I just would like to share with the media of the experience my partner and I had in Victoria this past weekend We are frustrated and angry with the lack of action by any parties involved and have turned to the media as we don't know what else to do at this point
On ***, my partner and I arrived in Victoria for a weekend vacation to visit familyWe used Victoria taxi for transportation, and upon arrival at our destination we paid, and exited the vehicleAs the taxi drove away we realized our two bags were left in the trunkWe ran after the cab, however he did not stopWe then immediately phoned the company back, and they told us they would contact the driver to return to us with our bagsThe driver was "cab driver number***," and the dispatchers were able to see he had just dropped us offThe dispatcher advised us to wait outside and be watching for the taxiWe waited outside for an hour and a half, for the taxi to return with our bagsMultiple phone calls were made back to the dispatch who eventually advised us to phone the*** as they could not make contact with their driver ***They said to us on the phone, quite rudely, "if you are that concerned, maybe you should just phone the ***." Once the *** intervened, the driver answered, and the driver denied having possession of our bags, claiming we must be mistakenThe driver continued to run taxi fares during the time his dispatch was attempting to get in contact with him, as the dispatcher claimed he could see the driver's GPS actively***The Victoria taxi company has said they are not willing to get involved as their drivers are "self-contracted" and they are not liableThis is not a case of missing items, or forgotten items however***placing our bags in the trunk of the taxi at the beginning of our tripWe are not trying to hold the Victoria taxi liable for the stolen items, as we understand they cannot be held responsible for every item "left" behind, however we believe there was negligence on both the part of the driver and the part of the companyAn hour and a half went by where the driver was not responding to his company's phone calls inquiring on his location, and asking him to return to our location***The total value of goods within the bag were approximately ***Some items are absolutely irreplaceable such as our lap top containing every photo from the last four years, tax forms, medical forms with personal details that we were intending on delivering in Victoria on our arrival, irreplaceable collector hats that arguably do not hold a high value to the public however do hold a high personal value to the collector, two watches, school notes for my partner as he has final exams at BCIT this week, electronic chargers, and some various items of clothing
I expect no resolution from the businessI ultimately would love the return of my ***items, however I do not expect this resolutionEssentially I would just like the public to be aware that this activity is happeningThe public needs to be made aware of the lack of professionalism from a service that is deemed "local, reliable, safe" by their own accounts on their websiteThis company is neither reliable nor is it safe*** We ultimately feel so violated and helpless In a city that relies so much on the tourism industry, and those tourists often using services such as taxi***business practices The Victoria Taxi company refused to take our phone calls on the weekend, and either transferred us to a voicemail service or hung up on us multiple times The manager phoned on Monday and states that if their driver says he does not have our bags, he does not have our bags, and that is that We are left unbelievably frustrated, and deeply disturbed as there appears to be no resolution in sight for us at this time
I just would like to share with the media of the experience my partner and I had in Victoria this past weekend We are frustrated and angry with the lack of action by any parties involved and have turned to the media as we don't know what else to do at this point
On ***, my partner and I arrived in Victoria for a weekend vacation to visit familyWe used Victoria taxi for transportation, and upon arrival at our destination we paid, and exited the vehicleAs the taxi drove away we realized our two bags were left in the trunkWe ran after the cab, however he did not stopWe then immediately phoned the company back, and they told us they would contact the driver to return to us with our bagsThe driver was "cab driver number***," and the dispatchers were able to see he had just dropped us offThe dispatcher advised us to wait outside and be watching for the taxiWe waited outside for an hour and a half, for the taxi to return with our bagsMultiple phone calls were made back to the dispatch who eventually advised us to phone the*** as they could not make contact with their driver ***They said to us on the phone, quite rudely, "if you are that concerned, maybe you should just phone the ***." Once the *** intervened, the driver answered, and the driver denied having possession of our bags, claiming we must be mistakenThe driver continued to run taxi fares during the time his dispatch was attempting to get in contact with him, as the dispatcher claimed he could see the driver's GPS actively***The Victoria taxi company has said they are not willing to get involved as their drivers are "self-contracted" and they are not liableThis is not a case of missing items, or forgotten items however***placing our bags in the trunk of the taxi at the beginning of our tripWe are not trying to hold the Victoria taxi liable for the stolen items, as we understand they cannot be held responsible for every item "left" behind, however we believe there was negligence on both the part of the driver and the part of the companyAn hour and a half went by where the driver was not responding to his company's phone calls inquiring on his location, and asking him to return to our location***The total value of goods within the bag were approximately ***Some items are absolutely irreplaceable such as our lap top containing every photo from the last four years, tax forms, medical forms with personal details that we were intending on delivering in Victoria on our arrival, irreplaceable collector hats that arguably do not hold a high value to the public however do hold a high personal value to the collector, two watches, school notes for my partner as he has final exams at BCIT this week, electronic chargers, and some various items of clothing
I expect no resolution from the businessI ultimately would love the return of my ***items, however I do not expect this resolutionEssentially I would just like the public to be aware that this activity is happeningThe public needs to be made aware of the lack of professionalism from a service that is deemed "local, reliable, safe" by their own accounts on their websiteThis company is neither reliable nor is it safe*** We ultimately feel so violated and helpless In a city that relies so much on the tourism industry, and those tourists often using services such as taxi***business practices The Victoria Taxi company refused to take our phone calls on the weekend, and either transferred us to a voicemail service or hung up on us multiple times The manager phoned on Monday and states that if their driver says he does not have our bags, he does not have our bags, and that is that We are left unbelievably frustrated, and deeply disturbed as there appears to be no resolution in sight for us at this time