A 60-year-old woman got a call from a hospital in Gdańsk Zaspa district about her dying father. At the time, she was at Gdynia Główna railway station. She needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible, so she took a cab. When they arrived at the destination, the driver said the charge was 595 zlotys. The distressed woman under time pressure paid the alarmingly high fee and rushed to the hospital. A few days later, the taxi company apologised for the situation and promised to return the money to the woman. The story was reported by trojmiasto.pl portal.
The situation, which took place on December 21, was reported by trojmiasto.pl portal. The woman was at Gdynia Główna railway station when she received a call from a hospital in Gdańsk Zaspa district, telling her that her father was dying. She wanted to get to the hospital as soon as possible to bid her last farewell to her dad.
"So, I got off the bus at Gdynia railway station and wondered how to get to Zaspa as quickly as possible. I chose a taxi - the first one I saw on the stand," trojmiasto.pl portal quoted the woman as saying.
The 60-year-old woman said she hadn't been informed about higher rates for the trip. "When we were passing through Sopot, the driver mentioned he was switching the meter to a higher rate. But it didn't even cross my mind that the fee would be so high. Besides, I wasn't thinking about the price at that moment, but about having to get to my dying father as soon as possible," the woman said.
The distance between Gdynia Główna station to the hospital in Zaspa is 18 kilometres. After reaching the destination, the driver said the charge was 595 zlotys.
The woman had not time for disputes, especially as it turned out she could not pay by card and had to find an ATM. "I just withdrew 600 zlotys from ATM and gave it to the driver. Unfortunately, I was too late to see my dad. He died just minutes earlier," the 60-year-old said.
Taxi company apologises and promises to return the money
At first, a taxi company employee contacted by trojmiasto.pl portal refused to comment. But after the publication of the article on January 2, the firm sent over a statement in which it apologised for the situation and promised to return the money to the woman.
The company also said in the statement that the driver had increased the rates on his own, without authorisation. "Mostl likely the driver's motivation was to gain higher commission. Unfortunately, we do our accounting around 10-15th day of each month, and so we weren't able to 'spot' the irregularity. However, we assure You and Customers that we have drawn adequate consequences against the employee," the company said.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, TVN24, trojmiasto.pl
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: TVN24