I was ariving at SFO, tired from a cross country trip. I stepped outside to the departure doors. I know that I was supposed to go down stairs, schlep my bags across 3 lanes of oncoming traffic and wait in line for a cab, but instead I decided to try and snag a cab that had just dropped off a passenger.
I did this becuase:
1) It was the closest, fastest and easiest, and
2) because I knew I was only going to San Bruno which is only a 6-8 minute cab ride and cabbies get really crabby when they wait in really long lines to get a fare that they think will be a $45 ride into San Francisco and they find out that you are just going 8 minutes away.
It seemed like a win-win. I don't schlep or have to brave a trip with a pissed off driver. He gets a fast fare and doesn't have to wait in line. Simple right? No.
The driver I waved down in cab 01 said that he was free and that he would in fact pick me up there, but when I went to get in, he asked where I was going. I said,
"To my car in San Bruno, at the body shop where I left it before my trip"
He said,
" I have a $40 minimum from the airport"
I asked,
"Are you allowed to do that?" He repeated himself so I did as well, then he just drove off.
A fellow passenger standing nearby saw the interaction and said that it is not legal for them to pick me up there period. He did say that they can charge 1.5 times normal fare, but he was breaking the law by even stopping to get me there. (he told me that he is also a driver himself) I don't fault him for wanting to pick me up but to try to get me to give him $40 for 2.8 miles is just wrong.
I would have had no problem paying 1.5 times. That would have likely been $15-20. and it would have taken him 15 minutes round trip at that time of night. Besides, there is a meter. The meters build in consideration for short trips by charging a flat fee for the first mile.
I heard that it is not legal in some areas to ask where a rider is going. They are on duty, it is in their territory, and i'm pretty sure it is not legal to decline a ride because it is only 3 miles away and I am, pretty positive that it is not legal to say that they charge a flat $40 fee from the airport.
Drivers like these give the industry a bad wrap. This is why I love Uber, Lyft and Sidecar! Once we had little we could do, now we have Uber. I ended up just hailing the next sedan (I know, not allowed at the airport) and I offered him $20 and tipped him $5 and he was not only willing but happy and gracious to take me. That is the service we all deserve, and with service like that, perhaps more of us would be willing to give up our cars all together. read more