Payment Options, and the City Of Airdrie Taxi Bylaw

At SOFO Cabs – Airdrie Taxi, we strongly believe in transparency. we want to help inform you; the wonderful members of the Airdrie Alberta community. About the taxi bylaws, in this series of blog posts we will discuss everything from Taxi Rates, to the equipment used, in Airdrie Cabs as set forth by the City of Airdrie Bylaw.

Today’s blog post, will be directed at the mandatory payment options; that Taxi’s in Airdrie are required to have, no exceptions!

You might not realize it, but Taxi companies in Airdrie are actually excessively regulated, and as a result the city of Airdrie has given us quite the list of rules & processes to follow. Of course we do our absolute best to follow each of these rules to the letter, we do realize and hear quite often that some of the competition; doesn’t exactly follow all the rules set forth by the City of Airdrie; and that’s exactly why we want to create this blog series. So that you can gather as much information as possible, to protect not only yourself, but also your hard earned money!

So what are your options when it comes to payment? well, simply put. ALL common forms, ( Cash, Debit, Credit ) 

Each Taxi operating in Airdrie is required by law to have a operational debit terminal, this means that a driver or Taxi company can not force you to pay cash, we’ve heard this story many times.

A Taxi passenger gets to the end of their trip and wants to pay by Debit, Visa, Mastercard or Amex; only to be told that the driver doesn’t have a machine, or perhaps the debit terminal has died, at this point the driver will instruct the passenger that they have to pay cash. But what happens if you don’t have cash on you? Living during the COVID – 19 Pandemic has steered a lot of people away from cash, and as a result not everyone has it.

Well from the nightmare stories we have heard from our passengers, the Taxi Driver will force you to take a trip to a ATM and pull cash, but what’s even worse and truthfully despicable, is that the driver will keep the meter running on this passenger while they take the trip to the ATM. Doesn’t make much sense does it? To charge the passenger a additional fare because your equipment isn’t operational as it should be?

 

How do you protect yourself?

Step one, is educating yourself. You are here reading this so you’ve already taken a step in the right direction. We want to educate you on the rules and regulations that not just apply to us here at SOFO Cabs – Airdrie Taxi. But to all Taxi Cab Companies operating within the city of Airdrie.

The bylaw around payment options is very clear, all Taxi Cab companies MUST have a working debit terminal. If they can not accept your card payment, then legally you as the passenger do NOT have to pay the fare. We as the company are responsible for maintaining our equipment, to ensure you as the passenger receive the most convenient, safe & reliable service.

at SOFO Cabs – Airdrie Taxi, are committed to providing you with the absolute best service. We didn’t start this business to be second best! With that goal comes hand in hand the need to educate you; as the consumer you essentially decide our fate as a company. Poor service and reputation won’t get us very far. We work hard everyday to build, and maintain our relationship, and reputation with the community members of The City of Airdrie.

I hope this blog post has given you some information, you may not have previously known. We have more coming your way to consistently  help educate and protect you.

 

Bonus information 

Be sure to check us out on facebook @ www.facebook.com/airdrietaxi

Do you travel a lot? looking for ways to save on those travelling expenses? lucky for you we here at SOFO Cabs – Airdrie Taxi have created the SOFO VIP membership program. Join us today & save 10% on all future trips.

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Thanks for reading : )