Covid-19
The fitting of screens between the driver and rear of the vehicle is not mandatory. TFL (Transport For London) are still conducting tests on their effectiveness and the safety issues in having them fitted. TFL will currently only allow them if they have been fitted by a select few manufacturers. Currently a very minimal number of drivers have screen fitted.
To minimise contact we would stick with government advice and advice to use card where possible, our booking agents cant take card bookings over the phone by sending a text to your phone to take payment, or both offices have contactless machines, drivers do not have the facilities in their cars to take payment. However they will all accept cash if that is all you have or what you prefer to use.
Yes, it is now the law for everyone above the age of 11 years old to wear a face covering for the duration of your trip. This must be in place before you enter the vehicle and remain on until you exit the vehicle. This same rule applies to all our drivers also. If you fail to wear one without a genuine exception either the booking agent and/or the driver can legally refuse to take your booking. Failure to do so can result in a fine of £200 increasing per offence. Exemptions do apply.
Yes there is no law against this, the drivers can (if happy to do so), take up to their full licensing capacity. Some are happy to do this others will not allow anyone in the front passenger seat. TFL recommend no one sits in the front of the vehicle but there is no legal implications for this. We can aim to provide a larger vehicle at no additional cost to you if you prefer.
The Track and Trace system will request our details from any driver who tests positive they will contact us regarding anyone who may have been in close contact including passengers and make contact with them directly, advising them what to do next.
Firstly we hope you get well soon! Please contact the office and we will advice.
Like everywhere we are taking every step we can to ensure our offices are kept as clean as we can, likewise we advise our drivers on steps to take such as maintaining a high level of both vehicle and personal hygiene. We advice that they always carry 90% alcohol based hand sanitiser a bottle of water and antiseptic cleaning wipes and to clean down high contact points after each trip such as door handles, seatbelt buckles, steering wheel. We can never 100% guarantee to protect you from Covid and it would be foolish and reckless to do so. We are doing all we can but there will always be a risk.
Our Chingford Mount office only allows one in one out at a time. We ask you to wear a mask on entering and ask you to wait outside once your car is booked or your enquiry has been dealt with. At our station office we do not have an indoor waiting area. Both offices have been fitted with auto dispensing hand sanitisers units for you to use. We never have any more then one staff member in any office space at any time and card machines are frequently cleaned down between uses and accept contactless payments. All our office staff have had their first vaccine and will soon have had their second also offering a greater degree of protection.
Yes, we are pleased to say, we are deemed an essential service, we operated throughout the last two national lockdowns and have no plans to close for any future ones. We may have to adjust out office opening hours at times, but even if our offices are closed our phone lines will remain operational along with our booking apps helping to get your from A to B and anywhere in between still.
Our drivers will take you for the drive in test, provided you are not doing it due to having symptoms. The risk of spreading the virus is too high if you have symptoms we wouldn't risk either our drivers or other passengers. However if the test is just for work purposes to prove you are all clear and you have no symptoms we can book this as a wait and return for you. You will be charged fare going, half returning and the waiting time involved.
Yes as with passengers it is a legal requirements then drivers wear face protection also for the duration of your trip. Exceptions also apply for drivers, if your drivers does not have a face mask on please inform our office where we will advise.
No our drivers are not required to wear gloves and it is not advised either. The reason being is for the gloves to offer effective protection the driver would need to change them after every point of contact. It is advised regular hand washing and antibacterial hand gel offer far better protection.
General Questions
Our minimum fare is £4.50 and will cover up to 1.0 miles from your pick up point.
Afraid so, the vehicles used are the drivers own property, in asking you not to eat and/or drink in the vehicles it means less chance of mess or spills resulting in a bad experience for the next passenger or that vehicle being pulled off the road to be cleaned and a full car valet is not cheap. We do not want dirty cars collecting you or any passenger so we ask you to wait a little longer till you reach your destination to have your food or drink.
There is no official law on this however we as a company have decided we feel 14 is a reasonable age to travel alone. All our drivers have a clear DBS check run on them as part of their TFL licensing, to ensure all passenger safety.
Yes without exception, the same road travel laws apply in a private hire vehicle as a normal road vehicle. Seatbelts must be worn and both drivers and passengers can be fined if stopped by police, more importantly its for everyone's safety so please buckle up.
