"Adrian" wrote in message
. 1.4...
Mike Hughes ) gurgled happily, sounding much
like they were saying :


If you really want to get ripped off then try taking one of the
'minicabs' from the West End and then compare that with the price for
the same journey in a licensed taxi. If it's not double then you will
be lucky.

********. Big fat round hairy ********. Sometimes they take the ****, but
most of the time they're a LOT cheaper than a black cab. If you can find a
black cab.


IAWTW.

Private hire companies between Central London - e.g. West End, Victoria,
Kings X etc. - and where I live in SW London are in the £22-28 price range.

The only times I've made the same sort of journey in a Black Cab (which is
when I've been reimbursed for my expenses, natch) it's been £50 or more.


As an aside I was in a garage in Bayswater Road on Sunday night when a
minicab asked me where the Ritz Hotel.

Bloody hell, a talking car!


Take the point, but if you're going anywhere near Tooting or Mitcham, the
black cab drivers need to have the directions spelled out to them just as
much as minicabs.

BTN

"Sir Benjamin Nunn" typed


IAWTW.

Private hire companies between Central London - e.g. West End, Victoria,
Kings X etc. - and where I live in SW London are in the £22-28 price range.

The only times I've made the same sort of journey in a Black Cab (which is
when I've been reimbursed for my expenses, natch) it's been £50 or more.

Really! When I bought this bulky desktop computer from Evesham Computers
(NW1/W1) 2 years ago, I took a black cab with it and my companion for
£25.


I bought a chair from IKEA 4 miles away at the roughly same time. IKEA's
taxi service quoted £25 to take us home. A minicab from the nearby Tesco
was £8.

I was well impressed by both the black cab from Central London and the
local minicab. IKEA scored nul points!

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

Adrian wrote to uk.transport.london on Wed, 2 Mar 2005:

Mike Hughes ) gurgled happily, sounding much
like they were saying :


If you really want to get ripped off then try taking one of the
'minicabs' from the West End and then compare that with the price for
the same journey in a licensed taxi. If it's not double then you will
be lucky.

********. Big fat round hairy ********. Sometimes they take the ****, but
most of the time they're a LOT cheaper than a black cab. If you can find a
black cab.

I've never actually found that to be the case. But, to be fair, while
there *are* the most appalling cowboys around, there are also some good
people. But at least with black cabs you know where to report the
ghastly ones.

As an aside I was in a garage in Bayswater Road on Sunday night when a
minicab asked me where the Ritz Hotel.

Bloody hell, a talking car!

Oh, there are a fair few of them around....
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 20 February 2005

In article ,
(Mike Hughes) wrote:

But can you be *sure* that the driver is licensed, insured and that
the vehicle has been tested to a high standard?

Given that all Minicabs in London must be licensed, tested and drivers
screened, yes.

If you really want to get ripped off then try taking one of the
'minicabs' from the West End and then compare that with the price for
the same journey in a licensed taxi.

If you use a reputable company with licensed cars and drivers, it should
be comparable to your Black Cab charges.

It's a pity that Black Cabs are as likely to screw you over - like the
one that took me from Kings Cross to Waterloo by way of London Bridge -
to avoid the shoppers in Kingsway... at 11.30 on a Sunday Night!

He wanted nearly £16 - He got £9.50, the same thing it cost to go the
opposite way 6 days before.

I don;t use Black Cabs if I can possibly avoid it.

--
Paul Cummins - Always a NetHead
Wasting Bandwidth since 1981

"Paul Cummins" wrote in message
.. .

It's a pity that Black Cabs are as likely to screw
you over - like the one that took me from Kings Cross
to Waterloo by way of London Bridge - to avoid the
shoppers in Kingsway... at 11.30 on a Sunday Night!

He wanted nearly £16 - He got £9.50, the same
thing it cost to go the opposite way 6 days before.

