In message , at 11:19:49 on Wed, 14 Sep
2011, d remarked:
Cards arn't suitable for everything - can you
imagine if people boarding a bus all wanted to pay by card?

I usually pay by card when getting on the bus. But it's a local
smart-card (a bit like an Oyster). In theory buses could take "paywave"
credit cards just as easily, and I think TfL is going in that direction
too.
--
Roland Perry

In message
, at
04:11:34 on Wed, 14 Sep 2011, Neil Williams
remarked:

It's not practical to issue provincial drivers with
GSM-connected card terminals

Why not? Their takings may well be higher than a branch-line guard.

One is self employed, the other is an employee of an almost nationalised
industry which is determined to go through the motions however much it
costs.
--
Roland Perry

In message , Roland Perry
writes

I think part of the problem is that it's not an "industry" but an
amalgam of self-employed drivers working though a brand-name booking
agency. The individual drivers not having either the status nor
inclination to become credit card merchants in their own right.

They don't need to be. A lot of owner-drivers use TaxiPay, which is free
for the driver and needs only a mobile phone.

The downside is that there is a 6.5% surcharge, which generally gets
passed on to the passenger.
--
Paul Terry

On Sep 14, 1:19*pm, wrote:

I wouldn't call 30 quid a lot of cash TBH. Besides *, its probably less
hassle for the cabby to take cash (not to mention that he's more likely to
get a keep-the-change tip).

Last time I checked, businesses were supposed to do things convenient
for the customer.

Cards arn't suitable for everything - can you
imagine if people boarding a bus all wanted to pay by card?

With the new contactless cards taking a fraction of a second to
process, I rather hope they will. But a bus ticket is a much lower
value transaction.

Neil

On Sep 14, 1:19*pm, wrote:

I wouldn't call 30 quid a lot of cash TBH.

I would. I rarely carry more than £50 and often far less.

Neil

On Sep 14, 3:21*am, wrote:
On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:13:01 +0100

Roland Perry wrote:
of thing in mind. If Victoria and luggage implies Gatwick, for example,
you can usually construct much more manageable journeys via Thameslink.

The thameslink route goes right around the houses and in the few times I've
used it always seems to get stuck around london bridge. Its much slower than a
Southern service from victoria.

Often wondered why the original Thameslink route had to be Bedford to
Brighton. It has so many conflicting junctions and difficult paths.
I realise these are now being resolved and Thameslink is so much more.

But, would not a better start have been: Bedford, KX Thameslink,
Blackfriars, Herne Hill, and on to South Eastern destinations? I
guess Herne Hill would have become a real pinch point.

In message , at 12:38:21 on Wed, 14
Sep 2011, Paul Terry remarked:
I think part of the problem is that it's not an "industry" but an
amalgam of self-employed drivers working though a brand-name booking
agency. The individual drivers not having either the status nor
inclination to become credit card merchants in their own right.

They don't need to be. A lot of owner-drivers use TaxiPay, which is
free for the driver and needs only a mobile phone.

The downside is that there is a 6.5% surcharge, which generally gets
passed on to the passenger.

So that's the tip gone to the credit card company not the driver!

Strange how Taxipay say their service is "Free, easy to set up". 6.5%
doesn't sound very "free" to me. It also seems to circumvent the usual
C&P controls.

On the other hand they have a C&P terminal which they say comes with a
5% surcharge, while recommending drives to claim the surcharge is 10%.
It gets worse and worse!
--
Roland Perry

On Sep 14, 1:38*pm, Paul Terry wrote:

The downside is that there is a 6.5% surcharge, which generally gets
passed on to the passenger.

And I as a passenger have no issue with card surcharges so long as
they reflect the cost of processing to the driver, which if it's
simply passed on rather than marked up to some insane value a la
Ryanair is fine by me.

Neil

On Sep 14, 2:38*pm, Roland Perry wrote:

So that's the tip gone to the credit card company not the driver!

As noted, I see no reason for tipping a taxi driver any more than a
bus driver. The price should be fixed and realistic.

So, if fares are to be rounded up to the nearest £2, or whatever,
that's what the tariff should define.

Strange how Taxipay say their service is "Free, easy to set up". 6.5%
doesn't sound very "free" to me. It also seems to circumvent the usual
C&P controls.

Free, presumably, to set up rather than to use.

As for C&P controls, those are at the option of the retailer, not the
card company. The retailer is liable for fraud on the transaction if
they do not use C&P for it. Some other retailers still choose not to
use C&P - airport car parks and the M6 Toll are two examples of this,
where C&P is not used because throughput is more important than fraud
risk.

But given that it is possible to produce a card reader that can verify
a PIN and use the card's encryption so cheaply that the banks throw
them out like there's no tomorrow, and a good number of people these
days have smartphones (most of the minicab companies seem to use a
smartphone app for dispatch these days rather than a radio), it would
seem there is a gap in the market for someone to make an inexpensive
USB device for accepting Chip & PIN payments in connection with a
mobile app.

On the other hand they have a C&P terminal which they say comes with a
5% surcharge, while recommending drives to claim the surcharge is 10%.
It gets worse and worse!

Like Ryanair the taxi driver is at liberty to surcharge what he likes,
though I think a claim that he is charged that is immoral. To me,
actual cost plus usual overall profit margin %age is reasonable.

Neil

On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 04:57:15 -0700 (PDT)
Neil Williams wrote:
Last time I checked, businesses were supposed to do things convenient
for the customer.

This is taxi drivers we're talking about. The customer is merely a temporary
inconvenience between them and their money.

B2003