BTV Taxi News

Waterbury, Vermont – August 31, 2010

Police say a taxi driver was drunk on the job. Waterbury police say passengers called for help early Sunday morning, claiming their taxi driver seemed more drunk than they were. Police arrested Michael Weber, 42, of Cambridge, after a breath test showed he was more than twice the legal limit. He was cited to appear in court next month.

Weber was employed by Blazer Taxi Cab at the time of the incident.

Courtesy WCAX

http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=13078587

The following has come to our attention.

The Problem: Some airport taxi operators are turning their meters on before passengers enter their vehicle.

The Immediate Solution.  If, when you settle into an airport metered taxi the meter is already displaying the $8.50 minimum figure(which is correct), request the Operator reset the meter in your presence.  If you are refused, please exit the taxi and hire another who waits for you to get settled in before starting the meter.

[Should time allow, please advise an Airport Ambassador of your reasons for changing taxis, and better yet, take note of the company and please contact BTV Operations Manager, Mr. Rick Varney with your experience, at: rvarney@btv.aero.  He'd be most interested.]

The Why’s.  Some of the Operators are priming their meters in hopes of beating customers out of a maximum of $5.  So we’re only talking short sighted crooked, LOL, but nonetheless the sorts who should be weeded out of the airport, as the airport taxi Operators are quite often Vermont’s first representation to the outside world(whose patronage, frankly, we all rely upon to one extent of another).

How it works.  The $8.50 minimum fare includes up to 2 miles of travel and/or waiting time.  So some Operators who think themselves clever souls have begun starting and then pausing(Time Off) their meter when they calculate that the $8.50 minimum is just about expired.

A sure sign the Operator is cheating you is if the meter begins accumulating dimes as you’re rolling out the exit of the airport.  Meaning the Operator has timed it well enough to get the whole fiver, and more telling, that he/she is practiced!!  In which case, for one reason or another,  ask the Operator to swing back into the airport, then refuse to pay, and immediately report the incident to an Airport Ambassador while requesting the presence of a Burlington Airport Police Officer -if you would please- followed by a note to Mr. Rick Varney, as noted above.

If nothing else, it should develop into an entertaining story you can share for years to come.

At the very least! there will be some “instant karma” as the Operator will lose your fare and thus the hours spent awaiting his turn.  Followed, at the very least -assuming he is not immediately suspended for the remainder of the day or pending a hearing- by having to start over at the back of the queue.

As always, we here at BTV Taxi News subscribe to the premise that it’s the buyers responsibility to beware.  That said, as these sites came to our attention through a trusted source, we hope these links will help you save on your flight costs:

AirFareWatch.com

FareCompare.com

Please enlighten our readers with your experience.

In the flood of media information that has nothing to do with your life, perhaps you missed the news about the new Airline Passengers Bill of Rights the U.S. Congress has been taking the credit for.

Whatever your situation -whether you are a jaded frequent flyer or merely the occasional victim- you owe yourself to stop by FlyersRights.org to learn about all the new resources and options available to flyers.  The big splash being flyers must be allowed off an airliner after 3 hours of non flight … but there’s more.

Should you care to hear interviews with two of the heroines who provided sustained impetus for the enactment of the Airline Passengers Bill of Rights, simply follow the link option below you find most suitable.

Access the on demand archives or download the podcast. Either instance will require choosing Jan., 2010, followed by selecting hours 2 and/or 3, of the 19 Jan.(011910 +2 or 3, designating the program hour).

Both interviews require perhaps 90 minutes, the latter 30 minutes in hour 3 being devoted to Muslim issues as represented by a Muslim woman whose carry-0n containing multi-generational family jewelry disappeared while in airline custody.  Both ladies are well worth listening to, especially if you want to be inspired by a story of common people achieving uncommon results (which should benefit us all!!).

Montpelier – As of this Wednesday past, the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles announced the names of a couple of fraudulent web sites intent on separating Vermont driver license holders from their cash.  In essence, a couple of fake sites were set up in order to collect credit card information of those wishing to renew their Vermont Drivers License online.

When you want to do business with our DMV utilizing the internet, accept no substitutes: www.dmv.state.vt.us.

For tips on information security, visit the Vermont Information Security Web site at itsecurity.vermont.gov.

We’re not going to bother with the names of the crooked sites, but we do tip our hat in thanks -first & foremost- to the observant citizen(s) who enlightened DMV of this scam; who thereafter spread the warning!