What's the book corporate America doesn't want you to read? Find out now -- or you could get scammed.

New York City taxi driver swipes passenger’s iPod — and gets away with it

January 16, 2009

Lynne Lenhart’s daughter had her $140 iPod taken from her on a recent visit to New York. The thief was a taxi driver who remains at large, with the apparent blessing of the government and the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission.

This sad — and apparently unsolvable — case raises some important questions about the use of credit cards. I’ll get to those in a moment. But first, let me hand the mic over to Lenhart.

My 20 year-old-daughter recently visited New York City by herself, and had a bad taxi experience that I am still furious about.

After the driver took her to JFK airport to catch her flight home, she tried to pay using her credit card. She had been using her credit card to pay for all her taxi cab rides.

This time the card was not approved. She knew that she had enough money on the card to pay for the ride, so she called up the bank to find out what was wrong. They agreed that she had enough to pay for it but the driver’s machine used for the credit cards was not working. All the numbers were not going over either due to an equipment malfunction or a bad signal near the airport.

The driver got mad and called the Port Authority. When they got involved, they told her that if she couldn’t pay, then they would have to “book” her.

She was humiliated and scared that she was going to be arrested. They told her that she would have to give him something and she was forced to give the driver her $140 iPod to pay for a $50 cab ride. It feels, to me, like she was the victim of a shakedown. She got the taxi driver’s number.

I have shared this experience with friends and family and they are all disgusted and not planning on vacationing in New York any time soon. Is there anyone that I can contact about this situation or is this the way things are done in New York?

I recommended that Lenhart write a brief, polite letter to the Port Authority and the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, requesting the return of her daughter’s iPod. Here’s what happened:

I heard from the Port Authority by phone and e-mail. They apologized and asked for more information. I sent them what my daughter remembered. Since my daughter did not get the names of the officers, they are unable to pursue it further and consider the case closed.

I heard from the Taxi Commission. They brought the driver in to interview and after discussing the case with the driver and their legal department, it was decided that I would have to deal with the driver on my own. They said that since he was forced to accept the iPod as payment, by the Port Authority, they were under no obligation to force him to return it. They gave me his phone number. However, after repeated attempts, I have been unable to contact him.

I called the Taxi Commission a few days ago, to see if they could help me and have received no response. Then I contacted the Port Authority and found out what they had decided. All they could do was give me the name of the taxi cab company.

Is Lenhart out of options? I think small claims court might be her daughter’s next stop, although it might not be worth the effort.

The bigger question here is: What happens when a travel company can’t accept your credit card because of equipment problems? The cab driver in Lenhart’s case should have been able to accept an imprint and a signature. Confiscating her iPod was unnecessary.

The taxi driver should free the iPod and accept her $50 as soon as possible.

Update (Jan. 21, 2009): The NY Post has published a story about this incident.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

Tagged as: , , ,

154 comments

← Older Comments
Newer Comments →
  • Jennifer

    George, enough with the name calling. Calling someone a moron does nothing to help your case. Calling someone a thief is worse. You’re a cab driver. That’s what you do and apparently you would support anything a cab driver does–even when it’s wrong and against the law. You’re in Chicago, maybe you know the regulations there, you don’t know the regs in New York or Arizona. So stop acting like you do. It’s been pointed out numerous times here (when you clear away the BS) that the cab driver didn’t follow the regs if the story is as presented.

    You should want to make sure that dishonest cab drivers receive appropriate punishment because one bad apple spoils the bunch. Cab drivers aren’t much loved anywhere. Cases like this don’t help.

    In fact, not just George, but all the name calling should stop. People calling the woman a liar, thief, god knows what and you don’t even know her? I don’t know what she said is true but I don’t call anyone a liar unless I can prove it. God bless anonymity on the Internets.

  • Pingback: » NYC Cabbie Demands iPod as Payment, Remains at Large [The City] CMG Digital Group

  • http://softkillerz.com Erik

    The Credit card company lied to your daughter about the machine not working. As for your daughter not carrying cash is a very stupid idea. I’ve always had credit card problems when on vacation expect it. As for payment sorry but what is the cabbie to do? Take a $50 dollar hit which is unjustified on his part? And Gas loss and time? He provided a service then you pay him. As for the port Authority what do you want them to do? They came when a customer wasn’t paying their fair. So blaming them for doing their doing their job is pointless and unfair to them. Did she even try to bargain about getting her ipod back in the future? Did she get the rep from the bank his name?
    The bank just likes to pass the blame. Credit card machines work even better at the airport this coming from experience..

  • Pingback: Un taxista pide el ipod de un cliente como pago del servicio | TortugaNinja.com - PHP, blogging, internet y mas

  • Joe Farrell

    Carver – admission to the federal bar is not merely writing a check . . . certainly not the courts of appeal . . .

