New Southampton/Eastliegh Taxi Company.

[Jeff Le Taxi]

After 12 years working for the same company Fleet Cars the company has now folded.... all, well nearly all the office staff and drivers have decided to chip in together and form a workers co-operative owned by the drivers and staff.

 

Elite Cars 24/7 023 80 404884

 

As you can imagine the first few weeks have been quite hectic and we have generated quite a bit of business as well as keeping most of Fleet Cars contract work, Any extra business would be MUCH appreciated.

[ericofarabia]

Good Luck with the venture.

 

How about offering / advertising special rates for Eastleigh area to SMS (or pub of choice!) on Match Days?

[Liquidshokk]

Having taken on a job working in Europe each week from september I may need a taxi from west end to Southampton airport regularly if I can get a frequent customer discount

[Essruu]

I do note that you have conveniently failed to explain how the owners of Fleet sold their business and then a group of disgruntled drivers and office staff (allegedly) sabotaged Fleet's computer database and took the customer and account customer database. Can you shed any light on this?

 

Without wishing to get into a 'Taxi Wars' argument, can you just clarify for the readers the following:-

 

1) Elite will be licensed by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), yet you have called them a Southampton/Eastleigh company. Is it true to say that Elite will market themselves more to the Southampton City Council (SCC) licensing area rather than looking to operate mainly in your licensing area, in the same way that Fleet did?

 

2) Are your vehicles still going to just adhere to the minimum requirements of EBC in terms of having no limit on the age of the licensed vehicle (unlike SCC licensed vehicles which have to be less than 7 years old) as well as just being subject to one annual Mechanical Inspection (unlike SCC vehicles which have an intensive Mechanical Inspection and a normal MOT test each alternating 6mths) despite the stress and wear that vehicles covering 40k+ miles pa suffer?

 

3) Are all your vehicles fitted with meters set at an agreed tariff by your local licensing authority, or will your fares be charged ad-hoc or from a mileage chart (despite most passengers having no idea of the mileage of their journey or the tariff involved when commencing their hire? I hear so many horror stories of the amounts charged by ECC cars without a meter, that I think people should know where Elite stand on this.

 

I only ask these questions because I feel it is important that people in the Southampton licensing area have some knowledge of the fact that Elite is an ECC licensed company, ECC has lower standards than SCC when it comes to licensing, vehicle age and vehicle condition. You are promoting yourselves as a "Southampton Taxi Company" when of course you're not. Thus, it would be misleading for people to believe that they will be getting the same standards as if they used a Southampton Licensed company.

 

Provided Elite, licensed by Eastleigh, do not follow the Fleet model of trying to encroach on Southampton licensed areas and the bulk of their business sticks to ECC areas, then I wish you well.

[Essruu]

*all of those references to "ECC" should have said "EBC" (Eastleigh Borough Council, by the way.)

[benjii]

I've always found Radio Taxis to be excellent, as long as the driver isn't smelly. But I think a smelly driver is probably a risk common to all taxi journeys.

[hypochondriac]

02380666666. Has never failed me.

[Jack]

Same, I always use Radio Taxis, whether in the Fareham West or Southampton areas. Always on the meter and they don't try to mess you around, as just about EVERY taxi rank cab does.

[SuperMikey]

West Quay Cars b!tch.

[Guan 2.0]

Why are the taxi drivers by Winchester station predominantly Asian? It seems odd for an area that is 99% white.

[Huffton]

I've always found Radio Taxis to be excellent, as long as the driver isn't smelly. But I think a smelly driver is probably a risk common to all taxi journeys.

 

If you think thats bad you should smell some of the passengers....

[Jeff Le Taxi]

Right Ess, i shall try and answer your questions as best and honestly as i can one by one;

 

I do note that you have conveniently failed to explain how the owners of Fleet sold their business and then a group of disgruntled drivers and office staff (allegedly) sabotaged Fleet's computer database and took the customer and account customer database. Can you shed any light on this?

 

It was found out that Fleet was to be sold and broken up by the new owners and all the office staff were to be dismissed and the drivers were to be offered contracts on a percentage basis by the new owners.... seeing as we were to be given ZERO notice of this and the office staff who most of us regard as friends were to be dismissed this was obviously not acceptable to us....

