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Ever since cabs introduced credit card machines it's been nothing but trouble. The latest horror story has an absurd spin, however. Allegedly a 20-year-old girl was visiting the Big Apple when a cabbie stole her iPod. The story goes like this, as told by the girl's mother:
After the driver took her to JFK airport to catch her flight home, she tried to pay using her credit card. She had been using her credit card to pay for all her taxi cab rides. This time the card was not approved. She knew that she had enough money on the card to pay for the ride, so she called up the bank to find out what was wrong. They agreed that she had enough to pay for it but the driver’s machine used for the credit cards was not working. All the numbers were not going over either due to an equipment malfunction or a bad signal near the airport.While it has the sound of an urban legend, there might just be a part of the story that's missing. Like the part where the daughter traded her iPod for coke at Marquee. [via NewYorkology]The driver got mad and called the Port Authority. When they got involved, they told her that if she couldn’t pay, then they would have to “book” her. They told her that she would have to give him something and she was forced to give the driver her $140 iPod to pay for a $50 cab ride.
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maybe she should carry cash?
man, do the obvious count as "insightful"?
It is the taxi/driver responsibility to offer the option as a viable option, in this case he did not offer that.
Why would they call the Port Authority? Isn't that the TLC's department? I've been in taxis before and the machine "doesn't work." Then I say that I can call the TLC for them to help them get it fixed. After I start to call 311, the machine suddenly works.
I guess she meant Port Authority police which patrol the airports.
You would hope that you could just use your credit card if the cab has the goddamn machine installed. (a lot of these guys hate these things)
I was talking about the credit card machine in all cabs these days.... then the driver turned off the meter and when we got to the destination the driver said he couldn't use the credit card because he turned off the meter a while back.. too bad this girl didn't just leave the cab.. What is a driver going to do with an ipod full of god knows what. sell it? maybe. learn about a bunch of crappy music, probably.
shit, I didn't mean that I was talking about the machine in the post.... I meant that I was in the back of the cab with some out-of-towners saying things like "yeah you can just pay with a credit card now!" when he turned off the meter.
One is not declined because the machine isn't working...
Typical cop reaction. "Book her." Oh I forgot this was the PA, not the NYPD who always practice "CPR."
umm, the card was declined.
that means another form of payment would be required.
been there, done the embarrassment.
paid cash.
if she had enough money in the card then that's a debit card. whatever she meant by having enough money on the card, is that like credit limit?
there's more holes in this story than dunkin donuts.
I have to believe there are more cabbies who try to avoid credit card transactions than people taking flights that will have their cards declined.
I know for fact that my bank would let that shit slide through and pin a hefty fee on my next months bill later on.
Agreed, this story has way too many holes. "Declined" means the machine worked. Also, she could have told the cabbie to phone it in for Authorization.
No ATM Card? No other credit Card? No ride to an ATM machine? Seems odd. $140 Ipod over what would likely have been a Ticket?
It sounds like a "I heard from a Friend of a Friend" story.
"They agreed that she had enough to pay for it but the driver’s machine used for the credit cards was not working. All the numbers were not going over either due to an equipment malfunction or a bad signal near the airport."
People have laughed at me for years b/c I always carry with me two ipods: the nano and the shuffle. I have the shuffle for the gym and to use when I'm in those ghetto areas where the teens like to do the run-by/ipod snatches. Had this young woman taken the same precaution, she could have used the shuffle ($49) as compensation, and would have been able to enjoy her nano on the plane. So I'll cite this as reason #3 to carry both the nano and the shuffle.
great idea, but why cary two low-GB pods. I guess I'm just a music junkie who feels the need to have a ridiculous library of music available to me at all times. I bet you can find those old long shuffles for less than 50 bucks even .
same drivers that try to tell me they won't take me to certain destinations outside where i am in manhattan? what mthrfer? your light was on, you can't suddenly say no. i'ma put a gun to your piece of idiot head and you'll learn to do your job or get another one. idiot. rude idiot animals. so many are amazing and nice though, this is true.
"Declined" means the machine worked.
But, the original account doesn't say it was declined. It says it "was not approved." That might mean declined, or it might mean that the transaction just failed.
That's one of a couple of places where the story as told doesn't go into enough detail to come to real conclusions (including the conclusions some are coming to here).
Another example: the driver "called the Port Authority." They "got involved" and "told her" they would "book" her. Some people are concluding that means that PAPD officers were on the scene, but the story doesn't say that specifically. Who is "they?" The driver called them and "they got involved" could mean someone at the PA talked to the girl on the phone.
Why would the driver call the Port Autority? More likely he'd call TLC... and maybe he did, and the woman writing this account not being a New Yorker she may be confusing the agencies.
Again, just not enough information.
Good point. If I recall, the TLC has someone there by the curb near the Taxi Line Booth (Might be wrong).
In any case, seems like the making of yet another Urban Legend.
There's enough info. It said she had the $$ to cover the fare but the signal was not going through the machine.
