The complaints then go to the specific cab company, which is charged with handling them, either with a refund or—and this is adorable—a written apology.

What, if any, accountability is there for the individual cab driver who stands accused of breaking the law, in some cases even endangering a passenger's safety?

Even the complaint process illustrates why the cabs are losing the competition. I didn't like an uber ride once so I left a comment on the feedback form that displays automatically. Took 10 sec, drunk. Later I got an email from a customer service rep who had issued me a partial refund after reviewing the data from the ride.

Compare that to the Byzantine process described here. It's no wonder they don't get many formal complaints. Nor will they-- it's much easier to say "fuck that" and download the competitor's app.

If the council aren't aware of the widespread complaints, it's because they don't care. "But they didn't use the formal complaint system!" roughly translates to "we don't want to discuss this."

I ride cabs a handful of times per year, for several decades now in Seattle, and never had any significant problem. Drivers used to complain about taking plastic 20 years ago but not anymore as far as I can tell.

I've never had an issue with taking a cab in Seattle.

"quality of service"....Hmmm...What is the 'quality of service' provided by a gypsy cab driver, without proper insurance, who is providing services illegally? What happens when that gypsy cab driver is in an accident with you in the car, and his personal vehicle insurance doesn't cover him, or you? And, you find out his company (Uber, Lyft, etc.) won't back him either? What quality of service did you receive? Are you going to sue the gypsy cab driver? Good luck! What does he have to take? He's a schlub, just like you, without much. He's maybe earning a bit more than minimum wage, living in an apartment, and the only thing of value he had was the car he just wrecked with you in it.

At least with a regulated cabbie you can go after the company. They actually carry commercial insurance that will cover you.

Whoa, is this ever timely for me!

I just got shafted AGAIN yesterday by Yellow Cab, and I was thinking back over the last two months - no less than THREE major shaftings (by dispatch, not the drivers)... I've called the complaint hotline before and the results were... well, there were no results. Just a lot of "Sorry about that" from the person on the other end of the phone.

It makes me sad, really. I want to do business with them, but their absolutely dismal dispatch "service" makes it tough.. Now, at a time when they've got more competition than they've ever had, and they STILL can't keep from shitting all over their repeat customers??? C'mon, people...

Every time I hear "innovative" in terms of TNCs, I think of all the hedge fund lobbyists that have earned their gold stars.

What a twisted system. Hey whole city, please provide a burden of proof that a protected monopoly thats being undercut by better service is bad, so we can consider allowing you to have other choices.

The blatant pandering to the taxi lobby in all these proceedings would be awful if it wasn't so hilarious.

When the city experimented with cab deregulation it was a disaster. That doesn't mean we can't adjust the rules now, but that there are consequences. Turning a blind eye to unregulated and illegal car shares isn't the right thing either.
Some regulation with some standards on things like insurance would be a good place to start.
The other thing that people forget is that Uber isn't always the good guy here either. I'm not down with paying 2x the going rate with their surcharge periods or having them game the system by cutting down on the number of drivers out on the road. Uber is doing a better customer service job now because they have to. Knock down the cab companies and I'd be surprised if Uber doesn't jack up their rates.

Wait... what sort of insurance do the taxi companies have ? The highly suspect independent contractor cabbie insurance that tries to browbeat claims away to nothing ?
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/24/nyregi…

From the 2005 story:
Independent Contractors

But here's the deal: Drivers are independent contractors, not employees. So, cab companies can only fine drivers or temporarily take them off the streets. They can't fire them. Labor and Industries forbids it unless the company wants to start paying insurance for their drivers. That would mean prices for cab rides would soar.

From publicola's story on council requirements for $1M in insurance for TNCs.
http://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-profi…
Additionally, the council is seeking to require all ridesharing companies to provide $1 million in commercial insurance coverage any time a driver is logged in to a ridesharing system, as opposed to when they're actively carrying a customer—a response, in part, to a collision in San Francisco in which an Uber driver struck and killed a 6-year-old girl in a crosswalk while logged on to the company's system.

@13 WOAH WOAH WOAH there joe, that looks like editorial substance, we don't play that shit around here.

Lets talk more about the people who own the limited cab medallions are poor immigrants and not investors who pimp out every hour. How deregulation didn't work during the recession in the 80s when the city was a dead husk from the suburban expansions of the 70s. And most importantly why we are talking about density and getting people out of cars, while arbitrarily limiting the options for drunk drivers and alternative transportation.

We should have a cap on the number of busses till they get their numbers up.

There are two words for this article: stockholm syndrome.

You know how I deal with it if my neighborhood hardware store gives consistently terrible service? I shop somewhere else. I don't have to file an official complaint and chase it through a city bureaucracy, I just take my business elsewhere. It's simple, it's fast, it doesn't require the city to pay a salary to someone to handle the complaint, and if enough of my neighbors feel similarly about the level of service provided, the store goes out of business and good riddance.

And yet people are surprised, shocked to see that when customers suddenly have the ability to avoid giving their money to people who consistently provided poor service, that they do so.

"But, but, we have a convenient form you could fill out to register your displeasure with the incumbent monopoly!"

"That's great, I'll get right on that" said nobody who valued their time ever.

@7 There is a reason why billionaire hedge fund investors are backing these services and it has something to do with them making additional billions.

Speaking anecdotally, it kinda feels like the explosion in cab alternatives has put the cab drivers on notice to up their game. Has anyone else noticed this?

In the cab rides I've taken over the last 6 months, no one has complained about me paying with a credit card, no one has taken the long way to get me where I'm going, and the service has generally been friendlier. That's a significant improvement over the cab service I got in the past.

So, my sister from California needed to get to Seatac last week. The shuttle driver didn't show up, and when we called, they refused to have someone come by specially. She still had 1.5 hours to get to the airport so we called Yellow Cab. The dispatcher said "Well, we might be able to get someone there in about half hour-45 minutes." We call Farwest Cab; they said exactly the same thing. Service was not refused; we never saw a cab to get a number/name. How are we supposed to complain about that? If either company had sent a cab, the driver probably would have made a good tip, but apparently they didn't care.

@5 - gypsy cab driver? Three times in one comment? Racist a little?

@19 unfortunately, that's the actual historical name for that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_tax…

Well, one name, today I learned... that was always the name I'd heard associated with them in New York.

"let's deregulate because it'll be different this time, I swear" [/snark]

27 years on Capitol Hill. 20 cab rides a year = about 500 rides... ONE BAD EXPERIENCE... the cab was 8 min late. Guy fell over himself apologizing.

DEREGULATION doesn't look any better to me on hipsters & the youth.

GOOGLE trouble with UBER/LYFT in big cities that have let it muscle out regulated taxis... Congestion pricing & lack of oversight brings its own set of ARGH.

Last Monnight I needed a cab to take me from Hotel 1000 to Aston Manor. The driver needed directions from his GPS. THEY ARE ON THE SAME STREET DUMBSHIT.

Hi, it is totally correct to send taxi complaint to city taxi organization not to a friend. It is good for cab companies to provide good cab service.
Thanks for this post.