Lynne Lenhart’s daughter had her $140 iPod taken from her on a recent visit to New York. The thief was a taxi driver who remains at large, with the apparent blessing of the government and the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission.
This sad — and apparently unsolvable — case raises some important questions about the use of credit cards. I’ll get to those in a moment. But first, let me hand the mic over to Lenhart.
My 20 year-old-daughter recently visited New York City by herself, and had a bad taxi experience that I am still furious about.
After the driver took her to JFK airport to catch her flight home, she tried to pay using her credit card. She had been using her credit card to pay for all her taxi cab rides.
This time the card was not approved. She knew that she had enough money on the card to pay for the ride, so she called up the bank to find out what was wrong. They agreed that she had enough to pay for it but the driver’s machine used for the credit cards was not working. All the numbers were not going over either due to an equipment malfunction or a bad signal near the airport.
The driver got mad and called the Port Authority. When they got involved, they told her that if she couldn’t pay, then they would have to “book” her.
She was humiliated and scared that she was going to be arrested. They told her that she would have to give him something and she was forced to give the driver her $140 iPod to pay for a $50 cab ride. It feels, to me, like she was the victim of a shakedown. She got the taxi driver’s number.
I have shared this experience with friends and family and they are all disgusted and not planning on vacationing in New York any time soon. Is there anyone that I can contact about this situation or is this the way things are done in New York?
I recommended that Lenhart write a brief, polite letter to the Port Authority and the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, requesting the return of her daughter’s iPod. Here’s what happened:
I heard from the Port Authority by phone and e-mail. They apologized and asked for more information. I sent them what my daughter remembered. Since my daughter did not get the names of the officers, they are unable to pursue it further and consider the case closed.
I heard from the Taxi Commission. They brought the driver in to interview and after discussing the case with the driver and their legal department, it was decided that I would have to deal with the driver on my own. They said that since he was forced to accept the iPod as payment, by the Port Authority, they were under no obligation to force him to return it. They gave me his phone number. However, after repeated attempts, I have been unable to contact him.
I called the Taxi Commission a few days ago, to see if they could help me and have received no response. Then I contacted the Port Authority and found out what they had decided. All they could do was give me the name of the taxi cab company.
Is Lenhart out of options? I think small claims court might be her daughter’s next stop, although it might not be worth the effort.
The bigger question here is: What happens when a travel company can’t accept your credit card because of equipment problems? The cab driver in Lenhart’s case should have been able to accept an imprint and a signature. Confiscating her iPod was unnecessary.
The taxi driver should free the iPod and accept her $50 as soon as possible.
Via Elliot
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
winky 01.20.09 at 9:08 am
The driver should have taken her to an ATM where she could have taken a cash advance and paid him. This, in my opinion, is criminal behavior by the driver.
I am a NYC taxi driver and I encounter ths problem a lot with credit cards at the airport. What I do when someone gets in and requests JFK is to pay up front, or, if they are uncomfortable doing that, i cut the meter as soon as we hit the airport because the signals there do screw up the card system as well as the GPS.
Yet another reason to hate drivers. It is idiots like this that give all of us a bad name. I don’t care what people say about taxi drivers, they are their own worst enemy.
Abie 01.20.09 at 3:03 pm
If this story is true as written. Then there is a lot of blame to go around.
But keep in mind that this is just one side of the story.
The only conclusion you can draw from this is that there has to be some kind of back-up procedure for when these circumstances arise.
It is the passengers responsibility to pay the fare. If the equipment for CC usage fails then and cash is not available, the passenger is not to blame. But this shouldn’t relinquish their lawful responsibility to pay.
It seems to me that the old paper method of gathering CC information with proper ID from the passenger should then be available. As long as the driver attempted to use the equipment and the passenger did so also, neither should have to go through what was described in this story. There should be a form for the passenger to sign with all the CC information recorded by good old pen and ink.
As for the PA police, if the report is true then shame on them.
As for the TLC, if the report is true, then shame on them.
As for the driver, if the report is true, then shame on him.
If this entire story is true then the passenger should be given a public apology by the TLC, the Driver and have her i-POD returned or the value there of. The taxi driver should them be paid the proper fare.
These situations must not happen any more!!!
Gil Avineri 01.22.09 at 12:27 am
Cash money and taxicabs. A marriage made in heaven. Add credit cards and you have an oxymoron.