    As for the arguments you raise – they are excellent legal arguments and likely correct – that is why most cops will tell you to ‘tell it to the judge’ You can generally be arrested for a crime in such circumstances and you can raise your defenses later. A cop needs only to have reasonable inference that you have failed to ensure you have the ability to pay and thats all THEY need to arrest you. How many times are people arrested during public protests and in situations like this to avoid conflict. Released OR or with a minor bail. they then get no prosecution because the resources are not there – but that does not mean they still cannot be arrested.

    Bob – so the credit card system is ‘supposed’ to work – and if it does not – now the cabbies need to be prescient as well? They need to be able to predict when its gonna break down? Or where there is no signal? Can they also predict the lottery and the next election? What happens when you are in a restaurant and YOUR CC does not work – do you expect a free meal?

    I completely understand that they WANT to be paid in cash; I WANT to drive a 911 or a Ferrari. The fact remains that often it does not happen.

  • Carver

    @Joe

    I was very curious about the 2nd Circuit requirements. They are a little anachronistic in that they still require a sponsor, something we on the left coast got rid of in the early 90′s. But besides that, it’s basically, fill out a form, swear an oath, attach a Certificate of Good Standing and write a check. I remember getting sworn into a federal appellate court 2 weeks after becoming an attorney.

    But back on point, if New York cops would arrest someone on those facts, that reflects a certain mentality that is unfortunate. Here on the left coast I guess we’re a little different. The rule is really simple, if it’s a civil matter,the cops just make sure that there isn’t a breach of the peace. They would have asked the cabby, did the girl try to run, did she present a credit card in her name, besides the payment not going through, did she do anything to manifest an intent not to ultimately pay. There is a zero percent chance of an arrest. Its the same with not paying at a restaurant because your card was declined. You cannot be forced to wash dishes nor detained by the restaurant owner as long as you give him identifying information.

    The case I did in Michigan was a gas and dash. Similar facts. This gas station advertised that it allowed patrons to pay with a check (go figure) but didn’t mention that the customer had to be on the pre-approved list. They woudn’t accept his check, he had no cash, so he left the check on the counter and just left. He was arrested for gas and dash. The police never forwarded charges to the DA because he tried to pay. The officer told me that he wouldn’t have even been arrested had h not left the scene.

  • Carver

    @George

    Its a shame that you have chosen to debase this spiritted discussion with childish rantings and ad hominem attacks.

  • Bela Fleck

    College students are notorious for not traveling with enough money. It’s not surprising that she didn’t have any cash with which to pay the cab fare. And George, when I’m in your city next month, you’d better not stop for me, because like it or not, I’m paying with my credit card.

  • http://www.twc.ca Stephen Pickford

    Cab drivers in every city in the world run scams, have inoperable equipment because they don’t keep it maintained, etc. The only reason there is more of that going on in New York as compared to Rushville,IN is because NYC is bigger.

    What is the biggest concern in this story is the lack of sensitivity exhibited by the Port Authority personnel…to call these louts “law enforcement” though is denigrating the integrity and reputations of REAL policemen and women who put their lives on the line every day to serve and protect. These are basically glorified security guards who couldn’t get into the REAL police, and use the basis of a uniform to strut around in an arrogant and intimidating pose. We had this type in Montreal patrol our subway and buses until too many complaints came in, the force was disbanded, and the job was given to TRAINED officers, not rent-a-cops in a uniform store rental and a Cracker Jack badge.

  • Joe Farrell

    Mr. Pcikford – I suggest that you not ever have need of a police officer in NYC while on public transit, in airport, dock or subway station. More PATH police died on Sept 11 than NYC cops. Your statement show an utter lack of knowledge of how police are hired in NYC and what skill sets are needed for each job.

    When you do get a clue, you might not have such an opinion.

  • Pingback: An Eye for an iPod | iPhone Daily

  • http://www.twc.ca Stephen Pickford

    Since you are the seeming HR professional, Joe, they seem to have been hired with your particular skill sets firmly in hand…to be rude, arrogant, and inflexible, exactly the skill set needed for the Port of Elizabeth where they can bash a few heads when they spot a container theft ring in operation, but out of place when dealing with tourists and representing their city and country to the world.

    PATH is an operating subsidiary of PANYNJ, and the reason there were more of their agents at the World Trade Center was simple logistics…the location of transit operations and connecting stations, not because they were there to defend the office tower itself which is your implication and actually serves to denigrate their memory. The subway and city buses and commuter rail lines other than PATH are patrolled by officers employed by the MTA, and those agents have always been helpful when asked a question and I have openly seen them assist tourists with information, directions, etc. I have seen more STATE police in the airports, the PANYNJ directing traffic outside the terminals

    I highly doubt that any child grows up wanting to be a PANYNJ officer, unlike those wanting to be part of the NYPD, FBI, CIA, etc.

