Twice in one week? Really?

Last Thursday I waited two hours for a Yellow Cab to pick me up from a friend's house and take me home, even though it was a sober cash fare and an easy route. But Thursday is the night the kids from the University of Kentucky go out and party at the clubs. I finally got home at 2:45 am and couldn't sleep, then went to work like death warmed over the next morning, managed to make it to 5 pm, and then came home and slept 15 hours.

Tonight I went over to the same friend's house to work on a project. I called the Yellow Cab company at 1 or 1:30 but they didn't answer the phone so I called the only other cab service in town, Mr Taxi. Initially, my experience with them was better. The dispatcher called after about 45 minutes to update me and apologise for not being able to get a cab out yet. But I waited, yet again, about 2 hours total before getting anyone to pick me up, and got a new guy who couldn't find the house, was lost without a GPS, and when I got home (despite it taking 2 extra dollars for the 'short way' I normally take), informed me that he could not run a credit card. I'd specifically asked for a cab that could do this. I told him my bank was nearby, made note of the meter (which he did not turn off), and then directed him to the bank and back. I explained how much the meter had been, and I was willing to pay that plus tip (about $15 total), which he didn't want to go for. He called the dispatcher, who apologised and said yes, it was his fault, he knew I needed a credit card method, but perhaps they could take down my card information and run it the next day on another driver's system. I wasn't about to do this with my credit (really, debit) card information, so I just handed him the $20 bill and said, fine, here. Once inside my apartment, I called the cab company and lodged a complaint. The dispatcher said he would talk to his supervisor in the morning to see if they could issue me a refund for the overpayment. I seriously do not expect anything to come of that, although if it does, I will consider using their service again. As it stands, unless someone at least calls me about the situation, I will sleep on my friend's rug rather than be jerked around like this again.

I really hate that Lexington only has two cab companies. Ever since All-American Taxi went out of business, there's just Yellow Cab/Wildcat Taxi and Mr Taxi. There seems to be no real need on anyone's part to provide speedy and good service. I'm a very undemanding fare, always tip well, etc. It's annoying enough that in one week I've paid more in cab fare than an entire month's bus pass costs. It's worse that these people can't seem to get their acts together and their service was incredibly inconvenient.

Grrrrr.....