Follow-on from FOI-1120-1920: Could you please summarise a sample of 10 of the complaints for me where some misunderstanding took place? In particular, I would like to know what information was misunderstood. For example Complaint 1: Taxi driver thought I said 'town centre' but I actually said 'shopping centre' etc. or 'I said 13 North Street and he took me to 30 Lords Street'

---

Our Ref:         FOI-1438-1920

Thank you for your request received on 13 August 2019 asking for further information about taxi and private hire drivers complaints.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require.

Please find the requested information below. Please note the following examples have been selected and will not be representative of the average language barrier complaint and should therefore not be considered typical complaints. In most instances there is not a full blown miscommunication, and the examples provided below are from customers who had more clear-cut miscommunication issues than the average customer. Please also note that the following have not been summarised as the meaning of the complaint could be unintentionally altered so they are presented as recorded with any personal data redacted.

EXAMPLE 1 - 04/01/2018
We found £80 on passenger seat in this cab [REDACTED] last night. Driver insisted we gave it to him. Drivers grasp of English was extremely limited - either that or his hearing is hugely diminished and he also used a GPS not knowing the destination road - not usually an issue for such a short trip. Is this the real driver of the cab and should we have taken the money to the TFL lost and found or police to be claimed? PLEASE DO NOT SHARE THIS EMAIL WITH DRIVER.

EXAMPLE 2 - 18/01/2018

Comments: Requested a Uber taxi for prebooked pickup. Uber driver did not know how to drive to the prebooked pickup point. Then cancelled taxi after calling the driver and the drivers use of English insufficient for me to be able to guide him in to pick me up. Then requested second Uber taxi, again the driver could not find the pickup point (these are the prebooked slots in Paddington near the black cab racks. I then called the driver to guide him in, he had better English and I was able to guide him in. Picture taken of 2nd drivers license.

EXAMPLE 3 - 25/01/2018

Comments: I travel every week and as usually I took a black taxi from the airport home. The taxi driver could not speak english, did not know the address. He drove dangerously, coming all the time on the side roads. There was no traffic and the journey took 18 min. When I arrived he asked me to pay £68 pounds. I was shocked because usually I pay between £34-45. When I took my card he said it is cask only. I did not have cash so he became aggressive. Open the door took my card, press himself 10% tip and forced me to pay £75. Absolutely dreadful experience. Could you please handle this complain ASAP? I have attached his plate number and the receipt.

EXAMPLE 4 - 19/02/2018 (call notes)

MOP has called in to report a minicab driver that the MOP was unhappy with.

The driver picked up the MOP from their local dentist to Finchley memorial Hospital at 10:30 am on 19/02/18. The MOP states that the driver could not understand English and did not know the area very well and he did not have sat nav. Because of this, the MOP was late to an appointment.

She says that she told the driver the best way to go but he ignored them and carried on driving. He did a U-turn on the N-Circular, avoiding an incident twice. After telling the driver he could not do a left turn in this area. The MOP feels as if the driver was very unsafe. She bounced around the car violently during this U-turn..

She phoned the minicab rank twice after this to find out details of the driver so she could report him, however the rank refused to provide information.

The only details the MOP got was the colour of the car, Silver. The Name of the minicab rank, Arnos grove cars and their number: 0208 361 6666.

She would like us to contact the rank and the driver and have the spoken to about their behavior and their standards.

EXAMPLE 5 – 22/03/2018

Comments: Driver asked if I had cash and if I wanted to go to a cash machine - he doesn’t like Cards, he asked me if I knew how expensive my journey was - he could sense I had had a few drink and took advantage. He took a long and bizarre route taking well over an hour and drove well past where I wanted to go then asked me for directions. He spoke broken English so I had to shout slowly so he could finally understand me. He didn’t listen to me and dropped me streets away from where I had repeatedly (at least 5 times) told him where I was wanting to go. He made me feel uneasy and charged me £60 for a journey that should have cost nearer £40 - especially as it’s not my fault he got lost. He called me a fat bitch once he finally unlocked the doors and let me out. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable in all my life. I can send proof of the charge once this shows on my bank statement. I did manage to get a photo of the cab as it drove away.

Example 6 - 30/05/2019

My husband and I requested to be taken to Highbury with this driver numbered above in the Taxi Rank @ Victoria Station on 24/05/2019 @ approximately 11.10pm. He said Streatham? His English wasn’t very good & I repeated several times North London, Arsenal, Highbury Barn and gave the postcode. He still didn’t seem to understand & was again mentioning Streatham and Highbury Road. I told him that was South London and we want to go North and I’ve given him the postcode! I went to the next cab in the Rank with the first driver aggressively claiming in broken English that if you don’t go places can’t remember! We have lived in London for 50 years and I try to support the black Cab drivers but I cannot believe that this man could possibly have done ‘The Knowledge‘ as he had such a poor grasp of English and the geography of London and didn’t recognise a postcode when I gave it to him as being North London. Can it be possible that he was not the registered driver?
Second cab driver took us to our destination without a problem.

Example 7 - 11/07/2017
We shared a taxi with a lady and 2 children. She was due to go to Notting Hill but then got out at Southfield's and paid £10. We carried on to Kings Cross and total fare was £51.20. As £10 was paid by the lady we assumed the fare was £41.20. The driver spoke broken English but his licence is [REDACTED] and insisted we pay the £51.20 but we couldn't work out why because his English then became atrocious and incomprehensible to two British citizens. We are very unhappy and expect this to be followed up and a full explanation given to us. We would also like our £10 back. He did not have to go off his route at any point so I find it staggering that he could charge her £10 then us £51.20 when the total fare was £51.20. We feel we have been fleeced and its a wonder why black cab taxi drivers are scared of Uber when they treat customers like that. Very poor.

Example 8 - 29/08/2017

I'm appalled that a black cab driver I booked this morning [REDACTED] did not know the location drop off for the Gatwick express. He wanted to drop at the main Victoria station claiming he had never been to the Express drop off. I directed him but he had such as poor understanding of English I almost missed my connection. How on earth can you give someone with such limited knowledge of London a Black taxi licence. London cabbies are world renowned for their knowledge thus person failed.

Example 9 - 08/09/2017

I requested a Uber mini cab as above, when. the vehicle did not arrive I telephoned the driver but he was either unwilling to find me or he English was so poor he did not understand. He then told me he was cancelling the job. Uber have since charged me £5 cancellation fee when the fault was with Uber and its driver. I have complained to Uber.

Example 10 - 28/11/2018

Comments: The driver does not speak sufficient English. A fellow passenger tried to communicate with him on multiple occasions and he was unable to communicate with her. This is a major safety issue.

If this is not the information you are looking for please feel free to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
[email protected]

Back to top

---