    PANYNJ talks a big game about their “police” on their website, so why didn’t their public affairs people take a closer look at this situation (even without a badge number, date/time would tell them immediately who was working a certain beat) and make a definitive comment rather than keep a stony silence. Any PR flak who keeps quiet or who shifts the blame is covering their proverbial McMullen.
    Where’s the President of their Police Brotherhood standing up and making some grandiose move to make amends without admitting guilt?

  • http://www.ffocus.org Mr Bad Example

    This Cab BS goes on at DCA all the time with cabs that go to the suburbs.

    The drivers want cash, period and they will say do anything that gets them cash.

    Unless of course you stand up to them.

    Had one A-hole tell me AFTER I got in the cab that it was $10.00 more to pay by credit card. Now I always carry enough cash to cover the fare and a generous tip. I prefer to pay with a card as it makes expense reports easier.

    So this guy goes with the broken English routine and says “I’m sorry it’s $10.00 more to pay with Credit card” So get into a bit about how he never told me and my goal is to waste his time now as I have the cash and I demand he get his boss on the phone and he of course refuses, so we dance a bit more and finally I ask for a blank receipt and tell him I have cash. The fare was about $40 and I would have thrown him a $15.00 tip.

    This time I hand him the EXACT fare and open the door and he has the balls to ask “You have something for me?” I replied “Yes I have a tip for you. Stay out of the rain! You tried to screw me and now it’s my turn.

    BOYO BOYO was he pizzed. I wasted nearly a half hour arguing with him (lost Fares) and NO TIP.

    Remember the “Golden Rule, Those with the gold make the rules”

  • Jess

    Mr. Pickford, you are the one who is extremely rude and arrogant. You can find examples of overgrown bullies in every “police department”, be it municipal, state, or federal. Ms. Lenhart encountered two PA officers who were not sympathetic to her plight and I’m not excusing their behavior. However, to malign an entire group of people, most of whom are courteous, knowledgeable and take their jobs very seriously, is completely unnecessary. They are absolutely trained to “protect and serve” and deserve just as much respect as the NYPD or any other police department.

    Should I assume that all people from Montreal are asses just because you are?

  • Mike

    So many foolish arguements here. I can’t believe the amount of people trying to lay blame on the girl for not having cash. HELLO!!! When the company displays a sticker saying that they accept credit cards and then provide the service, expect to get paid via credit card. The burden was on the driver to accept the card as that was a displayed payment option. Also, when a machine is not working you can call the CC company to get authorization over the phone. IMHO the cabbie was out of line and lazy. -and quite possibly was trying to shake down for extra money.

    As for the girl not writing the letter, who cares. As long as the events happened, what does it matter who complains or writes a letter. Again some people are trying to lay blame somewhere other than where it belongs.

    The cab driver is to blame for the mess pure and simple. Trying to place blame on others for the cab driver’s faults is not right at all.

  • http://3.madbe.net alezz

    Wow. Thanks Lynne Lenhart for wasting five minutes of my life. Let your daughter grow up and deal with her own problems. Furthermore, get over it. Assuming her iPod was actually worth $140 then you are out $90. Is this really worth this much drama? Going to small claims is hardly worth the trouble and you’ll spend far more then $90 before you step foot in court…

  • Sevenseat

    I have taken taxis all over the world. In most of the developed world they take credit cards. Using a credit card is far safer than carrying around large amounts of cash, and is much simpler for the purposes of currency exchange and expense reports. The only place where taxi drivers hate to take credit cards is here in the USA, where they expect tips, and don’t want them reported to the IRS. I have had several occasions in Europe where the credit card machine in the cab didn’t work. The driver just smiled and broke out the manual imprinter and wrote up the transaction manually.

    If you have information about the taxi company, a letter to Visa and MasterCard might be helpful, as the taxi company is probably in breach of their merchant agreements.

    I would have to question if the “Port Authority” people that your daughter saw were PAPD. They could have just been rent-a-cops or traffic cops. I have never had an unpleasant interaction with PAPD or NYPD. I know you have written to the TLC and PANYNJ, but have you written to the Honorable Michael Bloomberg. This is the kind of stuff that drives him nuts. NYC wants to be seen as welcoming to tourists, and this does not help their image. Perhaps a letter to the New York Post would also help.

  • http://www.twc.ca Stephen Pickford

    Hmmmm…..unlike “Joe” and “Jess” I have the courage of my convictions and post under my real name, not a pseudonym from the confines of their basements in Minot,ND since they haven’t seen a UFO land in the last hours so they can’t be calling in to George Noury.

