chip and pin in a taxi

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Foxtrot26 said:
to be honest i'd most likely be happy to absorb the surcharge just curious as to whether people would accept it or not.

only problem would be advertising, no advertising allowed on private hire vehicles up in glasgow atm(glasgow city council rule) other than company identification and markers.

tbh would a chip and pin machine make it obvious that card payments are accepted?
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Surely a sign saying "We take Chip & Pin payments" fitted next to the machine isn't advertising?
 
A point my girlfriend raised, which is interesting: what if someone gets in the taxi under the assumption they'll use their card... and it gets declined when they come to pay? aint they up a creak without a paddle so to speak?
 
in regards to surcharge its entirely adjustable and left up to the operator.

was thinking of something along the lines of a flat 50pence or £1 fee for cc transactions but most likely going on immediate response none at all. 5% is not a great amount in the grand scheme of things and i think this could offer all sorts of potential for increasing revenue etc. ie people might be more liberal with their tipping or more likely to extend journeys if they can stick it on the never never.


thanks for the feedback so far guys. all appreciated keep it coming.
 
Windle said:
Also, you have a captive questionnaire market. Get your drivers to ask your customers.
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i will pose this question at every opportunity over the next couple of days.
and ask the guys to do the same.


potential seems to be there but theres the problem of being an early adopter(never seen chip and pin used in a private hire in glasgow before- i know mearns private hire use it but thats newton mearns(posh area for non glasgow peoples)

your going to have the sceptism of people being confronted with it for the first time in a taxi setting.
the general mistrust of glaswegians.
the uncertainty over whether the chip and pin machine is a rangers or a celtic fan.


advantages

carry less cash- sensible in Glasgow
offers an alternative means of payment to customers
may generate extra work with people only having the ability to pay by cc- ie our booking office for one of the cities biggest taxi companies cannot take credit card payments when you phone to book your cab. so the only option for the company would be to dispatch a car equipped with a chip and pin.

now if i could only get a chip and pin that accepts post office cards and irn bru bottles i'd be onto a winner :)
 
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Maybe scrap the surcharge in favour of a minimum spend? I believe someone (Card company? Bank? Card machine people?) takes a percentage of what you get?

Guess this will cut down on nonpayers too, I know a guy who got home in a taxi after a night out and didn't have any money on him. So he gave the driver his passport and never bothered getting it back :rolleyes:. Point being he had a bank card on him with cash to spend, could've used that if the taxi had chip and pin.
 
-fedexer- said:
A point my girlfriend raised, which is interesting: what if someone gets in the taxi under the assumption they'll use their card... and it gets declined when they come to pay? aint they up a creak without a paddle so to speak?
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That happened to someone sitting near me on the train at the weekend. They didn't have enough cash either, so were, as you say, up the creek. Luckily they were getting off anyway but would have been caught by the barriers.

It was about the time Barclaycard systems went down so that may have been the cause.

As to the original question, I wouldn't bother for the short journeys I usually do. If it's an airport run or something longer then absolutely yes.
 
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Morba said:
This.
I've used them in Edinburgh :)
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I've only used it once - in Brisbane. I tend to avoid taxi's wherever possible as I find the services they offer are generally poor and overpriced and you never really know whats its going to cost you until the end of the trip unless you've made the same trip before.
 
[TW]Fox;17510497 said:
I've only used it once - in Brisbane. I tend to avoid taxi's wherever possible as I find the services they offer are generally poor and overpriced and you never really know whats its going to cost you until the end of the trip unless you've made the same trip before.
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Being white and middle class (well i am for stoke) seems an excuse to rip you off :(
 
If it was a reputable licensed taxi firm I had used a lot I'd be happy with a chip and pin service, and say £21 instead of £20 wouldn't bother me, it's more of a pain in the arse getting a cab to stop at a cashpoint currently.

I live in the South of England though, so maybe not your target audience.
 
What I dont like around here is the pot luck. You phone for a taxi and anything from literally a smelly P reg Vectra with a duff headlight to a brand new Mercedes Benz will show up and then charge you exactly the same for your journey. This just seems completely bizarre - in every other service industry you pay more for a higher level of service and less for a lower level of service.
 
[TW]Fox;17510536 said:
What I dont like around here is the pot luck. You phone for a taxi and anything from literally a smelly P reg Vectra with a duff headlight to a brand new Mercedes Benz will show up and then charge you exactly the same for your journey. This just seems completely bizarre - in every other service industry you pay more for a higher level of service and less for a lower level of service.
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here you know by race and location....

Asian cabs in stoke are cheap as they have no car age limit, then its white cabs in stoke. Newcastle as a 5yr limit so then its Asians in Newcastle then white in Newcastle. Taxi firms are almost exclusively white or Asian drivers.

Personally if on my own I will always have a white driver (how many storeys of Asian drivers making storeys up and playing race card to police) but with mates will get Asian cab as they are significantly cheaper.
 
I wish these were on buses rather than using chip and pin you could just swipe as you walk on. but I suppose would make it easier for thieves, to steal a bus journey?

isn't this what the idea of oyster cards is anyway? (for buses + trains)
 
IIRC several firms in/around London had chip and pin facilities when I was there - infact in central London a lot of taxis drivers it seemed would only stop for someone holding up their CC (I think they prioritised business people over tourists, etc.) - can't say I'd want to wave my credit card around in the middle of a crowd of people myself. Surcharge was usually either flatrate 50p or £1 depending on the firm rather than a %.
 
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