# How to win back taxi customers who stopped booking > To win back taxi customers, find the regulars who have stopped booking in your booking records, ring a few to ask why, and fix the reason first: late cars, a phone that rang out or a price that changed. Then contact them within the rules. Marketing texts need consent or the soft opt-in, and the DfT standards suggest keeping booking records for at least 6 months, so you have the list. By Joe, founder of Dispatch AI. Updated 2026-10-23. The web page: https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/how-to-win-back-lost-taxi-customers/ Every firm loses regulars. Some move away or stop travelling, and there's nothing to win back. Others had a bad night with you and quietly started ringing someone else. This guide shows how to win back taxi customers in the second group: how to find them, how to find out why they left, what to fix and how to get back in touch without breaking the marketing rules. ## How do you find the customers who have stopped booking? Look in your booking records. You already keep them: section 56 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 says a private hire operator must record the particulars of every booking before the journey, and the Department for Transport's statutory standards suggest keeping those records for at least 6 months. In London it's a requirement of 12 months under regulation 16 of TfL's operator licence regulations. Pull a list of passengers who booked regularly and then stopped. You decide what "regularly" means for your firm, but a simple rule helps: | Passenger type | Counts as lapsed when | Why it matters | |---|---|---| | Weekly regular | No booking for 4 weeks | A weekly habit has moved elsewhere | | Monthly regular | No booking for 3 months | Easy to miss without a list | | Airport traveller | Missed the trip they usually take | Holiday runs are high-value jobs | | Account customer | Bookings or invoices dropped by half | Someone at the business made a change | | Hospital or clinic runs | Stopped mid-course | Could be a car that didn't turn up | For each name, note the last booking date, how often they used to book, their usual trip and anything in your complaints record. A list of 20 names you know is worth more than 500 you don't. ## How do you find out why a customer stopped booking? Ask them. Ring a few of the regulars on your list, say who you are and ask one question: "You used to book with us every week and we haven't seen you for a while. Did something go wrong?" Keep that call to the question. The ICO says genuine market research isn't direct marketing, but if the research includes promotional material, or is done so you can market to the people involved, it is. A call that starts as "how did we do?" and turns into an offer is a marketing call, with the rules that go with it. So ask, listen, write down the answer, and save any offer for later. Check your own records too. Look up each lapsed passenger's last few bookings: was a car late, was a job cancelled, was there a complaint? [Customer service for taxi firms](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/customer-service-for-taxi-firms/) covers how to record complaints so this check is quick next time. ## What are the usual reasons passengers stop booking a taxi firm? A car that didn't come, a phone that wasn't answered, or a price that changed. Some reasons you can fix and some you can't: | Reason | How you'd spot it | What to fix | |---|---|---| | Late or missing car | A late or cancelled job just before they stopped | Driver cover and a call to the passenger when a car runs late | | Phone rang out | Missed calls from their number in your call log | Cover the hours the line rings out | | Price went up | A fare change around the time they left | Explain it, or hold their usual price | | A driver they didn't like | A complaint, or a pattern with one driver | Talk to the driver; offer a different one | | Switched to an app | They tell you on the call | Sell what an app doesn't give them | | Moved away or stopped travelling | They tell you on the call | Nothing; thank them and take them off the list | | The person who booked the account left | A new name, or no bookings from the business | Ask the business who books now | Search your phone provider's call log for each lapsed passenger's number. If their last few calls went unanswered, you've found your reason. [Missed calls in a taxi office](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/missed-calls-in-a-taxi-office/) shows how to read the log, and [what to do when a taxi driver doesn't turn up](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/what-to-do-when-a-taxi-driver-doesnt-turn-up/) covers the late car. ## Should you fix the problem before you contact them? Yes. A win-back message that brings a passenger back to the same late car loses them for good, and they'll tell people why. Fix the reason that came up most on your calls, then contact the passengers it affected. If cars were late on early airport runs, sort the early cover first. If the phone rang out at night, cover the nights. If you put a fare up, decide whether you'll hold the old price for your regulars. Then you can say something true in your message: "We've changed how we cover early starts." One fix worth knowing about: Dispatch AI's phone agent recognises regular callers by their number and greets them by name, so a returning passenger isn't treated like a stranger when they ring. ## What are the rules for contacting customers who stopped booking? The rules depend on how you contact them. Texts, emails and WhatsApp follow one set of rules; phone calls follow another. **Texts, emails and WhatsApp.** The ICO says "electronic mail" includes texts, picture messages and direct messages. To send marketing to an individual you need their consent or the soft opt-in. The soft opt-in applies only when: 1. You got their details while selling them a journey, or talking to them about one. 2. You're marketing your own similar services. 3. You gave them a chance to opt out when you took their details. 