Information regarding Taxi desks at Heathrow

[Roger645]

Myself and Mrs 645 came through Heathrow recently and were quoted £45 for a black taxi at the taxi desk by the door to the black cab queue. I questioned the fare and was told that's it so I made other arrangements. I e-mailed TFL and questioned this fare and they confirmed that the fare should have been circa £25, they also sent the following:

[i]Name removed, who operate the taxi information desks in the terminals as well as the website, provide a system whereby customers can pre-pay for taxi fares either on-line or at the desks. These transactions are subject to a credit/debit card administration fee and £3 booking fee which are included in the quoted price. The cost of the fare is calculated using algorithms based on the tariff set by TfL but as metered fares are based on time and distance it is not possible to be wholly accurate and the price quoted may vary from the fare shown on the meter. Under the circumstances, whilst the price quoted may be higher than the expected metered fare, Name Removed provide a facility where customers can claim back the difference between the fare they have calculated and the actual metered fare if the latter is lower.

Alternatively, you can go straight to a rank at any of the Heathrow terminals and hire a taxi directly paying the driver the fare shown on the meter. Any driver should be able to given you an indication of the fare to most destinations. However please be aware that whilst most do, some taxi drivers do not accept card payments.[/i]

We were never informed of this facility to reclaim the difference and have informed TFL of this. So if you need a black taxi from any of the Heathrow terminals go straight to the cars and don't use the taxi desk!

[Puggit]

Only ever prebook a private hire car! Especially if you are heading west out of LHR. The cabs can ratchet the fares right up if you leave Greater London.

[Nickyboy]

I was at a meeting in Slough once and someone arrived in reception whilst i was waiting, they had just paid £65 from Heathrow to just outside Slough. The receptionist said they recommend the local minicab firm to all visitors as they charge less than £30

[TigerS6]

I had to grab a black cab from Heathrow following a significant flight delay.
I took the cab back to the office in Hammersmith, so thats what? 15 miles max?
The damage...
£66.
Absolutely disgusting, I said this to the cab driver and he claimed they pay a concession of 25% the fare to BAA for the privilege of picking up there.

[K50 DEL]

That's just daylight robbery.
I had a need to get a cab from LHR to Melksham in Wiltshire just before Christmas.

Went to the rank and the cabbie didn't know what it would cost, we settled on 120 quid... it's about 89 miles, I didn't think that was to bad.... 66 quid to Slough... outrageous.

[sjg]

I've paid just under £100 for LHR T5 to N4 - about 25 miles. And for some reason, despite "the knowledge" it seems every taxi driver lacks the imagination (or perhaps the desire to reduce a fare) to go on routes other than the M4 into London.

[bigandclever]

Nickyboy said:

I was at a meeting in Slough once and someone arrived in reception whilst i was waiting, they had just paid £65 from Heathrow to just outside Slough. The receptionist said they recommend the local minicab firm to all visitors as they charge less than £30

The argument the black cab drivers use from Heathrow is that their licence doesn't allow them to pick up from outside a certain area - and Slough is well outside that area - so they kind of charge a penalty to the passenger. The meter probably still read about £30... in any case, there is a board by the rank that explains all this and gives illustrative fares.

[Roger645]

bigandclever said:

The argument the black cab drivers use from Heathrow is that their licence doesn't allow them to pick up from outside a certain area - and Slough is well outside that area - so they kind of charge a penalty to the passenger. The meter probably still read about £30... in any case, there is a board by the rank that explains all this and gives illustrative fares.

Probably more helpful if the driver highlighted this when the passenger got into the taxi.

[bigandclever]

Roger645 said:

Probably more helpful if the driver highlighted this when the passenger got into the taxi.

Infinitely more... I got caught by it myself once

More annoyingly, I've just looked at the cost for T1 to O2 on the Bath Road in Slough (because that was my trip) and the online price planner thing reckons it would cost £48.20... considerably less than the £60 I was actually charged.

http://www.heathrowtaxis.org/bookonline/bookataxi

[Roger645]

bigandclever said:

Infinitely more... I got caught by it myself once

More annoyingly, I've just looked at the cost for T1 to O2 on the Bath Road in Slough (because that was my trip) and the online price planner thing reckons it would cost £48.20... considerably less than the £60 I was actually charged.

http://www.heathrowtaxis.org/bookonline/bookataxi

Which is weird as my journey that was 5.7 miles east of LHR was reckoned to be £45, TFL estimate of £25

[mcflurry]

..and are these the same cabbies that moan when competitors such as Addison Lee want to compete?

[Puggit]

LHR - Hammersmith?! Direct on the Picadilly Line

LHR - O2 in Slough? Take train to Hayes and Harlington, and then train to Slough.

[Kudos]

airport taxis in ripoff fare shocker.

£30 for T5 to Bracknell a couple of weeks ago prebooked, chap even waited over an hour for me due to delayed flight

[mybrainhurts]

Puggit said:

Only ever prebook a private hire car! Especially if you are heading west out of LHR. The cabs can ratchet the fares right up if you leave Greater London.

I know a twit who took a black cab from Heathrow to Sheffield and alighted deaf, sore arsed and £495 poorer.

Sheffield to Heathrow private hire can be had for £160.

[bigandclever]

Puggit said:

LHR - O2 in Slough? Take train to Hayes and Harlington, and then train to Slough.

Arrive at 6 in the morning from Sydney and take public transport to work? Fark orf

[Roger645]

bigandclever said:

Arrive at 6 in the morning from Sydney and take public transport to work? Fark orf

Slough station is miles from O2 as well, infant most things are!