Christmas party taxi rip-off: Passenger warns others of huge fares, unscrupulous behaviour

An Auckland woman was charged almost $200 for a taxi ride home from Christmas party drinks for a trip that normally costs $50 in an Uber or $60-$80 in a normal cab.

Stephanie Kendall has
a timely warning for Christmas work party and summer season revellers to avoid being stung by individual taxi operators hovering at cab ranks near popular bars and restaurants.

After the Herald’s inquiries into the incident, and we spoke to the driver, he defended the charges but said he would offer a partial refund of $80.

The Herald has also received numerous emails this morning from other passengers subjected to exorbitant fares and bad behaviour including a woman who says she was locked in her cab by the driver.

The driver had not turned on the meter and was trying to charge $80 for a ride from the Viaduct to St Heliers in Auckland – a typical taxi or Uber ride for that trip would be half that price. The woman refused, and the driver locked her in the cab – she said she eventually agreed to pay $70 after threatening to call her husband.

Meanwhile, Stephanie Kendall said she was returning home to Bucklands Beach after her work Christmas party in the city two weeks ago, having finished the evening about 9.15pm following after-party drinks at a Viaduct bar.

The driver seemed trustworthy and polite but she was shocked when she and her husband Bruce checked their bank account the next morning.

“I have been emailing numerous organisations after being ripped off – he took my Visa and paywaved it for just under the limit [before a PIN is needed] of $200.

“He charged $197.56 [for a trip from the] Viaduct to Bucklands Beach – a $50 Uber trip or $60-$80 in a normal to corporate cab. No receipt, no mention of price, and he completely took advantage of my state to take money off me.”

The case is among many reported to authorities this year – in October, the Herald revealed a swag of complaints but very little action from agencies. Tellingly, some of the examples of exorbitant fares – from the likes of the city to the airport – were also for $196 or $197.

Kendall has suggested banks need to lower the PIN-free paywave limit to $80.

NZ Transport Agency figures show it receives about 25 complaints a year about poor service or overcharging.

The number of cases is likely to be far higher, partly because consumers don’t take their concerns any further and partly because of a lack of identification of a driver/company to proceed with a complaint.

“They’re just untraceable,” Warren Quirke, executive director of the Small Passenger Service Association (formerly the Taxi Federation), told the Herald in October. “You just cannot find these operators.”

The association, which represents reputable firms, says it receives five or six complaints about small independent operators each week.

Stephanie Kendall’s case is a rare exception, in that the driver was identified.

A colleague who helped Kendall to the rank to find a cab asked the driver for his business card before her journey home. On the following Monday, the colleague gave her the business card.

She and her husband have subsequently been in touch with the driver, and numerous agencies, to raise their concerns and to fight for a partial refund.

They have spoken to the driver on the phone and communicated via text.

In a text message, he justified the original charge – breaking it down to a travelling distace of 25.5 kilometres at $6.80 per kilometre; a waiting time of nine minutes at $1.20 per minute, an eftpos fee of $4; and a credit card surcharge of 3.5 per cent.

The Herald also spoke to the driver on Monday and Tuesday.

He said he was properly licensed by NZTA and said he had been driving cabs for six years – this was, he said, the first complaint he had received.

Since deregulation in 2017, he said there was no longer a ceiling on prices.

He said fuel, car maintenance, GST and other taxes all contributed to his pricing and the need to make a living. That night, he said, he had been waiting four hours for a ride.

The driver claimed he had spoken to Kendall’s colleague about the price, and that the fares were signposted in his car.

However, as we reported in October, passengers are often already in a cab and halfway through a trip when they notice a soaring meter.

The driver likened deregulation to consumer choice in the retail sector. An egg might cost $1.50 at a supermarket and $5 at a convenience store. “They have their own prices; I have my own price.”

He claimed some drivers charged far higher than him, and suggested an Uber trip for the same distance for 35 minutes might cost as much as $210.

However, the Herald called up the Uber app as we spoke to the driver on Tuesday morning, and a CBD-Bucklands Beach trip was $43.41 – at an estimated time of 36 minutes.

Uber does have surge pricing for major events and peak periods, but this is normally up to triple a normal fare and nowhere near $197 for the same trip.

The driver said the fact he had a business card and was willing to speak was a testament to his integrity.

He said he would speak to his boss and offer a partial refund of $80 given the couple’s concerns.

Asked who his boss was – so that the Herald could also speak to them – he said it was his wife.

“I want to refund them because they think it’s too expensive… but there are price differences. There is no fixed price.”

As the the Herald reported in October, since the loosening of rules covering taxis in 2017, some parts of the industry have been more akin to the Wild West.

Where once a driver was obliged to take a passenger, no matter the length of the journey, now some small, independent cabbies are price-gouging and refusing to take passengers if they don’t agree to the fare.

Under the law, all taxi drivers must have an ID card and a camera – although the ID card is often hidden or missing and the camera non-existent. Since 2017, drivers don’t need to display any company signage, apart from a generic rooftop light.

Waka Kotahi (the NZ Transport Agency) told the Herald in October it was “aware that some independent taxi operators are refusing short fares or charging potentially excessive fares for rides – in particular these operators target major events where demand will be higher, and supply of transport options may be at a premium”.

It says it will act “when evidence of non-compliance is available, and our regulatory staff can also attend events to monitor operators and discourage non-compliance”.

Kendall raised her case with the NZTA.

A complaints adviser said he was sorry to hear of her experience but that she needed to complain directly to the firm “and give them a chance to remedy the situation”.

“If you’re not satisfied with the results of any internal investigation conducted by the company, you can make a claim to the Disputes Tribunal. Visit the Consumer Protection website for more information on the claims process and your options for settling financial disputes.

“NZ Police will investigate and if they find the driver is of concern they will notify us.”

But as Kendall says, most people would not know who the driver was in the first instance, thereby preventing a complaint.

“If we had not got that card I had really no way to complain. No one knew what company it was and it has no website or listing, no Google search and taxi companies searched their records and it did not bring up his details or the company.”

Kendall hopes that by sharing her story, it will help others avoid being taken advantage of, “especially with the incoming Christmas party season – it’s going to get worse”.

TIP SHEET: CONSUMERS’ RIGHTS WITH TAXIS

Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor.