Hey Brian, you sure have good stories 👏🤣
That Uber driver was also telling
me I should inform him about the dog and I told him that no, in fact I did not
have to do that. The point is that if I tell the driver it is way too easy for
them to cancel the trip and often when I call an Uber it’s there in less than 5
minutes so while theoretically I might be able to instantly call the driver via
the app after I book the trip, I just don’t see why I should. If I go to a
restaurant, any other store, a hotel etc. I also don’t call ahead and let them
know that I am coming there with my guide dog. It’s a bit different when I fly
since my dog weighs 75 pounds and needs to be accounted for.
If I have a taxi driver who doesn’t want to take me and my dog but then does
grudgingly he or she certainly wouldn’t get a tip from me.
I know that in the Islam faith dogs are typically considered to be unclean, but
while I respect the driver’s faith I do at the same time expect that the driver
respects the laws of the country which he has chosen to live in.
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Brian K.
Lingard
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2019 11:52 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Uber - small issue with my guide dog and very quick reply
Dear Sieghard Weitzel & List:
That is stellar service from Uber! I Expect they offer similar options in both
Canada & USA/.
Glad you handled the matter well.
While I had a Seeing Eye ® Dog, I got in the habit of telling my cab company I
had a Guide Dog.
One day the dog wanted to sniff the driver, who said he was scared of dogs. I
told my Labrador not to eat the driver, the last one he had gave him
indigestion! Even the scared driver loved that comment. I also retrieved the
Labrador and got him into the back seat of the car. Only had one outright
refusal from a cab driver, was in Toronto. He got out of his car to get moral
support from other taxi drivers. Guess they told him long as Juneau is clean &
well behaved; it is a Provincial law he had to take the hound and I. He got
back into his car, asked where to, I gave him my destination address, also a
decent tip upon arrival.
Guess I was his first guide dog fare.
Woman in Ottawa here took a driver to the Taxi commission over him not wanting
to take her with guide dog. She had not self-identified has having a k9 the
code they use for a dog when booking the ride. Was asked by Taxi Company to
testify I usually self-identified, had few problems with drivers.
All taxi companies in Ottawa say if a driver is allergic to dogs, he provides
them with a letter from his doctor stating this; they will flag him never to
get a fare with a dog.
However, to the present, no driver has provided them with such a letter!
Friend had one driver say as a good Muslim, he was not permitted to associate
with dogs. My friend said yes, this is true, if the dog is dirty. However, if
the dog is trained to hunt, the critters it hunts are considered fit to eat by
good Muslims. He contacted a local Imam who explained the faith’s stand on dogs
and invited him to attend his Mosque if he liked some Sunday morning.
While the traditional day of worship by Muslims is Friday, the Holy Koran only
states you are required to worship Allah once per week, your choice of day.
Sunday mornings lets the Muslims blend in with Christian church services; so
many Mosques hold Sunday services.
One building went up near a Howard Johnson Hotel. When a tower went up at it,
my father said it sure looked like a Minaret. Couple of weeks later, the sign
announcing it was the such and such Mosque went up. He said he knew it was a
Minaret!
In NYC, a Mosque had serious community resistance to building a new Mosque.
Several Synagogues let it be known they thought a Muslim House of Worship was
an excellent idea, the neighbors should be proud of it. In NYC, Judaism is
almost the majority faith in some parts of the city.
Brian K. Lingard VE3YI, Ab2JI, B. A., C. T. M.
From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf of Sieghard Weitzel
Sent: February 15, 2019 4:10 PM
To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: Uber - small issue with my guide dog and very quick reply
Hi,
Just thought I share this experience to encourage others who run into problems
to take the time to report this via the app.
My wife and I are currently in Calgary (that is in Canada for all of you who do
not know) and Uber is available here.
This morning I scheduled a ride from our hotel to the nearby Foothills Medical
Centre where my wife had an appointment for an MRI.
When the driver arrived, he made a little bit of fuss and argued regarding my
guide dog, told me I am supposed to let him know that I had a service dog and
so on. I told him that in fact I did not have to let him know, that he was a
properly certified guide dog, and that I had government Id in case he wanted to
see it. He did not and he took us and all was OK, but after we arrived and I
was waiting for my wife to come out of the tube I was going to let Uber know
about this. I saw that there was actually the option “Report an issue with a
service animal” so I selected that.
A new screen opened where I was asked if the driver refused the ride and
another field to leave further comments. I typed “No” in the first field and in
the comment field told them that he put up a little resistance and argued with
me, in the end, all was fine but I thought I would like to let Uber know so
they can maybe educate him further about accepting service animals.
55 minutes later I received the below reply by email:
I want to report a service animal issue
Friday, February 15, 2019 at 10:35:28 AM · UberX
Thanks for letting us know about this, Sieghard. We understand this experience
with your driver's display of poor attitude after seeing your service animal
has been frustrating.
We have noted your concerns, and we are further reviewing this driver’s
account. We have also refunded the fare associated with this trip. You should
see that reflect on your account within 3-5 business days.
As independent businesspeople, drivers agree to maintain a high standard of
professionalism, which should include respectful language, as outlined in our
Community Guidelines.
Your feedback is important and will help maintain a safe, respectful, and
comfortable experience for everyone. Please let us know for any other concerns.
We are here to help.
Sent by Joel on Friday, February 15, 2019 at 7:37:15 PM
It did also say I could reply to this message if I wanted to make any further
comments, which I did. I told Uber that I was hoping the driver would not face
any serious consequences because he had an otherwise very good rating and
through all of it, he was not angry or mean in any way. I pointed out I simply
wanted to see if he could receive further training on his obligation to accept
rides where a service animal is present and that was that. In the end I still
gave the driver a 3 Star rating a $1 tip (the fare was only $8.80), I assume
that he gets the tip even though I already received a receipt from Uber letting
me know my $8.80 was being refunded.
I hope that this option to “Report a service animal issue” is also present in
the Uber app in the US since it seems certainly the best way to let Uber know
if there really was an issue. In addition, in case a driver refuses a ride and
drives away this should still work fine because if somebody accepted the ride
Uber should at least know who the driver was.
Best regards,
Sieghard
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