Is There A Bogus Taxi Driver In Town

L

lisseylee

Well-Known Forumite
a friend of mine had an extremely scary journey on Saturday night/ Sunday Morning. 22nd/23rd January 2012

She and a another female friend got in a taxi about 2am at the taxi rank by Casa, The driver had on a hat pulled down and a collar pulled up and would not talk to them at all. They were heading for Cannock and whilst the driver drove over the chase he kept slowing down and indicating to pull over and would not reply when they asked what he was doing.

The girls asked to see his ID, which he was going to go and get from the boot on the road in the middle of cannock chase, Naturally they declined, by this time one of the girls was screaming and crying and luckily for them a police car pulled in behind them at the little haywood turnoff on the lichfield road and followed them almost to Cannock. They eventually got dropped off, not at, but near one of their homes - The doors and windows had been locked by the driver for the entire journey and they could not get out of the car at any point, they were so scared they armed themselves with anything in their bags.

The driver didnt ask for payment but said 'must have been your lucky night' when they got out of the car.

The person this happened to is a level headed, business woman who is not prone to hysteria, she really did feel in danger and is sure things would have ended badly had the police car not appeared and followed them.

The driver did not seem to know the area well, had a standard white car, was at the Marshalled Taxi rank in town.

The incident has been reported to the police and they are reviewing CCTV, if you have any information please contact Stafford Police.

I SUGGEST THAT WE ALL ASK FOR ID FROM NOW ON!! VERY SCARY.
 
Alee

Alee

Well-Known Forumite
your friend was VERY lucky nothing happened to her. i think more awareness should be made about bogus taxi drivers or maybe the next girl might not be soo lucky. its terrible!
 
Bob

Bob

Well-Known Forumite
Did they get the number plate?

Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention, I'm not too comfortable in a taxi on my own, I always try and make sure I'm on the phone to someone on my way home, or at least pretend if its too far past my husband's bedtime ;)
 
wmrcomputers

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
I've always told my daughter if she needs a taxi late at night to book a private hire over the phone, then make sure the driver knows your name when he arrives as that will make certain he is a driver from that firm.
I know this kinda takes work off the hackney drivers at the ranks, but hey.... there's plenty of drunks to go around!

I feel bad for your friends, and although I mean no offence I think she was extremely stupid to get in a car if it had no obvious markings / meter / badged driver etc... no matter how drunk she was. It's common sense, especially if you are two females and are planning to head through the chase!

Put my points across about the advantage of using a private hire firm. Also, the journey is logged straight onto their books!
 
citricsquid

citricsquid

Well-Known Forumite
So, uh, this seems pretty serious is there a news article or something? If this is a real story it seems like something that would be reported
 
fatfrog

fatfrog

Well-Known Forumite
I wonder who employs the taxi marshal at the rank..should they not be checking that they are legitimate taxis before they usher people into them?
 
Thehooperman

Thehooperman

Well-Known Forumite
citricsquid said:
So, uh, this seems pretty serious is there a news article or something? If this is a real story it seems like something that would be reported
Click to expand...
Not everything has to be reported in the news to be true and most things that are reported in the news are misconstrued from the truth.

This is a series incident and it is good that we have a vehicle such as the forum to forewarn people rather than wait to read it in the papers.
 
Toble

Toble

Well-Known Forumite
fatfrog said:
I wonder who employs the taxi marshal at the rank..should they not be checking that they are legitimate taxis before they usher people into them?
Click to expand...
Employed by our beloved Borough Council. And indeed they should be checking.

Hackney Carriage (the white cars) and Private Hire (all the others) drivers by law must have their ID either strung around their neck or stuck to the outer layer of their clothing, and clearly visible at all times. They should look like this (but obviously with different wording and not the defacement to make fabricating dodgy copies difficult):

7l3p79c



Also, there should be displayed clearly inside the vehicle a plate showing the vehicle license number. There should be another one stuck to the back of the car.

To make sure they have a rough idea of the area, ask them if they know where an obscure road is such as, ooh Betty Hatch Lane. If they check a satnav, move on.

