Camera left in Taxi

[thegrump]

A friend of my daughter was visiting yesterday, and he had to come by taxi. The cost from his place to here is usually around $38 - $40. He informed the diver he only had $35 on him and he would fix him up at the other end. The driver took a very long way around and the fee was climbing over the $45 mark. When he questioned the driver about the cost, the driver stopped and ejected him from the taxi, only 200m from my house. My daughters friend gathered all his gear, and the driver took off. He realized immediately that his camera a new Nikon, was still in the Taxi. He rang the company within minutes and they contacted the driver, who was supposed to return a call to him. He has rang the company several times since and twice was hung up on and just now he asked the person he was talking to, to ring him back for confirmation of his call, and all the other person would say was to report it on their web site. He has reported it to the police, who where very helpful and he is going to go to the ombudsman. Is there any thing else he can do. He is afraid the taxi driver is going to report is stolen from his taxi, which would be impossible considering the speed in which this happened.

[ameerat42]

Pretty sick, TG. I feel sorry for your friend. Hopefully he has recorded description and serial numbers of his gear.
If he can get the ID of the cab driver I reckon he'd have a criminal case. Hope the police can do something.
(Shaking head in disbelief at... What? Human dysfunctionality?... Yeah, and something else as sordid...

[thegrump]

ameerat42... The cab company notified the driver within minutes of him discovering he had left the camera behind. but everything seems to have gone pear shaped since then.

[ricktas]

Happened here in Hobart once, with over $10K in camera gear left in a taxi..it was never recovered.

[ricktas]

http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/police-probe-11000-camera-theft/story-fnj4f7k1-1226799829267

[Warbler]

A bit off topic, but contrast that experience with this one. When I was in Greece 11 years ago, one of our party left her D300 slung over a chair in a restaurant on Tinos. She only discovered this the next morning when we were getting ready to board the ferry to travel to our next island stop. Not only did the locals track down the restaurant owner, who got out of bed to come down and open the restaurant, but when he did, the camera was still there slung over the chair. Lucky girl! Honest Greeks too.

[Mark L]

And if I was finding it hard to afford a taxi ride I'd bloody well be hanging onto my new camera. Sorry, but:confused013

[thegrump]

MarkL .. The reason he took a taxi, was to keep his gear safe. Otherwise he would have to take two trains and a bus.

[Mark L]

MarkL .. The reason he took a taxi, was to keep his gear safe. Otherwise he would have to take two trains and a bus.

Well that didn't work then.

[bitsnpieces]

Which is why investing in a good bag to carry it all is important.

But I guess talking more about this isn't going to help - lesson learned I guess.

I don't think there's much more that can be done other than continual follow ups as a lot of times, these services beat around the bush and couldn't give a darn really.

[bricat]

I have heard of people starting a Facebook page and using names. The bad publicity of that getting around soon finds a result. Mind you there are two sides to every story and I would want to be 100 percent sure of my facts. Hope all turns out ok. Cheers Brian

[ktoopi]

and people wonder why Uber has taken off.......sadly most of my taxi experiences in Sydney have been negative:( I hope he gets his camera back, I know how it feels as I left mine on a plane once coming back from Brisbane......I was told it didn't get handed in after the flight was cleaned so I called the airline everyday twice a day for 5 days before it suddenly got handed in. I think I made the airport in record time from the Northern Beaches the day they rang me and said it was there :)

[thegrump]

Alisha....He had about 6 bags with him. including, 2 cameras, a tripod, a bag pack, a box of bank notes, and sundry other things. He was being pressured by the driver, who was told he would be paid the extra at his destination. The Taxi driver stopped only 200m from my house. He gathered what he could and the driver took off. The company was contacted only minutes after that. The driver was contacted within minutes. He said he was too busy to return. A few hours later we contacted the police, who at that time were positive. The next day we contacted the police again and they gave us the run around. Since then we have contacted the taxi company several times and they also have just given us the rub around, YES we know who the driver is and he HAS stolen the camera. The police could not give a damn.

[Cage]

As an ex cab owner and driver on the Gold Coast I've followed this thread with interest.

It would seem that there are two scenarios possible here.

Firstly, the driver was a crook who saw a way to recover his fare if he didn't get paid. He's driven off, probably unaware that the camera was in the cab, and when the Base radioed him he looked in the back, saw the camera and replied "Nothing in the cab Base". A real lowlife. :mad:

It's also possible that he made an angry U turn after ejecting his passenger and the camera slid onto the floor. Not a real bright move to drive off in a huff without getting paid. When the Base called him he looked in the back, saw nothing on the seat, and reported that fact. The next person in the cab is now the real lowlife in this instance. Saw the camera on the floor, shoved it up his/her jumper and made off with someone else's property.

Which is the true scenario here? Looks like we will never know.

I could write a book about my ten years in the taxi industry, mostly driving nights, but most people would find the truth unbelievable. :nod:

[thegrump]

I think he has learned his lesson. Still does not excuse the conduct of the police and the taxi company. The driver was contacted and told to come back and he would be paid the few extra dollars, it was less than $10. There was no way in which he could have picked up a passenger in that time. My daughters friend has taken a taxi to my house before and it cost less than the money he had on him. The thing is, it is not that far as the crow flies, we are both in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. To get to me by Train, he would first have to take a bus to the train, train into the city, train out to me, and I would have picked him up from my local train station.

Cage....write the book it could be a best seller

[piczzilla]

Hey TG, am wondering if you made a formal complaint to the VIC taxi commission (or perhaps asked them for advice) - In the worst scenario that the camera is lost forever, at least you can get the driver disciplined.

http://taxi.vic.gov.au/about-us/feedback-form/complaint-handling

[poorman]

Hmm not good id be looking for the taxi reg

[thegrump]

piczzilla .... we have tied to make an official complaint through that web site. But when you get to lost property it tell you to contact the cab company or police. We have already gone that rout and got the run around from both.

[piczzilla]

Ahh sorry to hear that TG. Well it seems you've done all you could. I guess what's next is regular follow-up and hope the involved parties do the right thing.