You have a duty to report him to the Public Carriage Office.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

In article ,
(John Rowland) wrote:

He wanted nearly £16 - He got £9.50, the same
thing it cost to go the opposite way 6 days before.

You have a duty to report him to the Public Carriage Office.

I did. They were almost as interested as the tramp, sleeping on the
platform.

--
Paul Cummins - Always a NetHead
Wasting Bandwidth since 1981

In message , Paul Cummins
writes
In article ,
(Mike Hughes) wrote:

But can you be *sure* that the driver is licensed, insured and that
the vehicle has been tested to a high standard?

Given that all Minicabs in London must be licensed, tested and drivers
screened, yes.

Not quite, yet. Although all vehicles and drivers *should* be licensed
this process is still on going. Theoretically all operators and drivers
should be licensed while vehicles should all be license by June 2005
If you really want to get ripped off then try taking one of the
'minicabs' from the West End and then compare that with the price for
the same journey in a licensed taxi.

If you use a reputable company with licensed cars and drivers, it should
be comparable to your Black Cab charges.

It's a pity that Black Cabs are as likely to screw you over - like the
one that took me from Kings Cross to Waterloo by way of London Bridge -
to avoid the shoppers in Kingsway... at 11.30 on a Sunday Night!

While London Bridge is probably not a valid route, going via Blackfriars
could well be for a number of reasons. There could well be a difference
in the fare for a number of reasons - leaving Kings X requires that you
first go up York Way then back down Caledonian Road to get back almost
to your start point. Also fares are higher after 10 p.m. than before
that time. Given these factors it could well be that the return journey
is about 50% more making a figure of £14-15 quite possible, especially
if you get stuck in any traffic (and yes it does happen on a Sunday
night)

Can we have more details of your outward journey? Was it in the day time
or at night? Was it any special time of the year (Xmas, New Year, etc)

What time of t he year was this? Was there any road works? Let's have
*all* the facts please - then we can join in your condemnation if it is
rightly deserved.

He wanted nearly £16 - He got £9.50, the same thing it cost to go the
opposite way 6 days before.

I don;t use Black Cabs if I can possibly avoid it.

So you'll get in a minicab off the street? This immediately invalidates
any insurance they may have - just pray that you don't have an accident.
I've picked up several customers who have suffered at the hands of
'minicabs' only to find that they have no means of compensation. It's
your life, so make the choice.

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England

On Fri, 4 Mar 2005 02:14:02 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:

"Paul Cummins" wrote in message
. ..

It's a pity that Black Cabs are as likely to screw
you over - like the one that took me from Kings Cross
to Waterloo by way of London Bridge - to avoid the
shoppers in Kingsway... at 11.30 on a Sunday Night!

He wanted nearly £16 - He got £9.50, the same
thing it cost to go the opposite way 6 days before.

You have a duty to report him to the Public Carriage Office.

Mass cynicism rears its ugly head. A lot (definitely not all but a
lot) drive so badly ignoring pedestrian crossing and red lights that
Joe Public treats cowboys as the norm - which it shouldn't be for what
are amongst the most regular users of the road.


--
New anti-spam address cmylod at despammed dot com

In article ,
(Mike Hughes) wrote:

So you'll get in a minicab off the street? This immediately
invalidates any insurance they may have - just pray that you don't
have an accident.

No, I'll call London Executive, or London Cars, or Swift or similar from
my mobile and book a car.

Often they turn up faster than Black Cabs anyway.

--
Paul Cummins - Always a NetHead
Wasting Bandwidth since 1981

This is just to give a big

THUMBS-UP

to

MIKE HODGES

of

these newsgroups.

The man is a gentleman. :-) And no he hasn't asked me to say anything
about this.....

He had a problem with his alternator. But rather than risk turning up
late at the airport, he called a fellow cabbie, who not only went to
pick up my friends, BUT who had two child seats. How's that for
service.

So accept this newsgroup post as feedback as to the man's integrity
and reliability :-)


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