A Dublin cabbie has blasted "rogue" taxi drivers who are reportedly taking advantage of people trying to get home after a Christmas night out.
Neil Murray took his popular TikTok account warning people about the "disgusting" practice and said he has been made aware of “a collection of rogue taxi men”. These drivers are refusing to accept fares or else asking for money up front.
He explained to his 14,000 followers: “There’s a collection of rogue taxi men out there at night time which is messing with the likes of myself and good taxi men. Now, there’s a hell of a lot of us good taxi men out there, there really is.
Read more: Met Eireann extends 'freezing fog', ice and snow warning
“Apparently, what I’ve been told in the car is, you come up to a taxi man at the rank, you get in the car, he asks where are you going, you tell them where you're going, and he says, no I'm not going there and they tell you to get out.”
He also offered advice to people if they find themselves in a situation where a driver refuses to take them to where they want to go. In this instance, Neil advised people to tell the driver they have his plate number and are going to report him if he refuses the fare.
Neil added: “He has to take you, I think it’s over 21km he can refuse to take you, but if he’s on the rank, he has to take you where you want to go.”
However he cautioned: “There has to be a collection of people with you to do this.”
To anyone who doesn't want to get into a confrontation with a driver, Neil advises noting the plate number from the roof of the cab and reporting the driver to the National Transport Authority. He also warned of drivers not turning on their meter and overcharging customers.
He explained: “Now, if you’re going to a place and he likes that, but says the metres not going on, he could tell you it’ll be €50, €60 and that could be only to Tallaght or Crumlin. They're telling you price up front, which is probably quadruple what it’s going to be on the meter. Now that’s disgusting if you ask me.
“What you can say there is, it’s not going to be €50 quid, you put the metre on pal, I have your plate number and I have you recording. Now there's two things you can do, you can take me there, or you can not take me there and I’m going to send this voice recording to the NTA. They’re out there, it's horrible, it’s disgusting.”
His last suggestion to people was to have a family member pick them up if possible. He said: “If you're going out at night, on a Christmas party, try and get a family member to pick you up. It’s extremely helpful in that situation.”
READ NEXT:
- Beauty and the Beast musical cancelled due to 'cast illness'
- Dozens of flights cancelled in and out of Dublin Airport
- Dunnes Stores urgently recalls dinner item as it’s ‘unsafe’ to eat
- Fire brigade warns drivers of dangerous road conditions after spate of crashes
- Dublin City Council's canteen closed after inspectors find 'live rodent' and 'greasy walls'
To get the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox sign up for our free newsletter