I saw another 20-year old recently pay a $2 cup of coffee with a card. Incredible. Why walk out the house without cash?
because you don't have any. ha!
Why walk out the house without cash?
Because there's rarely a point in ever carrying more than $20 in your wallet for emergency purposes and food carts.
Well, this instance belies your statement.
Did the brain surgeon finally get her ipod back after contacting the cab company or TLC and told them her story or was she dumb enough to not take down the cab's number? What color hair did this woman have? Also from whence did she come?
Wait, did the daughter use this bogus story to hide that she used the ipod to buy coke at Marquee? I'm confused by that last sentence.
And sometimes there are situations where you must use a credit card without backup cash.
A couple of months ago I went out on a weekday, before I did so I checked MTA's site to verify that there were no changes with the F line service. Just before midnight, I went into the Broadway/Lafayette station where I waited for around 50 minutes... turns out there was some problem with the line and the F was not running downtown, I found this out by asking a cleaning person! While I was standing there for almost an hour, NO ONE bothered to announce through the PA about it. Around 1AM I had to go outside and take a cab, I had no backup money. Guess from now on I will ask the driver if the machine works before boarding!
will you also go to the grocery store and ask the store manager if the credit card machine is working before you shop? It's not your problem if you get in a cab with a "broken" card machine and you don't have cash, it's the driver's for not informing you before you get in. A lot of these drivers have a gripe with this technology, any perhaps rightly so, but if they want to refuse you a ride due to lack of cash, let them tell you. Otherwise, sorry.
If it is a bodega or vegetable stand I always ask if they accept credit cards. All too often you will bring your stuff to the counter and the clerk will say, "there is a $15 minimum on credit card." Why anyone would pay for a cab with a credit card is beyond me. Go to the ATM take out $60 and go to town. Unless of course you are cash poor and depend on credit cards to survive. If that is the case, take the LIRR to Jamaica then the Air Train to JFK- much cheaper than a filthy cab poorly driven by some filthy lowlife
true and even cheaper is to take the A to Jamaica and then the air train to JFK. done that and it's not too bad at all.
You could always dial 777-777-7777 or 777-777-7777 or try 777-777-7777 (drivers welcome) and get to the airport in one of their clean chauffeur driven limousines.
any description of the driver?
I believe someone described him as middle eastern or slovak.
Yes, he didn't look like a real American.
1. I believe it is illegal for a cab to have a broken credit card machine. This is not your problem, by simply driving around with a non-functioning machine, the cabbie is breaking the law.
2. It is also against Visa and Mastercard policy for vendors to require minimums on credit card transactions.
If a cabbie had a broken credit card machine, he'd go broke. I'm inclined to believe the cabbie - one way or another, the credit card transaction didn't go through and he wanted payment for the trip. Losing $50 is not to be sneezed at. Getting the cops involved is a good idea.
Taking an iPod as payment is not.
Why lose fares waiting around for a cop to render a Solomonaic decision when you can just take goods in trade? And the girl apparently didn't protest too loudly since she didn't pick up her other ubiquitous accessory and call the cops herself. What a bunch of malarkey, the card machine worked, the bitch lied about her balance and the cabbie got a used iPod which is probably worth a little more than $50. She's lucky she didn't lose her virginity on the trip because she obviously misplaced her brains.
It occurred to me: If I was forced to "pay" with a Brand New IPOD with a receipt of $140, I'd tell the Cop he needs to provide change...
Maybe this was the excuse she used because she lost her iPod?
Like any self respecting hack would take an iPod over 20 y.o. poon.....
I call shens.
that's funny cause it's true, some of those guys are borderline rapists. I never knew that till my female friends told me some of their experience with cabbies.
anyway this really should be a non-story but I guess if you're white, you're right and it's all over the interwebs.
That's because a lot of these guys are from countries where it's OK to harass, fondle and abuse women. Not in my country, dude.
I used a cab the other day with a credit card machine (don't they all have credit card machines now?) The cab driver didn't tell me it was broken—when I tried to use it it didn't work. I had very little cash on me and paid him with what I had, much less than the fare and no tip. Not my fault and I do not feel the least bit of guilt—the cab owners are responsible for the maintenance of the vehicle, this includes the credit card machine.
I ran into a new one a few days ago. Returning home from uptown, the meter ran about $12. I couldn't find the device that the card is swiped in because it was so dark, I tried to turn on the overhead light but it didn't work. I complained to the driver and he replied none of the interior lights worked. I had the exact change so I gave $12.75 instead of the $14 he would have normally gotten. Now I'm sorry I didn't stiff him altogether. I also added a small
flashlight to my house keys.
She must have forgotten her 'reminder' undergarments.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316580,00.html
You should have gotten the medallion number and reported them to the TLC.
Sounds like a 20 year old telling very damaging lies to Mommy about what happened to her expensive toy while demanding a new one. If she had a card the Port Authority Police would have just walked her over to the cash machine; there are tons of them at the airport. Entitled kids that age think nothing of telling lies that hurt and defame others.