It’s Pre-Pay Or Not The Highway

I live right outside of NYC in Hudson County, New Jersey, where I used to work for a taxi company. I had a pick-up one night from my town, Bayonne, going to the Bronx. I picked the person up and she gave me the address. I told her that the fare had to be paid upfront and in full, and it included the tolls, which was company policy for out-of-town fares so we didn’t get stiffed on the fare.

Customer: “I don’t have the money, but my boyfriend does. He’ll pay you when we get out to his place.”

Me: “I cannot take you unless your boyfriend calls our office and prepays with a credit card.”

She called her boyfriend and explained the situation to him. He asked to speak with me, so I got on the phone with him.

Me: “You need to pay your girlfriend’s fare up front, which is $75, plus the tolls, which are [extra amount]. You can call our office and prepay with a credit card.”

Boyfriend: “I’m not going to pay the tolls!”

Me: “The customer is responsible for all payment, including tolls.”

The next words to come out of his mouth were, and I quote:

Boyfriend: “Can’t you take a non-toll road to get here?”

Anyone who lives in Jersey will tell you that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get into NYC without paying a toll at a river crossing. The only way not to pay the toll is to drive the car into the river. So, I told him that.

Boyfriend: “There has to be a road that is toll-less!”

I told him there wasn’t, and he kept trying to insist that there was. This went back and forth for ten minutes. Eventually, he said he wasn’t going to pay for the tolls, and I told him if he wasn’t going to pay the tolls, I wasn’t driving his girlfriend to him, and I told her she needed to get out of the car.

She got out and then called my office to complain that I refused her, even though she heard my dispatcher say what the company policy was. She cursed at me, my dispatcher, and my boss.