Why do we send confirmation emails?
Over the years Hart Taxis has had its fair share of issues and problems with bookings. Each time we have an issue we attempt to ensure that processes are put in place to stop this issue reoccurring.
Once such example is confirmation emails for jobs. Hart Taxis takes an average of 4000 taxi bookings per month. Many of them are straightforward and do not require any confirmation. However, for our airport bookings (and all bookings made via our web site) we have a strict policy of emailing the booking details back to the customer for confirmation.
The reason for this is two-fold :
- It ensures that the details that are entered accurate (i.e. an accurate interpretation of your wishes)
- It ensure that the detail that are entered are correct (i.e. have been updated correctly on the system)
The confirmation email is produced directly from the system and it accurately reflects the details we have entered on the system for the booking. These details will be automatically fired to the driver at the appropriate time.
We STRONGLY urge customers to check ALL the details of the email we send through. The contents of the email are the final record of the journey itself. Even if you have sent through emails detailing your journey in advance we cannot be liable for any errors or differences between what you sent and what we enter once you have confirmed the details. It is vitally important that customers check the DATES and TIMES the bookings have been made.
Recently we have had two instances where customers have not done this. In one instance the customer provided the details in an email and in the other the customer called our offices. Both journeys were confirmed by emails from our system and both customers replied that the details were correct. However, in both cases there was an error which had crept in during the data input of the job. Neither customer had read the confirmation email correctly and replied that the details were correct. Both had assumed that the bookings reflected what they had told us. In both instances the customer suffered a financial loss as a result. Unfortunately Hart Taxis are not liable for any loss caused as a result of not reading the confirmation email.
If the error results in a driver going to the airport for a customer who does not turn up we will be expecting the customer to compensate the driver for the journey and lost time. In practice this equates to paying the full fare for the journey as quoted on the confirmation email.
Isn’t this unfair on the customer?
At first glance it might be considered unfair, but think of the following circumstance: You book a taxi to the airport to pick you up at 6am in two weeks time. The operator enters the correct time but the date is out by a week. No confirmation email is sent. At 6am on the wrong day one of our drivers is going to be knocking at your door wanting to take you to the airport. If this happened you would, quite rightly, be on the phone to us complaining that you had been disturbed. You would also want changes made to ensure this didn’t happen again.
The confirmation email IS that change.
In effect it is no different to the email you receive once you have booked your flight with an airline. You will, no doubt, check all the details to make sure you have booked everything correctly, knowing that an error at this point could ruin a holiday or a business trip. This is no different.
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