Complaints and lost property

Two everyday parts of the job can cause trouble if you handle them badly: a passenger complaint and an item left behind. The handbook covers both. This guide brings the relevant passages together and adds a simple routine.

How complaints are handled

The handbook says operators must keep details of all complaints made to them, and must report to the police any complaint involving a possible crime. Your operator will normally deal with complaints. But passengers can also contact the police or TfL directly, and may go to TfL if they are not satisfied with how the operator dealt with it. In those cases TfL may carry out its own investigation.

If TfL investigates a complaint about you, it will give you the details and ask for your comments. Once you have had the chance to respond and TfL has made any other enquiries, it will tell you the result.

Why you must reply

This is stated twice in the handbook: TfL can only make a decision based on the information it receives, so it is important you respond to all its requests. Ignoring a letter does not make the complaint go away. It just means TfL decides without hearing your side. Section 1 adds that if TfL becomes aware of behaviour that is not satisfactory, it may write to you with the details and ask for your comments.

What can happen

If a serious complaint is made against you, or there are a number of complaints, or there appears to be a pattern of poor behaviour and all the ways to improve it have been tried but failed, TfL may have to suspend or revoke your licence. The handbook's glossary gives an example of suspension: a driver suspended for three months who could not work during that time. The handbook adds that unacceptable behaviour can bring action from TfL and/or the police.

Reducing the chance of a complaint

None of these guarantees anything, but they match what the handbook asks for.

• Be professional. The handbook says you must make passengers feel safe and at ease.
• Be clear about the route and fare. Tell the passenger where you are going, how long it will take and the fare before you start. If the destination, number of passengers or luggage changes, tell your operator as soon as it is safe so the fare can be updated.
• Do not contact passengers for personal reasons. Using their details for anything but the booked journey is a misuse of personal information.
• Avoid comments or jokes about age, race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Stay out of the back seat unless there is an emergency, and keep physical contact to what a passenger asks for.
• If you decline a booking, be polite and explain why, and tell your operator the full reasons. The handbook says this can help avoid a complaint.
• Consider CCTV. The handbook says a camera can provide useful evidence in a dispute. If fitted, display the required sign.

When you get a complaint

1. Read it carefully and note any dates for replying.
2. Write down what you remember while it is fresh: date, time, pick-up, drop-off, anything said or done. See record keeping for drivers.
3. Reply to your operator and, if TfL writes, reply to TfL.
4. Stay factual and polite. Stick to what happened.
5. If you are worried, consider independent advice. We cannot give it.

Lost property

At the end of each journey, remind passengers to check they have not left anything. Check your vehicle too, after every journey. If you put luggage in the boot, check there as well. You can also help by asking passengers if they have all their belongings before you set off and when you arrive.

If you find lost property, take it back to your operator. The operator keeps it and makes a record, and by law must keep a record of any lost property items it holds. Tell your operator as soon as you find something, in case the passenger has already been in touch.

The handbook does not say how long property is kept, whether you can return it direct, or what happens to unclaimed items. Ask your operator and do not keep or sell anything.

Suspicious items are different

The handbook draws a line: items left in your vehicle are most likely things passengers forgot, but if you are suspicious of an unattended item, call the police immediately on 999 and follow their instructions. You can report concerns about suspicious activity to the confidential police anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321, and the handbook says not to worry about wasting police time.

Passenger and driver disagreements

If a passenger disagrees with the fare or cannot pay, the handbook says to check with your operator what to do, and to check what the arrangements are for receipts. Do this before it happens, not after.

General information, not legal advice.