A mum was left distraught claiming that her daughter was locked in a car by a taxi driver over a payment dispute. The mum, who does not wish to be named, alleged her 17-year-old was forced to remain in the car for 18 minutes due to confusion over the payment process.
The worried parent said she ordered a taxi from DG Cars to pick up her daughter from Gedling on July 30. "My daughter could not get an Uber in time for work so I booked an alternative taxi for her. I have used DG Cars for years and never had an issue with them before," she told Nottinghamshire Live.
"I normally take my daughter to work, but this time I was at a wedding with my partner miles away, and she needed to get to the retail park in Netherfield."
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The taxi turned up at 11.54am, arriving at the destination at 12.05am, the mum said. "My daughter has never used DG cars before, she has only used Uber so she has limited knowledge about how taxis work because she is only 17," the mum added.
"So when the driver told her that the journey was £7, she said to just take the money out of the account because that is how Uber works - it is connected to your bank account. And, unfortunately, she did not have any cash on her either."
The mum said her daughter called her to explain the situation. "She rang me in a quite a state," the mum said.
Trying to resolve the alleged misunderstanding, the mum claimed she called the taxi company and was given a 'payment link'. She said she paid £7 for the service, and sent a screenshot to her daughter.
However, the driver was alleged to have locked the doors in the meantime. "My daughter was hysterical because the taxi driver was shouting at her at this point. He locked her in the car. She was sending me messages that she was scared.
"I was on the phone to DG cars who told me to make another £10.50 payment to let my daughter out of the car. At this point, my partner heard the conversation and said that we are not paying for it. They let her out straight away as soon as they heard a man's voice. But my daughter was vomiting on her way to work. She is just very anxious now. We cannot go anywhere because she is very scared."
The mum claimed she tried to chase DG cars about the incident. But a spokesperson for the taxi firm added: "I’m afraid that without any booking name, we are unable to comment/find the details on anonymous claims like this.
"Had this/any claim of this nature been brought to our attention, our customer support team would have investigated and promptly assisted the customer." The spokesperson also confirmed the company had not been made aware of any potential police enquiry.
DG added: "Our self-employed drivers transport over 100,000 customers every week, and we are passionate about the communities we serve. 'Stories' like these only breed distrust in an industry trying its hardest to get back on its feet after two damaging years of pandemic and the driver shortages brought about by Brexit."
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