Taxi firm folds, then rises again
Wednesday 17th March 2010, 2:29PM GMT.
DELTA Taxis has been liquidated because of huge debts.
But its managing director and staff have moved into another company, which claimed to have bought Delta’s assets last week, and said they would continue trading immediately.
The Treasury and Resources Department, one of Delta’s biggest creditors, has been left unsure as to whether it will see all its money returned.
Delta’s managing director Mike Newsom (pictured) appeared in the Royal Court yesterday and accepted the firm’s fate.
Apparently it had more than £120,000 of judgments against it, including about £50,000 owed in tax and social security contributions, and other actions were still pending.
Shortly after court, Mr Newsom announced that trading would continue under a different company called Ashdon Lyme, which had bought Delta’s assets, and that he would be its operations manager.
He would not give contact details, but said it was owned by a local man, who could not yet be named.
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Pay you’re bills like every one else!!
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Yes pay your bills and give a better service. ie turn up on time.
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oh and by the way- you owe me for a flight which i missed because of your poor service
you should not tell someone the taxi is outside when they are 20 min away
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I wonder which petrol station will be offering them credit terms ?
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or tell them that their taxi is around the corner when the taxi that does arrive 20 minutes later confirms that it only got the call 10 minutes previously (and the driver then threatens to throw us out because we were civilly mentioning that the service from the head office was appalling…)
I had not used Delta for ages because of shocking service and bad attitude. I doubt that I will be using Ashdon Lyme.
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I had the “taxi is on it’s way, on Forest Road” speech as well. Took over an hour to get a cab from Delta returning home and I had booked it the day before. They lied on 3 occasions telling my taxi was on it’s way. The airport was shut, it was raining, winter and I wasn’t dressed for standing outside. Service was SHOCKING and they did similar things more than once. They deserved to go under. They deserved their fate. How dare they start up again leaving people (and the Guernsey taxpayer, who will have to make up thier unpaid contributions) to pick up the pieces. This is a total joke. They obviously have money to pay a clever advocate….
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Nor me.
Last time I attempted to use them they left me stranded at the airport on a Friday evening when I phoned to complain they said the driver had been there. My flight wasn’t late and there was no driver waiting. It was Friday night eh? They weren’t interested in picking me up even though it was a Company account and we always paid our account on time. Needless to say we never used them again and now have a reliable driver.
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Indeed, two missed flights in two years with various excuses being offered. Let’s hope that customer service improves and perhaps they will stop smoking in the cars too! (I am a smoker by the way :-))
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So if we change our name by deed poll.. does that mean that any Mortgages, loans and credit card balances that we have gets wiped too…. well i’m off to get the forms now !
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So how come when i called last night they answered the fone “Delta taxis”.
This is an insult to everone who lost money.
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ah yes, I remember their excellent customer services well.
When politely enquiring where his (late, as always) taxi he’d ordered was, and referring to the operator as ‘mate’ (in nothing other than a casual and genuinely friendly term), a friend of mine was informed, ‘don’t call me mate, I’m not a condom’ and having solicited an apology, then threatened that the taxi wouldn’t get sent at all.
Lovely people. Great loss. NOT.
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Tried to use them over Christmas. Booked the taxi 2 weeks prior. On the day waited 30 minutes, constantly phoning being told – taxi on the way. In the end used our own car in a panic – narrowly got on our flight, Aurigny very helpful. Would never never recommend Delta Taxi even to my worst enemy.
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I never knew it was that easy to rip off guernsey tax payers, shame on Guernsey.
Guernsey strategy
PROTECT BUSINESS AT ANY COST TO CITIZEN
Ltd firm anyone?
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A truly awful firm – don’t use them if you can possibly avoid it. The people who answer the phones seem incapable of simply telling the truth about when a taxi will arrive.
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I started a account with them-never used it got a bill for over £400 they had put other peoples taxi on it. I was fuming, and that was after they caused me miss my flight
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I dont use delta for pretty much all the above mentioned reasons, my worst one was being at my mates house down lancresse and wanting a taxi to the airport, stood outside house 5 mins before taxi was due because in know they dont like waiting around, no taxi turned up, called and got told the taxi had been and that i wasnt there, i quote “well thats tough really mate” was the response, either way the dam thing didnt wait around to see or the taxi was invisible. I could reel off numerous examples.
