So I Was Held Hostage By Yellow Cab

Written on August 27, 2010 by Adam Kmiec in Marketing & Advertising, Misc.

This isn’t a work of fiction. This isn’t a lie. This isn’t a stretch of the truth. This is, in fact, a 100% completely true story of how the Pittsburgh Yellow Cab Company essentially held me hostage for roughly 30 minutes.

Let’s start with the definition of “hostage,” just to make sure we are all on the same page. Webster defines a hostage as:

a person held by one party in a conflict as a pledge pending the fulfillment of an agreement
person taken by force to secure the taker’s demands

My trip into Pittsburgh was going amazingly well. The flight from Chicago took off on time, arrives 15 minutes early, there was a cab waiting, no line for the cab and we made it into Pittsburgh quickly. I was just praising the gods for all this great fortune, when things took an abrupt turn toward crazy town.

The cab driver stopped at the MARC USA Pittsburgh office and read me the fare; $34.00 and change. I pulled out my Discover Card (it’s my card of choice and I’ve used it for every cab ride I’ve ever taken from and to the Pittsburgh airport) and handed it to the driver. The driver snapped his head back at me, pursed his lips and in a clearly irritated tone said to me, “I don’t take Discover, only Visa or Mastercard.” I mumbled under my breath, that this was ridiculous and the said to him, “well, that’s the only card I have.” This was technically a lie. I had my Visa CheckCard that’s tied to my banking account; however I never use that card for cab rides. In the past I’ve witnessed and heard of stories where a vendor/service will run up charges once they have your CheckCard info. I should also mention that the Yellow Cab website clearly indicates that they do in fact take Discover Card. But, I digress…back to the story.

The driver snapped back to me and said, “Bullshit, I want my money now. You’re not going to rip me off.” Woah, this totally caught me off guard. I was completely confused. At this point, I said, “Well, there’s an ATM over there (roughly 15 feet away), I’ll go there and get you your money.” That seems fair, right? Well, not to this guy. No sooner had I put my hand on the door handle to exit the cab, the cab driver locked the doors and yelled to me, “no, no, no, I’m not going to fall for this trick.” Huh? So I was literally locked inside the cab and couldn’t get out. Perplexed, I tweeted, “I’m locked in a cab. My cab driver wont let me out because I gave him Discover Card.” While tweeting, the driver told me that he’d be calling the cops. I was getting more confused by the moment. I once again reiterated my request that he let me out so that I could get his money from the ATM. But, he ignored my commentary and proceeded with dialing 911.

Well, I guess not to be outdone, I tried calling the Yellow Cab customer service line from my cell phone 3 times. However, each time, my call automatically was sent to voice mail. There was no one, not one single person, actually manning the customer complaint/service line. Well, so much for customer service. 15 minutes went by and I realized he had not turned the meeter off. I pointed this out and was then cursed at and told that it was not my place to tell him how to use his cab. WTF, right? Ok, it gets better. I then said to him, “look, just let me get out so I can get your money and we can then both put this behind us.” At this point, the driver of Yellow Cab 159 went further into crazy town. He, said that he was going to sue me for lost wages, because I was the one causing this situation. Huh? No, seriously, huh?

I continued to ask to be let out of the car and finally he agreed. Great, I thought, I grabbed my bag and attempted to leave the cab. I should point out, the cab was a mini-van with sliding doors on each side. I attempted to exit from behind the driver’s side. The driver then demanded I leave my bag with him. Ummm, no. The bag had an iPad, Mcbook Pro, a few expense checks and some other personal items. I declined and that’s when he grabbed me and tried to pull the bag off of my shoulder. I then slid back into the car and exited out of the door behind the passenger’s seat. I made my way to the ATM, grabbed $40.00 in cash, brought it back over and asked for a receipt. He refused to provide a receipt unless I gave him the money. Again, strange, but at this point, nothing was phasing me.

This is when it got even stranger…the cops showed up. Yes, I said cops. See, he had apparently called 911 twice. The first officer on the scene was alone. He was quite helpful and very cordial. I wish I had taken down his info, because he deserves a medal. He asked me what happened, I explained the situation and he apologized. He then went over the cab driver, got his story, came back and agreed to procure the receipt from the cab driver in exchange for the money. Not a problem. I gave the officer $1.25 (I’d already given the cab driver the $40.00 from the ATM). The officer provided the cab driver the $1.25, got me my receipt and again apologized. This is when a police van showed up with 2 or 3 (I can’t recall) additional officers. They were a bit late to the party

The officer advised me to call the cab company, talk to a supervisor and explain the situation. I called again and again was dropped right into voicemail. I’m sending a link to this post to the cab company and will let you know what happens. Talk about a crazy Friday; and it wasn’t even Friday the 13th.

Tags: Customer Experience, Customer Service, Strange, Taxi, Yellow Cab

jkgala99

Wow. Your cab tweet was WAY better than mine the other day. You should have called me. I would have gotten Carson and Ross and we could have roughed that guy up . . . or you could have used my Mastercard . . . either way.
Bfinkelstein

Dude, you shoulda filed charges against the cabbie for assault and false imprisonment.
Anonymous

You can still probably still file criminal charges against the cab driver. You should also explore suing both the driver and the cab company for false imprisonment and assault (from when he grabbed you). The driver is liable for actually doing it, and the cab company is potentially liable under the theory of respondiat superior-the notion that employers are liable for actions employees do under the course of employment.

Note-I can’t give you legal advice, I’m not licensed in Pennsylvania, every state’s laws are different and I have no idea what the laws are in PA, my only suggestion is to speak to a PA lawyer about your options if you wish to pursue this.
Anonymous

You can still probably still file criminal charges against the cab driver. You should also explore suing both the driver and the cab company for false imprisonment and assault (from when he grabbed you). The driver is liable for actually doing it, and the cab company is potentially liable under the theory of respondiat superior-the notion that employers are liable for actions employees do under the course of employment.

Note-I can’t give you legal advice, I’m not licensed in Pennsylvania, every state’s laws are different and I have no idea what the laws are in PA, my only suggestion is to speak to a PA lawyer about your options if you wish to pursue this.
Tom

“So I was literally locked inside the cab and couldn’t get out. Perplexed, I tweeted”

Sigh.
B316943

definitely file criminal charges against the cab company and cabbie. They need to learn a hard lesson with this.
Pzm108

File a complaint with the State’s public utility commission. Also contact your the local state congressman. Any contact from the PUC will get a fire started towards action,
BM

You can file a formal or informal complaint here:

http://www.puc.state.pa.us/general/filecomplaints.aspx

The PA PUC takes complaints seriously in my experience. They even followed up when I called them at 2:00 AM drunk because a cabbie kicked me out because my destination was too far for him.
Alex

sounds like you were looking for trouble on purpose. just use your goddamn check card and stop fighting with people that make little more than minimum wage. was it really worth your time?
gary

i agree with Alex, except that you should get a visa or mastercard credit card. i don’t demand stores accept my AMEX even when they post that they do accept it. wake up. live in the real world. realize things don’t always work exactly as you’d wish they did. prepare accordingly.
http://www.thekmiecs.com adamkmiec

Thanks! I did earlier. Already got a response back. Appreciate the tip.
http://www.thekmiecs.com adamkmiec

Alex (assuming that’s your real name…since you’re using a fake email address) – thanks for your troll-like comment.
Anon

Wow… Simply wow.. I just found your blog via consumerist and just wanted to add I live in the Pittsburgh Area and have had nothing but problems with the Yellow Cab company. I have a drive that works for Classy Cab that I call for by name when I get to my office in the morning I will update his info.
Ev

If it means I protect my bank account from being potentially raided then yes, it is.
Nicole

I totally agree with what you did here, there would be no way in hell I would 1) give a cabbie my debit card, and 2) no way I’d leave thousands and thousands of dollars worth of equipment in the cab with that lunatic. I’ve had nothing but bad experiences with the Pittsburgh Cab Co. On the flip side however, we went to Boston this spring to catch a Sox game, and had the best cabbie EVER on the way to the airport to fly home. At 5:30 AM to boot! So I’m not sure what it is about Pittsburgh, but get your heads out of your you-know-wheres, cabbies!
http://deannaferrari.com Deanna

Next time, take a jitney.

No, really, Yellow Cab makes me want to stab myself sometimes. They are soooo unaccommodating and I once got stranded at the Waterfront because of them and was forced to pay for a HOTEL because we were stuck without a ride. WTF. They had nothing for me as I called them at 3 a.m. complaining.

Classy, on the other hand, is awesome. They’re even green.

However, there are many instances when you call for a cab in Pgh and have to wait an hour, no matter who you call. Really? Even in Baltimore, which is fairly comparable to Pittsburgh in terms of size, you can hail a cab just fine – no need to call for one. Pittsburgh has the worst transportation on a day-to-day basis. I love this city but something’s gotta give.

P.S. I am writing down this cab #.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LNN7F75JGEGDZZYRX5KYKWXQ7Y FirstName

You should also contact the Better Business Bureau (BBB) about this cab company, and specifically about the cab driver. Even though they have no legal powers they can be effective. My girlfriend had a problem with a local pharmacy. I complained to the BBB about the pharmacy. They must have gotten their asses chewed out, because they kiss her ass like you wouldn’t believe now.
Fu

Why didnt you just pay the guy in a method he accepts, you fuck?
Pat

“Why didnt you just pay the guy in a method he accepts, you fuck?”

