The cab company owner just announced that all drivers must check in with HQ to get equipped to accept credit cards by the end of February. We will be given carbon forms and mechanical swipe machines. There will be no way to check, instantly, if the card is declined or accepted. It will take two weeks to get our money, and it will be placed against the next lease payment. We also pay HQ a 10% fee on all transactions.
I used to accept cards through another driver who had a merchant account with his bank. After a few declines I quit accepting them. Also, I got tired of all the imbeciles who wanted to use a CC for a ride across the street.
CCs are an absurdly bad deal for drivers. We shouldn't have to accept them. Also, it's not in our contract, so a few drivers are considering refusing, and then suing if their contracts get canceled (fired). I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. If we have to sue and win, keeping our jobs, we'll be given the worst cars in the fleet and suffer untold other miseries. On the other hand, declines only represent a small percentage, and most CC rides are reasonable. To make a stand or not to make a stand, that is the question...
I'll probably just swallow the angst and take the credit cards. It's not THAT big of a deal, and the owner tends to remember people who accept new rules. I have a general policy of going along with employers. It's my option to quit and start my own company any time I wish.
Stories from a night shift cabbie in San Diego, California
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2 comments:
that sounds disgusting. i've gotten accustomed to the credit cards here, but we get charged only 5% which is still unacceptable. and we also check the cards validity through satellite. however, now that everyone is accepting credit cards, customers are starting to piss me off, paying 5.70 and not tipping! and telling me their opinion of why credit cards are good for cabbies, as if they were a better expert on my job. "the only thing bad for cabbies is conversation that wastes my time" that's what i should tell them, but i like keeping people happy.
Five percent would be much better than the 10% I pay. On top of everything else, our system requires us to ask for an address and phone number. Three of four customers have refused that info so far, and I'm not sure if HQ will try to reject the transaction. I hope not. I can't make people give out personal information that they don't have to give out anywhere else they use credit cards.
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