
I note that you choose not to call us to tell us that you may run late.

Thank you for telling us the truth.

However, please understand that your excuses are pathetic, as millions of taxi customers around the world are able to enjoy good service as I would expect to enjoy here.
As, in fact, we used to enjoy in Sheffield before people thought that taxi businesses were an easy way to make money.

The reality is that it is the way you choose to run your business, combined with the way many drivers choose to operate within the systems.

Please, in future, tell everybody that makes an advance booking that you cannot guarantee pick-up on time.

( please also understand that it is unacceptable practice to post messages in BLOCK CAPITALS as you have done)

Please locate the caps lock key, that's very annoying to read.
I didn't say that the driver took an 'alternative' route, I said an odd route.

Alternative I would have understood, I can take any of at least 4 or 5 routes from here depending on time and traffic.

But he took a very odd and blatently slow route. We followed a tram down infirmary road when Penistone road is clear at that time. Instead of going to Park Square roundabout or alternatively down St Mary's Gate, we went into the centre, through the taxi only section, down the back of the bus station and then around. Going through the centre may be physically shorter but there is no way it's quicker, what with buses and traffic lights.

All credit to Mercury for running the largest fleet of taxis in Yorkshire. The fact remains that no matter how complex a computer system you install in the office you still need drivers to physically get to a pick-up and deliver passengers to a destination. If you try to cover a huge area then inevitably you will have situations where location of drivers doesn't match up with where demand is for a pick-up. Taxi service seems to work best on smaller locality basis where there is much more familiarity between driver, customer, and indeed the operators. Then you would also get the customer loyalty and an all round better service where drivers are not rushing like mad to get from one side of the city to the other to the annoyance of the waiting passengers. Maybe Mercury, you are too big to cope with one to one type of service that people here seem to be looking for.

Well done Mercury for going to considerable trouble to answer so many posts. Very customer focussed. I am impressed.

I have just one query - you state that black cab tariffs change when they go outside the city boundary. Isn't this a misconception on your part?

Example 1. - city centre to Stocksbridge - journey ends within city boundary.
Example 2. city centre to Swallownest - journey ends in Rotherham MBC.

Stocksbridge is further than Swallownest, but your taxi would charge more to take a passenger to Swallownest! Doesn't sound right to me. In fact, isn't it illegal to charge more in such circumstances?

The truth is that they don't have to worry.
They make money doing what they do, the way they do it.

This leaves an opening in the market for someone to provide the better service and I for one would pay a premium (small) for it.

REDROBBO perhaps we didn't explain this very well in the last post . City boundries and different tarifs don't apply to private hire . If a black cab is doing a journey for a Mercury customer(via our telephone system and radio equipment) he would simply charge mileage rates as would a private hire vehicle . As you may well be aware although the driver owns a black cab he still wants to work for a private hire company and may only own a black cab for safety . If you were to flag a black cab down or get in a black cab off a rank then tarrifs and city boundries come in to play .
Both the example journeys would be charge on mileage and it would be about 13 miles to both amounting to £15.00 depending on exact location within the areas.

(didn't use all caps this time !)

What a complete and utter load of b*****s. You make it sound like running a taxi firm is like trying to knit jelly. How difficult is it to take a booking for a particuler time and then have a cab there for that time? Get real.....Mercury are a complete bunch of t*****s who don't give a s**t about their customers. grrrrrr

Mod: Please can we keep a level of civility about this thread?

Whilst MERCURYCARS is making the effort to answer questions please don't resort to abuse.

Originally posted by MERCURYCARS

LICKSZZ - "SORRY NOTHING IN THAT AREA" SURELY IF WE DONT HAVE SOMETHING IN THE AREA IT IS BETTER FOR US TO BE TRUTHFUL THAN QUOTE FIVE MINUTES WHEN IN FACT IT COULD BE UPTO FORTY MINUTES.


40 Minutes would have been fine. I was not given that option.

I would have waited for up to 1 hour just to get home. Surely you could have managed something in that time frame? You obviously didn't want the business, too much of an inconvenience perhaps? As I stated, no way to run a business IMO, and I have the details of this incident logged in my memory for future reference.

I have read all this with interest and regardless of my opinion on the validity of Mercurys responses, I am glad to see them actual come on the forum under their 'own name' and try and answer the concerns and complaints.
I have had the good, bad and ugly where taxi drivers are concerned. last Saturday me and himself were taken home by a lovely little bloke who filled us in on the history of sheffield (didn't have the heart to tell him I've lived here all my life.) It was a very enjoyable, interesting and reasonably priced journey.
On the other hand my brother was taken home from the Northen General after major knee surgery by a very bad tempered driver who begrudged the fact that little bro could barely walk and was therefore slow. After telling him to 'get his a**e in gear' he proceeded to take every corner at 40mph minimum meaning he was thrown about all over and in a lot of pain.
I think its all well and good Mercury having a complaints procedure but when its just you and a taxi driver it can be very intimidating and if the driver can just pack up and go to another firm, whats the point in complaining in the first place? My brother was near tears and told me he was scared of saying anything to the driver, even making conversation in case it made him madder - what kind of customer care is that?!

Mercury, sorry to say, I find atrocious.

Tqwo incidents with them spring to mind. The first was going to a friend's wedding. It was late, so late that we got to the lane 1/2 a mile from the hotel where the ceremony was to be held, we were behind the bride's car. To avoid embarrasment of piling out of a taxi behind her when the photos were being taken, we had to urge the driver to ovfertake and put some distance between us and them.

This was slightly worrying however as the orange ABS fault warning light had been on for the whole trip.

The second was the time when I gave a lift to a girl with boxes and boxes full of possesions, having moved to Sheffield just before. She'd had them delivered to work by courier, and arranged a taxi for 4.30 to pick her up. 5:30, place closed up, pouring with rain, and all her stuff getting soaked. Same old "it's on the way" reply, even though again, it had been booked in advance.

I do wonder, however, if the reason behing the late arrival of private hire jobs are to do with prioritising the contract work Mercury does I believe.

not sheffield related, but i caugt a taxi in vancouver, boocked by the hotel which had the abs, engine warning and seat belt warning (i think) on for the entire 10 mile journey, Only cost £10 though.

It’s good to see Mercury responding but sad to see incompetence shine through. Contrary to what is stated by Mercury, black cabs do not charge a different tariff to go over the city boundary. The drivers however prefer in most cases to go on agreed fixed price providing that money for long out of town journeys is paid in advance, a bird in hand....etc. That is allowed for only as long as the fare demanded is less than would be if calculated by taximeter. No circumstance allows a driver to charge more than the meter fare inside or outside of Sheffield. Tariff 2 which is the evening tariff is 50pence more than during daytime tariff.
I would have expected the Mercury rep to know little more about the trade than has been shown to be the case.

(Taxi meters are all calibrated to one standard set by the Sheffield city council, and are by far the most above board method of calculating the fare. As Mercury point out their fare is £3 for the first mile and £1 for every mile after that, but how many times do you check what the actual mileage is at the end of your journey. You just hope you keep meeting the honest drivers. Also black cabs were charging only £2 extra with every trip over Christmas period as opposed to fare and half by all private hire firms, and double fare if driver thinks he can get away with it.) In black cabs you see what the fare is all the time, much fairer IMO.

I find the whole idea of not being able to guarentee cabs on time very odd. It is a question of being organised - if you need a cab in place x at time y then you should not send it so far away it cannot make the appointment. You should refuse the other fare in favour of the pre-booked fare.

In manchester cabs could be booked several days in advance and they would turn up on time. If they can do it why cant you? In fact every other city I have ever lived in has had cab firms that are able to take pre-bookings. If you dont want to take pre-bookings, then fair enough. But you should at least be honest and say your "pre-booking" is not a guarentee of a cab.

Originally posted by nightrider
I find the whole idea of not being able to guarentee cabs on time very odd. It is a question of being organised - if you need a cab in place x at time y then you should not send it so far away it cannot make the appointment. You should refuse the other fare in favour of the pre-booked fare.

In manchester cabs could be booked several days in advance and they would turn up on time. If they can do it why cant you? In fact every other city I have ever lived in has had cab firms that are able to take pre-bookings. If you dont want to take pre-bookings, then fair enough. But you should at least be honest and say your "pre-booking" is not a guarentee of a cab.


In an ideal world revolving around one person this may happen. How would you react to being told that we can't send you a car to take you on a ten mile journey because in half an hour we have a prebooking for someone to go half a mile to his local? It is the case nightrider that most of the bookings are taken and looked after by the Sheffield taxi firms perfectly well but that of course doesn't generate the complaints.
I doubt if Manchester has a better service than Sheffield, ultimately most of the high-tech dispatch systems used are identical throughout the country. Mercury, to give credit where it’s due has one of the more advanced systems on the market. Its like saying Sheffield trains are better than London trains; your argument just doesn't seem to add up when systems used to run the business are the same.
One answer might be that Sheffield is a weekend city, all the rest of the week city centre is like that of a large village and at weekends it comes alive as a major city should be. At the weekend the demand for taxis far outstrips supply, and people are kept waiting and yet rest of the week drivers seem to sit about with nothing to do. Maybe in Manchester people use taxis more often and a larger workforce can thus be sustained, not live from weekend to weekend like taxi trade does in Sheffield. Some things maybe can't be changed without changing ourselves first. Manchester seems to have more people willing to part with their money than here in Sheffield, and consequently you get bigger and better entertainment venues better hotels and perhaps even better taxis, who can we blame when we get what we deserve.

Originally posted by D_A_V
In an ideal world revolving around one person this may happen. How would you react to being told that we can't send you a car to take you on a ten mile journey because in half an hour we have a prebooking for someone to go half a mile to his local?


I would react by thinking maybe I should be more organised in future and book in advance! I use cabs a lot for the airport and in this case it would be totally unacceptable if a cab were to not turn up to a prebooking simply because it has decided to ferry some other person instead at the last minute.

The whole point of prebooking is you need to be somwhere at a given time. If you dont need that you dont prebook. Ergo if you dont prebook you should reasonably expect to wait until all prebookings are dealt with.