    If we are to presume that these are just 2 bad apples….then, please answer the question I have already posed….How come senior management and their own Police Brotherhood are circling the wagons and not standing up to actively investigate, apologize, make amends, and to show their “true professionalism”??? By standing silent, they are condoning the actions of their rogue colleagues.

    It could quite well be that what Sevenseat has stated, about them being security guards from an outside firm hired by the PA to direct traffic, rather than being officers of the force….in which case one would also think that it would be in the interests of the officers own union to bring that important piece of info to the fore.

    I definitely would suggest that the aggrieved contact the office of the Mayor, the CVB, and selected local media outlets (print/talk radio/television). And perhaps Chris can get someone in PA Media Affairs — 212-435-7777 — to investigate and comment publicly.

  • Shaun McCutcheon

    I can’t believe all of the negative comments towards the taxi driver and the police on duty. Taxi drivers have to deal with a lot of jerks who rip them off every day and don’t pay fare. I think they definately thought of a REASONABLE SOLUTION for all parties. The Ipod was intented as collateral, not “taken” goods as the blog master states. All she has to do is quickly run to an ATM, grab the cash, pay for fare, and get the ipod back. Too bad so many of you goobbled up the spin on this non-story.

  • Joe Farrell

    Are you nuts Pickford? Who says this is not my real name? Geesh – it should be easy enough to find in this googled world . . .

    I’m with shaun and have said that 5 times – why didn’t little miss sunshine just run into the terminal, grab $60 off the atm and come back out.

    To the cops -= “heres the ipod, have him wait 5 min, I’m going to get cash”

    to the cabbie :”hey, wait 5 – I’ll get you cash – its better than an ipod’

    THEN if the coppers do not have the cabbie wait, the cops have the problem lettign the guy walk off with her ipod.

    I can already hear the moans coming from the Lenhart family and her apologists – but the situation she NOW was dealing with was that a guy had her $140 ipod for a $50 fare. If she wants it back, like we say in my family, you gotta get it out of hock.

  • Jason

    People who get into cabs without cash in their pocket are just plain asking for trouble to begin with. Not very smart. And if there were funds on the card, she could have asked the driver to wait while she took a cash advance from an ATM machine.

    The whole story is not being told here. I think she’s just plain stupid, and is taking advantage of the fact that the incident wasn’t reported by the cops to exaggerate her story.

  • Carver

    @Joe

    According to the story, they have offered to cab driver the money for the fare and he refuses to accept it. That prevents me from giving him the benefit of the doubt, i.e. he’s merely holding the IPOD as collateral to secure his fare.

    @jason

    Why?

    Why should someone with adequate credit need cash when a business advertises that they accept credit cards.

    Besides, according to the story, the taxi driver refused to allow her to leave to go to the ATM so the entire cash advance (bad idea) is a moot point.

  • Jordan

    The cab is required by TLC/NYC law to return to the station if their credit card machine does not work. They are not allowed to pick up passengers otherwise. Fry the driver!

  • Jordan

    I should also note I went to TLC court to fight a cabbie for kicking me out of a cab because I told him in advance I would be paying via CC. It’s against the law! If the CC machine is down, don’t pay!

  • Jeanne

    All of these comments have been very enlightening. One simple question for the native New Yorkers: when I go next to NYC, how likely is it that I will encounter a “broken” credit card machine, be it in a taxi, deli or corner store? I’ve never had that problem before now, but I like to keep abreast of all the current trends. I’m planning on visiting my son (in NJ) in May/June.

    (I use the subways or trains to get from the airport to my hotel – I’m cheap.)

    BTW, I live in Nebraska, and have generally found the people in NYC to be friendly and helpful. I’m sorry Ms. Lenhart’s final experience was a bad one, and I hope that it can be resolved. I’d hate to write off an entire great city because of that experience, but I can see how traumatic that would be for a novice traveler. I think it would be great if Mayor Bloomberg personally would become involved. If that were the case, I think Ms. Lenhart – and her family – should visit again.

    My two cents from a non-lawyer, non-taxi-driver Midwesterner.

  • Oddree

    From the NY Post:

    “Islam said he called 911 after Lenhart swiped her credit card 20 times at Kennedy Airport, and Port Authority officers responded. Both passenger and driver said an officer told Lenhart she “had to give the driver some compensation” if she didn’t have the money for the fare, which the cabby recalls being about $49.”
    [Totally the cabbie's fault. Totally. And I wonder why the officers wouldn't let her run into the airport and get cash - maybe it had something to do with her debit card not working. Then again, maybe they were just being unreasonable fascists.]

    “Lenhart said she transferred money into her credit account hours before, but her bank didn’t process the transaction immediately. She said she paid for food with the card later that day.”
    [Well, gosh. Banks are usually so on top of that sort of thing. And they never proceed with caution in money transfers for 20-year-olds who use credit cards to pay for everything. And 20-year-olds never lie to their parents - that ability disappears at the age of 18, like still being considered a minor.]

