Its all about money, but not necessarily the fees.
The cabs in most parts of the US are run through a licensed monopoly
scheme which is frequently corrupt. In NYC the guy who drives the cab
gets a pittance while the medallions sell for huge sums. Raising taxi
fares does not improve the pay of the drivers, the surplus all goes to
the controllers of the monopoly.
Mandating credit card acceptance should in theory merely reduce the
amount the rent that the medallion owners can extract from the drivers
and thus not affect the proportion of the fares the drivers receive.
The reason the drivers do not like them is that they make their
earnings more transparent to the medallion owners and thus enable them
to maximize their rent extraction.
It may not appear to be IETF related, but there are many, many
circumstances where deployment of a security protocol will be blocked
because similar effects are at work under the covers.
On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 10:15 AM, Nathaniel Borenstein
<nsb(_at_)guppylake(_dot_)com> wrote:
I think it's really all about the credit card fees. Cab drivers, at least in
the US, are often on a small enough margin, with high fixed costs, that the
few percent taken by the card companies can be the difference between a
worthwhile and a wasted fare. Next time a cabbie doesn't want your card,
offer him 10% more and watch him change his tune.
On May 9, 2010, at 11:01 PM, tytso(_at_)mit(_dot_)edu wrote:
On Sun, May 09, 2010 at 06:31:14PM -0700, Dan Harkins wrote:
I have had cab drivers in the US try to force me to pay cash
in similar situations. Saying they don't accept credit cards and
then, when I say that's all I have, telling me how much longer
it will take to get me out of their cab if I really want to use
a credit card. In these cases I just kept insisting on the card
and eventually (like, within a minute) all was settled the way I
wanted it to be settled: with the credit card.
It may seem anachronistic to some, but the rule of law does
apply in the US today and asking to have a police officer settle
the dispute is a good way of getting quick resolution. If all
else fails maybe taking a picture or two (driver and taxi permit)
with a camera phone might tend to elicit a change of attitude.
I talked to a cab driver in Boston, and he's not very happy with
credit cards, because he was forced to use a new system for credit
cards, and it takes what he considered an unfairly large percentage
when customers pay by credit cards. After learning that, I've
generally tried to pay cash when I can, and if I really have to pay by
credit card, I'll give a bigger tip as compensation.
- Ted
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