CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR
It’s unfortunate that whilst cars evolve and get better (my first taxi did not even have rear passenger seat-belts) and go a long way to making driving for a living a bit easier - such as my lovely heated driver seat - the same cannot be said for the customers. And in fact some customers, as we know, seem to have escaped evolution and have remained as apes - sorry to all those actual apes that may be reading this.
Now, we all know that not every customer is a pain in the back side and the majority are very nice human beings. But, it only takes one customer who has either had a bad day, had an argument with their partner, thinks you are ‘going around the houses’, drunk, or out of their head on some substance to ruin your whole day.
I mention this because we often get comments on the local Whatsapp trade group here about the primitive behaviour of some customer who drivers have experi- enced. Having said that, I will say that I have learnt over the years to pacify some of these primates which I suppose comes with experience so I don’t have many of these incidents myself. That and having cut my hours down and with not working weekends anymore does of course help.
Mind you there is nothing quite as satisfying as opening the passenger door and tenderly grabbing the customer by the collar and ever so gently removing them from the cab and placing them on the pavement and leaving them there in a cloud of diesel smoke. The latter part can’t be done now with the tight emissions.
I have to point out that I have not done that for many years now, and certainly not since we have had council controlled CCTV.
Of course no one at work in their place of work should tolerate aggression from any customer. If you go into your local hospital you normally see a notice stating ‘Zero Tolerance.’ The same of course should apply everywhere from the small corner shop to the large supermarkets and so on.
I wouldn’t expect every cab to have the same type of sign but the next best thing to have is a ‘Cab Charter’ endorsed by the local licensing authority which is, as the late great Ernie Wise would say: “Wot I wrote” three years ago for our trade here, which sets out not only what is expected from the customer, but also what is expected from the driver. This is what is on the Brighton & Hove Council website under Taxi Licensing:
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CUSTOMER AND DRIVER CHARTER
Both the customer and driver are expected to be treated with dignity and respect at all times and not to engage in any discriminatory behaviour and to comply with the law. Unsafe or inappropriate behaviour by the passenger/ customer or the taxi driver is unacceptable. This conduct may put either of you at risk and could offend, harm or result in the matter being reported to the police or other actions being taken.
BRIGHTON & HOVE TAXICAB CHARTER FOR CUSTOMERS AND DRIVERS
The following is a non exhaustive charter showing guidelines detailing what a fare paying passenger (customer) should expect when travelling in a Brighton & Hove hackney carriage or private hire vehicle and also what a driver can expect from a customer travelling in the vehicle.
Shared responsibility:
Both the customer and driver are expected to be treated with dignity and respect at all times and not to engage in any discriminatory behavior and to comply with the law. Unsafe or inappropriate behaviour by the passenger/ customer or the taxi driver is unacceptable. This conduct may put either of you at risk and could offend, harm or result in the matter being reported to the police or other actions being taken.
The customer should expect the driver: • To be clean and presentable. • To present the vehicle in a clean and roadworthy state. • To wear the council provided driver licence badge. • To have good knowledge of the city.
• To take the most economical, practical route unless oth- erwise directed to the driver at the start of the journey.
• To charge no more than the fare shown on the meter, or the fare agreed before your journey commences and provide a receipt upon request. (See Fares*)
• When requested, give all reasonable assistance in help- ing in and out of the vehicle, and with loading and unloading luggage.
• To convey reasonable luggage
• To be aware of disabilities and special needs and offer assistance when sought.
FEBRUARY 2022
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