Rip off?

Monday’s local paper ran a feature on Cabbies overcharging when they pick up late at night from our local floating nightclub the Blue Lagoon (never actually heard anyone call it that its known simply as the boat by the locals). The story goes that a small number of drivers are ripping people off. I don’t know if there’s any truth in it I don’t do nights myself, but reading the piece, and I quote the relevant part” The woman I mentioned was picked up outside the club and after dropping off friends the cab carried on up Abbey Road. When the car reached the Strawberry lights she noticed the meter kept jumping up rapidly and was already exceeding her normal fare. She asked him why it was so much and he became annoyed. He turned the car round and drove back to the Selandia. He ordered her out of the taxi and drove off. It was 4am she was left freezing cold alone and without means to call a cab from where she was. “Firstly I don’t condone this leaving off the woman but I must point out some holes in the story first as I have underlined the dropping off friends, I have experienced this after people have had a lot to drink and this usually involves lots of long goodbyes and chatting before each person finally gets out, all the while the meter is clocking the minutes. Secondly she mentions the meter; a meter is sealed by law and inspected every year for accuracy, so it doesn’t tell lies. And finally she says she was left stranded but if he took her back to where he picked her up from then (and he had no need to do that) then she was obviously back on the taxi rank, she had spent no money so she was simply back to where she started, it was the driver who was out of pocket surely?.