Alex Kidman22 January 2009, 2:40 PM
Ex-owner unhappy, driver unhappy after iPod substituted for taxi fare. Although in the cabbie's case it seems to be because it lacked headphones...
There's undoubtedly a billion bad B-Movie plots about a girl in a Taxi offering to pay for her fare in an "unconventional way" -- APC wouldn't know, as it's clearly above that kind of thing, naturally -- but
The New York Post reports on one woman who ended up, if the story is true, being forced to forfeit her iPod in lieu of cab fare payment when her credit card was declined multiple times.
Just before you head to Manhattan, pitchforks in hand for some impromptu cab-related justice, we should reveal a few more details -- as well as pointing out it's a rather long swim -- as the cabbie in this case wasn't the person suggesting the unorthodox payment method.
Instead, the blame there allegedly lays with the Manhattan Police Port Authority's officers who insisted that 20 year old Natalie Lenhart "had to give the driver some compensation" after taking a US$49 cab fare and finding her credit card non-functional.
The story notes that the player, valued at US$140 was "valued at more than $90 than the final cab fare". $91, if our high school maths hasn't gone all rusty on us, although they could always be referencing the value of the music within if purchased from iTunes. Well, were it not for the fact that the player was apparently full of Beatles tracks, not currently available on any paid online music service.
The cab driver, Mohammed Islam, has indicated that he'd like to give the iPod back -- as well as getting his fare, and places blame squarely on the port authority cops. Also, he's not happy with the iPod as it is, and is quoted in the Post as stating:
"What am I going to do with the iPod? There's no ear phones!"
Almost predictably, the authorities involved are said to be investigating, but this being the litigation-happy United States, couldn't confirm if a Port Authority office was actually involved or not.