How To Run A Taxi Service: Tips About Dealing With Angry Customers

Let's consider a specific example: a regular customer of your taxi servicecalls to book a fare to go to the train station. The cab gets stuck in traffic, is late for the pickup, the client misses the train and is really mad about it.

Situations like this happen in your taxi service on a regular basis. You have to create a list of such situations, situations when something is going not according to the plan, be it angry customers, your drivers getting into accidents, or something else. Then you need to give your dispatchers and drivers clear and detailed instructions about what to do in each and every of these situations.

Let's get back to our example. Your goal should be to keep your customers happy and satisfied. So, usually, what a customer would want in such a situation is to get to the train so that they'll be on time going where they are going.

If the driver could take them to the next train station and so that the customer could still catch the train or maybe even take them to another train line, even if it's further, - in the absolute majority of cases it will make your clients satisfied. Obviously, if your driver is taking somebody to a further location because he was late (and being late was not his fault), such a case the ride should completely be on the house.

Will you lose a little bit of money if you pay the driver from your own pocket for it in this case? Yes, you will. Get over it. It should be no problem if you have 10 drivers and the described situation happens once a week to one driver out of ten. Keeping you customers with you and making them happy so that they come back, use your taxi business again and tell all their friends how great you are, thus bringing new clients to you through referrals is way more important that making a couple of bucks once.

If you have three drivers and they are late for pickups ten times a day, - now you've got a problem. You need to look at the situation and figure out what is going on in your taxi service. Whose fault is it that your drivers are always late? Is it the drivers? The dispatchers? The reservationists? Figure what is going on, fix it and keep your clients happy.