Alberta Co-Op Taxi Line

THE WORST. Here’s a tip Co-​op Taxi: have your drivers actually know the rules of the road before you give them permission to earn a living driving on our city streets. Driver in unit #681 decided he was too far into an intersection and started reversing, backing straight into my vehicle, even though my horn was steadily applied for him to stop. THEN your useless driver denies reversing and doesn’t provide his insurance and registration when asked. It only took 3 phone calls to your supervision office to obtain any information. Co-​op taxi employs professional drivers? No. Do this city a service and hire people who understand the knowledge and technical skills of driving, and please stop handing over licences to people who do not deserve to drive. Über only, from here on out. I’m only giving one star because I cannot proceed without some rating, but know I give a huge ZERO!!!

I am writing this review after actually not being to get a cab with coop today — since they just wouldn’t show up. I called at 7:35 this morning and was told it would be 15 minutes. After 20 minutes I called back and there was no record of my call — either by phone number or address. A second request for a cab was made and I was told it would immediately to 15 minutes. After 15 I called again with once again no record of my call. When I was expressing my frustration the agent pretty much said I had no reason to be upset she was trying to help. Well thanks to their help today I am late for a course that I flew from Out of town to attend. I wouldn’t be trying to use this cab company again. And the one star is because I can’t choose zero stars — I’m not sure how I can even justify one star when I got zero service.

I can only give 1 star to Co-​op Taxi for the following reasons:
1. The Taxi drivers do not know where they are going. They have to use their cell phones as GPS in order to find their way around. Of course, this affects the customer financially since he or she has to pay more because his driver didn’t find the place the shorter way.
2. They don’t seem to understand English well when you speak to some of them. I do not mind that these drivers come from other countries, but they should know well enough the language and the city as part of their occupation as drivers.
3. Believe it or not, they text and speak foreign languages on the phone while serving a customer.
4. Their vehicles need to get clean from time to time. Quite often they are quite smelly inside.
5. It would be so nice if the drivers had good manners. They don’t seem to understand what Good morning or Good evening mean.
6. Something else, never call them if you need to get somewhere on time, because we have been waiting for hours, and sometimes the taxi didn’t even show up.
For all these reasons and more, I believe Co op Taxi is far from being professional and the company is a complete disaster. I did not mean to be critical, but I should say the truth as it is.

Co-​op taxi you SUCK ASS!!!
Maybe I’m an idiot and I don’t get it, but last time I checked you’re a cab company and you get paid to drive fares… But yet you’re too lazy to work!
My last trip to the airport which I booked in advance, 3 drivers cancelled on me morning of because they’re too lazy to drive to beaumont… It’s not a long enough fare from here to the airport.
Giving you a second chance, I called to pre-​book for tomorrow and was told by your dispatch to call another company as again you’re too lazy to do your frickin jobs!!!
GO UBER is all I can say in regards to your shitty customer service. I used to think it was just yellow cab, but that’s not the case anymore. I would have given you zero stars but it isn’t an option unfortunately.

Update: I reported the incident with the driver I mentioned in the original review to Co-​Op, through their website. Almost two weeks have passed and there has been no response from them whatsoever.
There are no standards. They don’t care.
My friends in EMS and law enforcement have also told me stories about Co-​Op drivers refusing to move their vehicles when people were having medical emergencies and emergency vehicles needed access, because the drivers cared more about their fares.
Avoid!

This seriously deserves zero stars. The most horrible customer service I have ever encountered. I called to get a cab by Simons in west Edmonton mall, usually I’ve never had a problem and have got cabs sent to the location. However the lady on the phone kept demanding the entrance number and when I said I didn’t know she hung up on me. I called the second time and asked to speak to the manager however she cursed at me and then continued to hang up on me once more. I called the third time and someone else picked up, I asked to speak to management about the terrible service I had encountered and finally got a hold of someone. The manager then proceeded to tell me that they had Simons in their location and didn’t need an entrance number. I am extremely disappointed in this company and will definitely not be recommending it to anybody anytime soon.

Way too expensive! From west Edmonton mall went 13 blocks, 3 adults and 2 small kids, granted it was a minivan but ride took less than 10 minutes. not busy time of day either! I do not feel this was an $ 18.00 ride. My call to co~op taxi resulted in no call back from management ! No wonder Über taxi is in Edmonton, I am going to push my city council for better taxi service!

Servus is very unsatisfactory to say the least. Unprofessional and inappropriate drivers. I’ve had cabs deny me debit when they are all suppose to have debit and when i bring this to there attention and start calling dispatch they suddenly get the debit to work. I’ve had drivers get mad because I didn’t tip them because the servus was terrible. This is my least favourite cab servus. If I could give zero stars I would.

Ok so I know I previously stated I’d never take co-​op taxi again. Unfortunately in the past few weeks I’ve had to rely on taking a taxi to work a few times. It frustrates me to no end when dispatch says «anywhere from immediately to 20 minutes» and 45 minutes later I’m still standing outside waiting like an idiot waiting. So I decided to book a taxi online ahead of time since I knew what time I needed to leave the house the next morning. The taxi driver assured me my taxi would arrive promptly at the time I specify since the designated taxi stops taking calls 10 – 15 minutes prior to my pick up time. Perfect! I book a taxi and he was 15 minutes late. Once again I was late for work. Not only did my taxi arrive late, but the taxi stunk so bad if urine I thought I was going to be sick. Finally I make it to work and he didn’t bother dropping me off at the door, he drops me off by public parking. I was so angry but I was already late for work and I wasn’t up for the discussion of how he didn’t drop me off at the door. I just walked over to my work because I couldn’t stand the smell of urine any longer. This taxi company is pathetic! If anybody knows of a better cab company in the East side of Edmonton PLEASE let me know. People tell me Co-​op is my only option but there has to be better taxis out there that don’t smell like urine and know how to be on time.

I called for a cab last Saturday for a Christmas party, I made sure to call an hour in advance due to the busy party season.
I was told time would be any where from right away to 30 minutes, so that was fine.
Well over an hour later, no sign of a cab. So I called to check on the status, thinking maybe the cab driver was lost (has happened before since I’m in a new ‘burb).
The lady who I talked to checked their systems and said it wasn’t in there and not sure what happened! So asked her how long the wait would be, and was told she wasn’t sure now as they are very busy. I didn’t bother to call the other cabs, as I did try many times prior to getting thru to Co-​Op (had my cell and home phone both on hold for Yellow and Co-​Op). So was pretty ticked, ended up just driving and calling one of those companies that picks you up and drives your car home too at the end of the party (see my review for Dedicated Designated Drivers).
This is the second time this has happened with Co-​Op, the other time being about 3 years ago for my b-​day (yes, I was over 2 hours late for my own b-​day party).
Unfortunately, this city seems to have terrible cab services, regardless of who you call. My advice is to get a DD or use one of those drives you home programs (even if you pay a bit more… least it’s reliable) if possible.
No more Co-​Op for me.
***UPDATE***
I am now a firm believer in Über. Prices are way more reasonable, I get picked up within 5 minutes, cleaner vehicles, and the drivers will actually talk to you (and not in a disrespectful manner). No more cabs for me!

Terrible taxi line with brutal service. Driver that wanted to fight me because I asked him not to block my neighbors driveway. Their customer service m staff couldn’t care less about this aggressive and dangerous driver !

It’s time for another «Lyndsey can’t find an honest cab driver to save her life» review update. We hopped into a co op cab tonight because they were the first company we could get ahold of on this busy thanksgiving weekend and also because we noticed an improvement in their service with the last driver we used… this optimism however was short lived.
The driver asked us if we wanted to take the Henday and then Yellowhead on our way home and we agreed as we don’t know directions back to Londonderry from Millwoods all that well. Right up until the Yellowhead everything appeared to be going fine until we came to a stand still and my boyfriend made a «what’s going on?» kind of comment to which the driver piped up that something had been going on with the Yellowhead for awhile and pointed out the flashing police lights. We took this statement to mean that he knew traffic was slow before getting us and decided to take the route anyways in order to pad the fare for himself.
When my boyfriend finished paying he called dispatch to try and talk to a supervisor and was informed they didn’t feel the driver was at fault as they don’t alert drivers to road conditions and accidents beforehand (which I feel is bad business on their part) but they did take down the complaint and we are hoping to hear from a supervisor after the long weekend has passed.
Cabs are a unique case when it comes to reviews as experiences can differ from driver to driver. My last driver infact with Co op was pretty good so instead of me ending this like I do my other reviews where I encourage fellow Unilocalers to either use the business or run away I will instead end by encouraging cab customers to memorize directions well and check your smart phones for accident reports as well as construction before you even call. You never know what kind of person you are going to encounter when you open that passenger door so it’s best to arm yourself with as much info as possible.

