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Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.

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Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.

#31

Post by gyardley »

jim_h wrote: post #29
sebg wrote: post #7

Just because there are rules saying that something should happen, does not mean in reality that the thing will happen. Reasons why cab drivers could not pick you up: 1.) shift change in 15 minutes. So they can take you 15 minutes away but they can't drive an hour into Brooklyn and miss their shift change. 2.) Car maintenance, refueling. If the car is running low on fuel they can pick people up on short drives towards…

I believe the law is also to prevent discrimination. How does one know the true reason a cab might refuse to take you? Sex? Race? Age? What if a cab took a white guy (non-threatening looking) to a location, but refused to take a black guy (also non-threatening looking) to the same location? Yes, there are valid reasons like shift ending, etc, but perhaps they could have signs stating their hours.

It's almost always between 4:00 and 5:00 in the afternoon. If you need to catch a cab at that time in Midtown, it's time to find a hotel queue.

Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.

#32

Post by kgermino »

bdittmer wrote: post #11

SF has similar laws. The one I see cab drivers break most often is refusing to accept payment via credit card. If you ever get in a cab in San Francisco and they tell you they don't take credit cards they're either lying or shouldn't be driving the cab in the first place.

Chicago had a similar problem when they started requiring that taxi's accept credit cards at no extra charge. When someone tried to pay their fare with a credit card a cab driver who didn't want to pay the service fee would either say that the machine was broken or "accidentally" overcharge riders. They are moving towards screens in the back seat now though.

Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.

#33

Post by Apreche »

Timothee wrote: post #22
Apreche wrote: post #5

I am fully aware of this rule, and I have a strategy to deal with it. The last time I had trouble I was trying to get a ride from the Javits to Queens. Having a friend helped. First we would take a picture of the cab as it approached, getting the number on the roof and proof that he was on duty. What guys will do who refuse you, but know they aren't allowed to, is switch their on/off duty light. If you tell them you…

On your second point, I'd like to ask if that applies to gas stations as well. Because many of them display in big numbers a price that is reserved for cash, while a higher one (~10-15c more a gallon) for credit. Is it illegal? On a related note, I also believe (no link or citation sorry) that there can't be a maximum on the amount you want to pay with credit. For example, car dealerships tend to say they can only ac…

None of it is illegal. It's just a violation of the merchant account agreement. The worst that can happen if you complain is that they will lose the ability to accept credit cards at all.

Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.

#34

Post by SHOwnsYou »

mikerhoads wrote: post #10

God forbid a service provider be able to decide for themselves what services they actually want to sell.

This is absolutely ridiculous.

Cab drivers are free to pursue any other career path if they so choose and are made aware of the rules before they get behind the wheel.

They are implicitly agreeing to the laws governing Yellow Cabs by driving one.

What you're suggesting would be like if I told my boss I wasn't programming today and if he wanted any work out of me that he better come up with something else.

Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.

#35

Post by mynameishere »

SHOwnsYou wrote: post #34
mikerhoads wrote: post #10

God forbid a service provider be able to decide for themselves what services they actually want to sell.

This is absolutely ridiculous. Cab drivers are free to pursue any other career path if they so choose and are made aware of the rules before they get behind the wheel. They are implicitly agreeing to the laws governing Yellow Cabs by driving one. What you're suggesting would be like if I told my boss I wasn't programming today and if he wanted any work out of me that he better come up with something else.

Err, no. It would be like XYZ random client coming to your boss and saying, "I want a website that does FOO. I'm paying your standard fee, and if you don't build it, I'm filing a complaint with the government."

Also, FOO might just be something that statistically increases the chance of your boss getting robbed/murdered.

Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.

#36

Post by mikerhoads »

SHOwnsYou wrote: post #34
mikerhoads wrote: post #10

God forbid a service provider be able to decide for themselves what services they actually want to sell.