And I didnt say cab services were rubbish in Sheffield. A lot of other people here are saying that and I was simply noting cab services elsewhere are capable of dealing with prebookings.

Originally posted by Tony
Mod: Please can we keep a level of civility about this thread?

Whilst MERCURYCARS is making the effort to answer questions please don't resort to abuse.

I do apologise for the content of my earlier rant Tony, and you are quite right, sorry. This is what can happen when one comes in from the pub and starts typing angrily away about a subject which gets ones back up. I'll leave it until the following day in future.

Originally posted by nightrider
I would react by thinking maybe I should be more organised in future and book in advance! I use cabs a lot for the airport and in this case it would be totally unacceptable if a cab were to not turn up to a prebooking simply because it has decided to ferry some other person instead at the last minute.

.

That is my point Nightrider, your suggestion was that cab companies should refuse to accept a job due to a prebooking, and yet when they say things like "we don't have any cars available", that too is complained about. Mercury and others are in almost an impossible situation where people are suggesting whatever suites themselves best. It all comes back to balancing a situation to please everyone, impossible!!
As for airport bookings etc., I don't think that has been complained about yet, so they must be getting that right perhaps. Under the circumstances they do a pretty good job, as a percentage of what they get right to when they mess up they most likely be like any other public service industry, getting by.

they probably have the policy for airport bookings of insisting that you book stupidly far in advance as for the train station.

I live 15 mins from the station but have been told several times that they will not guarantee me getting their for a given train unless i book the taxi for 1 hr in advance. Fine for them, but that means i have to leave the house earlier than i would if i were to catch a tram. And assuming that the taxi is on time then i have 45 mins to sit in the station.

There really is no point at all in taking pre-bookings if there is no guarantee of a car turning up, it may as well be just lying to the customer.

At the end of the day the customer is always right in a service industry. This thread goes to show that the general perception of taxi companies in Sheffield is not positive.

Originally posted by Cyclone

There really is no point at all in taking pre-bookings if there is no guarantee of a car turning up, it may as well be just lying to the customer.

.

Well to paraphase Jerry seinfeld:

They know how to take the reservation. But that isnt the important part. The important part is holding the reservation :)

Ha ha ha....you poor people have absolutely no idea....I have recently been sacked by Mercury and so care not about bad mouthing them...Don't get me wrong, the gaffers are the best people you could ever work for but the others that work there are the most clueless prats you'll ever meet....

But anyway, let me inform you of what happens when you book a taxi...firstly me personally makes judgement straight away on your attitude, if you ring up demanding and being downright rude as most of you students usually are (Still lookin for some of ya..!! gobby little prats) then I would feel the pleasure of telling you to get lost, other than that if you came across in a polite manner I would go outta my way to help you out, but just cos you ring up in advance means absolutely nothing... these guys are self employed and they need to make a living as much as you do..doesn't help that the control room operators are useless and give the drivers all the wrong jobs!! Personally I would advise you to call when you need it (If you do need to call in advance for some un-usual reason then ring up 20 mins before to make sure it's gonna be on time, if not bring it forward...)...
Now for some inside information....

1) The drivers 9/10 are really sound ppl (Allow me too plug c/s 666 Rob & Mel) but the idiots in the call centre are the most useless, I don't care about anyone but myself wastes of air I have ever had the disspleasure too know and especially the guys on dispatch (Except white Ash...he's sound but unfortunately only works nights as he's a driver in the day) but if they get any pressure their answer is just to start cancelling ppl's taxis and waiting for you to ring back in hope that you wont....

2) Put em on the spot, most of the ppl there are born liars and live by a script...if they tell you it's gonna be another 10mins, chances are it's either cancelled or it's gonna be another 30 mins...I know of ppl that have waited 2 hrs and still no sign..

3) Remember, when you ring up and ask where your car is....just think about it....they are sat in a room, not a heli-chopper so they can't tell you for sure and if they were to ask every driver where they are every time you ring up then no one is gonna be getting a taxi cos they'll be on the radio all day....1/2 the ppl in there don't know how to use a PC either so the very basic GPS they have access to is like a japenese dictionary.

4) Guys, dont ring up dissapointed that your taxi hasn't turned up and ask them to give you a number for another firm...lol...would you go into Mcdonalds and ask what burger king have on offer...????

Glad i've got that off my chest.....
Cheers guys....

your surprised that customers phone up angry when you've just admitted that you dispatchers cancel bookings without warning or notice. Wake up, of course people will be angry.

as to unusual reasons for actually needing to be somewhere at a given time... If you think that they are that unusual then you are living in some kind of dream world.

Originally posted by nightrider
you should at least be honest and say your "pre-booking" is not a guarentee of a cab.

May I also point out this is another lack of compitence in the staff and not the management....I still have the contract/rules and telephone manner somewhere in this place of mine that states...."Don't lie to people, we'd rather lose customers through the fact that we were honest and just couldn't make it on time, rather than lying through our teeth and and losing custom as well as our good name"...well, it doesn't actually say it in them words like, that was what I was told by the former deputy manager Rt Hon Mark Kelly but yeah, that's what they should be tellin ya guys....

Originally posted by Cyclone
your surprised that customers phone up angry when you've just admitted that you dispatchers cancel bookings without warning or notice. Wake up, of course people will be angry.

as to unusual reasons for actually needing to be somewhere at a given time... If you think that they are that unusual then you are living in some kind of dream world.

Did I say that...NO, didn't think so...listen mate....If you ring up from the very first call and get funny...then it's time to hang up...!!
If you call up p****** off that you have been lied too then all fair in love & war...@ the end of the day I have just told you that I don't work there no more and have also told you that ppl that work there are incompitent idiots...

Secondly, as I explained before the drivers are self employed so bookin a car is no guarentee...if you live in Chapeltown and book the nght before a driver will try and pick up jobs on the way to chapeltown but if there's only 10 drivers on the road (As there sometimes is of the early hours) then it may not be as easy as you imagine...however, if you live somewhere like Ecclesall road then really there's no excuse...?

Look, I really don't care...I only dropped by too fill you guys in with some info and you decide to be hostile....???

Fair enuff...obviously a student with an attitude problem...

I'm sorry Bobdabuilder, but all you've proved to us is what a complete shower you lot are. You seem to think that the customer should understand/care about the problems faced by taxi companies. The customer pays your wages pal and if enough of them decide that you are not cabaple of delivering a good service then they will resort to other methods. The world does not owe you a living.

Originally posted by Cyclone
they probably have the policy for airport bookings of insisting that you book stupidly far in advance as for the train station.

I live 15 mins from the station but have been told several times that they will not guarantee me getting their for a given train unless i book the taxi for 1 hr in advance. Fine for them, but that means i have to leave the house earlier than i would if i were to catch a tram. And assuming that the taxi is on time then i have 45 mins to sit in the station.

There really is no point at all in taking pre-bookings if there is no guarantee of a car turning up, it may as well be just lying to the customer.

At the end of the day the customer is always right in a service industry. This thread goes to show that the general perception of taxi companies in Sheffield is not positive.

I have booked taxis the day before, for various things, and when the cab hasn't turned up, I have asked the taxi control whether the car has been despatched, they have claimed to have no knowledge of the booking.

One particular incident of this nature, comes to mind, during the bus strike, last year.

When the driver finally appeared I asked him if he knew what had happened, and he told me, that, even when you book days in advance, the call is only given out 20 mins before the time of the job, and if no-one responds to it, "tough!". which I think is ridiculous.

On the other hand, I much prefer to get an honest answer from control, when I ask how long a taxi will be, roughly, before it arrives.

I can think of two firms , Central Cars, and the now-absorbed-into-RCA-taxi-firm, called "CCC" (the "Confederate Car Company") who were/are very good at telling you if you were going to have a little longer to wait.

If they could not get a taxi to you for 1/2 an hour, or 40 minutes, they would say "it'll be 1/2 an hour." or "it'll be 40 minutes, is that ok?".

I really did not mind that, as I was not sat outside with my coat on, waiting, or (more normally freezing to death). i knew I had time to have a cuppa before the taxi arrived, etc. if I knewthe taxi was gong to be 1/2 an hour, I was prepared to wait that 1/2 hour.

Where I work, we willingly call taxies for customers at the end of their shopping trip, when they have returned their borrrowed scooters to us.

On many occasions, we have been sat, waiting hours for taxies.

One of our customers had a taxi ordered for 3pm.. at 3.45 we called and asked what was happening, as it hadn't arrived.
we were told that he'd been, and gone as there was no one there.

we said that this was impossible, as we have a grandstand view from the office, of anyone coming into-or out of the car park (there is only one way in, and out, so if a car arrives, we see it)

at four thirty, we got a "ringback", informing us that the replacement car was about to pull up, outside, Nope, it wasn't. we were still sat waiting.

we called back at four-forty-five, five fifteen, and five thirty. still nothing.

It was ten to six before the taxi finally arrived, which when you consider that our office shuts at 3.45, isn't too bad!!!(she said with no little irony) Two hours and fifty minutes to wait for a car is not good, even given that the time clashed a little with school pick-up runs.

(we do try to ask our customers, if they need a taxi, to avoid asking for one one after 3.00 pm)

Another customer had a taxi ordered, which she ordered at the same time as she booked the taxi to bring her in. She asked for the car to pick her up at 3.30.

Again, five-thirty had rolled round before the taxi arrived.

These are just a couple of incidents, among many.

PT

Right, people please pay attention....I'm getting sick to the nuts of ppl PM'ing me about how much they deserve be boycotted....YEah, @ the end of the day, I don't work there anymore, I don't have shares in the company and therefore am not making any money from them (Quite the opposite actually...) and really don't care whether you use them or not..I dropped by and filled you in....Now please leave me alone...

As a matter of fact i'd advise you not too use them and completely boycott them as they need to go into administration just short enough that they get rid of all the staff they have and sit down and re-plan their business plan.....don't get me wrong the owners are decent ppl who would go out of their way to help but unfortunately they leave their business in the hands of stroppy, clicky, can't be arsed idiots....

