taxi drivers

right. taxi drivers. like everything else, there are the good ones, AND the horrid bad ones. i hate trying to get a cab on friday nights especially. that's because all of these stupid pesky irritating drivers refuse to stop. i really mean refuse to stop. they have NO passengers in their taxis (unless they have some passengers unseen to the human eye...) yet they will drive right past you as if you were invisible. why? all because they want to wait for call in customers and earn the extra $3.20. it's so irritating when you're in a hurrry and you see all these cabs whisking past you. *scowls* it's not that i don't want to call for a cab. it's no use either coz the lines are usually jammed up. either that or you'd have to wait for eternity for them to give you a cab. so either way, you'd still be stranded where you are, with frustration growing by the second!

on more than 1 occasion, i managed to hop on into the cab coz the traffic light was red and the cab was in front of me. and the taxi driver would blatently say he didn't want to pick me coz he was waiting for call ins. such audicity! can you belive it? since when were they allowed to choose customers? i used to let it pass but one particular taxi driver really irked me. THIS taxi driver insisted that it was only right to give priority to call in customers and ignore those on the streets. he had the cheek to tell me that he was contemplating accepting a call from raffles city to woodlands. (i was at fullerton and going home) and the whole journey he kept griping about how much money he would have made if he took that call. *glares* and this was a merc cab! you would think they would have more manners. i was soooooooo angry!! he was so mecenery! know what he said when i got in?

driver: you're lucky the call was to go to woodlands. if it was tampines, i would not have picked you up. coz then i would go to the airport. it's coz it was woodlands that's why i was thinking about it.
me: *rolls eyes* whatever. taxi drivers are not allowed to choose customers.
driver: no. call in customers should get priority because they are loyal...
me: *rolls eyes again* (making a mental note of the taxi license plate and looking for the TIBS customer service hotline to call)
driver: did you call for a cab? you should have.

(to which i gave my usual response as to how its impossible to get a cab even then. and i still maintained my stand that choosing customers is bad customer service. guess what the driver said..)

driver: too bad. it's like when you buy a first class ticket. of course the service would be better. but then sometimes, even when you want to buy a first class ticket, you can't get it. blah blah blah blah. (and he went on and on about how much money he would have made if he took that call as opposed to what he would earn by picking me up blah blah blah)

by this point, i was so furious with him for trying to insist that they, taxi drivers have every right to choose customers and that it IS good customer service for giving priority to call in customers. so street pick ups are not customers too??? *glares* and oh please. give me a break. you're just a taxi driver. stop comparing yourself to an airline!! calling for a taxi is hardly even comparable to booking a first class ticket!!

i used to be pretty pleased with the TIBS drivers coz they have always been pleasant (as compared to city cabs and comfort. comfort's are possibly one of the worst!) but this one has just changed my mind about TIBS. i definitely will call TIBS tomorrow! is this how they educate their drivers?? and aren't merc cab drivers supposed to be more polite?! i have a good mind to call in and complain about him. i didn't want to do it initially, coz i thought i might just break his rice bowl. but now, the more i think about it, the angrier i am! pffft!