I'm a college student on a budget. I went home this past weekend to help my mother with a torn MCL and ACL in her left knee and my father who's been losing the battle with glaucoma for years and recently lost his vision entirely.
Believe it or not, the Greyhound bus ride was uneventful, and actually a pleasant experience.
However after I got out of the station at 1:20 am, I found someone else was heading north to the campus area. He volunteered to pay his bit and I'd pay the rest of the way (generous of him, I thought). The driver we had was a tall, overweight guy with messed up teeth and a thick Spanish accent. After almost getting pulled over by cops for speeding TWICE on I-275 (now I wish they'd caught him) we reach the other passenger's destination in a REALLY sketchy area.
Like he said he would, he pays the fare so far, but the driver refused to restart the fare meter so I told him never mind. I've been living in Tampa for 3 years now, and my first instinct was to grab my stuff and get away from this dude. He came after me and said if I kept walking away he would call the cops on me. Standing in Crackheadville, I call the cab company to ask what their policy was on this issue and the lady sounded like she was busy doing something else, I think eating. She told me I would need to negotiate with the driver and she hung up. He took the $25 out of my hand and drove off, in spite of my asking for his card.
Now with no cash, I had to walk from Sketchytown to a Bank of America 2 miles away to go take out more cash to call ANOTHER cab. I get a Yellow Cab to take me home, and he tells me this kind of dishonesty is what United is known for. The man, named John, then gave me a ride home free of charge.
I will never call a United Cab again, and they better believe I am going to explain this experience to everyone I know who calls cabs home on weekend nights. On the other hand, Yellow Cab (813-253-0121) was extremely friendly, quick, safe, and sympathetic to my dilemma. I know who I'll call next time
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