taxi-cab2.jpg
The reviews online are scathing: rider after rider who claims a Seattle taxi driver berated them for not paying with cash. But at least one cab company wants to make things easier. (AP Photo/file)

Yellow Cab to change the way you pay fares

BY Brandi Kruse  on December 11, 2012 @ 11:22 am (Updated: 8:07 pm - 12/11/12 )

The reviews online are scathing: rider after rider who claims a Seattle taxi driver berated them for not paying with cash.

"Don't try to pay with a credit or debit card or you will either be given attitude or denied service completely," wrote one reviewer.

"He had the audacity to complain about me using a card. In fact, he tried to tell me he didn't take cards and that he'd have to charge me fare to go to an ATM," another review read.

Although all of the Seattle-area's major cab companies claim to accept debit and credit cards, some won't do so without voicing their displeasure.

KIRO Radio took 10 cab rides around the downtown area with various companies including Yellow Cab, Orange Cab and Eastside for Hire. Of those, eight drivers complained when given a debit card for payment.

"You don't have cash?" a Yellow Cab driver asked when dropping us off in Pioneer Square.

"No cash?" said another driver for the same company. "Are you sure you don't have cash?"

He sighed and shook his head.

An Eastside for Hire driver, however, gladly accepted payment in the form of a card for a $6 ride from Belltown to Lower Queen Anne.

Puget Sound Dispatch, which handles the city's 554 Yellow Cabs, claims it does not receive a lot of passenger complaints about drivers who refuse to accept cards.

"From my perspective, I don't see it very often," said Jim O'Malley, dispatch manager for Puget Sound Dispatch. "Cash and credit cards are treated the same."

But drivers are forced to pay a fee if they accept payment via card, which could explain why some prefer cash.

"Just like if you're using a credit card anywhere - any business - there is always a fee," O'Malley said. "And the driver pays the fee because he is the businessman."

On the bright side, the process of using a credit or debit in card in a Yellow Cab is about to get easier. O'Malley said Puget Sound Dispatch will install backseat payment systems in all of their cabs within the next 15 months.

Currently, Yellow Cabs drivers must make a physical copy of your card for their records before they can swipe it.

Brandi Kruse, KIRO Radio Reporter
Brandi Kruse is a reporter for KIRO Radio who is as spontaneous and adventurous in her free time as she is on the job. Brandi arrived at KIRO Radio in March 2011 and has already collected three regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her reporting.
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Comments (11)


  • Add A Comment

  • Oly80 wrote...
    more stories like this, please...
    December 11, 2012 11:33 am
    where you expose bad business dealings with actual research!

    i LOVE that stuff!

    gotta love the idiot from one company: "oh! we've never heard that our cabbies complain from any of our customers!"

    RIGHT.

    i also LOVE that 8/10 cab rides KIRO Radio took complained! that's bold faced proof that this isn't a minor thing. i've had it happen too, when you give them a card and they go on and on about wanting cash instead.

    this is all GOOD. it's time to call these suckers out! NO TIPS for the jerkwads who complain!

    keep these stories coming KIRO!!!

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • boyerbl wrote...
    Avoiding the tRS
    December 11, 2012 12:04 pm
    I suspect that most drivers don't report all cash income like tios.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • doubleogordo wrote...
    BINGO!!
    December 11, 2012 12:27 pm
    this is the MAIN REASON. Come on people...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Matt Lattanzi wrote...
    the 3% fee
    December 11, 2012 2:12 pm
    that the cabbie will have to pay the CC company processing fee is why they are moaning. Added up and it is a chunk of cash they are losing
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DonVigo wrote...
    Yeah, merchants get charged for...
    December 11, 2012 3:26 pm
    ... Processing credit and debit cards... As they have for what, the 20 years plastic has been the more common form of payment!? Most retailers either pass the charge onto the customer at the point of sale (gas stations) or just lump it into the price. The taxi industry was far enough behind the times accepting that payment in the first place... They should probably adopt some retailer's best practices.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • imanegro wrote...
    DonVigo
    December 11, 2012 4:59 pm
    You make sense- you from the mid-west?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • awbitf wrote...
    Seattle cabs will soon get with the times
    December 11, 2012 3:05 pm
    I was in Vegas and when you pay with a card they add a $4.00 fee for paying by card.

    Some cabs now charge a different per-mile fare for cards vs. cash (much like gasoline).

    I'm sure we'll see this soon enough.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cash wrote...
    Taxi driver's here are jerks...
    December 11, 2012 5:11 pm
    I can't stand them and the whine about getting business... The only thing is I don't trust them with my credit/debt card...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • The Wiz wrote...
    Jerks...they are Jerks
    December 12, 2012 7:07 am
    I couldn't agree more. It also seems specific to Seattle. I've traveled all over the country and never seen such disdain for customers as we see here in Seattle.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • WallopingWillis wrote...
    Crabby Cab Customer
    December 11, 2012 5:22 pm
    Brandi thank you so much for covering this! I have always had negative experiences cabbing around Seattle, one of my worst was this weekend. He yelled at me when I tried to pay with a card... My roommate had cash and ended up paying, but had I known it's illegal for them to refuse types of payment I definitely would have stuck up for myself. It's really unfair they're bullying patrons into paying with cash so they can make money under the table, why not make them pay taxes like the rest of us? I also would like to refer smart phone users to Uber, which is without a doubt the biggest threat to the crappy product cab companies provide everywhere. With Uber there is no option to pay with cash, only card. Check it out!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • boomshakalaka wrote...
    ...
    December 11, 2012 7:56 pm
    maybe riders should carry a sock full of nickels. ya know, protect themselves in Belltown while paying for their cab ride.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }