Just as prices can vary these days, so can the quality of service and the travel experience
Sometimes I hear different stories from customers, how the taxi ride was a kind of "adventure". I thought I would write what kind of things you should consider when choosing a taxi service? And what are the things to consider that can make your trip smoother and more pleasant. Read on for tips to help you make a smart choice for your next taxi ride.
Personal preferences
This is definitely the most important thing on this list, and personal preference cannot be overemphasized. There are as many preferences as there are people. Someone may use a taxi only for sudden departures and want a car to their yard as quickly as possible, another will ticket for cheaper prices, and a third will mostly know their schedule in advance and want certainty and travel comfort for their trip. Only you know what you value in the transport service.
Safety
I have heard several times from the customer's mouth that "the last time I ordered, the same thing came and the whole way I was worried if I would get there at all". After all, it shouldn't be like this and if you are interested in the quality of the transport service, I would give you a tip, when ordering, try to favor smaller companies instead of large brokerage centers. Why? Entrepreneurs who operate with one or a few cars are able to maintain significantly better control over their own activities than large brokerage companies. In other words, when ordering from a small operator, you know better what you are ordering and you are not buying a pig in a sack. Although the big operators have separate internal quality inspectors, everyone understands that if the brokerage includes hundreds of cars and thousands of drivers, the quality of the service inevitably varies.
Tip: If you come across a good driver through a large brokerage company, why not order directly from him in the future and avoid unpleasant experiences?
Purpose of use
When choosing a transport service, different things can be emphasized in different situations. When heading to the airport early in the morning, you hope for a smooth ride and a calm driver, while in the wee hours of the morning, when returning from a party, the most important thing may be to quickly get into a warm car, even if the progress of the journey is more like bouncing.
When you compare different operators, what should be taken into account?
Drivers
However, in their own way, drivers are the face of the company and the link that connects you to your destination. In my opinion, a driver's professionalism consists of a few main points:
- Driving skills - Safety is the most important priority and a professional driver is the key to that. A proactive driving style is also suitable for calming the journey. To my taste, even for us professionals, the going looks like the mood of the south at times, when you're busy singing racing.
- Service attitude and interaction skills - A friendly and service-minded driver creates a positive atmosphere and makes the trip pleasant. The driver's ability to read the situation also plays an important role, the ability to offer peace or conversation when necessary can make a big difference in the travel experience.
- Local knowledge - Of course, you can't expect anyone to know every corner of the alley, but everyone who works in the field should roughly know which direction they're going, the navigator is practically an aid to guide the last kilometers. Having said that, today's navigators provide real-time traffic information, so it can be good to keep them on if you can avoid the worst traffic jams in the capital region.
- General appearance and hygiene of the drivers - It's silly that something like this has to be listed here. I've still heard several stories about drivers' hygiene, and I won't go into detail here whether only the driver smells or whether the vehicle also needs disinfection. I can still believe the stories, because especially during Corona when the drives were few anyway, it seemed that some of the drivers lived in that car.
When ordering from large brokerage companies, you can't really compare drivers in advance, because usually the driver who has been waiting the longest for a ride nearby is sent to serve you. In these situations, I would look at the general appearance of the brand and the drivers and draw a conclusion about what might be coming.
Vehicles to be used
When we discuss the choice of taxi service and the brands, it is necessary to also look at the vehicles used. The role of the car in transportation is an essential part of the travel experience, and its quality can give the trip a special boost.
- Comfort and equipment - At least volume is one comfort factor, as I'm just under 190 cm tall, I appreciate the space that you don't have to travel with your knees in your mouth. In addition, you can find, for example, water bottles for longer journeys in the cars. The more prestigious the car, the more comfort you can find there, such as 4-zone air conditioning or better comfort seats, but you see these cars more on the to-order side than on the traditional taxi stand.
- Safety features - Generally speaking, a more expensive vehicle usually always has better safety features. Smaller cars may not even have the kind of equipment that is standard in some bigger cars. Since we drive a lot in the dark, with the emphasis on early morning deliveries to the airport and late evening pick-ups from the airport, we have especially invested in safety by purchasing some of the cars with more efficient headlights and factory-installed thermal cameras, which allow us to detect, for example, larger animals even beyond the range of the headlights.
- Environmental friendliness - Today, taking care of the environment is one major theme. Electric cars have increased all the time and more and more cars are at least some kind of light hybrid.
- General appearance and maintenance - I've seen all kinds of tuning in the last few years. The bumpers have hung several times, the rear windows have been covered with jesar, the side mirror has once hung on bundles, and the driver's set of tires on the back seat was also with him on the trip. However, cars are used to transport people from one place to another, so the car should be clean to make it more comfortable to travel there. Or at least in driving condition so that the work can be carried out safely.
Customer service and ease of ordering
A functioning taxi service is also more than transportation from place A to place B. The ride starts with ordering and the ordering channel must also work. Nowadays, ordering is done more and more often with phone applications, and probably at least all big operators have one.
We also have our own ordering app, but it is not designed for a traditional taxi service, but more on the basis of order driving. As a small operator, we are not able to guarantee the vehicle for sudden departures, therefore, we only accept pre-orders through the App and the order platform.
Calling the centers is also still a hobby, and of course if such an option is available, you need to get in touch and preferably as quickly as possible. You can also call us, but for example, when the customer is on board, we are unable to answer and will call you back when we are free. Otherwise, when driving in traffic, receiving orders is a bit like this due to traffic safety, so I definitely recommend placing your order in advance via our app or website, you will receive a confirmation message from us about the availability of a car for your transport as soon as possible.
Pricing
As someone who drives more pre-orders and airport transfers myself, I'm probably a bit the wrong person to tell you how much a traditional taxi ride should cost. Still, I have my own opinion on the matter, and so do you I would at least avoid the cheapest operators, everyone understands that an operator who constantly drives 10-euro rides cannot possibly fulfill its obligations without correcting the legally necessary payments. The day simply runs out of hours. Of course, I'm not speaking in favor of "robbery prices", but yes, the employee is entitled to compensation for the work done and the compensation paid for the ride must be in line with the service received.
Robbery prices, so much so that the legislation after the reform series that came to the taxi industry does not give the same opportunity for so-called "robbery" as before. The previous legislation worked so that the customer had to be notified in advance of a ride costing more than 100 euros. So, in principle, according to legislation, it would have been possible for you to jump on board, sit for 3 km and the price of the ride would have been 99 euros. Today, the law defines an "example trip" of 10 kilometers and 15 minutes, the price of which cannot exceed 40 euros. If the price of 40 euros is exceeded during the trip, for example, the driver must always separately agree with the passenger on a fixed price for the ride before starting the trip. So you can jump on board with a safer mind.
If there is a disagreement with the taxi about whether the price or the basis for determining the price has been explicitly agreed upon when the sample price is exceeded, the taxi must prove its claim.
If the taxi cannot demonstrate that the price or the basis for determining the price has been explicitly agreed upon, the price cannot exceed the price limit of 40 euros for the example trip. In this case, the taxi cannot charge you more than 40 euros, even if the journey is longer than the example journey (more than 10 kilometers) or takes longer than that (more than 15 minutes).
Why are you probably hearing about this for the first time now? Especially the bigger players don't want this kind of information to be made public. It is much more reasonable to remain silent about the matter, to scare customers from overcharging and to blame the so-called "wild taxis" for robbing them. I'm still not saying that overpricing can still happen, but in terms of legislation, this is how it goes today.
Permits and insurances
Let's go back to this pricing issue a bit more. On Christmas Day 2023, an accident occurred in Helsinki, where the taxi drove through the railing and fell 8 meters, the car had two passengers in addition to the driver. Hindsight is of course silly, but according to the story, Yango was written on the side of the car, so apparently the passengers had decided to save a few euros on their trip. I hope the passengers are all right now. Afterwards, it turned out that the car was of course not registered for licensed traffic, so there is no point in seeking any compensation from the insurance. In professional transport, there are multiple insurance premiums and they in particular insure you as a passenger, if something bad happens.
You probably don't have the interest or the opportunity to bother with any operator's license and insurance issues, so I could consider the reliable partner stamp issued by Vastuu Group as a good "shortcut". Vastuu Group monitors the proper handling of mandatory obligations, such as permits and insurances. Of course, the absence of the reliable partner stamp does not automatically make any company dishonest, but when you find the stamp, you at least know that the operator fulfills its obligations and everything is in order.
Finally, the overall look of the brand
The general appearance of the brand is built on these aforementioned points. From ordering to destination.
- Ordering – Does the application rotate in a circle while looking for a free car or is a free car found quickly? When you call, do you answer the phone or do you listen to the elevator music for a minute in the shop?
- Predictability - When you order a car, does it take 5 minutes, 15 minutes for the car to arrive, or do you have to call back where the car is waiting? I have also heard from customers that the car has not necessarily been seen at the agreed time even though the order was made well in advance. I wonder about this, especially if the operator from whom the order was made has hundreds of cars at their disposal, that none of them show up on time?
- Drivers - The role of drivers is big, their job is to guarantee you a safe and pleasant travel experience.
- Vehicles to be used - Of course, there is a difference whether you jump into a black merzu or a Nissan Micra. Today, both of them start to appear in the street scene with a dome on the roof. If I were you, I would make sure that the car runs smoothly and does not bounce. However, big companies have a little bit of equipment all over the place, and you may not be able to influence what you will get.
- Pricing - I would recommend avoiding the cheapest operators. The previous law determined that the customer should know about the ride over 100 euros in advance. You can no longer be cheated in the same way as during the time of the previous law, when in principle the "swindler" could set the price at 99 euros for a 3 km distance without penalties, today the limit is 40 euros per trip.
A word about the general appearance of vehicles
Sometimes it seems that today taxis can be recognized by their stickers and the appearance of the cars is starting to look like a sketch of a hawthorn. It's like competing to see who has the most stickers on the car, and the most reliable operator is the one whose car resembles Christmas the most. Even though visibility is important, could it be that you, as a passenger, miss practical drivers, predictable prices and a comfortable environment for traveling more than the colorful brilliance of advertising stickers? Our of the fleet to the extent that our cars do not have external identifiers, because we drive somewhat different corporate customers and sometimes our cars act as a wedding car for a bride and groom, for example. And big advertising stickers don't really fit long black company cars anyway.
How does VM Limo rank with these metrics?
In this listing, we are a player placed more in the premium segment and I would say that we are more of an on-demand driving service than a traditional taxi operator, as we mainly operate through pre-orders. So getting a car from us for sudden departures is a bit challenging. Most of our transports are to or from the airport. We may be a possible option for you when you know your transportation needs in advance and want to be sure of a comfortable environment for traveling.
Summary: What should be considered when choosing a taxi service
I would go back to the intended use and to personal preferences. If the car should be in the yard within 5 minutes of calling, I would prefer larger brokerage companies because they have the capacity to deliver the service. On the other hand, if you know your transport needs in advance and want to be sure of proper transport, I would prefer to order from a smaller, proven operator.
An unpopular opinion
To be honest in my opinion, currently the operators have not sufficiently understood the new opportunities brought by the current legislation. Most of the players in the industry operate with a "little bit of everything for everyone" model, even though the current legislation would make it even better possible for the players to specialize and offer a more individualized service to their target group. This current operating model means that you as a customer often have to order a pig in a sack and hope for the best. At the moment, it's like a competition to see who is the least bad, and I don't think there are very many players in the industry that you can completely trust.
One thing is certain. It's slowly time for us taxi industry operators to start thinking: in this attention-deprived world, should we at some point stop for a moment and listen to what the customer thinks makes his trip meaningful and try our best to deliver it to him?