I'll go edit my 1st post that in anyway makes you unclear of my position with Mercury cars....

im not surprised either taxis in shefield are always unreliable.one thing you coukd of done was go on to a main road(if any near)and flag down a black cab .but whats done is done and done and you now know not to use mercury.any way if it happens again you will know what to do as many people have replied about your taxi dilema.lol.better luck next time.;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

Just to add,

Mercurycars, you say that there is a duty manager present on each shift.

When I have had problems with your firm, I have asked to speak to a manager. I could not get past the telephonsts/ despatchers:- indeed, I am still waiting for a manager to call me back, from an incident with this firm, from last November! Whenever I called, to ask to speak to a manager, I was told that there was no manager on duty.

They told me, on every occasion that I have had to phone, with a problem, that there was no manager on duty, to deal with my complaint.

So, are *you* telling us the truth, that there *is* a manager on duty, or are the despatchers telling us lies?

Because in mine, and a lot of my customers' experience, we are getting two or three different stories, one from yourself, one from the despatchers, and a third from the drivers who pick us up.

And, the experience of the drivers only getting half an hour's advance notice, of a call for a job that was pre booked, days in advance has come from several drivers I have spoken to. they can't all be mistaken, can they?

I will clarify, that, I have had good journeys with drivers from your firm, and I have had bad journeys with other drivers. Mercury is not the only taxi firm that has let us down. I can name at least two or three firms, that, in my experience, have been dreadfully unreliable.

I am not expecting a car to pull up, outside my office or my home, immediately I have put the phone down from booking a taxi. I just expect the booking to be honoured, and be reasonably punctual and reliable.

PT

Duty manager...?????? is there really...????

I can tell you one thing for sure..there is hardly any chance of getting a manager on the phone on the weekend cos he is out driving and no chance after 01:00 for the exact same reason....

Should be one @ any other time of the day though

Originally posted by BobDaBuilder
Duty manager...?????? is there really...????

I can tell you one thing for sure..there is hardly any chance of getting a manager on the phone on the weekend cos he is out driving and no chance after 01:00 for the exact same reason....

Should be one @ any other time of the day though

I got this photo of the duty manager driving the other day in his new taxi HERE (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v689/viking99/forums/taxi.jpg)

Well, I've just read and digested this entire thread and I've found it very intriguing. Unfortunately, I haven't much positive to say, as I have a real horror story involving Mercury.

A few years ago, I pre-booked a cab the night before I was due to catch an early morning train. The driver was supposed to arrive at 4:15am. Twenty-five minutes later, he still hadn't arrived, so my mum and little sister were forced to get out of bed.

As we walked to the car, the taxi pulled up. My mum informed the driver that he was too late, that I was going to miss my train, and that we'd even had to get the "little 'un" out of bed. The driver yelled at us, slammed his door and screeched off.

When he reached the top of our road, he slammed on his handbrake and skidded his car ninety degrees, blocking the road. We managed to get past him, but he overtook us and continued to drive erratically in front of us, hitting the brakes hard and nearly sending us careering into the back of him.

Luckily, we were able to take a back lane, and we eventually lost him. It was quite frightening to say the least. I was just a teenager at the time, in the car with my mum and sister, and he was quite a burly bloke.

This wasn't my only experience of their poor service, but needless to say, it was certainly my last.

I thought the whole point of being able to book a taxi was because of their reliability? It appears that the experience of others might be disproving this notion.

BobDaBuilder - why did you get sacked? Was it an attitude problem by any chance?

BobDaBuilder - why did you get sacked? Was it an attitude problem by any chance? [/B]

Yeah...

Redrobbo - why aint you got nothing better to do than post silly comments on ere...didn't your taxi turn up....lmao

Originally posted by redrobbo
BobDaBuilder - why did you get sacked? Was it an attitude problem by any chance?

BobDaBuilder - thanks for your PM. It was appreciated.

Gotta go now - that taxi I ordered for yesterday has finally pulled up outside!

lol....fair enuff for your PM m8, I take back my attitude and stand down...when you're finished with him send him round mine, my x-mas dinners gettin colder and colder....lol

I swallow my pride and apologise...GULP

I have no idea why you though my reply was agressive, I was just stating some facts. And I'm not a student if that helps.

Originally posted by Cyclone
I have no idea why you though my reply was agressive, I was just stating some facts. And I'm not a student if that helps.

Nah fair play m8, sorry about that I was just havin a real bad day yesterday...chilled out now, it does help that you aint a student actually...tells me you aint a snotty little git with an attitude...lol

I'll say again (This is the last time though cos I don't like doing it..lol) Sorry...

mercury if you are the largest taxi company in sheffield why is it we still have to wait one hour plus for taxi's then?
ps i also know that once upon a time you used to turn computer off at weekends because it could not cope. also one last point with gprs you know where taxi's are? correct. to the street. why do operators then when rang say oh hang on i will ask where the driver is. seems to me you have a lot of problems.

Originally posted by simjns
why do operators then when rang say oh hang on i will ask where the driver is. seems to me you have a lot of problems.

I can answer that one for ya, it's cos the GPS isn't the best you'll get your hands on and there are also times when a driver will sign off and in which case the car will stay stationary on the map and the operator may not notice...so when you ring back 20 mins later (Still no car) the car will still be in the same place on the GPS so really you shouldn't complain when they are checking for you as this is the very rare case of good customer service @ mercury where the operator actually cares and is going to make 100% sure for you...

apart from that though, everything else you said is spot on...they have some real problems...about 30 to be precise.

THE STAFF

Has anyone ever sued a taxi company that didn't turn up for breach of contract?

If not, then I think it about time that someone did.

I would donate £5 towards the fighting fund of someone who was willing to sue a taxi company... anyone else up for it?

A friends wedding nearly began as a divorce cos the taxi didn't turn up as the company decided that 2 taxis 30 minutes apart was a mistake rather than a deliberate booking.

Erm, may I ask you how you go about signing a contract for a taxi...? personally I just ring them up and hope but don't expect them to be on time but I have Never signed a contract with them...

Aren't verbal contracts valid? I would love to open a booking conversation with "Your call may be being recorded for security reasons"

I can hear the dialtone already...

Yep, verbal contracts are as valid as written ones.

A contract can be written, verbal or implied by conduct.

Isn't a verbal contract valid..?

Not worth the paper they're written on....:thumbsup:

Oh and btw...you'll have to go some to find a taxi company that will record the call, I know for a fact that Mercury don't....they don't even record the details of your call so they can send you a taxi...:hihi: :hihi:

I've just found this site about taxis, which seems to mainly deal with Mercury taxis, very interesting site. I currently work at Mercury taxis, but i'd like to point out that I'm not in a position to represent them. My points please...Firstly...Ideal world: no planes would be delayed, no trains would be delayed, no buses would be late..etc etc. No companies (taxis or anything else for that matter) in their right mind would take jobs which they clearly couldn't do. I, and as all the despatchers do, endeavor to do try to cover all jobs on time, that is what we are paid to do. But sometimes, difficult areas to cover and such, mean they are harder to cover than others. e.g Saturday night, 90% of jobs are going to town, so areas far away from town, Dore Stannington etc are hard to cover because not many drivers are close to them. As a former driver for several firms including Mercury, have found that most customers appreciate that traffic at busy times means that its hard for us to get to places quickly. Taxi drivers drive cars, not fly helicopters, although we have the use of bus lanes and bus gates (which we pay the council for), this doesn't help when non-public service vehicles etc. park and abuse these, and slow us and the buses down. Also as anyone knows, who lives in Sheffield, one car accident on the ring road or a busy main road means the City comes to a stand still, therefore this is the reason, that 'pre-bookings' a day, a month, or a year in advance doesnt guarantee a taxi on time. This is why ALL taxi firms advise an hour for station and appointment bookings. Bookings are taken with the intent of ontime or near enough for you to arrive in good time, but you must understand all bookings are taken as predictions to how many drivers a company will have out at a certain time, (this is fairly constant, but bad weather, accidents, break downs etc cannot be predicted). As to someones comment, that 'you should order 4 companies' I hope this doesn't appeal to people, because taxi drivers are self employed. Phoning 4 companies means 3 drivers drive to an address, with their own vehicle, paying for their own fuel, and all other expenses, to find no one there, and other customers are then delayed (who wins? because all 4 companies will block the address), causing perhaps half of the complaints on here, about lateness. Prebook your taxi, then if your have a complaint, the company can trace the driver in most cases. Hailing a Private Hire Vehicle means no insurance, and likely overcharging, so that answers the £20 stocksbridge question. I would love to answer every single complaint and suggestion about taxis in Sheffield, but theres so many, that i will have to wait for comments from my points. Ash

Nice to hear from you, Ash.

A lot of valid stuff, but I still think that you may be missing the main point.
What is the difference between me "pre-booking" and calling 30 minutes before I want a taxi?

As far as I can see there is absolutely none!

Because my pre-booking is NOT 'pre-allocated' but is just pushed out over the radio an hour or (more often) 30 minutes before I need it.
Feel free to correct me if I am wrong (but Mercury staff have confirmed this!).

Your claim that traffic is to blame for pre-booking failure is groundless based on the above, but in any case .........

We all know about traffic and if I have a contract to be somewhere on time, I take account of it and often arrive early.

Why should you guys be any different?

Oh. Welcome to the site by the way and please have a look around at non-taxi stuff as well.:)

I am complained to Sheffield City Council about a wheelchair access taxi not turning up at the Northern General Hospital for a night out in March. . This is their reply.


I refer to your complaint regarding Shefftax and the unfulfilled booking for a journey you made to collect yuor husband and yourself from the Osbourn unit on the 30th March 2005. When a booking is made to an Operator it is a contract between the two parties. However I have spoken to Steve Wilson the director of Shefftax, he said that unfortunately a hcv was not available and when yuo phoned on that evening at 7.15 pm to askwhen theywere coming the phone operator gave you A1 taxis phone number to see if they had one available. They did not know that A1 were unable to help you until 8.15 when a gentleman phoned to phoned to complain.
Steve Wilson is going to phone you to apologise (your phone number is on the job booking ticket) regarding this matter, he has said that the Company policy is that customers bookings are fulfilled, that the person who was dealing with bookings was new and that you should not have been let down.
I am sorry you and your husband missed the event.