    “TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg said Islam has an excellent record of taking cards and received plastic payment for the fare right before Lenhart’s.”
    [You know, I've heard of that crazy new virus that disables all credit card machines only if your balance is zero. Norton should totally get moving on that.]

    Straight from the horses’ mouths.
    Anyone want to make more wildly extrapolative comments?

  • JCD

    @ Joe,

    You “have said that 5 times, why didn’t little miss sunshine just run into the terminal, grab $60 off the atm and come back out”

    Apparently you’re reading skills aren’t so great, as you seem to keep asking a question that is already answered. She offered to go to the ATM. She wanted to go to the ATM. The cabbie and the cops would not let her. She continues to offer to pay the fare in cash if the driver will return the stolen iPod.

    So why do you keep repeating an irrelevant question that has already been answered?

  • JCD

    Shaun,

    You claim that the iPod was intended as collateral. It might have been nice if that is what happened, but it wasn’t. The police and cabbie would not let her go get cash, even with the iPod in hand. The iPod was demanded as payment and the cabbie drove off. She offered to come back with cash but they refused to allow it. Don’t try to imagine the situation was different than it was.

  • Jennifer

    This version of the story quotes Miss Lenhart’s mother as saying she called the bank, and was told there was enough money on the card to pay the fare. Other versions of the same story quote Miss Lenhart herself as blaming the bank for being slow to transfer money to the credit line. This point is critical to assigning blame – which is it? And why the conflicting accounts from the same side?

  • Pingback: ThisGlobe.com Blogs » NYC Cabbie Demands iPod as Payment, Remains at Large [The City]

  • First Prius Cabbie

    She was lucky the driver accepted the I pod. The other option was getting arrested. Her card was no good. I would like to advise all cabbies not to accept any form of payment except cash or “good” cards. If they can’t pay then it is theft of services. Passengers can’t expect to say “your machine is broken so I don’t have to pay” and just walk off. If she couldn’t pay then the cabbie should have let the police arrest her. That is what I have done in the past. It is very simple, pay or go to jail. If there is a bad signal area then the transaction is stored and processed later. The machine stated the card had no money and was not a good card. For the machine to process that info it would have to be in a good signal area. Appears the card was over limit. The driver worked hard to get her to JFK and got no dough. Can’t pay rent with an i pod.

  • anthony

    Here’s a thought. Have cash on you. Paying cash in nyc is part of taxi history. Cabbies did not want this gps/credit card crap in their vehicles.
    I agree that taking the ipod was wrong but, one should always carry emergency cash for situations like this. Especially in big cities, i.e. NYC!

  • Carl Wolf

    “My 20 year-old-daughter recently visited New York City by herself, and had a bad taxi experience that I am still furious about.”

    So what? How does your daughter feel about it? You daughter got a non-violent lesson about being an adult and being responsible for her actions. Let her grow up.

  • kaycee

    As far as I know, – incase of signal problems – (for fares up to $25) the information is stored and relayed later and the passenger can walk with their receipts that does not show any approval codes. The credit processing service takes a chance with a couple of transactions that are under $25.
    When the signal is good the machine relays those backed up information. At that point, whether or not the card is good – the driver is guaranteed for that fare that was under $25. However, the system can only store a few (3-4) transactions. So if the system is down for a long time then it cannot relay those backed up stored information and as a result any new transactions cannot be stored nor processed and thus they would then be rejected.

    However, for fares $25 and up – it is a different story. The system must get an approval codes on spot and the driver is required to get a signature. The credit-processing center does not want to take any chance with bigger transactions. So the system contacts the credit card’s bank instantaneously to get approval codes. With the system down – the card can be rejected.

    So, if the signal is bad or the system is down or the passenger’s card’s magnetic stripes are somehow unreadable by the card reader – then you can have such situation where the card is rejected. NOT to mention that the card could be bad as well (meaning over the limits, previous unresolved disputes etc.).
    I have heard about situations where a passenger had disputed the fare for an earlier ride that is run by the same cab company or the same credit processing company and then she tried to use the same card in a different cab on a different day and got rejected. But she could use a different card. Maybe that company doesn’t want to go through the same passenger’s practice of disputes all over again so, they blacklisted that particular card!

    I am not sure if they are really blacklisting such people or their credit card numbers once they have a problem with them but I think it is possible that they do keep some kind of record for chronic disputers.

    As far as this incident is concerned –
    1) The cab driver could have arranged to have her ipod shipped back as soon as he got paid.
    2) The passenger could have requested to go to a bank and get money there (if her card was really good). There is a citibank inside the JFK airport area. There are atms inside the airport terminals, so the PA police could have escorted her to one of those machines to get cash.
    3) There should be a manual way to do the transaction by calling some 800 number. I have seen some small businesses do that (businesses that sell stuff on the carts inside the mall). It that case the driver could have call the credit processing center and get his approval code manually through the phone. I am not sure why they don’t have that available!!!