Poor customer service and general inpoliteness of the drivers.
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They are also incapable of telling the truth when something of value has been accidentally left in the back of a taxi such as a mobile phone falling out ot a pocket. Until the police got involved then hey presto – it reappeared as if by magic….
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It seems from the above comments that we’ve all received the same shoddy service from Delta. Could this be why they’re going under and Island Taxis (who I’ve never had a problem with) seem to be getting bigger and bigger?
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Left us and our clients stranded after a dinner. The cab never showed up and when we rang the dipatcher he was rude and unhelpful.
Needless to say we won’t be using Delta or any company that even smells like Delta!
Hope that the mystery local investor hasn’t spent too much money buying this rubbish ;) although, if he really is local I’m surprised he didn’t know better than to get involved with this shower.
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Delta Taxis what a laugh. I have met several people at the Petty Debt Courts who say they are owed money by them. Don’t let this guy get away with it. If he has sold the assets of the Company to someone else he should be legally bound to pay off the debts to local peolple and the States of Guernsey. This sort of thing happens in the UK and small businesses go bust because of this being allowed to go on. Don’t let it happen in Guernsey. I am a victim as well. I would rather walk across Guernsey than get a taxi run by Delta, everyone should do the same.
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How can a company be liquidated and within minutes an announcement saying business as usual and they will carry on as normal. States awarded the “old company” contracts rather than paying them for these hold the cash until all debts are settled then have a surety bond set up for 10 or 20k so when the same situation arises in a year or two cash is there to pay the debts and close him down. On the point of contracts awarded by states. If the company who bid for the contract is no longer trading how can the new company ( who did not bid) take on the contract. Surely this unfair to all other companies who did bid.
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As a regular visitor to Guernsey, and the company had an account with Delta, I always prebooked taxis. Since January of the 14 booking, only 1 taxis turned up on time, 9 eventually appeared +20 minutes late after ringing them two or three times, and 4 no-shows because they couldn’t find the booking. I gave up, complained to them and the attitude was ‘so what’. If the business has been sold and using the same name, then go to the police and the creditors (the States) and report it. This needs to be stopped.
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Can sympathise with the resident of Guernsey expecting a service and getting nothing, when I asked how long a taxi would take to get to me, I was told “as long as it takes to get from the rank to where you are”. Helpful I know!
I’d like to ask a question to the forum / wider community, in that reading the above I think most if not all will shun Delta, but who are the alternatives – someone mentioned Island Taxis, any others?
As I have just returned to the island after a few years away, I no longer know the decent taxi firms.
I did like the Taxi Federations comments condoning Delta’s “business as usual” – I hope that Delta’s actions do not become synonymous with all local taxis, as the majority i am sure are hardworking, courteous and most importantly on time.
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1949/1990.you won’t see the likes of us again, 40yrs of selfimposed slavery, sorry son I can’t help you, the island has gone to the dogs as they say,in my 87 yr.tihs.
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Use the old facebook taxi service lol.
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Despite the unanimous negative comments above I have to say, I have only really used Delta, and this is because of always having positive experiences. It sounds like I am the one! Not that I am in anyway condoning any of this liquidation farce, but on every occasion, the phone operator and the driver have been civil and courteous and the service timely, so it wasnt ALL rotten! My question is … given the extortionate taxi fares on this island, how can they possibly have been unprofitable!
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resoldaB
“extorionate taxi fares”…….. Guernsey is a unique place with a unique economy. Much of the goods and services here appear extortionate compared to elsewhere. I put it to you that on an island where most prices, when compared to elsewhere, appear extotionate, it is indeed totally appropriate to have extortionate taxi fares !!
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i am coming to Guernsey for the first time in May (9th ) for 6 days i was wondering which is the best taxi service to use from the airport as i have seen some bad reports and prices !any help would be appreciated .
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neil
I would normally have recomended island taxis
But Simon seems to have lost the plot.
Must be overworked with all the extra passengers.
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N don’t use delta all the others are very good
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neil – the prices are fixed, so there is no way of avoiding that particular issue.
the main problem with some firms is turning up late, and so getting a cab from the airport taxi rank is not really a problem as long as you are not the last out of arrivals (in which case all the cabs on the rank may have been taken and you may need to wait a while).
if you do need t call a cab I would recommend Papa J.
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