Soldato
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The: When Travelling By Taxi - Discussion
- Thread starter Gravitas
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Man of Honour
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He hasn't got a problem with people paying the exact amount, he has a problem with people announcing loudly they are only going to pay the exact amount.
It happens a lot and I always wonder "Why say it?".
It's like posters on here posting "Who?".
His opinion that people are "cheap" for announcing they don't tip. That isn't remotely factual. That isn't evidence that they are actually cheap. Tipping culture IS bull ****. We don't need it in the UK, and the reason it's a thing in the US is backwards anyway.He can't declare his opinion as fact, but you can?
That isn't my opinion, it's a fact.
I have NEVER said that I’m entitled to a tip, nor have I EVER felt aggrieved if I didn’t get one, sure, if the meter read £13.80, and the job gave me £15.00 and said “Keep the change”, I’d thank him politely, and be glad that I got a tip, but providing I got the £13.80, then that’s good enough for me, and I definitely wouldn’t view the job as a cheapskate, be fair, he paid the bill in full.
I’ve just said that I have no argument with someone paying the exact bill, see above.
If a tipping culture is anathema to you, then don’t tip, no one puts a gun to your head,
but not for nothing, avoid holidaying in the U.S. if you want a stress free holiday.
He can't declare his opinion as fact, but you can?
Thanks String, at least you get that I’m not the enemy here.
Thank you too SGF, everything I’ve laid out on here has only been my opinion, but in all honesty,
it has been an informed opinion, as I was at the sharp end of the taxi driving game for a long time.
And we square the circle, I never, ever, said that it’s a fact that people ARE cheap for announcing the fact that they are apparently proud to shout from the rooftops that they don’t tip anyone, I said that in my opinion, they make themselves look cheap, I reiterate, IN MY OPINION.
You didn't say that they make themselves look cheap, you asserted that they are cheap.
But even then, that isn't a metric that proves whether someone is cheap.
If you want a frustrating taxi experience try Cairo. They're everywhere (the city literally swarms with taxis) but almost none will use the meter and everyone wants a good haggle over the price, before finally settling on the price they intended to charge you in the first place anyway. Complete charade.
When I've got to get somewhere I want a taxi, not a debate. I use Uber or Careem here - cuts all that nonsense out. Unfortunately it also opens you up to clueless unprofessional randoms who have no idea where they are going, but it's worth the risk in my experience.
When I've got to get somewhere I want a taxi, not a debate. I use Uber or Careem here - cuts all that nonsense out. Unfortunately it also opens you up to clueless unprofessional randoms who have no idea where they are going, but it's worth the risk in my experience.
This is literally how it works in my home town.
"hello you're taxi is outside"
This is normal surely? Otherwise how else would you know.
Edit - I just re-read SGFs post. Yeah that doesn't happen to me
Man of Honour
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Edit - I just re-read SGFs post. Yeah that doesn't happen to me
However it has now been confirmed my my biggest critic Rubberduck
I didn’t think that I had openly asserted that someone who didn’t tip was cheap, so in an attempt to check this, I went right back to the OP, and re-read every post on this thread.
In post # 81, I wrote that if people tell everyone that they don’t tip anyone ever, then as far as I was concerned they were cheap, and were happy for everyone to know that they're cheap.
Note, I wrote, AS FAR AS I WAS CONCERNED, which to me means, in my opinion.
In post # 82, Shocky-FM wrote in reply to my saying that I never felt “entitled” to a tip, that if I cared enough to call people cheap for not tipping me, then he tended to think that I was lying to myself, (presumably by saying that I never felt entitled to a tip).
I didn’t say that people were cheap for not tipping me, in fact I’ve already stated that if I got exactly what was on the meter I was satisfied with that, but I have said that in my opinion, people were cheap if they openly boasted that they never tipped anyone, meaning never tipping those that normally were tipped by people, waiters, barbers, taxi drivers, bar staff, waitresses etc.
In closing, although I’ve largely enjoyed the back and forth on this thread, and received an education in how taxis and taxi users operate in far flung parts of the land, I feel that for the most part we have nothing new to learn and contribute to it, so knowing that a bunch of our soi-disant “betters” view taxi drivers as modern day members of Ali Baba’s band of thieves, I’m content to assume that mantle, but I reserve the right to chip in again if I feel that I should.
Trust a black cab driver to have a swipe at immigrants.
Well, I didn’t stay out for long.
In my post, which you quoted, I said that the only REAL taxis in London are Black Cabs, but having been a Black Cab driver, I WOULD say that, wouldn’t I?
I did say that the others, (minicabs), are a poor imitation, usually driven by immigrant wannabes, what I meant was that the drivers were wannabe real taxi drivers but weren’t at the moment, as they weren’t driving Black Cabs.
I wasn’t taking a swipe at immigrants per se, indeed, with the amount of French blood in my veins, I count myself as descending from immigrant stock, and I’m proud of it.
