Maybe Addison Lee is too easy a target for my first London post, but they make it too hard not to give them a mention. When I first arrived in London I was immediately warned off using Addison Lee at all costs. I was told to only use London Black Cabs for value of money and service and to simply be astounded by the renowned Knowledge of Black Cab drivers.
There is only one drawback with this approach though. Black Cabs are nigh impossible to find on weekends at night in the West End. You could spend 30 minutes to an hour trying to hail one. This was the predicament I found myself in a couple of weeks ago on Friday night, after I had seen a show at the Soho Theatre. Of course, it was pouring with rain. As it was about 1.30 in the morning we didn’t have much prospect of hailing a taxi anytime soon and the thought of jumping into a random minicab loitering by seedy clubs in the early hours of Saturday morning did not appeal.
My friend put in a call to Addison Lee for two cabs, one for South West London, the other for East London, which was to be mine. The way Addison Lee works is that a text message will be sent to you, with the driver’s number, letting you know that the cab driver has left base to pick you up. A second text message is sent when the driver has arrived at your pick up destination. I was given a quote for about £25.
My friend’s driver turned up after about 15 minutes of us registering the request. Mine never arrived. About 15 minutes after my friend had left, I gave the driver a call who promised he was very close and would be able to pick me up within ten minutes. Feeling slightly assured (and absolutely drenched from knee down from the rain) I thought I would give him a chance and wait a little while longer. Fifteen minutes later, I call the driver again who said he was only around the corner and asked me to confirm exactly where I was. I said I was by the McDonald’s near Tottenham Court Road Station. By this point I’d been leered at by some less than savoury people and it hadn’t stopped raining, so I put my efforts into hailing down a Black Cab. I managed to find one after 10 minutes willing to take me home in East London at a cost of £30. It was warm, clean, comfortable and the driver was friendly, even at 2.30 in the morning. The extra £5 was well-spent in my honest opinion.
On the way home, I got a call from the Addison Lee driver complaining that I hadn’t shown up at the pick-up point. I’m probably on Addison Lee’s black-list now.
