Problems with the taxi system in Germany

Hi,

I am currently doing a project concerning the German taxi system and how it could be improved.

I have created a short questionaire to help me clarify the current problems and/or minor annoyance issues. The questionaire is very short, only eight questions, and all in German. I would be very grateful if some of the Germans in here would help me.

This is the link for the website: German taxi survey

Thankyou
/Morten Nissen
Copenhagen university college of engineering

I just helped you out. I'm not German though and neither are most of the people here.

Me too.

Not too many germans here, but if you do want a host of responses for people living here and on TT you could make the effort for writing the eight Q's in english or maybe just post the translation and let the others know.

Filled it out though.

Just filled it in but tbh i think taxis here are fabulous, better than anywhere i've been for availability and length of wait. But i do live in the city, in the sticks it's probably a different story.

Four wheels, driver, usually a Merc or BMW, sort of mustard coloured, normally hang around bars and night clubs.

Scogs, they are taxi-colored ("light ivory"), taxis must be that color and only taxis may be that color.

Thankyou for all the replys. The more the merrier.

Done, but not German either. Taxis MUCH better here than in UK.

Survey filled also. I'm not a heavy taxi user, but I find the service just great here in Munich. Never had a single problem with a taxi. It's expensive though, but hey you pay for what you get.

Come out of a city centre nightclub at three in the morning when it is pissing with rain? Waited about three minutes for a taxi last week!

Sometimes they are a little grumpy if you want a ride for less than €10 across the city centre but them is the rules and anyway they are VERY likely to pick up a new fare right away.

Taxi's here are pretty darn fine. Even on new years eve and stuff we've never had to wait long to flag one down. My only single complaint would be that the drivers often try to start some conversation. Well annoying. Not living in the city can often be a bonus BTW, they'll sometimes strike you a cheap deal and turn their meters off to take you home. Class

have filled it in, although i'm not german either
I've never had a problem with taxis here.
and comparing them with the prices I had to pay in the UK recently for a couple of late-night cabs, they are super cheap as well.

Taxis are brilliant here generally compared to the UK. We had a taxi driver phone Hammonia's mobile to let us know he was on his way and he would be 7 minutes. In the UK, taxi companies tell you that their taxi is on your street right now and then take another 15 mins. Also if you use your landline, they automatically have your address, in Hamburg anyway.

Will you post the results of the survey? By region?

Filled out the survey. I've never had a problem with taxi's. Its some feckin difference compared to ireland.

The survey should be translated into english though to be honest. It is an english language website for english speaking people after all. You could maybe expect that some have good german but you can be bloody certain that all have good english.

On the up side, it's nice to see that the Munich taxi companies are doing their bit to promote health and weight-loss amongst their customers.

Having been in London this weekend, I can say hand on heart that Munich taxis are fab!

Waited 30 minutes in the pouring rain on Sunday morning for Addison Lee in a foresaken part of the East End, no black cabs to be seen anywhere.

There's a real undersupply in london which leads to these VERY dodgy unlicensed cabs and some nasty attacks on women! I suspect there are less cabbies out in London at night now there are so many more nightbuses.

The cabs always tell me to take a bus or walk as it is around the corner , when I do finally convince them to take me they have no idea where to go and spend ages putting it into the navigation system , then not spelling it propertly have to try again or check a paper copy.
I think I was spoiled in Copenhagen, never had these problems!

I did stump a taxi driver in Munich a couple of weeks ago, we had to find Südliche Frachtalle 1, Modul A. So while he drove against the clock I was going through the well-used map of Munich and environs. We eventually found it with 8 minutes to spare.

Actually, that's one of the things I like about the taxis in Munich. The drivers are such a varied bunch - some are local, others are from all corners of the globe, and I love listening to the stories they have to tell about where they're from, their experiences as a taxi driver, and their opinions on just about everything under the sun. Livens up the taxi ride. Much nicer than the British black cab where you sit in the back, separated from the driver by sturdy wire mesh and/or (probably bulletproof) glass.

Most of those waiting at the airport seem to be Turkish, Lebanese or Iranian.

Once I had an Iranian driver who got me really annoyed, because during the whole ride he kept going on and on that in Iran, everybody would give a tip of 20 % or more, whereas those German cheapskates would at best give him 5%. He pointed out that people here are so rich, surely they should be able to afford tips of more than 20 %, but no, they are nothing more than ugly ***holes sitting on their money, etc. Somehow, I think his method of talking people into generously tipping him wasn't very effective. At least not with me.

But that's the only negative experience I can recall.