Cabby's fury after he's nearly charged £5,500 for dropping passenger at airport
A taxi driver has warned Edinburgh Airport is "raking in a fortune" after the new drop-off zone tried to charge him £5,500.
The man, who is also a union rep for Unite, said he was one of several drivers who were hit by a technical glitch with the system. He claims his vehicle was wrongly calculated to have parked in the short stay drop off from June 1-19, despite him being there for less than ten minutes.
Edinburgh Airport has since reassured travellers that the network has been resolved. However, the man stressed that drivers have been waiting "weeks" for a refund since the airport opened the drop-off zone.
The man said he was nearly charged £5500 (Edinburgh Live)Another driver captured a picture of their charge which was calculated at £2,386 for one day, 15 hours and 55 minutes – this was despite them exiting the space within the allotted ten-minute period. Those dropping off customers or family and friends in the short stay drop off for less than 10 minutes would normally incur a £4/5 fee in June and July 2023.
Commenting on the faulty system, the union rep said: "It happened to me back in June when I dropped off a customer and I was asked to pay £5,500 at the barrier as it had calculated my stay from June 1 until June 19. This was despite me only being in there for a few minutes dropping folk off. I was then charged £302 again about a fortnight ago.
Do you support workers going on strike? Take our poll
“On both occasions, I pressed the button at the barrier and someone let me out. They just said they had been having issues with it.
Another driver was charged £73 for a one hour and 22-minute stay which was actually within the 10-minute drop-off (Edinburgh Live)“Another one of our drivers was charged over £2,000 but didn’t have to pay it again because the contactless knocked back with limits over £100. Unfortunately, a couple of other drivers were stung as they just tapped their cards and later saw the charges.
“They have been trying to get that money back for weeks now. One of them was told that if they try to chase it they will get put back to the end of the queue for a refund." He added that while taxi drivers notice such wrong charges, members of the public may not or would not bother fighting the extra fees.
“I worry folk won’t challenge it and the airport is just raking in a fortune,” he continued. “The way they treat passengers is a scandal. It's as if passengers are an inconvenience as far as they are concerned.
Airport bosses say that the issue of incorrect drop-off fees has been sorted as of July 20. They added that refunds are always offered when fees are incorrect but these take time to process.
A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: “We are aware of a technical issue which affected some drivers using the Pickup & Drop-off area. This was resolved by July 20 and no longer persists. Those affected will be refunded and any queries raised at the exit barrier were resolved at the time. We apologise for any inconvenience.”
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
