Driver forced me to listen to loud rap music in the cab the whole trip. There is only one tourist attraction in Manchester, the Currier Museum, and the driver I got stuck with from Manchester Taxi didn't even know where it was. I told him the address as soon as I got in the taxi, and he proceeded to rather trust the crosstalk from the radio of several of his colleagues throwing out guesses of what they thought the address was. I had an appointment to see the Frank Lloyd Wright house, and could not be late, Manchester Taxi cannot be relied upon.
I called just as I had every day for the past few days of my stay in Manchester, the number on the card for Manchester Taxi the first driver (who was very good) had given me. I was relatively pleased with the service up to now, and was willing to forgive the driver who got lost on the way to the Currier Museum the day before. I thought I would call this company, and they would promptly send a cab to my hotel just as they had in previous days.
I made the mistake of calling on New Year's Day, when I guess the regular, polite, dispatcher who answers the phone was having a day off. Instead, when I called I heard on the other end of the line the terse and indifferent tone of voice of a young woman who said simply 'Taxi'. I asked for a taxi to be sent to my hotel. She said 'no'. I said 'what do you mean, no?'. She told me she was 'joking'. I told her this was a confusing thing to say to Manchester Taxi's customers, the call ended after I was told a taxi would be sent to my hotel.
I waited half an hour, no taxi. I was relying on this company to get my to my motor coach connection out of town, and I could not be late. At the half hour mark I called Manchester Taxi back. The same young woman, with the same appalling phone demeanor answered the call. I asked her where the taxi was, and when it would be coming. She brazenly simply hung up on me.
I called back. I told her this was no way to treat the company's customers, and that I had never encountered any problems with the phone operators of the company during the rest of my visit to Manchester when I used this company a lot. She hung up.
I called back. I asked her why she was being so rude, and 'joking' and wasting my time and that I had to be at my destination to leave town within the hour. I could sense there was something very amiss, something very unusual about this phone operator for Manchester Taxi, as I had spoken to at least two other ladies who dispatch taxis for this company and they were both very professional and helpful.
The rude young lady informed me that 'her father owns Manchester Taxi and she can do what she likes'.
Ah ha! I now had my answer. It was New Year's Day and the owner of Manchester Taxi had let his entitled little princess of a daughter man the phones, and she obviously felt she had nothing to lose by messing customers around, confusing them, and being outright hostile to them by lying and claiming she was sending out a cab, then purposefully ignoring the request for a cab, and repeatedly hanging up on customers.
I got a call back to my cell phone, from a man, her father, the owner of this unprofessional taxi company. He started cursing and verbally abusing me over the phone. He made no attempt to apologize, or let me explain what I had encountered during my fruitless attempt to get his daughter to dispatch a cab to my hotel. I know his name, it is listed in the financial reports the company filed with the state regulators. He threatened me so I have chosen not to name him.
A search of the state government of New Hampshire business registry for Manchester Taxi shows the company is listed as 'Not In Good Standing', which does not surprise me given the fact they treat their customers like animals.
https://www.sos.nh.gov/corporate/soskb/Corp.asp?1041579
I urge any visitor to call any of Manchester Taxi's competitors instead of them.
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