I used to be loyal to co-​op but not anymore after three major incidences where my cab did not show up.
First one happened when I worked at a bus depo. Got off at 1am. But knowing its a Saturday night and it would be hard to call in for a cab I called early. No one showed. Called again. No one showed. Now if you say it’s for a staff you get top priority over bar people. I did this. No one showed. Kept seeing cab drivers driving by, but no one stopped. And by this point it’s was getting harder to call in since it was close to last call at the bars. 2:30 in the morning and still no cab showed up. I ended up calling home and waking my dad to come get me cause I was so frustrated. 2am, early 20s, and I’m downtown on a Saturday night, thanks co-​op.
Second one happened when my friend from out of town was visiting because her brother gotten flown down and was in icu at the hospital. I was working nights so in the morning when she wanted to go see her brother I called a cab for her. Guess what? No one showed! I did keep in mind there was a blizzard outside and it would be a big delay. Called multiple times just to see if a cab was on its way or if we were nearing the end of the line when one would be coming. 4 hours! My friend wasn’t used to waiting to long and she was driving me nuts keeping me awake wondering where the hell the cab was. Thank goodness my brother woke up from his night job and took her to see her brother… oh yeah the cab never did show up.
Third and final time. Was gonna take greyhound with a friend of mind who was a greyhound driver. Just going for the trip. But he left so early in the morning I couldn’t take a bus to the depo. So I called co-​op. 3days I called in the morning (early enough someone should show up and get me there on time) guess what? Cab never showed. I was so mad and so was my friend that we had to make alternate plans to get me there.
So no co-​op for me anymore. Huge let down when it matter most. Not to mention a lot of the drivers have become rude, arrogant and just plain mean. They are now posted at north gate Safeway, but good luck getting them they are never around even when there’s a cab there they are usually not in it. I take yellowcab all the time. They are way friendlier and actually show up!

Trying to present a balanced view of the service provided by coop taxi… based on my own experience and my perusal of the reviews listed here it would appear that there is a customer service issue that runs the gamut from driver non-​compliance with company policy to open rudeness and questionable ethics. It seems to me that there are other can companies to use as your first choice.

Horrific service. I called and pre-​booked a cab for 5:30 a week in advance of my trip. At 6am the day of the cab still had not arrived and all dispatch would say is that «its coming» at 615 I gave up and used yellow cabs mobile app to request a cab. It was there in 3 minutes.
Why would you offer pre-​booking if you’re just not going to show up.

Co-​op taxi is the cab company I call when the others are too busy. I find their debit machines have some serious issues and are in need to repair or better connection. It will show error, and can do this a few times, your card gets swiped multiple times until it goes through… but you need to check your online bank account! I have been double charged twice from this.
After noticing this, I called Co-​op to get the error remedied. It was late at night, so I got the night watch in the office who got the needed info and gave me a phone number for the accounting team for the day after. I called the next day, I was told they couldn’t do anything as it was not processed in their system yet (but the girl the night previously could see) I was told I would get a call back, I didn’t.
So today I called and was transferred from the account department to the supervisor’s voice-​mail.
It was way too much of a run around to get my money back for an error on their part.
Save yourself the chase and go directly to your bank to get your money back. But always check your statements online after multiple swipes of your card.

The absolute worst cab company ever… do not use this company! Called 2x after the cab didn’t show up (40 mins later), lady on the dispatch said that the address doesn’t exist and hung up on me? I called yellow cab, 5 minutes later a cab arrived. DO NOT USE CO-​OP

I was with a group of 3 other people, leaving Whyte ave on a busy Saturday night. We asked to be taken to West Edmonton Mall. 5 minutes in the cab and we realized he was taking us in the wrong direction (headed south). Told him politely that he was going the wrong way as we asked to go to the westend, he insisted we said Southgate mall and quickly became abrupt with us. He began to argue and insisted he wouldn’t go to the west end, and while arguing slammed on the breaks sharply several times. We asked him to stop right there, we’d pay him whatever fare it was at, and find someone else — and he didn’t for a couple minutes, until he decided to boot us out. I only wish I had taken down the cab number, as I would have reported him — needless to say, I’ll never use Co-​op again!

My cab was 20 minutes late, but that sort of thing happens, so I’m not holding it against the review today. Regardless, something I feel I should mention.
The individual who drove me to my destination had passable driving skills, but had me questioning whether it would’ve been smarter to walk at one point. After we arrived, I asked if I could pay by Visa: No! The machine isn’t working. Perhaps when 2 out of your 3 methods of receiving payment are no longer working, you should let me know beforehand so I can tell you to get lost so I can find another way home!
No matter, I think… I’ll do him a favour and get some money out of the ATM in the convenience store. After arguing to leave my bag in the vehicle as collateral, I finally concede and rush over to get money out as fast as possible. It’s very busy and late, and tons of drunks are trying to find cabs right now. When I return, there’s two other people getting out of the cab, and one of them is attempting to steal the bag that I thought was being watched by this quack of a cabbie. I got my bag back from the thief and had to listen to the cab driver tell me he actually was watching my stuff and wouldn’t let someone steal anything, despite an individual making it about 8 feet away from his car with my bag.
The long story short here is that I received the opposite of «Above and Beyond». It’s like he went out of his way to ruin my night, and almost did. I’d say «Better luck Next Time», but there won’t be one.

Yes, I called them at 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning for a cab. But when you’re at a friend’s house and it’s time to go, the last thing you want to do is wait the 40 minutes originally quoted, then call back after an hour has passed and hear it’s going to be an additional half hour wait. Co-​op has lost my business, and I’ve never even been inside one of their taxis …