    Bottom line is – don’t jump into a cab without being able to avail a secondary method of payment – incase the credit machine doesn’t work properly.

  • Constantine

    This is neither the cab driver’s or the passenger’s fault. New York city cab driver’s have been basically extorted by installing this equipment into their cabs by Mayor Bloomberg. It was to make it more convenient for passengers to pay all the while to make taxi profits more visible to the New York city goverment.

    The program is full of flaws and due to many talks with quite a few cab drivers, they always wind up getting the short end of the stick. Whether it be from people commiting fraud with stolen credit cards. Or the machine accepting the card and then people disputing charges which requires the cab driver to take time out of his day to get his money from the credit card services which charge an insane amount for doing nothing.

    If you walk into the Gap and your credit card gets declined you can not walk out with the purchase. Well the same applies here. If you can not pay for your ride, why should that be the cab driver’s fault to suck up the loss?

  • Nathan

    “Bottom line is – don’t jump into a cab without being able to avail a secondary method of payment – incase the credit machine doesn’t work properly.”

    “If you walk into the Gap and your credit card gets declined you can not walk out with the purchase. Well the same applies here. If you can not pay for your ride, why should that be the cab driver’s fault to suck up the loss?”

    I walk into a restaurant, which has “We accept credit cards x,y,z” in the window and on the menus. I order, and eat. No word from the waiter about a “problem” with the credit card machine or whatever. The bill comes. I offer my credit card. Now the credit card machine is broken. Not that my card has been declined, but their machine is not working. What now, call the police if I don’t start coughing up the cash? That’s ridiculous. If you advertise that you take a type of credit card, then claim you cannot (through no fault of the customer) after I’ve consumed the product, that’s bait and switch. Perhaps not intentionally, but that’s what it is. The customer cannot return the meal, or the cab ride, as if it were a piece of merchandise. The resolution of course is to manually process the card, with the old style manual card device which mechanically takes an image of the card’s number and generates receipts for the customer and the merchant / restaurant. Why do cabbies not have these as a backup, especially if these problems with reading cards or communicating for card approval keep coming up? If the customer pays in cash in a case like this, he is doing the vendor / driver / restauranteer a favor – which is not required.

    Several people have mentioned that the cabbies don’t want the credit card readers, that this has been imposed on them. Too bad, that’s between them and the city, or whoever is allegedly forcing this on them. It is not the customer’s responsibility. Also mentioned is that the cabby could end up with a card dispute, or stolen card used in the purchase, or some such. Again, this comes with the territory of accepting credit cards. Apparently, NYC cab regulations (per their website) do -not- say that the driver must be paid in cash if the card reader is not working (it’s an option, but not required), but instead suggests that the customer report the cab’s medallion number. That’s what I would do, get on my cell phone and report the cabbie for non-complicance with regulations in this situation. If the police show up and start to wrongly insist that I pay cash or whatever, then I request a supervisor – up the chain of command we go, right up to the police chief if necessary. I will not be taken advantage of in this way, and neither should anyone else. The cabbies just want cash – but I don’t care, and it’s not my problem. Not so long as there’s a Visa/MC sticker in the window.

  • Erik G.

    Step one: Get to Penn Station
    Step two: LIRR to Jamaica-frequent service, about 6 bucks
    Step three: AirTrain to JFK-also frequent, about 5 bucks
    All are pay in advance, so no problems at end of ride. Travel time can be as little as 40 minutes from Penn Station.
    Using taxis outside of Manhattan (except to/from LGA) is foolish.

  • Kathyj

    @Nathan and others suggesting manual credit card processing: I ate at a restaurant recently that did just this when their electronic card gadget didn’t work. There were three of us at the table who paid with plastic. The young waitress was so apologetic about the manual processing, and was explaining that her manager assured her (to pass on to us) that our transactions were being handled properly. We had to laugh as we explained that this manual processing used to be the only way to do it, and we were all quite familiar with the receipts with the hand-written amounts.

  • MTC

    Almost if not all of the cabs here in Vancouver have credit card readers, but quite often I have to ask, when I get in, if they are functioning – as I have found out the hard way a couple of times. Each time I have told the cab driver that I want to pay with Credit Card and if that won’t work please let me know right now. Sometimes they insist on stopping at an ATM so you can get money – where they WILL leave the meter running – but most of the time they will reluctantly use the manual credit card forms. They can and will do this, so don’t let them tell you they can’t. Not one cab hasn’t been able to take my credit card manually when I insisted nicely.

