I'd rather drink and ride

[Finn]

What actually are you miffed about Finn, the lack of professional Taxi service or the over abundance of personal service on offer? Curious, John.

That it wasn't a 20 year old blonde John. I always get the creepy guys.

[98tls]

It's an interesting subject really. Haven't given it much thought over the weekend, in fact, taking his keys away and walking home left me laughing. However, given this is becoming quite common, I probably should file a complaint.

Yes, I remember the taxi company, his name, number, rego etc.

You should do it mate,who knows what the shithead will get up to in the future,best get him off the road.May well save some young person a world of grief.

[Finn]

Harden up Finn.. you could at least given him a Rodney King'in

Yeah. I figured that with his body in the boot, I'd have 4 days to get to Mexico.

[Little Miss Trouble]

Dodgy taxi drivers are MUCH more interesting.

Depends whether your talking dodgy or DODGY got a taxi back from
Auckland airport to a motel with a guy who wanted to play us the CD of a band he was representing, and kept going on about how he couldn't wait to get home and have a joint. He was strange but I didn't get the skin crawling feeling some others have made me feel

[oldrider]

That it wasn't a 20 year old blonde John. I always get the creepy guys.

Hey, twenty year old blondes have guys my age tabbed as the creepy guy's!

Are you trying to get me to take "his" side in this! John.

[shafty]

What did you do with his keys Finn?

[oldrider]

What did you do with his keys Finn?

Perhaps he unlocked his aching heart! John.

[98tls]

Had a bad experiance with a taxi driver in little ol oamaru many years ago...i rang a cab it came and delivered me to were i wanted to go then the piece of shit went back home knocked on the door and told my missus he loved her etc.........one of the weirdest things ive ever heard of,she tells him to piss off and slams the door in his face.......as i said very weird.

[Swoop]

Had a bad experiance with a taxi driver...

Weird alright!
One would have thought that the amount of money these people/companies charge for their service, there would be a relatively decent staffing of the cabs.

I wonder what the job application process consists of?

Wasn't there a general cleaning up of the "profession" a little while ago?

[98tls]

Weird alright!
One would have thought that the amount of money these people/companies charge for their service, there would be a relatively decent staffing of the cabs.

I wonder what the job application process consists of?

Wasn't there a general cleaning up of the "profession" a little while ago?

Many years ago myself and a mate were on the turps up in wellington...we get in a cab wanting to go to the Arena nightclub.....this towel head didnt have a clue,we get to an intersection were he needs to go left or right,sitting at the lights we tell im to go straight ahead..he does so and far-off in the distance the lights had changed and we end up going the wrong way down a 3 lane one way system......he starts ranting to the towel head god and we bail..........

[Little Miss Trouble]

Weird alright!
One would have thought that the amount of money these people/companies charge for their service, there would be a relatively decent staffing of the cabs.

I wonder what the job application process consists of?

Wasn't there a general cleaning up of the "profession" a little while ago?

Problem is most people don't want to work the night shifts (would you with drunks puking in your car?!) so your probably gonna be scraping the bottom of the barrel at that time of night.

[peasea]

Fuck me... Painfully went to and ex, ex, ex, ex's girlfriends birthday party tonight. Bla, bla, bla, drink, drink, drink and a good luck with all that. See a taxi with my name on it and hop in. Stinky half cast skinny guy in fucken shorts. Oh great. Told me his fucken life story like I gave a shit. Half way over the bridge I couldn't take it any more so bluntly told him to shut the fuck up. Get to my house and I hand him my visa but he doesn't take visa. I did ask him this before I hopped in and he said it's okay. I remind him of this but to no avail. He said he'd take me to a cashflow so off we go. I get the money and he's going on about girls malesting young guys like me? WTF. Okay, I gotta nutter here. Stop at a red light and he puts his fucken hand on my leg. No shit, game on. Elbow into half casts face, reach and grab the keys, walk home.

Cheap ride home but I'd rather pay without the confrontation.

Get a gun and shoot the fuck

[98tls]

Problem is most people don't want to work the night shifts (would you with drunks puking in your car?!) so your probably gonna be scraping the bottom of the barrel at that time of night.

Hey a jobs a job...............there towel heads what do they expect,start at the bottom like the rest of us eh.That or fuck off back to the land of obey or off with ya head.

[riffer]

Hmmm. This has turned out to be a rather timely discussion, if the article in today's Harold is to be believed:

Big haul of defective taxis alarms police

Almost one in 10 taxis stopped during a weekend drink-drive blitz in Auckland had to be taken off the road because of serious defects. Senior Sergeant Pete Kaveney said police applauded drinkers who did the right thing by getting a ride home in a taxi or with someone who was sober. But he said some taxi operators were showing a complete disregard for the safety of the people they were carrying.

About a third of 7729 vehicles stopped during the anti-drink-drive campaign targeting major roads into central Auckland were commercial vehicles. Of those, Land Transport New Zealand inspectors conducted minor visual examinations of 573 taxis. A total of 289, or roughly half, failed to comply with regulations because of minor defects. "But alarmingly, 52 were written off the road for serious safety defects," Mr Kaveney said.

Passengers were entitled to know they were travelling in a safe vehicle. "When you get into a taxi, you enter into a contract to get somewhere, and get somewhere safely."

Meanwhile, the cost of setting up a taxi company and driving a cab has leaped after Land Transport implemented new rules and fees yesterday. The agency's national manager (commercial road transport), John Doesburg, said the changes would allow for more effective monitoring of operators. "It will create a fairer system which benefits responsible operators."

The changes, announced in July, affect licence holders in the passenger service, goods service, vehicle recovery and rental vehicle industries. The application fee for a new transport service licence (TSL) rises from $30 to $440, while the application fee to gain status as a new approved taxi organisation increases from $30 to $3678. The annual licensing fee for each vehicle operated under a TSL increases from $24 to $55.

- NZPA

[Sanx]

Meanwhile, the cost of setting up a taxi company and driving a cab has leaped after Land Transport implemented new rules and fees yesterday. The agency's national manager (commercial road transport), John Doesburg, said the changes would allow for more effective monitoring of operators. "It will create a fairer system which benefits responsible operators."

The changes, announced in July, affect licence holders in the passenger service, goods service, vehicle recovery and rental vehicle industries. The application fee for a new transport service licence (TSL) rises from $30 to $440, while the application fee to gain status as a new approved taxi organisation increases from $30 to $3678. The annual licensing fee for each vehicle operated under a TSL increases from $24 to $55.

The government's answer to absolutely everything - increase the tax.