I recently placed a call to Yellow Cab to arrange for a cab and I have to agree the dispatcher did not have the concept of courteous customer service very firmly in mind. As soon as you try to get clarification of something, they get snippy. If other dispatchers are better, as reviewers here have mentioned, then when calling for a cab, you might want to go elsewhere. However, for flagging down cabs on the street, I've taken Yellow Cab many times and found the drivers helpful, friendly, and considerate. One driver refused to take a tip when the cab had been paid for by Amtrak because our train was hours late (I guess he didn't want to charge Amtrak extra, nor did he want us to have to pay a tip). One cab saw my sister and me flagging him down late at night, called his company and made sure another cab was close enough to pick up the fare he had been on the way to, and gave us a ride so we wouldn't have to wait around at night--even though we weren't going that far. I used to take Far West because that's what my company paid for when people worked late, and I did not have as good experiences with those drivers. Some of them actually made me feel uneasy. I also know the problems cab drivers get from customers are at least as bad as the problems the problems we sometimes experience with cab drivers! This is one of the most hazardous job occupations there is, and Seattle cab drivers have had their share of violence and even murders. As far as the drivers go, let's try to be understanding of ordinary problems like traffic, and tip well.
Updated after a dreadful dispatch experience: I had to get my cat home from the vet and called Yellow Cab thinking this would be faster than the bus. I placed the call, explained I had a cat and waited quite a while, then called again. The dispatcher then said they still hadn't found someone and they'd get right on it. I was very clear that my cat was quite sick and they needed to either take care of it right away or advise me they couldn't. 20 minutes later I started walking to the bus (I had missed the bus I would have caught if I hadn't waited for Yellow Cab, but I realized waiting for the next one was probably going to be faster than waiting for Yellow Cab). I also called dispatch, and the dispatcher again said, oh, we'll try to find you something "right away." I said don't bother and took the bus home. My cat died the next day--waiting around in the cold for a cab certainly didn't help her any. Don't call these people if you want a reliable dispatch--review downgraded to two stars due to lousy dispatch, although I still think Yellow Cab drivers are mostly nice and they are fine to flag down.
more