Fleets computer database was NOT sabotaged in any way... but we DID all get together and make lists of all regular jobs and account work so we could go after these, which is perfectly acceptable, after all this work was obtained by the staff and one of our gripes was the lack of advertising investment by the previous regime.

Everything we have done is perfectly legitimate morally and legally otherwise i wouldnt have been involved and Eastleigh Borough Council wouldnt have granted a licence..... any wrongdoing and the previous owner or yourself for that matter are free to inform the licencing authority or police for that matter.

 

1) Elite will be licensed by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC), yet you have called them a Southampton/Eastleigh company. Is it true to say that Elite will market themselves more to the Southampton City Council (SCC) licensing area rather than looking to operate mainly in your licensing area, in the same way that Fleet did?

 

We are licenced by Eastleigh Borough Council and based in Netley, the vast majority of our work is in the West End, Hedge End, Netley, Hamble and surrounding areas, these are all EBC areas but most will class them as suburbs of SOUTHAMPTON... you yourself know Southampton and Eastleigh are intrinsically linked and most jobs involve a start or finish point in one of these areas.

Can you give ONE example of how Fleet Cars or Elite Cars market themselves more to the Southampton CC licencing area? no.. thought not.

 

2) Are your vehicles still going to just adhere to the minimum requirements of EBC in terms of having no limit on the age of the licensed vehicle (unlike SCC licensed vehicles which have to be less than 7 years old) as well as just being subject to one annual Mechanical Inspection (unlike SCC vehicles which have an intensive Mechanical Inspection and a normal MOT test each alternating 6mths) despite the stress and wear that vehicles covering 40k+ miles pa suffer?

 

Our vehicles adhere to the requirements of EBC as that is where we work, Southampton Inspection certificates are not valid in Eastleigh, Southampton cabs havent had six monthly checks for long so are you saying Southampton cabs were unsafe up until a short time ago? Also EBC are in the process of implementing six monthly checks too!

We also in Eastleigh have the added bonus that Youre NOT constantly having your civil rights invaded by being filmed.

 

3) Are all your vehicles fitted with meters set at an agreed tariff by your local licensing authority, or will your fares be charged ad-hoc or from a mileage chart (despite most passengers having no idea of the mileage of their journey or the tariff involved when commencing their hire? I hear so many horror stories of the amounts charged by ECC cars without a meter, that I think people should know where Elite stand on this.

 

YES OF COURSE!! they are set to EBC rates which im pretty sure are LOWER THAN SOUTHAMPTONs we also offer fixed fares for regulars! that means NO meter running up at roadworks and no RIP OFF boundary charges!! Ess ive been in Southampton hackney cabs please DONT try to play the fare card with me!

 

 

Without wishing to get into a 'Taxi Wars' argument!! you surely are joking arent you ? there were some pretty serious allegations in your post.

[Jeff Le Taxi]

Good Luck with the venture.

 

How about offering / advertising special rates for Eastleigh area to SMS (or pub of choice!) on Match Days?

 

An unusually high proportion of our drivers are season ticket holders eric so we are a little stretched at these times (-;

[Essruu]

Hi Jeff,

 

Ok, the word 'sabotage' may have been too strong with regards to the Fleet customer database, but stealing the information of Fleet's customers is plain wrong. I'm surprised that no action is being taken against those responsible, but that's up to the new owners to decide I guess.

 

Fair enough regarding the EBC areas that you cover, but you know as well as I do just how many pubs, shops and social clubs in the (mainly east side of the) SCC licensing district Fleet targeted. I have way of knowing for certain either way whether Elite will or won't try to go after these same businesses and customers in what is a neighbouring district to that which they are licensed in... but I could hazard a guess ;-)

 