As of today's date no-one from Shefftax has contacted me regarding this. If as Sheffield City Council say that we had a contract perhaps I should have taken this further. We had booked this taxi two days in advance and were unable to get the arranged meeting.

Originally posted by mowith
I am complained to Sheffield City Council about a wheelchair access taxi not turning up at the Northern General Hospital for a night out in March. . This is their reply.


I refer to your complaint regarding Shefftax and the unfulfilled booking for a journey you made to collect yuor husband and yourself from the Osbourn unit on the 30th March 2005. When a booking is made to an Operator it is a contract between the two parties. However I have spoken to Steve Wilson the director of Shefftax, he said that unfortunately a hcv was not available and when yuo phoned on that evening at 7.15 pm to askwhen theywere coming the phone operator gave you A1 taxis phone number to see if they had one available. They did not know that A1 were unable to help you until 8.15 when a gentleman phoned to phoned to complain.
Steve Wilson is going to phone you to apologise (your phone number is on the job booking ticket) regarding this matter, he has said that the Company policy is that customers bookings are fulfilled, that the person who was dealing with bookings was new and that you should not have been let down.
I am sorry you and your husband missed the event.


As of today's date no-one from Shefftax has contacted me regarding this. If as Sheffield City Council say that we had a contract perhaps I should have taken this further. We had booked this taxi two days in advance and were unable to get the arranged meeting.

You have my sympathy mowith, and after a discussion with a couple of taxi drivers this is a gist of what I was told,

"A simple question, if I asked you to touch your right ear, would you normally do that with your right hand or reach over the top of your head with your left hand to do it?"
With all the best will in the world when it comes avoiding difficulties we ALL take the easy option, and taxi drivers regard wheelchair passengers as difficult and would try every trick in the book to avoid them. If the demand for taxis is high the wheelchair user seems be pushed to the back of the que, simply because they can be difficult, demanding, and the drivers never seem to be able to do enough for them to avoid complaints. Taxi drivers are not trained nurses and most resent having to jump through hoops for uappreciative customers, No one likes being told, "this is your job, and you must do as I demand", and consequently avoid wheelchair users like the plague.Then you are left with official appologists to find excuses like the one from the council.
It is the Sheffield council who should be accountable for having seven hundred wheelchair access taxis and not being able to find one to go to Northern Gen Hospital. There are a few drivers who are quite happy to work with wheelchair bound passengers but that usually is on one to one arrangements, and best to find recommendations that we can rely on.

If you are anywhere in central Sheffield please PM me and I will send you numbers of a couple of drivers who could be relyed upon more than Shefftax.

re:cgk prebooking/asap bookings
thank for the welcome
The difference between prebooking a taxi and booking one for straight away,
When you prebook a taxi, the telephonist will take the time and address, which will give them an overview of the bookings already in that and the surrounding areas at the given time. This will give them an idea of the likelyhood of the booking being on time. If there are several bookings already, they should offer a different time, or warn you it may be late. The job will then be available for 'bidding' from the drivers between 10mins to 1 hour before the booking time. It is impossible for all prebooked jobs to be allocated to specific drivers, drivers simply wouldn't make any profit if they had to sit around for half an hour for every job. (the advantage though, is that if you've phoned early, no one can phone after and jump the queue, your job will be despatched before anyone that phones later)
'As soon as possible' jobs are much easier to predict. e.g If you require a taxi in say, Loxley, the telephonist may see that 10 drivers are either vacant, clearing in the area, or heading there with another fare, the telephonist can be confident that at least one car will get the fare. If your are in an area and no cars are heading or clear there, then they can be pretty sure that will be waiting a while. Hence an element in luck when you phone for a taxi straight away, which is not good for station or appointment bookings. The best advise when pre booking a car, is phoning 30mins before its due to arrive and checking whether the company is running on time. Its also not possible to phone every indivdual customer up.
I hope this answers your question, I've tried to keep it short, and I've only scratched the surface, but I don't want to bore you too much.
I look forward to looking around the rest of the site.

Well, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt but I recently booked a taxi 24 hours in advance for a Hospital visit.

Appointemnt at 9-00am, so the previous day I booked a taxi for 8-15 or so. 45 minutes from Walkley to Nether Edge. No problemo, even at that time.

Assuming the taxi shows up.....

Around 8-10 I call them to ensure they're on their way. No, but they will be there in plenty of time.

8-20 - same again. Speak to supervisor who assures me that tehy'll be there to make the journey in good time.

8-30 - OK...getting a little worried.

8-40 - Taking the urine time. call them up and am assured that they've finally got a car. Hello? Finally got one? When I was assured at the time of booking and previously this morning that there will be a car in plenty of time?

8-55 - Wayhey, they arrive.

Arrive at hospital at 9-15 having made an apologetic call on the way.

Even when you book 24 hours early and give them more than enough travel time, they STILL screw up.

I'm waiting for an explanation!

Joe :)

Originally posted by Magneteer
What a complete and utter load of b*****s. You make it sound like running a taxi firm is like trying to knit jelly. How difficult is it to take a booking for a particuler time and then have a cab there for that time? Get real.....Mercury are a complete bunch of t*****s who don't give a s**t about their customers. grrrrrr

most private hire firms are just clearing houses!

some firms do employ drivers to drive company owned vehicles, other firms don't and rely on owner drivers buying in to the customer base

hello all,
I may regret saying this but i also work for mercury taxis, and you should try being in that office between the hours of 07.00-10.30 and 14.00 to 17.00, or anytime on a friday and saturday night, its a nightmare!!!! im sure most people think we make taxis run late on a purpose just so we can get peoples backs up,beacause we love getting GBH of the ear at 7 o'clock in the morning!!!!!!!!!

like ash says it alot harder to predict if a booking is going to be ontime that if someone calls for a taxi asap,because we can not tell if a driver is going to be in that specific area at that time,where as if you phone for a taxi asap we are able to see what area (plot) the driver is in (on)

even though we would like to force jobs on drivers (because it would make our lifes much easier) we cant! the drivers simply choose where they want to be and where they want to go,they have the opportunity to bid for the work,but if they get a job they do not want to do they do not have to do it,i wish they had to do what was given to them because it would make my job so much easier

so are there any taxi firms in sheffield that actually employ drivers?? would be nice to know that you could book a taxi rather than hoping someone is in the area and would be willing to pick you up!

all taxi drivers are self employed,no matter where.the drivers are the companys customers and people who call for taxis are the drivers customers, drivers pay radio rent to pay for the costs of opperators and telephonists and to line the pockets of the owners!!!!

i used mercury on sunday morning i booked the taxi for 8.10 i had a train to catch at 8.55 it is ten minutes from my house at the very most to train station so booking it at that time left time for them been a bit late, 8.20 no taxi , i phoned they said he will be there in 2 minutes he is round teh corner 8.30 he turned up at last when i finally got to the station i had 5 minutes to spare he had taken the longest route possible. never again will i use them.

dont blame ya mate.

i think it the same with all taxi companies to be honest. it pot luck!!! however the driver is suposed to take the shortest or quickest route,like i say your the customers of the drivers youd think they would do everything to keep you sweet, at the end of the day you pay there wages.

most drivers on mercury are really really nice blokes,however there is a hand full that let the fiirm down,ive had a run in with a couple myself

but then again no one or nothing is perfect is it ha ha

I had a terrible experience with A1 once, my wife and I were going on holiday to America, and were catching an early morning train to London. We had booked our taxi in advance and specified that we'd have quite a bit of luggage and asked for them to send a car large enough for the two of us and several suitcases.

Out train was at 9:30am, I think, so we booked a taxi for 8:45. The taxi arrived 10 minutes late, but we still figured we'd have half an hour to get to the station... we started to bring out the first bits of luggage and put them in his boot, but as soon as the driver saw the rest of suitcases he started going on about "not enough room". We told him that we'd specifically asked for a taxi large enough to take luggage, but he wouldn't have it: he took the luggage out of his boot, dumped it on the side of the road, and left us standing there - literally - in a cloud of smoke as he screeched his wheels and drove off.

The A1 dispatcher was no help, she just said "sorry, I've got no record of you wanting a large car, and its 9:10am, I can't get another cab to you for an hour".

Needless to say I was rather irate - it's just fortunate that the station was JUST within walking distance, or we would have missed our train. We made it with literally seconds to spare, but the walk down carrying three suitcases and two backpacks between two people was not fun.

Originally posted by leigha
ive had a run in with a couple myself


Been through most of em as well innit...:thumbsup:

I don't use many taxis myself (thank goodness looking at this site) but I do phone mercury and rac regularly for customers when they've finished shopping and both firms have always told me if they haven't got anything or if it's going to be a long time. I've known when it's been an hour and a half on a thursday or friday afternoon but they have actually told me this so if the customer accepts they know what to expect. I also have one very frail old couple every week and I just tell the person on the phone to ask the driver to come instore for them and they always have. They even take the trolley back and get the £1 out because the lady uses it as a walking aid.
Just thought I'd show the other side of the coin.
:clap:

SheShe - you ring the RAC for taxi's !
Will have to try that one day :hihi:

Ha! Ha! Ha! senior moment dj_shadowman. Of cause I meant RCA:confused:

when all said and done, taxis can be great or crap, but i work with leigha, and whats more important than taxis been on time, in my book is that leigha is absolutely stunning...hehe

I have a lot of time for RCA:thumbsup:

They have picked me just about every Saturday at 3am from Corp to Chesterfield, including New Years Eve.

Admittedly they are usually a few minutes late but i can cope with that. They have only been really late like 30 minutes twice in 8 months. I think that is good service.

Only gripe i do have is a couple of drivers try to add an extra £5 to the bill.

