In message
, at
01:16:30 on Wed, 14 Sep 2011, Neil Williams
remarked:
I'll never forget landing at Gatwick several years ago, after an
extended spell away, and finding every ATM on site was out of action. I
had to get the taxi driver to stop at a motorway services so I could get
some cash (doubly irritating as they generally have quite a high fee).

Taxis are an irritating example of a high value product for which
cards are generally not accepted. This is a real annoyance; I would
be much more inclined to use them if I could pay by card rather than
worrying if I have the right change for a high-value transaction.

I cannot think of any other transaction where I'd spend £31 (the price
of a private hire taxi from MK to Luton Airport; the £1 is the drop-
off fee) and would choose to pay cash for it. I pay by card whenever
it is an option, and definitely for anything over a tenner or so.

The taxi industry really needs to catch up.

I think part of the problem is that it's not an "industry" but an
amalgam of self-employed drivers working though a brand-name booking
agency. The individual drivers not having either the status nor
inclination to become credit card merchants in their own right.
--
Roland Perry