Don't get me started on the decline of the hackney service in Southampton, because I agree with you! It's all too easy for them to try and agree a price up front with a pìssed up night time reveller who just wants to get home and doesn't even realise they are being ripped off. I don't know if you have the same problem with the Eastleigh Hackneys, but why anyone would choose to queue at a rank in the cold/rain and then allow themselves to be unwittingly ripped off is beyond me. AND THIS IS A PIECE OF ADVICE FOR ANYONE TAKING CABS: If you're going to jump in a taxi at a rank or flag one down in the street, DON'T agree a price up front, ALWAYS insist that the driver runs the meter. You may get drivers that refuse to, but just threaten to take their plate/badge numbers and report them to licensing. If you don't feel up to doing this, simply refuse to travel and phone a reputable local Taxi/Private Hire company before you even bother rolling up at a rank. Most will arrive before you would have got to the front of the taxi rank anyway!, and all of the larger Southampton firms will insist their drivers run the meter and don't charge boundary charges (unlike the Hackneys.) A lot of people have recommended Radio Taxis in this thread - they are by far the largest fleet of Taxis/PHVs in Southampton, with 265 cars, so customers rarely wait more than 10mins for their car to arrive. Mikey recommended West Quay Cars, and they are ok too, but don't have anywhere near as many cars and you'll often be quoted 1hr+ waits in busy times - also, they run their own tariff, not the Southampton City Council tariff that all Hackneys (when they use their meters!) and most other Southampton Private Hire fleets adhere to. They quote a lower starting price, but it is pointless as they have a minimum fare anyway!, plus for multi-seaters they charge an extra 50% on top of the metered fare, instead of the flat £2 extra that the Southampton tariff stipulates for 5 or more passengers.

 

Also Jeff, you touched on the compulsory TaxiCams in Southampton like they are a bad thing. The main people moaning about them are vehicle owners that just don't want to have to pay for them. The privacy issue is a red herring in my opinion. Virtually all passengers I carry have no problem with them. If anything, people feel reassured when travelling in a cab with the TaxiCams, especially lone females who might otherwise be wary of travelling. It's protection for both the driver and passengers to prove what happened during the journey should the need arise, saving the risk to drivers of false allegations or runners, and to passengers to have a complaint taking seriously and proved. It's not as if I can just play back recorded images or sound willy nilly - an official complaint has to be made to the police or licensing for them to download and unencrypt the recording for viewing. In the years I've had mine fitted, neither the one in the vehicle I drive, nor in any I rent out have had to be accessed for any reason.

 

Anyway, I repeat, best of luck to you - provided you stick in the main to your licensing area and don't try to encroach too much across the border ;-)

[Thedelldays]

Will never forget a load of us at work were staying at the holiday inn by te rose bowl.

 

We booked a taxi to London rd and when we got in. One of my mates (who is from Newcastle) asked how my that would roughly cost. The response was £40. I told him to do one and that I was from millbrook and would be telling te other 50-odd lads at the hotel a different taxi number.

 

His face was a picture

[Turkish]

And a word of advice. Don't ever get into a taxi with Essruu when he is a passenger with you as he spends the whole journey talking to the driver about this sort of riveting stuff.

[Jeff Le Taxi]

Sabotage is too strong a word but STEALING isnt? dont know who youve been talking to about the goings on at Fleet/Elite cars but you/they are SERIOUSLY deluded.... ive been quite civil with you up until now Ess but if I were you id stop with the silly allegations before you get yourself into trouble, ANY wrong doing feel free to contact the police or licencing authority by all means.

You make out we are a bunch of pirates STEALING information, STEALING work.. driving UNSAFE cars..tut tut I really dont see what you think you can gain from this but the TRUTH OF THE MATTER is we havent done anything wrong legally or morally... we have major contracts with HOLIDAY INN WEST END AGEAS BOWL ... McDONALDS BOTLEY PARK HOTEL... BATH TRAVEL to name but a few...do you think these people deal with the unsafe stealing pirates you portray?

I CHALLENGE ANYONE TO GET A TAXI FROM RADIO CARS ONE DAY AND DO THE SAME JOURNEY THE NEXT DAY WITH ELITE CARS.

I assure you Elite will be cheaper and with a friendlier more helpful driver as our drivers own the company and therefore care more about customer care.

[Jeff Le Taxi]

Will never forget a load of us at work were staying at the holiday inn by te rose bowl.