According to Business Insider, in July 2017, there were a total of 24618 licenced Black Cab drivers in London, both green badge, (inner London), and yellow badge, (suburban London), of these, 16648 were White British, 277 were White Irish, and 603 were White Other.
At the same time, there were 117,857 Private Hire drivers, both minicab and Uber, of these, 7097 were White British, 180 were White Irish, and 13251 were White Other.
It’s a reasonable supposition that a lot of those PH drivers, both indigenous and immigrant, would have preferred to have been Black Cab drivers, so for that reason alone, I described them as wannabes.
Fair enough, however the declaration of not tipping seems to be at least in context of this thread.
I don't tip, I don't really see the point in this country. I see as a bribe for good service, at least in the food industry.
I don't "openly declare" that I don't tip unless it's somewhat relevant to a situation.
My point was on expected tips, which I know you've said you never expected them, I'm just making a general point on the matter that it's not the cost that bothers me, I just see expected tips anywhere outside the US as being illogical. I don't think the US tipping system makes any logical sense either, but in a different way.
If you want x money for x service, charge it. That's why I don't tip. I don't have any issue with costs, I just resent the attempt to complicate what should otherwise be a simple transaction.
I see the tipping ethos as a simple way to reward those who go above and beyond to deliver a better service in a market where they can't reasonably charge extra in advance on the basis of a superior reputation.
A plumber can charge an extra £5 hour based off of a good reputation for doing a better job than anyone else but a taxi driver can't exactly charge a higher rate in advance if he's a smoother driver, helps with your bags without huffing and sighing like you've ruined his week, doesn't make pervy comments because a girl is wearing a skirt etc.
Giving a tip is a 'post service' way of paying someone for being better than the average at their job, compared to a 'pre service' premium that you'd see in other industries.
I can understand the 'x money for x service' but some industries just don't present that opportunity.
Perversely though, the food industry is one where they could very easily just build the cost into the food but don't and is the most widely accepted.
A plumber can charge an extra £5 hour based off of a good reputation for doing a better job than anyone else but a taxi driver can't exactly charge a higher rate in advance if he's a smoother driver, helps with your bags without huffing and sighing like you've ruined his week, doesn't make pervy comments because a girl is wearing a skirt etc.
Giving a tip is a 'post service' way of paying someone for being better than the average at their job, compared to a 'pre service' premium that you'd see in other industries.
I can understand the 'x money for x service' but some industries just don't present that opportunity.
Perversely though, the food industry is one where they could very easily just build the cost into the food but don't and is the most widely accepted.
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It's only a bribe if you tip up front which I've never seen happen.
I'm talking in places where it's normal to expect a tip. For example, America. Tipping is pretty much bribing for good service in the context of people will put more effort into waiting on people who they think might tip them better.
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Both my daughters worked in Harvester years ago and when Gypsies came in they treated them like Royalty and came away with at least £25 in tips each.
Reminds me years ago of a cafe in Italy.
You paid for your coffee at the till then took the receipt to the counter where the barista made your order.
After a few minutes of not being served and others being served before me, I realised everyone else were placing a few lire on top of their receipt.
As soon as I did the same I got served immediately.
You paid for your coffee at the till then took the receipt to the counter where the barista made your order.
After a few minutes of not being served and others being served before me, I realised everyone else were placing a few lire on top of their receipt.
As soon as I did the same I got served immediately.
I'm not sure about why any taxi driver should automatically expect a tip, would you tip a bus driver taking you to the same place?
Perhaps a driver that spends extra time helping an elderly or disabled person carry their shopping up to the door etc might warrant a bit extra but after all they are just doing their job the same as the person at Tesco's checkout and you wouldn't tell them to keep the change would you
Perhaps a driver that spends extra time helping an elderly or disabled person carry their shopping up to the door etc might warrant a bit extra but after all they are just doing their job the same as the person at Tesco's checkout and you wouldn't tell them to keep the change would you
If I keep saying this, I expect I’ll get a request to change the record, but, and here I’m speaking categorically for myself alone, I never, ever, automatically expected a tip, in all the jobs I did as a Black Cab driver.
Virtually 90% of all passengers DID tip though, so although I never expected it as a right, it was a mild surprise when someone paid the exact metered fare and that was it, (it’s known in the trade as being legalled).
I always tipped when I was a passenger in a Black Cab, purely because that was the way I was brought up.
When my dad took me to the barber, I noticed that he gave the barber more than was asked of him, likewise in a Black Cab, he always gave the driver a tip.
If my dad did it, it was the right thing to do, so I copied him as I grew up.
The only time I didn’t tip a Black Cab driver, was when he took a route that I KNEW could have been done quicker, and I’d advised him it was quicker.
I didn’t dig him out, the fare went £12.60, and I gave him £13.00 and waited for the 40p, saying, “I did tell you, but you wouldn’t have it.”
To his credit, he just drove away.
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I don't know why you're bothering, this place is worse than Facebook for people who refuse to read posts.