Sadly for these drivers i know the fare inside out now and know exactly how it works. If they still argue i call the manager at RCA up as i'm now on first name terms with him! Soon shuts them up:thumbsup:

I catch a lot of taxi's and mercury have definitely gone down hill in the last few months......they always seem to take the longest possible route :|

there usually on time but last month one was over 20mins late! so I decided to catch another taxi that was empty waiting for custom, as a result if I ring off my mobile they wont take the order so have to use some one else's phone :|

I've found there still pretty cheap in comparison (if you can find a driver that doesn’t go the long way) and do turn up quiet promptly

Originally posted by BobDaBuilder
Been through most of em as well innit...:thumbsup:

Lollllll

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Swan_Vesta
[B]Sorry to hear about that but I'm unsuprised. I used to use Mercury but after they were responsible for me missing numerous trains and knackering a couple of weekends I stopped.

Dont know if its general knowledge but if you pre-bok a cab and tell the operater its for a pre-booked train or coach, if they accept the booking they have to take you to your destination if you miss your connection because of them.
I was told this when i worked for a taxi company :rolleyes:

Its not just Mercury, I usually use Phoenix who are part of Mercury and generally theyre good, but after shopping on the other day I called as usual and they stated 1/2 an hour, so I waited ( with a small child I may add), after 45 mins there had been no cab so I called again, only to have been told that theyd already been and I wasnt there, bearing in mind that I never moved from the spot outside Tescos their driver was obviously lying.

I was also told I would get a call back on my phone - which I never did and after a numerous arguments with the operator ended up getting RCA who were there in 10 mins and whos operator couldnt be more helpful:rant:

So really a lot of them are getting worse to the point of the drivers lying about where theyve been and leaving people to stand in the cold etc etc :rant: :rant: :rant:

For a look at the taxi situation I came across this thread from the other side:
http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2971

Funny situation between Christmas/New Year.

We hailed a black cab from outside The Fulwood Inn on Fulwood Road around 6pm. It was snowing and beginning to settle. We told the driver where we wanted to go and there was no problem.

With the snow starting to fall more heavily, we opted to give Slayleigh Lane a miss and stick on the bus-route, going up Crimicar Lane instead. Again, no problem.

What did come as a surprise was when the driver turned onto our road, possibly the most level road in Lodge Moor. Looking ahead into the snow and the snow-covered road, the driver turned to say he wasn't going to risk going down there! This, having managed to get up Crimicar Lane trouble-free!

He dropped us just short of our house. I paid up (no tip for being a plonker) and left him to it. I believe I am still wearing the bemused look I got from that experience.

My dad is a taxi driver for mercury and although i am not sticking up for them as i too think they can be crap sometimes you cant really blame the driver.
Jobs are given out via a computer operated by the abrupt office staff , drivers can only respond to the jobs they are given when they are given to them.
Also that about them taking you the longest way roung not all drivers do that.
:|

Originally posted by Ousetunes
Funny situation between Christmas/New Year.

What did come as a surprise was when the driver turned onto our road, possibly the most level road in Lodge Moor. Looking ahead into the snow and the snow-covered road, the driver turned to say he wasn't going to risk going down there! This, having managed to get up Crimicar Lane trouble-free!

bare in mind, if his taxi slips into someones car, he is in big loss making land, all taxis have at least £500 excess on their insurance, so why risk 100 yards, for such a risk??

considering the situation, on that snowy night, you should be thankful to get nearly home, i had to upset a lot of customers by not being able to get them home at all or any where near!

Originally posted by diamond54
My dad is a taxi driver for mercury and although i am not sticking up for them as i too think they can be crap sometimes you cant really blame the driver.
Jobs are given out via a computer operated by the abrupt office staff , drivers can only respond to the jobs they are given when they are given to them.
Also that about them taking you the longest way roung not all drivers do that.

PM me please with who he is, he will know me if he works nights, i'm ash (number one despatcher)

"abrubt office staff"
???
all calls are recorded , so if someone has been abrubt, report them! i find that the staff are as honest as can be in any taxi company,

we make estimate times, and more often than not, there pretty good estimates, but sometimes a driver will knock a job, when weve told them its on its way, thats where people are waiting....


as for longest way round...., if a driver takes you the long way round, ask him to ask the despatcher for a quote, and despatcher will tell you the price over the radio,

mistakes happen, ive taken people in my taxi, and theyve said ive taken them the long way round, and sometimes i realise that there may have been a shorter route, and compromise, its very rarely deliberate..


ash

i've had similar problems in the past,
try booking four taxis with different companies,one is sure to turn up!
i do the same thing at the weekends aswell,phone three or four and get in the first one that turns up.

this is why they dont turn up you spoil it for at least three people at some point you wont get a taxi to pick you up at all when you have run out of ones to call moron

One of the problems with the taxi industry is that the driver are paid directly by the customer and they in turn pay the company to supply customers. Hence when the company gets a "bad" job it can be hard for a company to find a driver willing to do the job.

Also all the drivers will be paying the same to the company and therefore all the drivers should be treated the same. So if there is a "good" job then there has to be a fair way to allocate the job, and in terms of efficiency it would usually be allocated to the driver who is nearest and has been empty longest. Which of course all falls down when there is no such driver.

I started working in a taxi office when I was about 14, and finished when I was 20. I was working for Mercury when they first got the computers put into the cabs, and I must say that everyone I worked with in the office wanted the best for the customers, but I soon left as I was out of my depth having little knowledge of Sheffield's geography and so I could not give good enough estimates when it was busy.

Anyway, the key thing is that the company's customers are the drivers. That is where their income comes from, and yes, they need to supply customers for the drivers, and that contradiction in aims causes a good deal of conflict, in every taxi company. Arranging for a particular driver to do a particular job has always been a contentious issue among the drivers, i.e. "Why should he get that job?"

I have seen many efforts to crack the problem of getting better information to customers, and fairer job allocations to drivers. I've only ever seen it work when the number of drivers working is about 12 or less, and all journeys are in a relatively small area. Oh, and when all the customers appear, and go where they said they wanted to go.

My overall view is that unless the drivers are paid a salary, then the situation is unlikely to improve because of fundamental conflict of interest problems.

Of course, putting drivers on a salary has fundamental practical problems, for now.

I think Mercury are going down hill fast.

I've used them for around 3 years with no problems but for the last 6 months their service has been appalling.

The last 3 occasions I've used Mercury, they have been well over an 1 hour late and what really takes the biscuit is that when you call up, you find a taxi has not even been assigned to your booking.

On Sunday night, one of my friends booked a taxi (With Mercury) to take us to the Sheffield Wednesday sports centre on monday morning, as we had an exam. They told her that we would be given priority booking as we had rang up the day before and we had an important exam to get to.

The taxi was booked for 8.15, and by 8.25 on monday morning the taxi still hadn't come, so we rang them up to ask where it was. The woman on the phone told us that it would be another 20 or so minutes.

By 8.45 the taxi still hadn't turned up, so we rang back asking where our taxi was, and told them how important it was for us to get to this exam, but the woman then told us that she "couldn't promise anything" and the taxi may be another 30 minutes or so.

We were, by this point, extremely angry and anxious, so we just attempted to get another taxi, but none would take us. We had to leg it down to the tram stop (with huge bags and a suitcase, as 2 of my mates were goin home straight after), and eventually turned up at the exam 20 minutes late. We couldn't believe the appalling service they provided, after promising us a taxi would be there on time, only to to tell us that one wouldn't come. They genuinely seemed as if they didn't give a *****.

Has anyone else had any experiences with this taxi firm like this? We definitely won't be using them again.
SAME HAPPENED WITH RCA,THEY ALL THE TIME TELL YOU IS ON THE WAY.YOU CAN BOOK AGES BEFORE AND STILL DOESN T GET ON TIME .AND ON TOP OF IT THE WOMAN WHO ANSWER THE PHONE IS SO RUDE.I WOULD SAY NETWORK IS BETTER.

I drove for Mercury for 2 years. Peak times like the one in question at 8.15 can be difficult especially if the traffic isn't moving. Less drivers want to work rush hour periods as they can do less jobs which equates to less money. maybe if private hire firms had a meter then drivers would feel less aggrieved at sitting in traffic.

LOL when i was early i got told to wait 5-10 mins and when i was late i got abuse. You can't win! :gag:

Phoenix aren't part of Mercury.

And my 2p is Mercury are AWFUL. They kept us waiting 90 minutes from the hospital (my MIL had a brain tumour and was rather ill so couldn't get the bus home). The useless bint on the phone desk was smarmy and basically found it hilarious to keep us waiting.

In the end I flagged down a black cab from the main road, but I have never used Mercury since and never will again!

i booked a taxi with RD i needed to be at work for 8.30pm so i booked a taxi for 8pm i phoned them at roughly 12.30 in the afternoon

at 8.10 with no taxi in sight i phoned them and was told that there were FIVE pickups before me when i said that the cab had been booked for over 7 hours they just said that the others must have been booked before i find this difficult to believe, they said they couldnt even give me a time when my cab would arrive after calling them back every five minutes a taxi came for me at 8.30

You must understand:
With the major companies in Sheffield, pre-booking is of no purpose whatsoever.

Whether you book days in advance or 30 minutes in advance, they will just put the call out on the radio at the same time (i.e. 07:50 in KJ Venom's example) to see who will take the job.

If no-one wants to take it, you are walking!

You must understand:
With the major companies in Sheffield, pre-booking is of no purpose whatsoever.

Whether you book days in advance or 30 minutes in advance, they will just put the call out on the radio at the same time (i.e. 07:50 in KJ Venom's example) to see who will take the job.

If no-one wants to take it, you are walking!

then they shouldnt take the booking if they cant deliver the service

I see this thread has redeveloped. I wonder how many times everything will have to be repeated.

I ordered a taxi for a customer on friday afternoon - was told 15 minutes.
After 50 minutes and 2 more calls later it arrived - this was afer being told 5 minutes after calling them when it didnt turn up after the first 15 mins.

And it was RCA who have never let me down and I have had literally 100's of taxi's from them

I ordered a taxi for a customer on friday afternoon - was told 15 minutes.
After 50 minutes and 2 more calls later it arrived - this was afer being told 5 minutes after calling them when it didnt turn up after the first 15 mins.