Unfortunately we do not provide child seats. The law states that children do not have to be in a child seat in a private hire vehicle as it is deemed as 'a short unplanned trip'. However we understand some people may still want to use a child seat of their own. We can accommodate this request and if you need us too we can store it for free till you return.
Yes we do, not only is it a great addition to have on your phone, its free to download from the apple app store for Apple devices or the Google Play store for Android phones. You can, book and pay for your trips, see real time availability and track your driver as well as send a 'buddy text' to a family or friend waiting on your arrival to track your progress in real time. As an added Bonus bookings over 1 mile will receive a discount of up to 10% each and every time!
We have two base offices that are staffed. Our main office is situated in Chingford Mount 1a Hall lane, London, E48HH (Just up past the Sainsbury's by the main traffic lights). Our second office is situated in the Chingford Railway station Car park.
We offer a fair service to our drivers sharing the work between them, our dispatch system dispatches work out to drivers in a certain order. If you wish to request a certain driver you must inform the office at the time of making the booking, you must not contact the driver and ask them as they are not licensed to take bookings and could have their TFL licence revoked if the were reported. If you inform the office we will mark the job for that driver and if they are available at the time they will get the job, but we can never guarantee availability.
We have a large number of drivers that are happy to take animals. You must specify at the point of booking if you have an animal and what it is. We will note this down and find you a driver. Some drivers do not accept animals, so we will want to ensure we send you a driver who does.
Our drivers will take removal jobs, but we request that you do understand we do not have vans as part of our fleet, we send a MPV vehicle with the rear seats dropped, these are vehicles owned by our drivers so we are limited on what and how much we can send in them. Please inform us to the best of your knowledge approx what you have. The drivers will help put as much in as they can. Nothing will ever be placed on the seats of the vehicle and the driver will not take any more then they deem safe. Removals are charged different to a normal job please enquire for a price.
Pre booked job questions
You can edit any booking you have made regardless how it was made (in person, on the phone, via the app) by simply calling the office. One of our operators can amend the booking for you. Unfortunately you can not currently amend app bookings through the app, you would have to cancel and rebook.
There are various reasons why you may be asked to pay before your trip. You may have given us an address that we have had issues with in the past, your details maybe new to our system, if the trip is outside of the local area and is quite a high value trip it is common to request money first.
Your more then welcome to pay in advance for your car, you can request a link to make the payment sent via text message or email. Or pop to one of our offices and quote your booking job number and we can take your payment for you.
We have audited our drivers and have listed the drivers what will take animals. It is important that you inform us at the time of booking if you have an animal or any special requirements as not all drivers can accommodate and this will lead to you waiting longer then you need to find a car to suit your needs.
This should not be a problem, just give us a call with your updated details quoting your job number and we will update the job for you and inform you of any price changes it may have created.
You will be provided both the vehicle details you will be travelling in and also the drivers details who will be taking you via a text message along with a tracking link. These details get sent out when the driver is allocated.
Live bookings
We can accept card payment, our drivers to not have card machines in their cars, to make a card payment you would need to contact our office and request a 'link to pay'. The call operator will text (or email) you a link which you need to click on to open fill in your details and our 3d secure payment processing provider will take your payment and update your job to reflect it being paid. Payment much be shown as cleared before you exit the vehicle.
If you feel comfortable in doing so please advise the driver to wear their face protection, if not and you are able to please call the office while in the car to report it. We will address the driver. If you are not comfortable either telling the driver or calling us while in the car please contact us as soon as you can after exiting the vehicle. So we can address the driver regarding it.
If when booking your car you spoke to a call operator or booked on the app or web booker you should have provided a pick up point and drop off point. This will ensure the system calculates the shortest possible route meaning less mileage resulting in the lowest possible fare. The drivers know the best routes locally to avoid traffic hotspots to get you where you need to be quickly. If the driver takes a longer route, your price will not be effected, however if you specify a route you wish them to take it may not be the shortest route and could result in your price increasing.
The drivers can wait and take you back, this is what is known as a wait and return trip. Providing you return back to the same place the driver collected you from the charge will be full fare there and half fare back plus waiting time.
Post booking
Accordion Sample Description
Accordion Sample Description