Visitors to St Andrews are being warned of rogue taxi drivers intent on ripping-off tourists.
Legitimate taxi firms report customers are complaining of being charged well over the odds for some journeys.
And they claim some unscrupulous drivers are turning up at venues pretending to be from a pre-booked company to steal clients.
James Glen, from St Andrews Taxis, says one of his customers reported being charged £300 for a 10-mile trip to Colinsburgh – normally a £30 fare.
And Trudie Williamson from Club Cars claims someone paid £20 for a six minute journey to the Fairmont Hotel – double the usual fare.
Several other companies have been discussing the issue via a Facebook forum.
And some have reported their concerns to Fife Council’s licensing officers and to police.
‘Customer charged £150 for a £15 fare’
James says unscrupulous drivers were particularly prevalent during last year’s Open golf championship.
He said: “During The Open, some operators were charging up to £150 to go from St Andrews to Leuchars railway station.
“That should be a £15 fare.
“I had someone in my taxi the other week complaining they were charged £65 to be taken to Crail. The fare should be £30.”
Mr Glen also alleges some of the rogue drivers are using the names of established St Andrews taxi companies when collecting clients.
“We’ve been established since 1998, yet they’re showing up at weddings and claiming they are St Andrews Taxis,” he said.
“They hand them a card saying this is the new number. I witnessed it first hand.”
Claim customers are being ‘done’
Trudie has run Club Cabs for 23 years and says her drivers began mentioning issues during the last year.
“Tourists are getting into our cars and reporting their experiences to our drivers,” she said.
“It wasn’t until they got into our cabs and asked the fare that they realised they had been done.
“My own son got into a taxi at St Andrews bus station and went to Lamond Drive, just up the road, and was driven all round the town first.
“I’ve said to him if it ever happens again, get a badge number and report it.”
Trudie says she now takes customers’ phone numbers when they book a cab and drivers text them when they arrive.
“That’s for our peace of mind as well as for the customers,” she said.
‘We need to protect our reputation from these people’
Both James and Trudie advise if a fare seems high to check with an established firm.
Trudie said: “It’s hard to speak about because you don’t know who you’ll offend.
“But we can’t sit back and do nothing.
“We need to protect our reputation from these people.”
Meanwhile, James said some firms were considering getting together to set up a secret shopper-type scheme.
“We’ll get them to take a few rides and tell them what to look out for, just so we can collect evidence to give to the council,” he said.
“Some of the companies have been operating for years and are fed-up with the situation.”
Fife Council investigation
Fife Council’s lead licensing officer Gillian Love said: “We work closely with the police to investigate any complaints and a recent joint inspection actively looked into these allegations.
“If any evidence is found then appropriate action is taken.
“We would urge anyone with concerns to get in touch with our enforcement officer at enforcementofficer@fife.gov.uk.”
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