Gary Davis

For some it is the way it is. Poor education, low paid job. You get to an age where you want to breed and society will look after you. Wait until January and the East Europeans come in their droves. The singles will be on their own but the families, well they have kids. Kids will get you a roof over your head and benefits coming in from all directions. Having a kid gets you security. Being a tax payer entitles you to zilch! Stop child benefit or drastically reduce it. You will still get a state paid for house though.

There was a similar thread to a stolen orange Focus St on here not so long ago. A police officer found it parked up at Firvale undamaged.

I was once a taxi driver and have had keys, wallets, phones etc left in my cab. In most cases I have been able to get the property back to the owner either by calling back if it is convenient or leaving the item at the taxi office when convenient. When I say convenient I mean if I do not have to go out of my way at my expense. The customer can come to me if they are so desperate or pay me my mileage rate for driving all the way back. In my early days you will get a radio call on your next job going where ever saying the last customer is on the phone saying they have left x in my car. Yes it turned up before the present customer would find it and pinch it for themselves. But then came the demand for for drop the present customer off and return it. Well I did that a couple of times but not even a thanks, more of sussed you out thieving scum! So after that unless the mileage was paid for they could come to me or wait till Sunday when I paid in at the office. As for phones they was easier. The owner would ring me up and some offered the mileage to return immediately or otherwise my son worked at a pub and I left phones with him so they could call at the pub to pick it up. But as for the drivers that find money and keep it well yes that is dishonest but there are customers who cost drivers lost money by being sick in the car or failing to turn up etc. So maybe the driver pockets the money as compensation for the money lost by customers. A bit of balancing the scales so to speak? I did it only the once, found a purse with £20 in it and a bank card. No idea where the lady lived as she got out at a block of flats. So no phone call to the office and I had had a bad night with punters. I pocketed it to make up for all the no pick ups I had that evening. 5 no pick ups which is a lot in one shift. It adds up to quite a bit of lost earnings so I kept it as compensation. Didn't feel good about it but it did help even the score.

I should be happy but I am not. Always been a pessimist and always will unfortunately. But when I was on the taxi's I met a lot of people a lot worse off than me and I was grateful for what I have got.

No evidence at all. It was to the general public not to the OP. It happens and yes I am a plonker scottF. What I am saying to the people on SF that should you get into a situation with a taxi driver then yes you might find one morning you have had your car keyed etc. It happens. So my last paragraph is a simple reminder to people that before you get really personal with a driver think there might be consequences. Just a bit of advice really. I was mostly days by the way and finished 10pm on Friday and Saturday nights. But there was plenty of vengeance stories to be told on the ranks.

I have been reading this thread and it is interesting how much hate there is towards taxi drivers and the self employed. I was a taxi driver for a number of years so I will give my opinion and that is what it is an opinion. The driver would have been well peed off with someone soiling his car. Like as said it could knock him out of employment for at least 2 hours but could also be the rest of the shift and beyond so the £50 may not be anywhere near compensation but also if it is not in the fabric then it could be an hour but come on, cleaning up spew he deserves £50! I do feel as well that threatening with taking the customer to a police station? Well a waste of time for being sick but refusing to pay well then he can go to the police station and rightly too. Not paying until he has taken you home? Well I can tell you in the 15 years I did taxi-ing I had at 1 spewer every year and everyone bar one refused to pay the soiling charge. So getting the £50 up front makes sense as once you are home well why should you? You have got what you want and of course being a mere taxi driver then sod him as I was told numerous times. But in this case the customer did pay and I cannot understand why the family after paying was not taken home anyway. It could have been a case of the car is so badly soiled that it is not fit to carry on but in that case you radio in for a replacement taxi you do not take £50 then kick out the family and leave them stranded unless there has been threats both ways and it is better both paties separate. So I suspect there is more to it than pay and get out. As for ringing City Taxi,s well I would think once you have made your complaint it will end there and management may well not even get to hear about it and here's why. The people on the phones couldn,t careless. They have people giving them attitude all the time and the times they send taxi drivers out to a job and then there is a no pick up, they get it off the driver then as well. Customers are always letting taxi companies down so you see when they they let a customer down it sort of equals the score. Taxi drivers and operators actually don,t have the time of day for winging customers, taxi customers let the taxi companies and drivers down and it happens the other way, either don,t give a monkeys. I left the taxi trade for a less paid job because I was simply sick of peoples attitude towards me for doing my job and minding my own business. I was sad but trying to care about fellow human being s seemed to be only one way. Life is much better now. As for the soiling charge is calculated into the fare then I wish. It isn,t just like damage to the car by the ignorant lot at Tesco,s with their shopping trolley's. I did get paid for a broken light once but it took a solicitors letter to get paid. Anyway I think this driver was very angry and should not have left this family but at least got a replacement taxi to carry on with getting the customer home and was one of the very few taxi drivers who actually got paid the soiling charge. Just a note as well. When you abuse a taxi driver and let him take you home remember he knows where you live and all sorts of things can happen in the dark of night while you are asleep. Just keep up with the insurance payments.