 

We booked a taxi to London rd and when we got in. One of my mates (who is from Newcastle) asked how my that would roughly cost. The response was £40. I told him to do one and that I was from millbrook and would be telling te other 50-odd lads at the hotel a different taxi number.

 

His face was a picture

 

Which is EXACTLY why they now use ELITE CARS as their one and only taxi firm.... we have fixed fares with them and the hotel and driver keep them fully informed their fare is £15 from the hotel to anywhere from the city centre to the docks. and the same in reverse.

The customers are actively warned not to get in any other cab as most southampton firms have been charging £30 PLUS for the same journey!

[Jeff Le Taxi]

Having taken on a job working in Europe each week from september I may need a taxi from west end to Southampton airport regularly if I can get a frequent customer discount

 

Phone the office for a quote please.. explaining your situation and that you have spoken to Jeff car 27..... im sure we can help you. (seeing as you are a West End resident i hope thats okay with Essruu ;-p )

[Essruu]

Sabotage is too strong a word but STEALING isnt? dont know who youve been talking to about the goings on at Fleet/Elite cars but you/they are SERIOUSLY deluded.... ive been quite civil with you up until now Ess but if I were you id stop with the silly allegations before you get yourself into trouble, ANY wrong doing feel free to contact the police or licencing authority by all means.

You make out we are a bunch of pirates STEALING information, STEALING work.. driving UNSAFE cars..tut tut I really dont see what you think you can gain from this but the TRUTH OF THE MATTER is we havent done anything wrong legally or morally... we have major contracts with HOLIDAY INN WEST END AGEAS BOWL ... McDONALDS BOTLEY PARK HOTEL... BATH TRAVEL to name but a few...do you think these people deal with the unsafe stealing pirates you portray?

I CHALLENGE ANYONE TO GET A TAXI FROM RADIO CARS ONE DAY AND DO THE SAME JOURNEY THE NEXT DAY WITH ELITE CARS.

I assure you Elite will be cheaper and with a friendlier more helpful driver as our drivers own the company and therefore care more about customer care.

 

You admitted yourself that the disgruntled Fleet drivers got together with the disgruntled office staff and 'made a list' of the regular Fleet customers to go after them for the new company. Ok, you can have us believe you did it from your collective memories and that these same office staff, whilst working the Fleet computer and dispatch system did not either copy the information and write it down or store to a storage device or print off the info, if you want. Or you can admit that you collectively colluded to take the information from the Fleet systems. If, as seems likely, the information was all taken from Fleet's system, in Fleet's offices and by staff employed at that time by Fleet, then what would you call it?! I'm not that bothered or involved on the mess, but I just thought that fuller information should be provided to people who you were canvassing on here, as to what went on.

 

I think we both know what the difference in the comparative general vehicle standards between the Eastleigh and Southampton are. I look out of my window every day and see an L-Reg Volvo, licensed by Eastleigh, that has its exhaust held on by a piece of string - and it's been like it for months!! That just wouldn't happen with Southampton licensing, not just the condition, but the age of the vehicles.

 

£15 isn't particularly cheap for Ageas Bowl to the City Centre either, but I can understand some clients being happy to pay a fixed price if they hear rip-off stories of some Hackneys trying it on in the past.

 

I think you're on dodgy ground to suggest that Elite's fares are always cheaper than Radio Taxis and that every driver will be friendlier and more helpful than every Radio Taxis driver, but it may be a way of generating interest. Go on then, you've got me - give me a quote from Beaulieu Close, Lordswood to Rownhams Road, North Baddesley on Sunday 2nd September at 4pm, cheers... oh, it's SFC v Man Utd, so you'd probably need to check if you'll have any cars available if a Saints home match affects your fleet that much :-D

[hypochondriac]

Why would anyone really care about the age of a vehicle when they get a taxi? It's not really something I pay particular interest in anyway.

[Essruu]

Why would anyone really care about the age of a vehicle when they get a taxi? It's not really something I pay particular interest in anyway.

 

You've already said that you use Radio Taxis, so you don't have to worry about the age of the vehicles as they are licensed by Southampton City Council. If you were a regular user of taxis in many licensing districts around the country, then you would probably quickly haves different opinion if you saw the age and condition of some of the vehicles that you were paying to travel in! Would you want to pay good money be transported in an L-Reg Volvo, or a P-reg Primera?