  • Kimberly

    I think it’s weird that the “port authorities” would have even “suggested” she leave the IPOD instead of going inside and hitting an ATM.

    I kinda look at it like she was a young girl with a “new experience” and when a person in a uniform with a badge said “leave your IPod” (even though they are not “cops” they are still persons of authority)…she did. As quickly as everything probably took place…I can’t say I would have been at the top of my game when I was 20…experience has taught me to handle some of these things a lot better. But I would have been shaking in my boots.

    I do concur that I would prefer to have cash available for the cab ride but…we really NEVER use cabs (at least not here in Texas). I wouldn’t have a CLUE how much a cab ride to the airport was. Usually when I travel anywhere I have a rental car…never been to New York. I know Washington DC was a completely different animal. My rental stayed parked at the hotel and I ended up using the Metro for everything. But I never got in a Taxi.

    Now…a couple of weirds things to me…

    #1 The whole bank and transfer the money thing. Credit cards don’t require you to have “X” amount of money in the bank…that’s why they’re CREDIT cards…they give you “credit” for the amount you need and you pay later. DEBIT cards may limit you to the amount you have in the bank.

    #2 Leaving an “Chicken” (aka the IPod)to pay for services…as apparently “imposed” by the “port authority” as per the stories of both the girl and the taxi driver…WOW…that just seems to be TOTALLY out of line. I’d say the Port Authority should issue and apology to both the taxi driver and the girl…I’m guessing they just wanted them out of “traffic”. I believe she should have been escorted to the nearest ATM and asked to withdraw the money.

    #3 Why was only a SINGLE “credit card” her only means of payment? What would have happened if she “lost” her card? Lesson #1 NEVER travel ANYWHERE with only a “single” credit card and absolutely no emergency funds.

  • kimberly

    Maybe she didn’t tip him ;~)

  • LauraBeachnut

    LET’S POINT OUT THE BIG WHITE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM:

    New York City Is NO melting pot.

    It is a city that has a lot of people in it, but I never seen cheese melt in CUBES!

    It has its this neighborhood and that neighborhood and only hires their own race kind of crowed. A complete throwback to the 1940s. Just check craigslist, New York (and all of its legalized freedoms) actually ignore the fact that companies are breaking federal law and asking for photos to be submitted with their resume to ensure the fact that they do not have to hire most minorities and particularly African Americans.

    What does this have to do with TAXI DRIVERS?

    Answer:……… EVERYTHING

    You see, the strong hold in this city (that is financial strong hold) would be Jewish People. And if the Non-Mainstream media were to put the proverbial writing on the wall and told you, “what do Jewish People HATE the MOST?

    If you said Muslims, you would be more than likely correct.
    Now then, What is the face of taxi drivers known the world over…
    if you said MUSLIM, give yourself a sweet carrot!

    The fact is that since Taxi Drivers are never seen in the media like some cops are (shooting people “by mistake”, raping women, handcuffing and dating underaged children and so on ) they are seen as the bottom of the bottom of the barrel, yet they do things to improve their situations case by case and in the process, they get shafted by the media and government and people like you and me.

    Nothing I said is wrong, so before you give your quick knee jerk reaction, read on.

    Why is it that taxi drivers of NYC pay out of pocket for things they absolutely do not have any reason to pay for. I forget what it’s called but there is this transportation tax that taxi drivers pay and it basically take half of their gratuity. Taxi drivers make their money off of their gratuity

  • LauraBeachnut

    (cont)….

    Tax drivers make their money off their gratuities.

    NEW YORKERS ARE CHEAP!

    The proper tip for any luxury is 3 times the amount of a regular service however, new yorkers are SO DAMN CHEAP, instead of tipping twenty percent at a restaurant they will only tip twice the tax ! Thats less than %17.

    CHEAP!

    And you gottah love the people who use the excuse, “they are from Europe so they don’t tip there”. Even though they learn our language, learn our culture, learn our geography better than we know it and they know right from wrong, they come here and use that poor lame ass excuse. GIVE ME A BREAK

    CHEAP!

    If you want to know how to properly tip someone who is a vendor, its like this.

    Before I get into this, I would like to express that tipping a TAXI DRIVER is much different from tipping a WAITER or WAITRESS or the chick at the door who takes your coat.

    TIPPING A TAXI DRIVER:
    **if you take the taxi less than 6 days per week**
    %40
    $4.00 Minimum
    $20.00 Maximum

    example:
    BILL = $0 to $10 $4.00 tip
    BILL = $50 to infinity = $20.00

    AIRPORT or log trips %40 of the trip total
    Unless its a SET FEE (set fee, follow the %40 rule)

    **if you take the taxi less everyday, 6 days more more**

    It’s very easy.
    Round UP to the nearest dollar and add $2.00

    example.
    If your bill is $3.20
    ROUND UP to $4.00 and add $2.00
    TOTAL $6.00

    WHY NOT %20?
    %20 is great for a server
    However, a server does not have to shell out close to $300.00 before they start making a dollar.