Yes Hillsborough Chiro as said above. Fitness unlimited (Hillsborough baths) are advertising sports massage as you walk in.

I was on the taxi's and I would welcome it. It would make it safer for the passenger and certainly safer for the driver. I got spat on, hit several times and even sexually assaulted. For me it would be the proof I need to sue for assault and I would. There are some people out there who simply hate taxi drivers because they are taxi drivers. And the worst for giving out abuse are women. You have to be very careful how you handle aggressive women.

I was a private hire driver and it is hell! The customers treat you like dirt and you will never meet such ignorant, selfish people as you will in that job. It certainly changes you views on life! Money wise it is long unsociable hours. Why do people still do it, well it is the only job they know for some of them and for others it is their culture. You might not notice on your travels but I do, just how many private hire taxi's are parked up waiting for jobs. And as for those poor sods at the train station then they have more patience than me. These drivers that are parked up are at work and not getting paid. Then there are the people who book a taxi then don't turn up or make you wait and refuse to pay waiting time. It doesn't help either with the big boys robbing you of £98 a week for the radio rent. Then there is the insurance, Sheffield City Council fees, fuel. All that has to be made first and after you have paid the greedy fat cats for doing very little then you can after several days work start working for yourself. I really do believe a 39 hour minimum pay job pays more than the taxi's. A driver working 8am till 4.30pm Mon-fri will not net minimum wage.

I agree with the above. If it is a boozer you are after where you can go to an ordinary pub for a pint or two but take your kids in then there is the Bridge in at Wadsley Bridge. Not swank but the regulars are friendly and it as basic as a pub can get except it has a slot machine and pool table if you like that sort of thing.

Huge portions but nothing to brag about taste wise. You can easily feed 2-3 people for the price of one. I have only been there twice. The first to try it and the second because the inlaws was here and I wasn't wasting my money on them! Cheap food it was. I would question the hygiene though. They got into trouble about 4-5 years ago from what I hear.

I agree with the above. I have been there but with the wife. I am also a billy no mates and go where I want on my own if no one else is interested. You will do alright in Australia on your own. The people are very friendly and it is surprising how many ex-pats you will bump into. We landed in Melbourne 1st time and Sidney the second leaving in Brisbrane. After a couple of nights in the landing City we hired a car and set off on a route taking us through towns of the tourist map. That is where you see the real Australia. Every town has a touristist information centre and will help you with finding accommodation. We hired a car and found plenty of motels on route with no trouble with vacancy's. We did go in January though. Excellent for the long daylight hours but hot averaging 37c. If you do not like the heat then go in their Spring or Autumn.

I may be mistaken but I went to look at a flat there last month and it looks like the render is beginning to bubble on the front right hand side? How long ago was it done?

When are they going to do this? Didn,t we have 3p recently following the budget? Yes, we are driving less and getting greener cars. The less volume of litres sold is less tax revenue. They put the lost revenue back on to break even. It also makes the commercial vehicle cost more to run so making products cost more to produce. For me put the vat up on fuel. The private motorist gets stung (as usual) but industry can still be competitive.

I dye my hair and have done since 1985 when I started to go grey. I use Just for men and the first time I used black. That was embarrassing! Jet black with a black tide mark around my scalp! I stayed in for a week lol. Now I still dye my hair (dark brown/black) because it simply makes me look younger and I prefer it to grey. I use to keep it a secret until a neighbour questioned me about it so now I openly tell people and I am not ashamed either. Just for men spend thousands on tv advertising so there must be buyers apart from me. For anyone contemplating dying their hair (men) then if you have an amateur do it put plenty of vaseline around the scalp to avoid staining your skin and do it for the shortest time first. Check also to see if you have a skin allergy to it. Grecian 2000 and Murphy's makes your hair smell awful.