CAB DRIVER 01.29.09 at 10:37 pm
Well, i am a cab driver in NYC as well, if i drive you to the airport which takes about an hour of my 12 hour shift and costs me money on gas , then i expect to be paid for the ride. the credit card system which was forced into us by the city does not work well around JFK airport just like any cell phone. what do you want me to do ?? say oh sorry don’t worry about it !!! i need my money since that is how i earn my living. you will have to give me anything till you mail me my money (i have done that couple of times) then once i get your money order i will be happy to mail your item back to you. I am not letting you go without paying me. Card inprint with a signature are not allowed by the TLC commission under no circumstances. you people have to understand we pay $600 a week for that yellow cab to drive and make a living , we have families to support as well
First Prius Cabbie 02.18.09 at 12:30 pm
My CC reader always works at JFK. Whenever a card is rejected the passenger blames the machine. In each instance when another card is used it works. The passengers self serving statement that there was enough money is not credible. The driver surely would have known his reader was not working if that was really the case. Passengers who try to beat a large fare by blaming what has turned out to be a good system should be arrested. That is the law. Cabbies work hard and deserve to be paid. “Your machine doesn’t work so I dont have to pay you, bye”. Come on are you kidding. Personally I would have held the I Pod and returned it when I got paid. As far as signal problems go there aren’t any. All transactions that can’t go through because of signal problems are store forward and the driver is guaranteed payment no matter if the card is good or not. Perhaps if Lynns daughter knew about the store forward signal fail safe feature she would not have told such a bad excuse about calling a bank that somehow knew about numbers not going through. And why is mom involved? Sounds like mom may have a daughter with some infantile problems. In closing I would like to thank all the police that have helped me get paid when the going got rough. It still amazes me how the cops seem to bend over backwards to help us get our loot. Regards to all, First Prius Cabbie
First Prius Cabbie 02.18.09 at 1:16 pm
PS: As far as her family and friends being so disgusted that they are not going to visit NYC soon because of this what plans if any have been cancelled? If they are so “disgusted” that they are not coming here why dont they write themselves? Surely such an important incident is reason for these “family and friends” to write themselves or are you the official spokesperson for everybody? Under careful scrutiny your letter and complaint fall apart. There are laws about calling someone a thief. It is called libel. The bank told her daughter over the phone the machine was broken. Where did these calls take place? Calling an 800 # from a cab to a bank and getting a live person that knows about balances,broken machines and bad signals. Lady, you are not fooling me. I suspect that you are a chronic complainer. What other letters have you written for yourself and your family and friends? I urge everyone to just ignore this story teller. Next time just pay the fare. It is that simple. Regards, First Prius Cabbie
Mark 02.18.09 at 1:24 pm
Well Said!
Tom 03.25.09 at 4:04 pm
I think the driver did a good job. In a situation like that your wasting the time of the driver, and as a result thats what happens if you cant pay. you need to think of better ways to prepare next time.
Cab Rider 03.27.09 at 8:28 pm
First Prius Cabbie, You have to be kidding me. I ride in NYC taxis and use the credit card machines every day. About 1 out of 6 times, the machines do NOT work. I always have PLENTY of credit left on my cards – as in, I have $15,000 and above credit limits and NEVER go above $3000 per billing cycle. So don’t tell me it is usually your passengers’ credit cards that are the problem. How often do YOU try to use YOUR credit card in cab machines? Not often, I’d guess, or you would know first-hand about the REAL PROBLEM being the machines. I use these machines 2-3 times per day. Due to the nature of my job, I need to be in many places in the city during the day and often need to take cabs to get to my jobs on time. Winky is right. NYC taxi drivers are their own worst enemy. I am horrified by the way many cab drivers act toward their customers. It’s nothing short of disgusting. Drivers’ constant cell phone talking while they have passengers is only one of MANY major problems. the Taxi and Limousine Commission needs a major overhaul.
Kaycee 03.28.09 at 8:51 am
As far as I know, – incase of signal problems – (for fares up to $25) the information is stored and relayed later and the passenger can walk with their receipts that does not show any approval codes. The credit processing service takes a chance with a couple of transactions that are under $25.
When the signal is good the machine relays those backed up information. At that point, whether or not the card is good – the driver is guaranteed for that fare that was under $25. However, the system can only store a few (3-4) transactions. So if the system is down for a long time then it cannot relay those backed up stored information and as a result any new transactions cannot be stored nor processed and thus they would then be rejected.
However, for fares $25 and up – it is a different story. The system must get an approval codes on spot and the driver is required to get a signature. The credit-processing center does not want to take any chance with bigger transactions. So the system contacts the credit card’s bank instantaneously to get approval codes. With the system down – the card can be rejected.
So, if the signal is bad or the system is down or the passenger’s card’s magnetic stripes are somehow unreadable by the card reader – then you can have such situation where the card is rejected. NOT to mention that the card could be bad as well (meaning over the limits, previous unresolved disputes etc.).
I have heard about situations where a passenger had disputed the fare for an earlier ride that is run by the same cab company or the same credit processing company and then she tried to use the same card in a different cab on a different day and got rejected. But she could use a different card. Maybe that company doesn’t want to go through the same passenger’s practice of disputes all over again so, they blacklisted that particular card!
I am not sure if they are really blacklisting such people or their credit card numbers once they have a problem with them but I think it is possible that they do keep some kind of record for chronic disputers.
As far as this incident is concerned –
1) The cab driver could have arranged to have her ipod shipped back as soon as he got paid.
2) The passenger could have requested to go to a bank and get money there (if her card was really good). There is a citibank inside the JFK airport area. There are atms inside the airport terminals, so the PA police could have escorted her to one of those machines to get cash.
3) There should be a manual way to do the transaction by calling some 800 number. I have seen some small businesses do that (businesses that sell stuff on the carts inside the mall). It that case the driver could have call the credit processing center and get his approval code manually through the phone. I am not sure why they don’t have that available!!!
Bottom line is – don’t jump into a cab without being able to avail a secondary method of payment – incase the credit machine doesn’t work properly.
max 03.28.09 at 9:09 am
good