And it was RCA who have never let me down and I have had literally 100's of taxi's from them

If after hundreds of taxis from them, and one bad experience, you post in a thread called 'disgraceful taxi service'?

Mercury have for many years been my preferred choice of taxi firm (and I use a lot of taxis!) until recently. Ive noticed a definite deterioration in the quality of the service. I dont really care if the driver is a miserable git, as long as he turns up, drives safely and gets me to my destination on time. But in the last 12 months Ive been let down on numerous occasions...even to the point of losing a long awaited appointment for surgery at the NGH (and the taxi for that little fiasco was booked over 24 hours previous). Myself and my young daughter have been left waiting in the cold on at least 5 occasions in the last couple of months, on some occasions not for 10 or 20 minutes, but for an hour or more. I am always polite and pleasant to both drivers and dispatchers but feel like my pleasantness has been mistaken for weakness. The final straw came a few weeks ago when I pre ordered a cab Knowing I was having some major dental work done. On ringing to enquire as to the whereabouts of my cab I was told that nothing was available for at least an hour...the dispatcher then had the nerve to tell me I should have pre booked! No more Mercury cabs for me.......

I booked a taxi with DB one Sunday to take me to the train station. I had booked it the day before and was told that one would be there at 9.30am. (train at 10.15am) At 9.40am it hadn't turned up so I rang them and was told that they hadn't got anyone around my area to take me. I told them I had pre-booked it and they said that it didn't matter because they still hadn't got anyone around. I ended up having to drive into town (no buses, lots of luggage and a small child) and paying a horrific amount of money for three days parking at the train station car park. Needless to say I would never use them again for any journey whatsoever.

If after hundreds of taxis from them, and one bad experience, you post in a thread called 'disgraceful taxi service'?
And why shouldnt I ?
The customer was sat for around an hour waiting for one that he was told would arrive in 15 minutes.

They have let me down before, but I can live with that, but when its a customer (who just happens to be an OAP) why shouldnt I moan.

Especially when it was me getting it in the neck from the punter.

On Sunday night, one of my friends booked a taxi (With Mercury) to take us to the Sheffield Wednesday sports centre on monday morning, as we had an exam. They told her that we would be given priority booking as we had rang up the day before and we had an important exam to get to.

The taxi was booked for 8.15, and by 8.25 on monday morning the taxi still hadn't come, so we rang them up to ask where it was. The woman on the phone told us that it would be another 20 or so minutes.

By 8.45 the taxi still hadn't turned up, so we rang back asking where our taxi was, and told them how important it was for us to get to this exam, but the woman then told us that she "couldn't promise anything" and the taxi may be another 30 minutes or so.

We were, by this point, extremely angry and anxious, so we just attempted to get another taxi, but none would take us. We had to leg it down to the tram stop (with huge bags and a suitcase, as 2 of my mates were goin home straight after), and eventually turned up at the exam 20 minutes late. We couldn't believe the appalling service they provided, after promising us a taxi would be there on time, only to to tell us that one wouldn't come. They genuinely seemed as if they didn't give a *****.

Has anyone else had any experiences with this taxi firm like this? We definitely won't be using them again.


I have had taxi drivers from this firm chucking stones at my window after dropping me off ( this is prior to saying a BIG NO to come on chat) .

I have had taxi drivers from this firm chucking stones at my window after dropping me off ( this is prior to saying a BIG NO to come on chat) .

can you add a bit more to this, its a bit vague.

Also, you are quoting someone from nearly 2 years ago, its taken a while to repsond.

And why shouldnt I ?
The customer was sat for around an hour waiting for one that he was told would arrive in 15 minutes.

They have let me down before, but I can live with that, but when its a customer (who just happens to be an OAP) why shouldnt I moan.

Especially when it was me getting it in the neck from the punter.

Sorry, i wasn't saying you shouldn't rant. But you said 'And it was RCA who have never let me down and I have had literally 100's of taxi's from them' , so i just thought it was a bit excessive to mean it was a disgraceful taxi service, after you pointed out, that they've been good hundreds of times.

ash:)

Sorry, i wasn't saying you shouldn't rant. But you said 'And it was RCA who have never let me down and I have had literally 100's of taxi's from them' , so i just thought it was a bit excessive to mean it was a disgraceful taxi service, after you pointed out, that they've been good hundreds of times.

ash:)
The cab was for a customer not for me.
just trying to provide a service to the customer and give some work to a company who had given me decent service in the past- we get loads of taxis for the punters but if the taxi firm is going to start doing this on a regular basis, we will just use another firm.

Or stop offering this service altogether - I can do without the punters taking it out on me when the cab keeps them waiting....and waiting.

And correct me if im wrong - but im sure you are / were a cab driver (sure I remember it from a previous thread)

we get loads of taxis for the punters but if the taxi firm is going to start doing this on a regular basis, we will just use another firm.


Totally agree. If a firm is constantly letting you down, then perfect sense.

ash

And correct me if im wrong - but im sure you are / were a cab driver (sure I remember it from a previous thread)

sorry , forgot to add to that, your quite correct.
Not many people stick up for cabbies/companies, so i try to stick up for some cabbies and sometimes companies.
The previous thread you've seen me in, is probably in fact this one!! It seems to have resurfaced after a couple of years.

ash

Not to worry - if the taxi was for me, I wouldnt have been too bothered (more time in the pub) but the bloke in question is an oap, and is usually in the pub every weekday so I try to keep him happy.

Not to worry - if the taxi was for me, I wouldnt have been too bothered (more time in the pub) but the bloke in question is an oap, and is usually in the pub every weekday so I try to keep him happy.

I know where your coming from.

What I've just realised though suzu-r, which is quite bizarre, is that, you know the thread, how did you come to find the SF??

well, in my case, someone said "hey, ash, I saw you on a website last night... it was a discussion, that involved you!", so I found it, and in fact it was post number 76 in this exact thread!!!! and post number 102, is my first ever post!!! wow, I so hate the overuse of the '!', but in this case I feel I can use several!!

ash (!!!!!)

I know where your coming from.

What I've just realised though suzu-r, which is quite bizarre, is that, you know the thread, how did you come to find the SF??

well, in my case, someone said "hey, ash, I saw you on a website last night... it was a discussion, that involved you!", so I found it, and in fact it was post number 76 in this exact thread!!!! and post number 102, is my first ever post!!! wow, I so hate the overuse of the '!', but in this case I feel I can use several!!

ash (!!!!!)
been hanging around here for ages in my super hero guise :D

.I am not being racial here,and I must stress not all do this, but quite a few do. the Pakistani drivers make me feel very uncomfortable,


Yes you are. You comment is blantantly racist.

I'm afraid your post says a lot more about you than it does about the taxi drivers.


edit: oops just noticed age of post..maybe (s)he has evolved a bit more by now

never trust taxis so un realible

i booked a taxi with RD i needed to be at work for 8.30pm so i booked a taxi for 8pm i phoned them at roughly 12.30 in the afternoon

at 8.10 with no taxi in sight i phoned them and was told that there were FIVE pickups before me when i said that the cab had been booked for over 7 hours they just said that the others must have been booked before i find this difficult to believe, they said they couldnt even give me a time when my cab would arrive after calling them back every five minutes a taxi came for me at 8.30

this happened to me last saturday 25/11/06

i decided that i would book my taxi slightly earlier this saturday 2/12/06
so again i phoned R.D. at 10.30am to book a taxi for 8pm but to hedge my bets i recalled at 7.30pm to check that my booking still stood i was told that "they couldn't garantee (cant spell please forgive) my cab would be on time because they didnt know when a taxi would be in my area" i phone bck at 8.05pm and was told i'm the next pick-up in my area so to make sure i didnt miss the cab i stood outside the taxi finally arrived at..... 8.25

5 minutes better than the previous week but still i was late for work

thank you R.D. thanks to your time keeping i wont be using your service ever again

i will never use RCA ever again! had a hospital appointment today, rang an hour before, but still the taxi didnt turn up on time. i rang the firm and the woman was so rude she slammed the phone down on me! I have complained to the manager and next time i will use a different taxi firm.

from midland station to high storrs school

from midland station to high storrs school


about £6.60:D

i dont like mercury :( we use rca A LOT
i do notice with both companies the more you ring them the quicker they get there or give you a quote. so if they dont recognise the number youre likely to get the shaft.

i dont like mercury :( we use rca A LOT
i do notice with both companies the more you ring them the quicker they get there or give you a quote. so if they dont recognise the number youre likely to get the shaft.

The way the system works, when you phone up to check where your cab is, it automatically marks the job as being on priority, as the system is sure that you are still waiting, it moves the job up the list on a particular plot. (if there is more than one job waiting in an area).

On Sunday night, one of my friends booked a taxi (With Mercury) to take us to the Sheffield Wednesday sports centre on monday morning, as we had an exam. They told her that we would be given priority booking as we had rang up the day before and we had an important exam to get to.

The taxi was booked for 8.15, and by 8.25 on monday morning the taxi still hadn't come, so we rang them up to ask where it was. The woman on the phone told us that it would be another 20 or so minutes.

By 8.45 the taxi still hadn't turned up, so we rang back asking where our taxi was, and told them how important it was for us to get to this exam, but the woman then told us that she "couldn't promise anything" and the taxi may be another 30 minutes or so.

We were, by this point, extremely angry and anxious, so we just attempted to get another taxi, but none would take us. We had to leg it down to the tram stop (with huge bags and a suitcase, as 2 of my mates were goin home straight after), and eventually turned up at the exam 20 minutes late. We couldn't believe the appalling service they provided, after promising us a taxi would be there on time, only to to tell us that one wouldn't come. They genuinely seemed as if they didn't give a *****.

Has anyone else had any experiences with this taxi firm like this? We definitely won't be using them again.

I had a similar experience a while back some of us from work were going on a conference and had a coach booked, but we all had to be at work by 630am t get the coach. I'd booked the day before with mercury, but the cab didn't arrive so i rang, they had no record of the booking but said they'd send a cab asap. 15 minutes later, still no cab so I rang again. This time they had no record of my origional booking or of me ringing that morning. I rang four times before the cab arrived.