This is absolutely ridiculous. Cab drivers are free to pursue any other career path if they so choose and are made aware of the rules before they get behind the wheel. They are implicitly agreeing to the laws governing Yellow Cabs by driving one. What you're suggesting would be like if I told my boss I wasn't programming today and if he wanted any work out of me that he better come up with something else.

That is not an equal comparison. Your boss either owns the company you work for or was hired by the person/group that owns the company to tell you what to do. New York City does not own the taxi cab/service.

A better example would be your local government creating a system that requires you to pay $100,000+ for a medallion just for the right to create code in your city and then forcing you to accommodate any potential client's request for software.

Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.

#37

Post by detst »

Apreche wrote: post #5

I am fully aware of this rule, and I have a strategy to deal with it. The last time I had trouble I was trying to get a ride from the Javits to Queens. Having a friend helped. First we would take a picture of the cab as it approached, getting the number on the roof and proof that he was on duty. What guys will do who refuse you, but know they aren't allowed to, is switch their on/off duty light. If you tell them you…

It's my understanding that it's not a violation to charge different prices for cash/credit. It's a violation to have a standard price and have a surcharge for credit.

So they can have separate "cash" and "credit" prices but they can't have a single price and say "5c more for credit". The obvious reason being that the credit card companies want their piece of the pie but it also protects consumers from hidden signs. I know of one station that has a single price with a "5c more for credit sign" that isn't illuminated and can't be seen at night without looking closely.

Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.

#38

Post by imajes »

endtime wrote: post #16
Apreche wrote: post #5

I am fully aware of this rule, and I have a strategy to deal with it. The last time I had trouble I was trying to get a ride from the Javits to Queens. Having a friend helped. First we would take a picture of the cab as it approached, getting the number on the roof and proof that he was on duty. What guys will do who refuse you, but know they aren't allowed to, is switch their on/off duty light. If you tell them you…

Is that just in NY? Tons of NJ gas stations charge less for cash than for credit/debit.

it's a tax thing. Cash income doesn't go reported, and they offer to 'save you the tax'.

no fees, no tax, under-the-table income. Happens in a surprisingly large number of establishments.

Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.

#39

Post by locopati »

ary wrote: post #25

So I'll ask the obvious question as a person who has visited, but never lived in, NYC. Why is this a problem? I've never had a problem getting a cab to take me where I want to go in the cities I've lived in nor the ones I've visited. The only downside I can see is if you're requesting somewhere that's remote and that would be difficult for the cab to find another fare on the return trip. NYC does not strike me as a p…

The common case is being in Manhattan and needing to get to Queens or Brooklyn or far far uptown. The solution that's worked for me is to get in the cab first and then give your destination. Asking the driver through the open window if they'll take you to X is usually going to get you nowhere in that case.

Re: Did you know: In NYC, yellow cabs are required to take you anywhere in NYC.

#40

Post by jonknee »

Timothee wrote: post #22
Apreche wrote: post #5

I am fully aware of this rule, and I have a strategy to deal with it. The last time I had trouble I was trying to get a ride from the Javits to Queens. Having a friend helped. First we would take a picture of the cab as it approached, getting the number on the roof and proof that he was on duty. What guys will do who refuse you, but know they aren't allowed to, is switch their on/off duty light. If you tell them you…

On your second point, I'd like to ask if that applies to gas stations as well. Because many of them display in big numbers a price that is reserved for cash, while a higher one (~10-15c more a gallon) for credit. Is it illegal? On a related note, I also believe (no link or citation sorry) that there can't be a maximum on the amount you want to pay with credit. For example, car dealerships tend to say they can only ac…

It's only against the rules to not accept credit cards or charge more for them (like a fee on top of your total if you pay with one). You can discount for cash, which is what you've seen gas stations do. The bar with a $20 minimum is against the rules and I have reported them in the past, along with refusing to pay.

These rules were implemented to re-enforce the "everywhere you want to be" mantra. It would get really confusing if every merchant had different rules. The net positive of taking plastic typically outweighs the negative of low dollar transactions, so retailers go with it. Losing the ability to take Visa is a huge knock on a business, so they tend to follow these rules.

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