Taxi service in major let down

By Melissa Meehan
YARRA Glen resident Debbie Kavanagh is demanding an explanation from Yarra Valley Taxis after her daughter was left stranded in Melbourne earlier this month.
Her daughter, Ashlee, 19, was invited to the Victorian Thoroughbred awards at Crown Casino but needed to travel to and from the casino by herself.
“Even though she was or is old enough to ride by herself, I didn’t think it was safe for her to be relying on the Melbourne taxis,” Ms Kavanagh said.
“You hear so many stories, and there is no promise that a driver will come out this far. I just didn’t want her to be left stranded.”
After talking with friends about her fears, Ms Kavanagh was told to call the local taxi service.
“I explained my fears to the lady that answered the phone and she assured me that there would be no problem arranging for a local driver to take my daughter to and from the city,” Ms Kavanagh said.
“I said to her that I trusted the local drivers rather than taking our luck with a driver from the city.”
She said after the woman assured her that a driver would be able to pick up her daughter from the casino, a booking was made.
“We arranged for a driver to be waiting for her outside the casino at 1am, the woman was just lovely,” Ms Kavanagh said.
“I asked her if it would be a problem with the drivers, and she said it was their job.”
Mrs Kavanagh said she confirmed the booking three times on the day of the event.
“We ended up cancelling the trip to the casino, as the company sent a driver service to pick Ashlee up,” Ms Kavanagh said.
“But I rang three times to confirm the pick up at 1am, the latest at 9pm that night.”
“I was told everything was fine.”
Her fears came to a reality five minutes before Ashlee was supposed to be picked up.
“At 12.55am we got a phone call from the taxi company saying one of their drivers had gone home, and that the other driver was still in Healesville,” Ms Kavanagh said.
After much discussion, Ms Kavanagh said both parties agreed that Yarra Valley Taxis would try to get a driver from their Mornington Peninsula services, as they were closer to the city than the one in Healesville.
Eventually, no one came.
“Luckily Ashlee was able to get a Melbourne taxi back to Yarra Glen, after I made her friends check out a couple of the drivers, and write down their details,” Ms Kavanagh said.
“She got home safe, only two hours after she should have got home.”
Ms Kavanagh said she understood that there were a limited number of taxis in the Yarra Valley, but said if they did not have the ability to do so, they should never have taken the booking in the first place.
The Mail contacted Yarra Valley Taxi’s, whose call centre is based in Rosebud, but no one was able to shed any light concerning Ms Kavanagh’s claims.
A driver, who works along the Warburton Highway, said it was difficult to comment on the matter, but said the call centre in Rosebud may have been unaware of the shortage of available cars in the Yarra Valley at the moment.
This proved no help to Ms Kavanagh who said she would never use the Yarra Valley Taxi service again.