Drunken Cab Rides

So last night a few friends and I took a cab back from getting wasted at the Austrian Embassy. Halfway back one of my friends puked in the cab, shameful but it happens.

Anyways, we get to the kids house and the fare comes to 12 dollars. The cabby starts getting all upset and telling us we owe him 45 dollars or else we have to clean up the back seat. We were all well dressed from the party and I felt the driver was just taking advantage of our impression of wealth. Im interested to hear what you all do in this situation.

Keep in mind we are all drunk and the cab driver has already called his station to send the cops.

I'll post results later.

its come down to making gimmick oot accounts. fight the power.

[Jeffage]

So basically he is asking for 33 bucks extra because one of your friends can't handle their liquor and puked in his backseat. I think that's reasonable b/c that would be pretty disgusting for him to have to deal with. It's like 8 bucks more a person. Pay it.

Jeff

[SheetWise]

I'd have asked for $100.

Did you offer to tip extra b/c of the mess or did he come out and demanded you pay him what he wanted?
If you offered to tip extra, which you should have then he should not have asked for more money

[wh1t3bread]

DC cab drivers suck. I can't wait until they all have meters. I live in Arlington and it's pain in the ass to have to negotiate a reasonable fair with them to drive you 4 miles before even stepping foot into the cab.

I've had similiar experiences with cab drivers threatening to call the cops. But this was only because we agreed to pay the cab $20 to take us home and then we pull up and he says $30. An argument then ensues saying that wasn't the negotiated price. We always just end up paying though since its usually only about 10 dollars. But getting into verbal arguments at 3am with people who barely speak english is always amusing.

Anyway in this situation. Your friend is a dick and he either needs to clean up the cab himself or pay the man extra to clean it up for him. Throwing up in any car, even your own is inexcusable.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

The last time I was in a cab, the driver told us as we were piling in that it'd be $80 if any of us puked in the car. Apparently, we were all noticeably drunk.

[jaydub]

You should pay because it is a reasonable surcharge. Now in the case of an unreasonable surcharge... I have frequently had to deal with cabbies who make up bullshit fares, troll for other passengers, etc. The exact response differs but the general strategy is as follows.

1. Make sure all people / belongings are out of cab. This is obvious but can be overlooked when traveling with others.
2. Explain forcefully but calmly and reasonably that the situation is unacceptable. This can be hard to do at 4AM hammered but try.
3. Assuming that this does not work, hand the driver the amount you deem fit and leave. He will yell but simply ignore him. Be careful as you walk away, look into glass for reflections, be aware of surroundings, etc.

[Rduke55]

Just pay the man. His job is to get you from point A to point B, not clean up your buddy's vomit.
The whole point that you are asking this makes you sound like a spoiled brat.

[The Goober]

I think that $45 is an extremely reasonably fee for cleaning up puke. I would have a paid the fare, paid the fee, and left a nice tip on top of that (or rather, make the puker cough up most of it). Do you know how hard it is to get the smell of puke out of car? This guys is likely going to lose money on the deal just because of the fares he'll miss.