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I'm not trying to stir the pot here but if you book a private ride with a driver and for some reason they combine you or your party with another should both party's be charged for a private ride? This has happened to family members of mine and also others that I've talked to. At least 2 of the drivers advertise on here. Since we are talking about taxis lately maybe we should get this out in the open and address how this should be handled when this situation happens. Any thoughts?
maybe someday there will be a taxi or bus or trolley service for tourist and expats in Negril.....
but for the time being.....it is ......what it is.....
Cool Runnings, Marko
Linston would never do that and if he did I'd have his hide.....
Good to know captaind.
As we have spoken to many of the drivers, both on and not on Negril.com's Transportation section, there are cases where a second party will show up at the same time they have already booked a pick up.
If a plane is hours late, the original passengers may arrive at the same time as the second passengers arrive. This can occur and is no one's fault. Also, not all visitors make reservations in advance and they will see their driver "friend" when exiting the airport and pretty much expect a ride. A driver should never book two "private rides" at the same time because they are obviously not private rides.
If that case occurs by accident/delay, we tell the drivers to use their common sense. When the first passengers arrive, ask them if they mind sharing a ride. If they do not want to share a ride, the driver should arrange another driver for them and wait for the second set of passengers and take them as a private ride.
Should the first set of passengers agree to share, then when the second set arrives, they should be asked if they would mind sharing a ride. At no point should any undue pressure be used by the driver, the passengers expect a private ride and deserve it.
If the second set does not want to share, then the driver should find a separate driver for one of the two parties. If the second set approves of sharing the ride, then the everyone should get in the with the driver and his price should relate the same cost as would apply to that number of people, not the cost of two separate private rides.
If the driver's price is us$60 for 1 to 3 passengers, and $20 for each additional passenger, then the total for two separtate parties of two each would be us$80 (60+20) - not us$120 (60+60).
That pricing sound right. But in the instances I know of they were charged the originally quoted 65$. One was my sister inlaw who was going back to the airport and the other was my mom and dad who were combined with another couple and charged the full boat. I was also private messaged by another board member who had this happen 2 out of 5 times. We usually come down for an extended time and I've heard this happen before without the price reduction. Like I said I'm not stirring the pot just trying to bring the situation to light without mentioning names.
Private ride means just that - a private ride. That is they way the drivers should handle the situation - be it from or back to the airport.
How about rides once in town? Say from the beach to the cliffs? We have friends joining us this year, so it would be good to know what the protocol is.
Heater,
That is negotiable. And the more you use the same driver, the less the price can become. If the going rate for a couple is us$15, then the maximum could only be $30 - but you could probably settle rather easily on $20...
And always negotiable BEFORE getting into the charter taxi, not afterwards...
Rob...is that $15 fare for a round trip say cliff to beach and back? Or one way? Also, as a single is that a good rate? I have mostly used route taxis but thinking about using a private driver for my everyday needs this year. I just want to know what a fair negotiating point is to start where we all can walk away happy! thanks
Thank You Rob, we have been using the same driver since 2006, but have never had friends join us. So that would be $20 to $30 one way or round trip?
Butch and Heater,
That was purely an example for simplicity. I said IF the going rate is us$15, not that the going rate IS us$15. Here is what I wrote in another thread about what happened to Hussyband and why not to use route taxis:
The new route taxi price has settled at j$130 per leg.
Let's take an example of going from the beach to cliffs by a normal route taxi, and not chartering a ride. For a couple, the cost to get from the beach, lets say from the Coco La Palm area to the roundabout would be j$260 and the driver has to stop and pick up other passengers and let them off where they desire. Once at the roundabout, you now have to get out of that taxi and look for a different route taxi that will run up the West End. The cost from the roundabout to a place on the West End, lets say Jenny's would be another j$260. This makes the one way trip j$520.
To return it would be another j$520, and you have had to change taxis twice now and have been in 4 different taxis total with an unknown number of different passengers. The total cost would be j$1060, or about us$11. This is how route taxis operate and it is the cost that Jamaicans pay every single day.
You can charter that same roundtrip ride from anyone in our transportation section or on any of other numerous websites or even from the red plated driver parked outside your hotel, as has been pointed out above, for between us$15 and $20 per couple.
You do not have to change taxis, you are the only ones in that single vehicle and you are using a single driver.
Considering the cost to get the airport or parking your car in long term parking, the roundtrip airfare, the cost to get to Negril and back to the airport and the cost of your hotel while you are here, only you can make the judgement on how important that us$4 to $9 is to you and your partner's sense of well being.
Prices make sense....thanks
So is it still okay to use a taxi if it has a red plate?
Heater,
Please read this thread in its entirety (link below). And ALL taxis have red license plates. Any other color plate means that the are NOT a taxi at all...
http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...d-to-Hussyband
I pay $10 max for a private ride each way from cliff to beach and vise versa. Route taxis are a different story. When the route was $100J each leg, and the beach to cliff is two legs, I offer up $500J for a route taxi. That's $400J for the both routes for two people and $100J extra for not making me get out after the first route and secure a ride for the second route. The vast majority of the time the driver is good, sometimes they counter with $600J. If you do not like the price, vibe, etc just walk away. Another taxi will be by really quick and you can start the process over.
We travel with our daughter, so we always use the same driver or the free shuttle from wherever our destination is. We have three people meeting us in Negril this year, so I was just curious as to what we should expect to be paying. I will just ask our driver when he gets us from the airport.