The 13CABS takeover of Emerald Taxis has not all been smooth sailing so far.
By Russell Bennett
AN EMERALD teen and his friends were forced to wait for three hours at Belgrave train station last Saturday night for a taxi that never came.
And the teen’s mother, ‘Jenny’, is outraged – saying she’ll never use the 13CABS service again.
Jenny came forward to the Mail just days after its 24 January article, Taxi Giant Picks up Hills Cabbies, reported on the cab giant’s takeover of Emerald Taxis.
Unable to pick the youths up because she had a broken leg, she said she put in 18 calls to 13CABS operators from 9pm to midnight on 21 January, and was told on each occasion that a cab was on its way.
“I even received a text message saying the same thing,” she said.
“Eventually, after midnight, I had to call a relative to go and get (the kids).”
Jenny said she would never use the service again, calling it diabolical and the operators “rude”.
The Mail reported last week that residents in Emerald, Cockatoo and Gembrook could expect greater reliability day and night, as the once seven-car Emerald Taxis operation had access to cabs across the 13CABS network.
A major advantage to the new system was the 13CABS TaxiTracker system, which tells customers when their cab is about to arrive to pick them up.
The company’s chief operating officer Stuart Overell last week acknowledged the difficulty hills residents had in calling a cab late on a Friday or Saturday night but said: “We’ve got a number of people working around the clock, helping to close that transport gap.”
Mr Overell also said hills residents would not notice any “jarring” changes at Emerald Taxis.
All Emerald Taxis now sport the familiar 13CABS logo with the Emerald Taxis name and customers now have the rest of the 13CABS fleet at their disposal during busy periods.
Additionally, all current booking phone numbers will automatically forward to the modern 13CABS contact centre.
13CABS has spoken with Jenny about her claims, but has declined to address them publicly.