 

Older, cheaper cars with a lower standard or number of mechanical tests, as accepted by some districts, mean a lowering of general standards as everyone will try to compete on price and one way of doing this is to run older cars, not have them serviced at regular intervals, stretching out the life of tyres/brakes etc. put it this way: I would never willingly encourage a loved one of mine to use a taxi/PHV in certain districts around the country unless there was literally no other option.

[hypochondriac]

You've already said that you use Radio Taxis, so you don't have to worry about the age of the vehicles as they are licensed by Southampton City Council. If you were a regular user of taxis in many licensing districts around the country, then you would probably quickly haves different opinion if you saw the age and condition of some of the vehicles that you were paying to travel in! Would you want to pay good money be transported in an L-Reg Volvo, or a P-reg Primera?

 

Older, cheaper cars with a lower standard or number of mechanical tests, as accepted by some districts, mean a lowering of general standards as everyone will try to compete on price and one way of doing this is to run older cars, not have them serviced at regular intervals, stretching out the life of tyres/brakes etc. put it this way: I would never willingly encourage a loved one of mine to use a taxi/PHV in certain districts around the country unless there was literally no other option.

 

Unless the vehicle is literally going to be hazardous to my life then I don't see the problem. Surely they have to be roadworthy

[dingbattigger]

You admitted yourself that the disgruntled Fleet drivers got together with the disgruntled office staff and 'made a list' of the regular Fleet customers to go after them for the new company. Ok, you can have us believe you did it from your collective memories and that these same office staff, whilst working the Fleet computer and dispatch system did not either copy the information and write it down or store to a storage device or print off the info, if you want. Or you can admit that you collectively colluded to take the information from the Fleet systems.

 

 

Very easily done as proved by Mrs D and the local drivers she worked with. Absolutely no need to refer to any information held by the owners. Believe me if they could do it anyone could

[Jeff Le Taxi]

You admitted yourself that the disgruntled Fleet drivers got together with the disgruntled office staff and 'made a list' of the regular Fleet customers to go after them for the new company. Ok, you can have us believe you did it from your collective memories and that these same office staff, whilst working the Fleet computer and dispatch system did not either copy the information and write it down or store to a storage device or print off the info, if you want. Or you can admit that you collectively colluded to take the information from the Fleet systems. If, as seems likely, the information was all taken from Fleet's system, in Fleet's offices and by staff employed at that time by Fleet, then what would you call it?! I'm not that bothered or involved on the mess, but I just thought that fuller information should be provided to people who you were canvassing on here, as to what went on.

 

I think we both know what the difference in the comparative general vehicle standards between the Eastleigh and Southampton are. I look out of my window every day and see an L-Reg Volvo, licensed by Eastleigh, that has its exhaust held on by a piece of string - and it's been like it for months!! That just wouldn't happen with Southampton licensing, not just the condition, but the age of the vehicles.

 

£15 isn't particularly cheap for Ageas Bowl to the City Centre either, but I can understand some clients being happy to pay a fixed price if they hear rip-off stories of some Hackneys trying it on in the past.

 

I think you're on dodgy ground to suggest that Elite's fares are always cheaper than Radio Taxis and that every driver will be friendlier and more helpful than every Radio Taxis driver, but it may be a way of generating interest. Go on then, you've got me - give me a quote from Beaulieu Close, Lordswood to Rownhams Road, North Baddesley on Sunday 2nd September at 4pm, cheers... oh, it's SFC v Man Utd, so you'd probably need to check if you'll have any cars available if a Saints home match affects your fleet that much :-D

 

Do you not keep a written record of every job you do as YOU ARE REQUIRED TO ....and why would i quote from Rownhams to Lordswood? seeing as we are based in East Southampton/Eastleigh...and yes there will be a shortage of cabs during the Man U game as most cab drivers are middle aged men... of which a high proportion are football fans, are you not going to the game then? we WILL have cover but we WILL be stretched as im in no doubt your firm will be.

