Customer care, communication and English language competence
Professional from greeting to receipt
London PHV drivers must pass TfL's SERU assessment, which tests speaking and listening, reading and writing in English; elsewhere the same competence is expected and assessed through the licensing process. The standard is functional: understand a booking, confirm a destination, explain a route, discuss a fare and handle a complaint clearly and politely.
Customer-care concepts: greet the passenger and confirm identity and destination; offer help with luggage and with mobility; agree the route; drive smoothly and keep the vehicle clean and comfortably heated or ventilated; ask before playing music or taking calls; provide a receipt on request; keep conversation neutral and never discuss other passengers or personal opinions.
Refusing a booking should rest on reasonable grounds - the passenger is abusive, too intoxicated to travel safely, or the party or luggage exceeds what the vehicle can lawfully carry. Neither disability, race, religion, sex nor the presence of an assistance dog is ever a lawful reason.
Traps: refusing short journeys; arguing about the route; charging for help with bags where the tariff does not allow it; leaving a passenger to find the address alone at night; language so poor that instructions or safety information cannot be understood.
Worked example: a passenger with limited English and a heavy case. Greet, show the boot, load the case, confirm the destination by repeating it back and showing the map, agree the route, then give a clear arrival time and a receipt at the end.
Rule of thumb - the three Cs: Confirm, Care, Complete.