Remember, If the driver is being a dick, get his badge number or vehicle number and inform the council licensing department as soon as you can. I'll put the phone number here as soon as I can find it.

A last note... Camera phones are your friend.


Tony.
Very occasional PH driver, and far too often base operator at Westside*. 225588, by the way.



*and in NO WAY an official spokesperson.
 
Toble

Toble

Well-Known Forumite
tek-monkey said:
Or a radio?
Click to expand...
Not all have radios. Only the ones who work for the likes of Westside, AJs, Kaminski and K-Cabs. The rest are all privateers and not company controlled. (Yes i missed Aerobrights off that list. I don't believe they have an Hackneys)

As I probably know more about taxis than anyone else on here, i'll let you email/PM me with any questions.

Tony.
 
wmrcomputers

wmrcomputers

Stafford PC & laptop repair specialist
Used to drive for westside several years ago myself, as a private hire driver.
Now I know who the "Toble" is ;) - and can't believe you're STILL there on the base!!
 
Glam

Glam

Mad Cat Woman
wmrcomputers said:
Used to drive for westside several years ago myself, as a private hire driver.
Now I know who the "Toble" is ;) - and can't believe you're STILL there on the base!!
Click to expand...
AND i reckon he's the one who refuses to answer the phone Westlife!
 
citricsquid

citricsquid

Well-Known Forumite
Thehooperman said:
citricsquid said:
So, uh, this seems pretty serious is there a news article or something? If this is a real story it seems like something that would be reported
Click to expand...
Not everything has to be reported in the news to be true and most things that are reported in the news are misconstrued from the truth.

This is a series incident and it is good that we have a vehicle such as the forum to forewarn people rather than wait to read it in the papers.
Click to expand...
Anyone is free to post on this forum, if this were to be reported by a newspaper of website they would mention sources and have confirmation. A story like this is one that would be good news to report (as is clear from this thread people are interested).

Without a third party source how can this be verified, if this really happened you'd expect a police report to exist and some sort of investigation to happen, both of which a newspaper or website could rely on as evidence to report.
 
Lucy

Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
It's a bit of a strange thing to lie about isn't it? Having spent some time in Lissey's company I certainly don't believe she'd stretch the truth on such a matter, it's not exactly trivial.
 
L

lisseylee

Well-Known Forumite
Bob said:
Did they get the number plate?

Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention, I'm not too comfortable in a taxi on my own, I always try and make sure I'm on the phone to someone on my way home, or at least pretend if its too far past my husband's bedtime ;)
Click to expand...
yes and it has been reported to the police who are investigating - its very very scary
 
L

lisseylee

Well-Known Forumite
wmrcomputers said:
I've always told my daughter if she needs a taxi late at night to book a private hire over the phone, then make sure the driver knows your name when he arrives as that will make certain he is a driver from that firm.
I know this kinda takes work off the hackney drivers at the ranks, but hey.... there's plenty of drunks to go around!

I feel bad for your friends, and although I mean no offence I think she was extremely stupid to get in a car if it had no obvious markings / meter / badged driver etc... no matter how drunk she was. It's common sense, especially if you are two females and are planning to head through the chase!

Put my points across about the advantage of using a private hire firm. Also, the journey is logged straight onto their books!
Click to expand...
the taxi was taken from the marshalled rank in town, its monitored by staff on busy nights, I have tried to book a taxi on a weekend and am generally told to go to the rank and wait with everyone else - one of the reasons I avoid town at the weekends.
 
L

lisseylee

Well-Known Forumite
citricsquid said:
So, uh, this seems pretty serious is there a news article or something? If this is a real story it seems like something that would be reported
Click to expand...
WHAT DO YOU MEAN "IF THIS IS A REAL STORY" IT ONLY HAPPENED ON SATURDAY AND IS BEING INVESTIGATED BY THE POLICE, NOT EVERYTHING GETS IN THE LOCAL PAPER!! I EXPECT A WARNING WILL BE PRINTED IF AND WHEN THE POLICE SEE FIT TO INFORM THE PRESS!!
 
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