The way the system works, when you phone up to check where your cab is, it automatically marks the job as being on priority, as the system is sure that you are still waiting, it moves the job up the list on a particular plot. (if there is more than one job waiting in an area).

i meant like the more you use them the more likely they are to give you a quote. for example we were in jordanthorpe this weekend for a mates bday and us and another couple needed a cab to get back into town. the other couple were from out of town had never used the cab company we called and was quoted a wait of over an hour. my bf - who rings them quite a bit - called back ten minutes later and was told a driver would be there asap. before we were even outside the hall, the cab was there. now it could have been down the fact our friend had just rang for a cab to be in the area or it could have been coincidence i dont know.

i meant like the more you use them the more likely they are to give you a quote. For example<snip>

Ah see what you mean. That was probaby just coincidence, when you phone the big companies, the overview of drivers positions and status changes every minute. They might have been busy when first phoned and nothing in the area, so a quote was given.
By the time you phoned 10 minutes later, there might be a couple of drivers who have no pickups or just started work close by, and therefore now vacant.
:)

I may be wrong , but I'm sure it's against the law to charge more after a certain time , or on certain days I.e. New Years eve . It's just that people accept it as the norm .

I may be wrong , but I'm sure it's against the law to charge more after a certain time , or on certain days I.e. New Years eve . It's just that people accept it as the norm .
I'll clear up any doubts sir about "might be", yes you are wrong :)
The fares charged by private hire are dictated by the companies and the black cab rates are set by the council. Both have rates that change depending on time of year and/or day, and perfectly above board and legal, annoying but legal :)

about £6.60:D

Many thanks

The only difference between taxi drivers & Dick Turpin is a mask

Mercury and Network are the worst of the worst. The only firm that is any good in my experience is RCA. They are absolutely magnificent.

Mercury and Network are the worst of the worst. The only firm that is any good in my experience is RCA. They are absolutely magnificent.


i agree..never used them yet but my grandad (whos 93) uses them to fro from the ngh...on fri he was waiting nearly an hour for a cab to turn up..not a nice situation at any age..i phoned RCA and just mentioned this to them they now have got him down as priority... and since fri a taxi has bin there alredy waiting for him..just want to say thanx RCA u get my vote:) :)

i agree..never used them yet but my grandad (whos 93) uses them to fro from the ngh...on fri he was waiting nearly an hour for a cab to turn up..not a nice situation at any age..i phoned RCA and just mentioned this to them they now have got him down as priority... and since fri a taxi has bin there alredy waiting for him..just want to say thanx RCA u get my vote:) :)

Not entirely posting this by your post, but adding some more info to this long discussion...

Network is a North East Derbyshire company, so no wonder you would get let down.

RCA/Mercury, there isn't much difference in service,.. similarly with most companies, it's more about the time you require a taxi.

If you phone up a taxi company at 12noon from anywhere on a weekday afternoon, you are likely to get picked up ontime from any local company. (i.e little traffic, not a high demand time for taxis)

When you want a taxi at 1930 on a Saturday night, you have to realise that this is peak time. After all, who goes out for a night out on Saturday at 4pm?? (ok, maybe a few:hihi: )

Ring any taxi company and ask them the specific times when you are most likely to have a taxi turn up late, and a competent telephonist could tell you the following....

..Anytime during rush hour, when us taxi drivers are stuck in traffic like the rest of you, and demand is high, because people are finishing work and out of towners need taxis to the station etc etc..

..Monday morning, when locals need taxis to the station, also a high demand time. (it's ok, saying 'get more drivers', but no matter how many drivers you get, it still takes upto 30 mins to get in and out of the new 'modern looking beautiful' station, but totally impractical layout..:loopy: (that's another thread)

..Friday or Saturday 1900-2030 and..
..Friday and Saturday night 2230-0100.

..Friday afternoon, which is a big prayer time for Muslims, so demand for taxis becomes high as the number of taxis is decreased.

I feel that I've answered everything in this long discussion, and as with my very first post on SF, I'm happy to answer anymore annoyances.

;) ash

just to back up what Ash is saying;

One of the customers at our place would insist on us ordering her a taxi at 3pm, and expect the taxi to come round the corner and pull up, almost instantaneously we'd put the phone down.

we kept explaining and explaining to her that, like 9am, 3pm on any weekday was not a good time to be demanding a taxi, as most of the drivers would be doing School runs. If they were not transporting kiddies to-and- from the special schools, then they were likely to be occupied, transporting their own children.

it was extremely hard to get this through to this person, and get her to understand that she needed to be booking a taxi a bit earlier if she wanted to get away without a long wait.

it was a nightmare.

(Having said that, my ex once arrived there, bringing my granddaughter into the office, to visit with me, whilst this same person was there, waiting on her taxi.

This was the exchange that ensued:-

She started making her way to the car, shoving her bags at him, saying "Well, come on then! Get a move on!"

*puzzled look from my ex*. :confused:

"You're my taxi, I want to get home!"

"sorry, I'm not a taxi, driver, I've just called in to bring PT's granddaughter in" (A huge clue being small child holding his hand:- how many taxi drivers do you know who have a toddler accompanying the, on jobs?)

"Well, WHY aren't you my taxi? !!"

(at this point, PT sighs, :roll: .. and gives up.... searches for the nearest wall that she can beat her head against.)

I too have had alot of trouble with Mercury recently, not turning up on time for hospital appointments etc but I have also waited an hour for RCA taxis on sat afternoon to pick me up from the supermarket. I think it's now a fact of life in Britain no-one prides themselves on providing quality service anymore.

I too have had alot of trouble with Mercury recently, not turning up on time for hospital appointments etc but I have also waited an hour for RCA taxis on sat afternoon to pick me up from the supermarket. I think it's now a fact of life in Britain no-one prides themselves on providing quality service anymore.

Did you read what Ash said? :huh:

No driver, however much he wants to, can drive through heavy traffic any faster than any other vehicle. Don't you think Saturday afternoons are a time when taxis are at full stretch? It's a fact of life that some things are just not practically feasible and not necessarily anyone's fault. And if your taxi (or bus, or friend-giving-a-lift) is late, it's not necessarily down to the company, it's just due to the ebb and flow of city life. It's frustrating, but I don't understand why some people can't see that. :confused:

Did you read what Ash said? :huh:

Obviously not..:rolleyes:

If when you ring for a taxi they were to say how long it would really probably be, instead of the bull they come out with it wouldn't be so bad. Before you jump on my case, Yes i know what i'm talking about and have the experience to come out with that comment, i worked in Control room for good few years and was very unfortunate to be married to a loser who also worked control room, is very known in Sheffield Taxi world and last i heard was running one of the Sad Ass small (soon to go bust) firms. In response to someones remark about taxi drivers been like Dick Turpin except for the Mask, Your spot on, but you'd be surprised at how many wear an invisible mask! (pretending they're something they're not). Theres a few half decent blokes on the ranks, but a whole load of morons, on the roads in the control rooms and in charge.

It doesn't matter even if you have booked in advance either sometimes. Though 'Plain Talker' is spot on about ovious busy times and moody ass customers who are inpatient and un-understading!:D

Did you read what Ash said? :huh:

No driver, however much he wants to, can drive through heavy traffic any faster than any other vehicle. Don't you think Saturday afternoons are a time when taxis are at full stretch? It's a fact of life that some things are just not practically feasible and not necessarily anyone's fault. And if your taxi (or bus, or friend-giving-a-lift) is late, it's not necessarily down to the company, it's just due to the ebb and flow of city life. It's frustrating, but I don't understand why some people can't see that. :confused:

Do you taxi drive, only i've been in plenty of taxis where they go on roadways through Sheffield, you wouldn't dream of trying to get where they need to at times (not sure if they're decent or dangerous, based on state of their driving though).:roll: But if you have pre-booked a taxi, then it's the responsibility of radio operator to ensure a car is on time for you, by checking who in plenty of time is able to do the job.

Hah! I know what you mean. A couple of weeks ago I called a taxi (RCA) at 7.55am to take me to the University. The lady told me it was on it's way. At 8.30, no taxi so I called back and she says you're next on the list. 9am, still no taxi and I had a meeting at 9.15 with my boss...So I called again. Oh, you're next on the list.....9.30 still no taxi! Called back and was told I was down as a no pick up!!!!! At that point I lost it a bit and ranted about how i'd been in the house looking out the window etc. and besides they'd said they'd give me ring back and I hadn't had one. :rant: :rant: :rant:

The woman was right shirty with me. In the end I called another cab company (network cars) and they turned up in 10 mins and I got to work 45mins after my meeting was supposed to start. Great huh?!

Get this, half way to work in the new taxi I got ring back from RCA! :suspect:

I was SO angry and upset as the whole thing made me look a complete numpty in front of my boss. NEVER EVER use RCA!

Just excuse for a bad organisation, rush hours yes you can understand them being a few minutes late but not half an hour. What gets me angry is the bull**** you are given by controllers when you know they are blatantly lying. Why can't they just be honest and say I f***** up sorry.

Just excuse for a bad organisation, rush hours yes you can understand them being a few minutes late but not half an hour. What gets me angry is the bull**** you are given by controllers when you know they are blatantly lying. Why can't they just be honest and say I f***** up sorry.

it does all depend on the traffic. no taxi driver I know has a car like wacky races' Professor Pat Pending, which can grow legs and drive above the other cars in the jam.

If it's bad traffic, there's no way, with the best will in the world a driver can get through, any quicker, as has been said before.

Yes, it can be aggravating if the car doesn't turn up when expected.

I don't mind waiting half an hour or 40 mins, if I know the car is going to take that long to arrive. Central Cars, and CCC (Confederate, which was absorbed into regency/ rca) were very good at that:- if it was ten mins, they'd tell you ten mins, if they couldn't get a car to you for half-an-hour, then they'd warn you it was going to be a half-hour wait. I'd much rather know if it will be a while, than be told "five mins" and 3/4 of an hour later be still waiting.

I also try to ensure that I avoid peak times unless it is absolutely necessary.