    Eating is a necessity, not a luxury.
    Taxi’s are a luxury item so they should be tipped so.

    It’s weird how we will tip the cute white girl who gets our coat $10.00 and it take no effort or expense on her part and we will give the doorman a $5 bill to hail a taxi and he stands there with his hand out but we will crawl in a taxi and he will get you to your destination and use his skills so you arrive in one piece and we tip one dollar (half of that is stolen by Mayor Bloomberg and his chorines).

    WAKE UP PEOPLE.
    The only reason you assist in this exploitation of taxi drivers is because the majority of them are muslim and YOU HATE MUSLIMS.

    The word has gotten out that its a bloodbath with taxi drivers and now people are systematically trying to rip them off. IT’S NOTHING MORE THAN A MODERN DAY CONCENTRATION CAMP!

    These people have to earn a living and you people want to do everything you can to KEEP THE GENOCIDE GOING !

    That taxi driver should have gotten more than a stupid Ipod. She should have been taken to jail just like anyone else that would steal from a vendor.

  • http://http/aol.com barbie45

    Laura, you seem to be a very unhappy person. I do not live in NYC and have no desire to live or even visit . However, in all fairness to the residents it is unfair to stereotype them. The U.S.A. is hardly a concentration camp. No one is forced to move here or live here if they are that unhappy. I advice you to think about immigrating to an area of the world which meets your expectations. Also tipping is not mandatory. Any one who has immigrated here and is unhappy should move back to their place of origin.

  • Carl Wolf

    “If your bill is $3.20
    ROUND UP to $4.00 and add $2.00
    TOTAL $6.00″

    An 85% tip? Not even if the driver was an attractive naked woman.

  • Carver

    @Carl

    Well, according to crazy LauraBeachnut, you might if she was an attractive naked WHITE woman. Lol

    @LauraBeachnut

    I think you’ve won the award for craziest post. Incidenally, stereotyping anyone is silly. I once worked for a Persian Law Firm owned by Jewish Persians, yet 99 percent of the client was Islamic Persians, and everyone get along exceptionally well with everyone else, including me, the sole Christian

  • ICYNDICY

    New York City cops ARE PIGS, and so are the taxi drivers. You know they have been milking people out of millions of dollars for years now. It is a big scandal in New York now!

  • ICYNDICY

    Not to sound like a bitch here, but why didn’t your daughter just go into the terminal and use her debit card at an ATM, or her credit card to get a cash advance? She could have just had one of the police go with her.

  • Patrick

    Sometimes C.C. Don’t approve. So now the cab driver is to blame? I am a cab driver and I know if the card is open at a different location or if the bank for what ever reason decided to decline the card, they still owe the money. Even if something was wrong with the cab drivers c.c. System she still owed the money. This guys says how angry he is. Maybe he should try driving a cab and making the bills and paying a greedy cab company and buy gas at the current prices. If he wants to let people get off owing him money fine, but most cab drivers can’t afford it. As far as the iPod it was not stolen and she should be glad he took it as payment! I had a drunk kid one night forget his C.C. In a bar. I told him he could get out now free and sort it out or give me something to hold until he got the money. It was just after 2am on a busy night. I had people mad at me because I was tied up with him and could not take them. The kid could not remember what bar he left his card in. He went up to a cop and told the cop I stole his phone. The cop came up to me and said give him back his phone. At this time $20.00 was on the meter. I told the cop I have the kid recorded telling me I can keep the phone until he makes payment, and that the cop is also being recorded and it’s streaming online. The cop told him it is civil he can’t get involved. The kid had 3 different under age kids while the cop was still there come up with C.C. That did not match their ID. I can not take a 3rd party C.C. He finely got an adult to pay his fare for him. Why did they cop not do his real job? Why did this guy think he should get a free ride? How can I pay my bills giving free rides? He even lied about what the phone was worth. No one should run up a bill and not have the means to pay it. If I was that cab driver I would have told her if she sends me the carfare plus postage within two weeks she would get her iPod back, but I would not have to give it back. The iPod was taken as payment. Maybe this dad should have helped his kid know how to be responsible instead of making her feel she is entitled to a free ride! He is fuming oh well stupid people get mad all the time! So the cops the taxi commission and the driver all did this man wrong who never tough this doughtier that when she runs up a bill she needs to pay it or go to jail? Someone is really really really really really self-centered and stupid!

  • http://www.coachire.co.uk/ coach

    Oh!! really its a very good and informative blog.
    Keep sharing more and more.
    Thanks for sharing it.

← Older Comments
Newer Comments →

Previous post:

Next post: