I drove a taxi for Universal for about 2 1/2 weeks. My car leaked every fluid imaginable, the tires were going bald, my spare in the trunk was completely bald with wires poking through the rubber, and it had over 275,000 miles on it and was a gas guzzler to boot. I let them know when I was hired that I would be signing out of my lease so I could go back to Michigan to visit my family, including my brother, who was just getting back from Afghanistan after serving with the U.S. Marines. I am also a military veteran of the United States Air Force.
During my time there I was required to pay them $78 per day, 6 days a week, which I did, and I was never late. I was given 4 different school kid accounts that I was responsible for taking to and from school, which I did for them. We are paid, or rather credited, the following week for these rides, so the money we make goes toward our $78/day, $468/week.
While en route to pick up some kids who were not my normally scheduled kids, my power steering went out in my cab. This posed a dangerous driving situation, as I could barely turn the wheel making right-hand turns and had to veer into the left lane just to make the turn. I told the dispatcher that I needed to get my car fixed by one of our mechanics back at the garage. He yelled at me, said I had to pick these kids up because I was the only one in the area and they were already late for school, and hung up. My CB radio did not work properly either, which was also a major problem, as I had to use my cell phone to talk to them instead, which made it dangerous to drive, especially with my power steering out. I ended up picking the kids up anyway since my food and gas depended on it, but I told the kids about my power steering being out and that they needed to let their mother know they were riding in an unsafe cab, unfit for providing the safe and reliable service that is the cab company's motto.
I signed out of my lease after giving them my 7-day notice, and the office manager, Rick Delgado, gave me a copy of my receipt for the money that covered my lease for 3 days that week, with the remaining balance owed to me on it. The only problem was that he wrote down the wrong dates and had me paying for one extra day, 11-24-11, which I did not work because I turned my cab in on 11-23-11, the day before Thanksgiving. I also made another $44 on top of that for the 3 days I drove kids to school during my last 3 days of work. So there has been a problem with the money owed to me ever since I left.
I have left numerous messages with a girl named Melissa, who told me she has nothing to do with cutting the checks and can only tell me what I should have coming back to me. I was never told what I should have coming back due to bad reception, so I had to call her back. I have not heard from any of them. I have left numerous messages for Yuri Shapiro, and he has not returned a single phone call. I went into their office on Monday, 01-16-12, and ran into the owner, Gordon Simic, and explained what was going on. He told me, just like everyone else has, that he does not handle that and that Yuri Shapiro does. They took down all of my information for the 3rd or 4th time and told me they would talk to Yuri and have him call me the next day to come in and pick up my check. I never received a phone call the next day.
I just went back there today and told Tanjaa, the girl who works behind the glass in the office, that I need to speak with Melissa and make sure I am getting the right amount of money that is owed to me. The last time I talked to Melissa she told me she could tell me that as long as I provided my old ID#3617 for the cab I drove, cab #109, and now she changed her tune and told Tanjaa to tell me she had already told me she has nothing to do with the checks and I need to speak with Yuri.
I told them fine, I would wait there for Yuri, and Tanjaa told me I could not wait on the premises because it is private property and to go out and wait in my car, and that if I had a problem with that I could call the police or get a lawyer or do whatever I thought I needed to do. I waited in my car for an hour, until after 10:30, for Yuri to show up. It never happened. The whole time I was waiting across the street, I witnessed multiple luxury sedans, part of the limo service, pull up. The drivers would get out and put a black bag or a briefcase in the back seat, or they would get a black case out of the trunk and bring it into the office, and Tanjaa would come outside and crawl into the backseat on her hands and knees and get out putting things in her pockets. It just seemed very shady. I believe this company is a front for a much bigger operation. I am just trying to get money owed to me and make an honest living. I really could have used that money for Christmas gifts for my family, and thanks to them I did not have much of one.
I have witnessed too many people who work for this company talked down to, threatened and basically downright bullied. They use scare tactics to get money from their employees on a daily basis and have court hearings daily for people who owe them money for various reasons, according to them. It is funny that when the shoe is on the other foot and they owe someone else money, I do not see them in court paying people off.
I also had my military dog tags taken from this vehicle after I turned it back in to them. They were hanging from my rearview mirror. I realized this once I got home and called them back to get them, and they told me that they had already replaced me with another driver, that he has the car now, and that there was nothing in there. So it was either Rick Delgado or one of the mechanics who took them. Those are irreplaceable and priceless, as they were one of my few personal belongings left from my military service. Now they are gone, along with the money owed to me and any kind of explanation or answer to any of this unprofessionalism that I have had the displeasure to associate myself with.
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