You don't have to tip at all if you get poor service.

You haven't met New York cab drivers. A lot of them treat passengers like less than cargo. Here's the one time I didn't even tip at all.

I'd just had an enjoyable but naturally stressful night seeing an ex who came into the city from westchester for the day. I left her at grand central and couldn't be fucked to take the subway, but it was 11:30 at night on Friday at grand central - tough to find a free cab. But after only a few minutes of strategic searching, I finally manage to spot an open cab on the clock - score!

Now you should know this crucial NYC cab law:

> A Driver who has been dispatched must not refuse, by words, gestures or any other means to provide transportation to a person who has prearranged the trip with a destination within the City of New York, the counties of Westchester or Nassau or Newark Airport. [0]

All "prearranged" in a cab means is that the passenger is in the cab and told the driver a destination. It's a really important law - for one, it means cab drivers can't refuse destinations based on race/socioeconomic status/etc. Not all cab drivers like this law because it impacts their take, so they'll try to avoid picking you up.

Anyway, this cab driver notices I've spotted him from about 20 feet away and starts rolling down the passenger window, asking where I want to go repeatedly. If I tell him, and he doesn't like it, he'll get the fuck out of there before I get in the cab. I knew exactly what was going on, but I'd had a long god damn night and for once wasn't going to have it. So I just thought "fuck it," didn't say a single word, and just got in the cab and told him my block.

He's pissed as fuck because he knows that I know he has to take me there, since I ignored him outside the cab. He doesn't even try talking me out of the cab, he just slams on the fucking gas and drives like a complete asshole so he can try to get a better fare after me. I actually am sort of glad to get home quicker but it's actually maliciously bad driving. I'll still tip him though - that's a big part of his take-home.

I realize I don't have any cash, and it was only like a 9 dollar ride, but I figure I'll tip him extra to make up for hit he'll take on the credit card. When he sees the credit card he exclaims "oh come on, credit card? fuck..."

At that point, I reminded him that he had to accept the credit card, just like he had to drive me to my home, and (in as many words) suggested he accept the laws governing his trade. Then I tipped him 0 and told the stunning blonde woman getting into the cab that the driver's a prick.

[0] §55-20a-1 http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/downloads/pdf/2011rulebook_ch55....

What cab driver doesn't want to go from GCT to chelsea at 11:30 at night? And how has that happened enough to you that you don't want to tell the cabbie until you get in the cab? Thats very contrary to my experience with cabs. Now, if you told them you were going to Brooklyn... then I've seen the behavior you expected.

I almost didn't tip in a cab once. I got into a cab and everything was great ... then the driver ran two red lights (not lights that just switched -- he went from a dead stop while it was red) and damn near hit a bike driver. I made a comment about it and he grunted and kept going. While most likely nothing would've happened, I decided to tip him simply because I didn't know what would happen if I decided not to; I'm sure the stories I've heard are overblown, but...

Another asshole cabbie move is to drive with the "off duty" light on, because a lot of chumps think this gives the driver the right to be selective on what fares he takes (because it's supposedly his last fare of the shift and any fares he takes along the way to his endpoint are "bonus"). So a lot of them drive with the off duty light on constantly.

It doesn't actually matter. Report him if he pulls this shit.

This is actually allowed. They are allowed to pick one final ride in the direction they are headed at the end of their shift.

That being said, report them anyway and they will have to prove the time and date actually corresponds to the end of their shift. The fines are pretty steep and the drivers almost never prevail against the taxi commission.

How do you tell if he's actually off duty or just dicking around?

If he's pulls over and asks you where you're going, then he's not actually off-duty. If he refuses to take you (either because you don't answer or because he doesn't like your answer) then you should report him.

Authentically off-duty cab drivers will do exactly what you say. They ask you where you are going and don't unlock unless they like your answer. I'm not saying that abuse never happens, but this scenario is perfectly valid for cab drivers on their way home.

Source: http://nycitycab.com/NYC%20Taxi%20Guide.aspx#offduty

The lights.

A NYC cab's lights look like this:

|O|Number|O|

Where "O" is "Off Duty" in smaller letters.

If just the Number is lit, they're available, on the clock.

If Just the Os are lit, they have a fare.

If both are lit, they're available, with destination discretion.

If none are lit, they're not working at all.

You are a lot wealthier than the cab driver. From his perspective, you made him lose money by taking a route to Westchester, and then lose money again by using a credit card, and then lose money a third time by not tipping him.

EDIT: Ok, not to Westchester but outside the city limits. Basically the law forced a guy who doesn't make that much money to engage in a transaction with you against his will. He wasn't the bad guy here.

The law also gives the guy a monopoly on selling taxi services, so it's hard to have much sympathy.

I'm all in favor of letting cabbies pick and choose their fares. But if we do that, we also need to allow competition in the taxi market.

> The law also gives the guy a monopoly on selling taxi services, so it's hard to have much sympathy.

Sort of - the law gives the guy a monopoly on picking up street passengers. But again, these laws are broken often - livery drivers will still pick you up sometimes, depending on where you are. Definitely not in front of Grand Central, though.

Yeah, never ever ever get in a Livery cab though without pre-negotiating a price. I made that mistake once.

The rate doubles when you leave the city to compensate for the driver having to get back without a fare.

I didn't go to Westchester, you misread. I live in Chelsea.

Consider that a cab ride from grand central to westchester would cost far more than 9 dollars.

Dude. Chelsea is in Manhattan. It's uptown of the west village. It was a 5-10 minute ride. Perhaps your comments would be better focused if you were familiar with... any of this.

On point, how you could possibly turn a 5-10 minute cab ride to a city resident's home into a victimized cab driver being forced into an unwilling financial transaction is literally - literally - beyond me. Especially when the transaction in question - driving a passenger somewhere - is pretty much the sole responsibility and contribution of a cab driver.