I remember back when I used to have to endure DB Cars when I was at Gleadless Valley, they were chuffing hopeless! :rant:

There were regular times when I was supposed to be at School, from lower Walkley in those days, by 8.50 AM, and you could virtually guarantee that if the Taxi didn't turn up by 8.15 (and it very rarely did) I'd be late, often not arriving till nearly half 9 by the time they'd picked up 2 lads from Firth Park bound for All Saints, who used to regularly wag it but not cancel the Taxis so the Taxi man had to trek all the way up there, and then to lower Walkley to pick me up, and then he had to pick another lad up who lived at Sharrow! Fortunately he came to the same School as me so it was straight from Sharrow to Norton.

OK in this instance the problems weren't directly the Taxi company's fault, more the fault of a pair of idiot brothers from S5 who skived off School a lot, but there were times that even without that excuse they'd turn up late, and sometimes they'd go to the other extreme and turn up too early! At like 7.30 AM when I was still in bed!

*Tuts* Honestly some people! :loopy:

Sorry to hear about that but I'm unsuprised. I used to use Mercury but after they were responsible for me missing numerous trains and knackering a couple of weekends I stopped.

Taxi companies work on different timescales to us mere mortals, 5 mins can mean up to an hour or not at all, and they've yet to hear of customer care.

If I can avoid using cabs, I will as I've been bitten too many times to be convinced that they are anything else but unreliable.

I have to agree with you there. Where I work we use several taxi firms daily and none are reliable.

My mother who is 82 had to get a taxi from hillsborough to her home at the beginning of december.When the taxi got to her house the driver charged £5 my mother only had a tenner.O K said the driver i'll drop you the change off when i'm in the area.
After a week my mother rang the taxi company, oh right, said the telephonist the driver in question is on his honeymoon!
Another week later he'll definetely drop it in this week.
My wife rings up .no problem you'll get it soon.
I ring up oh that driver has left the firm there's nothing we can do about it.Yes there is ,that driver was employed or used by your firm.
The owner will give you a ring that was a week ago strill nothing.
A taxi firm that rips off an 82 year old pensioner deserves naming and shaming


DO NOT USE PHOENIX TAXIS !!:mad:

i now work for phoenix taxi.. i looked into this matter. yes the driver did work for us. and he left we did sort this matter out by returning the money he owed as well as a bunch of flowers to say sorry.. drivers are self employed making it hard for us to control them.. he is now working on another firm.. still doing the same thing.. best thing for people to do regarding things like this is make a report to the taxi liecening they can deal with this matter better

i now work for phoenix taxi.. i looked into this matter. yes the driver did work for us. and he left we did sort this matter out by returning the money he owed as well as a bunch of flowers to say sorry.. drivers are self employed making it hard for us to control them.. he is now working on another firm.. still doing the same thing.. best thing for people to do regarding things like this is make a report to the taxi liecening they can deal with this matter better

This matter was 2 years and 3 months ago, and the poster hasn't posted in over 2 years! How, with your relatively new system have you tracked down this event? Nice work.

Can you post the name of the company he works for now?

p.s is your ID a typo?

This matter was 2 years and 3 months ago, and the poster hasn't posted in over 2 years! How, with your relatively new system have you tracked down this event? Nice work.

Can you post the name of the company he works for now?

p.s is your ID a typo?


quality ash:hihi:

I like to book them both and take whichever arrives first! i think this helps provide healthy competition, a race they dont know they are participating in and im the winner!(p.s. i dont go in many taxis so dont be too upset any taxi drivers reading this!)

I like to book them both and take whichever arrives first! i think this helps provide healthy competition, a race they dont know they are participating in and im the winner!(p.s. i dont go in many taxis so dont be too upset any taxi drivers reading this!)

You don't upset me, but I will tell you what you are doing.

You may think that you are winning by annoying taxi companies.

In fact, what you are actually doing by creating 'healthy competition', is causing drivers (almost all of which are hard working men and women) to lose their earnings, and causing other people to have taxis turn up late (as is the main concern in this thread), and even if you rarely order taxis, you will have a taxi turn up even rarer when we catch you trying this trick.

Luckily for us, we have a 'gentlemans agreement' amongst the drivers of Sheffield (and in fact most cities), you will find that no taxi company will pick up ever again when you are caught out by helping yourself to cheating us.

(this has been pointed out before, and normally I would say 'read the thread', but in this thread, I don't mind ignoring the fact that even I can't be ass'd reading 10 pages on a new thread at 2am)

I like to book them both and take whichever arrives first! i think this helps provide healthy competition, a race they dont know they are participating in and im the winner!(p.s. i dont go in many taxis so dont be too upset any taxi drivers reading this!)

Just to add, let me give you an everyday analogy.

You and a mate go down West St for a few beers.

The bar is packed. So you both go to different sections of the bar, and try and order your 2 pints. You end up getting served around about the same time. The bar staff put your 2 pints on the bar, but you see that your mate has got them already.

So you tell the bar staff that you don't need your 2 pints.

Fine no problem. You walk off..





Unbeknown to you, the bar staff had to pay for that round out of his or her own wages.

:thumbsup:

I like to book them both and take whichever arrives first! i think this helps provide healthy competition, a race they dont know they are participating in and im the winner!(p.s. i dont go in many taxis so dont be too upset any taxi drivers reading this!)

Doing that is probably why some of the earlier posters' grannies or elderly uncles were kept waiting for the length of time they were.

All the taxies were occupied, wasting their time, and petrol etc, at the other side of the city, chasing non-existent jobs.

I live in Stannington and the last three times I have booked a taxi with mercury, the car has arrived anywhere between 1 1/2 hours and 2 hours late.

(This is mainly on Fri / Sat nights).

Obviously I don't use them anymore but I did ask the last driver why this was?

Apparently, drivers don't like going up to stannington on weekend nights as its a bit out of the way and they can make more money making quicker shuttle runs closer to the town centre.

According to the driver who did turn up, 5 other drivers had picked up my job but when something closer or more lucrative game in they simply dropped it.

However, the most annoying aspect of this sorry tale, every time I called them up to find how long it would be, I was constantly told, "its about 10 mins away". When I eventually exploded after 1 1/2 the women had a go at me for saying what did I expect when it was a weekend. The fact I booked the taxi the day before counts for nothing then :(

....... The fact I booked the taxi the day before counts for nothing ....

Now you understand!

Just to add, let me give you an everyday analogy.

You and a mate go down West St for a few beers.

The bar is packed. So you both go to different sections of the bar, and try and order your 2 pints. You end up getting served around about the same time. The bar staff put your 2 pints on the bar, but you see that your mate has got them already.

So you tell the bar staff that you don't need your 2 pints.

Fine no problem. You walk off..


Unbeknown to you, the bar staff had to pay for that round out of his or her own wages.




:thumbsup:

I can understand every thing you are getting at except for your analogy, No bar staff would pay for the drinks, unless they were really dopey.

Exactly as mentioned previously if a taxi is booked, apart from gridlock, surely the taxi companies know how long it takes to get to pick up destinations in traffic? EG 20 mins up eccy rd at 5pm means it needs to be dispatched at 4.40 not 4.55?

I see my double booking as probably not being right or helpful but as seen many times by other posts obviously a lot of people are let down by taxi companies that just dont give a sh*t. If i am expected to miss trains be late for appointments why should i be so concerned about the odd 'no show'.

When working at the Holiday Inn the hotel was charged £3 per 'no show' and 25% of the taxi drivers would wait thirty seconds and drive off hardly giving the customer chance and pocketing them £3 for doing nothing, but you could be sure they billed their 'no show' through the company they work for, as we used to cross reference all charges. And while on subject how about all the cabs that work on the weekend 'off the radar' and working for themselves tax free cheating both tax man and the company they work for. I have had loads of 'mercury' or 'RCA' saloon type cars offer to pick me up when we all know they are to be booked to cover insurance and their licence, just go visit gatecrasher on a weekend there are loads out front some booked but others just waiting for anyone to jump in, they dont start the meter and generally overcharge.

Before i have too many drivers complaining i sometimes double book to ensure taxis, they should maybe look at other people in their business that are cheating them out of a lot more money than i am!

I use Mercury most weeks and have never had a need to complain, I can get picked up from all over the city without trouble.
Taxis are clean and odour free (unlike some other cabs in the city, its like playing Russian roulette getting a black cab home at night), drivers are polite and can speak English, the drivers do not drive with their mobile stuck to their ears talking in a foreign language to people constantly, and the charging is always consistent.
Good job Mercury

i've had similar problems in the past,
try booking four taxis with different companies,one is sure to turn up!
i do the same thing at the weekends as well,phone three or four and get in the first one that turns up.

In other words you are the reason why another 3 people are stood waiting for a taxi - someone like you could well be the reason they were late for their exam

I really can't believe you posted that :(

my name is andrea and i work for mercury i am not ignorant i am not nasty i dont put the phone down i am polite to all my customers i tell the truth i am hurt by some of the things that are posted on this site i have helped the disabled the blind and the elderly, people with dogs from the vets and i have not had 1 complaint from my customers no one has been waiting longer than i quoted and if i quote a time im telling the truth has anyone spoke to me?????and i can assure you all if we can get get you a cab pre-booked or not we will try to get them on time if not we do appologise always but dont take it out on the staff remember we dont work 24 hrs a day if you booked it the day before dont take it out on the staff the day after we can only try to help we all have bad days we understand we just hope you the customer does thanks xxx and that goes for many taxi companys in sheffield. im just nice will you try to be xxxx

hello andrea :wave:

welcome to the forum!

I'm a very regular customer of Mercury's, I use them, sometimes, five or six times a week, and, yes, I've spoken to you, a number of times, where you have dispatched my taxi. :D

hi plain talker thank you for welcoming me,glad to hear you've spoke to me at work always a pleasure here's hoping you get great service not only customer wise but driver wise too xxxx

no problems, Blakey'swife. have spoken to most of the "lasses" (And the couple of lads) on control, using the company as much as I do. yes, It's rare I don't get good customer service, and It's not usually control who cause any probs I get, if I do have difficulties. It's mostly traffic holding the drivers up, and I try to be understanding.