Quite why you are doing this is beyond me? I wouldve quite willingly had a laugh and joke about the job with you but for some very strange reason youve chosen to take the tack you have! (sour grapes?)

Most on here would wish me luck in my new venture but you have chosen to make yourself look laughably bitter, as i said before im sure theres more to your vitriol than meets the eye.

[Jeff Le Taxi]

And might I add my own children often travel in my HIGHLY MAINTAINED car. and a high proportion of Elites cars are less than three years old.... quite what someone elses L reg volvo has to do with myself or Elite Cars is beyond me!

[dune]

I'm looking to book a taxi on 27th August (bank holiday monday) around lunchtime. Do taxi firms charge extra because it's a bank holiday?

[Huffton]

Extra £1 on the start rate if its a Soton licensed cab

[EastleighSoulBoy]

Do you not keep a written record of every job you do as YOU ARE REQUIRED TO ....and why would i quote from Rownhams to Lordswood? seeing as we are based in East Southampton/Eastleigh...and yes there will be a shortage of cabs during the Man U game as most cab drivers are middle aged men... of which a high proportion are football fans, are you not going to the game then? we WILL have cover but we WILL be stretched as im in no doubt your firm will be.

Quite why you are doing this is beyond me? I wouldve quite willingly had a laugh and joke about the job with you but for some very strange reason youve chosen to take the tack you have! (sour grapes?)

Most on here would wish me luck in my new venture but you have chosen to make yourself look laughably bitter, as i said before im sure theres more to your vitriol than meets the eye.

 

Maybe a touch of

caused by

that your company will be equipped with all the latest Apple products?

 

Just a thought.

[Jeff Le Taxi]

Extra £1 on the start rate if its a Soton licensed cab

 

same with elite cars

[SuperMikey]

I can't believe I just read this whole thread.

[Jeff Le Taxi]

I cant believe how Essruu is getting.... doesnt want to start a taxi war though!

[Essruu]

I cant believe how Essruu is getting.... doesnt want to start a taxi war though!

 

I wasn't getting like anything. I didn't realise the forum was open for advertising businesses though. When I read your opening post, it read like you were saying you were all stitched up and you were forming some sort of cooperative for the hard done by souls left behind in the corpse of a taxi firm... I know that wasn't the case, so felt in only fair to let people have the other side of the story.

 

Also, you advertised the business as a Southampton/Eastleigh Taxi company. You put Southampton first, when Fleet and Elite are licensed to operate from the Eastleigh Borough Council area. Elite may well operate mainly newer vehicles, but my whole point is that you aren't required by your licensing authority to do so, nor do you have as strict vehicle standard controls as the Southampton Licensing district you are trying to cross borders to obtain work from. Your vehicle standards may or may not drop, I cannot foretell that. One issue though, is that you have already answered that you would not be interested in doing my fare from Lordswood, and you may or may not be too busy at some times to cover some jobs - people just need to know that you are not really a 'Southampton Taxi Company' so the thread title is very misleading indeed.

 

I didn't intend to come across with attitude. I am, however, sick of Eastleigh, New Forest and Test Valley district cars trying to cross borders and cream off Southampton work. Maybe that came across in what I wrote.

 

I know you're not in the same league as Radio Taxis in terms of number of cars, customers or response times in Southampton: so don't think for one minute this is me being bitter or that I see your company as a threat or worthy of a taxi war as your "[Essruu] doesn't want to start a taxi war though!" comment suggested.

 

Good luck.

 

 

[Thedelldays]

I could not care less about some of the minor difference between taxi companies.

 

the only think I would care about is, will they turn up on time and will they rip me off....

[Essruu]

I could not care less about some of the minor difference between taxi companies.

 

the only think I would care about is, will they turn up on time and will they rip me off....

 

Which is why Radio Taxis is the biggest fleet in Southampton: yes to your first concern and no to your second ;-)

[doubleonothing]

So if I want a cab in Southampton who should I call?

[buctootim]

Which is why Radio Taxis is the biggest fleet in Southampton: yes to your first concern and no to your second ;-)

 

Any cab where the driver has had a shower in the past two days and can gauge whether the passenger wants to chat or not gets my vote.