Because… wait for it… he does accept Discoverer Card!

Why can’t you troll this nice man without cussing twice?
Laughable

No one accepts Discover. Seriously, get a real credit card.
Stmighty427

wow…..what a story. lesson here is never take a cab alone. good luck.
Barney108

Really? Their fucking website said they take Discover, so that cunt-rag cab driver should have just taken the card and stopped fighting with people just because he makes minimum wage. Is it really worth the bad press and the potential for lost sales that comes with it, or the possible criminal charges?

You’re a fucking mouth-breathing troll. Get a fucking life.
Barney108

Are you mentally retarded? I ask, because Adam says that cab services’ own website says that they take Discover. I just figure that you’ve gotta have a mental deficiency in order to have read that and then still say what you said.

See, it’s not about what method of payment that particular cabby accepts, it’s about what the company he works for accepts. They do in fact accept Discover, so whether he likes it or not, he’s required to accept that payment. If he doesn’t want to comply, then he’s free to fuck off and get another job. Maybe you can get him one working with you at McDonald’s. I’d keep him off the register though, and I wouldn’t let him work the drive-thru window either. The dude seems like a loose cannon.
MH

If you fly into Pittsburgh and need to go to downtown or Oakland, take the bus. It is the 28x. Follow the signs for surface transportation and then you’ll see the place to wait. It is cheap ($3 or so) and often faster than a cab. It does make stops, but part of the trip is on a dedicated busway, so no traffic.
Rich

Like a lot of other people, I was linked here through The Consumerist. I’m amazed that you were so calm and collected when dealing with a lunatic who was holding you against your will. Now, I don’t know the particulars of how often you ride in cabs, but I am wondering why your first inclination was to ‘Tweet’ that you were being held against your will? Also, I’m wondering why you paid him more than the original $34. And lastly, I’m wondering about something else: if you knew that he was using his cell phone to call 911, why would you continue to call the cab company customer service line and not 911 yourself? If you were going to call the cab company, why weren’t you trying to call their 24 hour dispatch number instead of their ‘customer service’ number?
Froenx

soo… punching the cabbie in the face after he obviously instigated an assault against your property was out of the question?

what about kicking the glass out of the window to escape after being obviously held against your will?

I’m sorry but the officers really should have arrested him for this.
Brad

Next time, just don’t be a douche playing on your cell phone while lying about not having a way to pay the guy who’s services you already used. If you did not have money, you really should have asked before he drove you somewhere if he would accept your form of alternate payment. When he explained that he did not, in fact, have the ability to take your card, you should have given him the one he would take. Instead you started ‘tweeting’ — generally it is considered rude to use a telephone when talking with someone. I don’t blame him for reacting the way he did. You already received his service, lied about not having a card he would accept, and started playing with your telephone when the situation started to escalate. Next time you fond yourself in such a situation try not lying, out away your toys, and work out something with the man who you owe the money to.
http://twitter.com/ericfranchi ericfranchi

Dude, how the heck did I miss this tweet/story???
Lani

Really? Baltimore has the worst cab companies EVER
Historymaven

I worked for Yellow Cab for about 4 months as a call taker. Not many people know that their cab drivers are independent contractors and are not actually employees of the company. So your liability case would not apply to them.
joe

I could waste my time explaining the following comment but let’s just say that in this case we are dealing with TWO MORONS ! THE DRIVER AND THE PASSENGER
SKR

I faced lot of bad experiences with this cab providers…I booked a cab from a restaurant to my home at 10PM..I waited till 12.30AM next day morning (btw i am keep calling the yellow cab customer care) and no one turned up..Till 12.30AM they keep telling me the CAB is on its way and will be there any minute…But to my surprise at 12.30AM they told me that they don’t have any cabs near by and can’t send one at that time..The Restaurant owner lives near my house and we know each other..He dropped me on the way to his home otherwise i might have end up on the streets as my mobile battery is down and i can’t make any more calls….
Yrmorrison

I was in Pittsburgh for business on October 11-12, 2011. I requested a cab to take me from my hotel in Homestead to Allegheny General Hospital. It took 1 and 1/2 hours for the driver to arrive… I called numerous times and was told he was in the area. Then, at 4:10pm a representative of Allegheny General Hospital called Yellow Cab to pick me up to take me back to my hotel. We called every 15 minutes for 3 hours. After waiting for 3 hours for a taxi, I called and was told that they realized that my “ticket” was assigned to a taxi driver that was not working that day. Really! I waited 3 hours 15 minutes for a Yellow Taxi…. I finally made it back to my hotel around 8pm. I left a message to the Yellow Cab company manager, who returned my call a few days later…. he told me he couldn’t believe my story because they have a 97% success rate for picking up passengers on time. HA! Next time in Pittsburgh- I suggest arranging a rental car.