4. You give them a chance to opt out in every message. The third point stops many win-back texts. The ICO says you must offer the opt-out when you collect the details, and that including it only in an order confirmation email isn't enough. If your office never offered it when taking numbers, you can't rely on the soft opt-in for those passengers. The ICO also asks whether people would reasonably expect marketing from you based on past dealings, so a passenger who last rode years ago is harder to justify than one who stopped last month. **Phone calls.** The ICO says you can make live marketing calls, but not to a number registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), or the Corporate TPS for businesses, unless that person has specifically consented to your calls. Screen your list against both before you ring, keep your own "do not call" list, say who's calling and show your number. **Businesses.** The ICO says you can send marketing emails and texts to limited companies and other corporate bodies without consent, though you should keep a list of those who ask you to stop. Sole traders count as individuals. Keep only what you need while you do this. The ICO's data protection principles say personal data should be limited to what's necessary and kept no longer than necessary. If someone says they've moved away, delete their saved addresses, while keeping the booking records your licence requires. ## What should a win-back message say? Who you are, what you noticed, what you've changed and how to book. Short, in your own name, with a way to opt out. Here's a text you can adapt: > Hi Sue, it's Dave at [your firm]. You used to book us for your Tuesday clinic runs and we haven't seen you since March. If something went wrong, I'd like to put it right. We've added an extra car on weekday mornings. Ring or WhatsApp [your number] to book. Reply STOP to opt out. And a call, for passengers who agreed to calls and aren't on the TPS: - "Hello, it's Dave from [your firm]. Have you got a minute?" - "You used to book with us regularly. Did we let you down?" - Listen. Apologise if you got it wrong, and say what you've changed. - "Can I book your next trip now, at your usual price?" Send one message, not five. If there's no reply after one follow-up, leave them be. Anyone who says no, or replies STOP, goes on your do-not-contact list straight away, and you keep sending their booking confirmations as normal if they book again. ## Should you offer a discount to win customers back? Offer their old price back before you offer a discount. If a regular left over a fare rise, holding their usual price may be all it takes. A regular who left over a late car wants a car on time, not money off. If you do make an offer, keep it simple and true: a set amount off the next booking, with any terms on the message. The Advertising Standards Authority says its advertising code covers mailings, emails and text messages as well as printed material, so the offer has to be clear. Never tie an offer to leaving a review: Google says incentives for reviews are prohibited. ## How do you stop regulars drifting away again? Run the lapsed list every month, not once. Pick a day, pull the names, ring the ones that matter. A regular you notice after four weeks is far easier to win back than one you notice after a year. Then fix the habits that keep people: confirm every booking, ring when a car is late, greet regulars by name, offer the return trip. [Turning passengers into regulars](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/turning-passengers-into-regulars/) covers those habits, and [the numbers to track in a taxi firm](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/taxi-business-numbers-to-track/) shows how to watch repeat bookings each month. If whole groups of passengers have moved to bigger local firms, read [how to compete with bigger taxi firms](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/how-to-compete-with-bigger-taxi-firms/). ## Frequently asked questions ### How long before a regular counts as a lost customer? You set the line. For a weekly regular, four weeks without a booking is a sensible point to ring. For someone who books monthly, three months. Write your rule down and check the list each month. ### Can I text customers who booked by phone years ago? Only with their consent, or under the soft opt-in. The soft opt-in needs you to have offered an opt-out when you took their number, and the ICO asks whether people would reasonably expect to hear from you. A passenger from years ago who was never offered an opt-out is out of bounds. ### Should I contact a customer who complained and left? Yes, if you've fixed what they complained about. Ring rather than text, apologise and say what's changed. If they ask not to be contacted again, note it and stop. ### What if they've switched to Uber? Ask what they like about it and be honest about what you offer instead: a fixed price that doesn't change on busy nights, a pre-booked car and someone to ring. The guide to [competing with Uber](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/how-to-compete-with-uber/) covers the work local firms win. ### Can I buy a list of local numbers to market to? The ICO says the soft opt-in doesn't apply to bought-in lists, so you'd need each person's own consent to send them marketing texts or emails. Spend the money on your own lapsed regulars instead. ## Sources - [Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, section 56](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1976/57/section/56) operators' booking records - [Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards (Department for Transport)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-standards/statutory-taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-standards) section 8.3, booking records kept for at least 6 months - [Private Hire Vehicles (London) (Operators' Licences) Regulations 2000, consolidated (TfL)](https://content.tfl.gov.uk/phv-operator-licence-regulations-2000-consolidated-sept-2022.pdf) regulation 16, records kept for twelve months - [Identify direct marketing (Information Commissioner's Office)](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/direct-marketing-and-privacy-and-electronic-communications/direct-marketing-guidance/identify-direct-marketing/) market research and when it becomes marketing - [Electronic mail marketing (Information Commissioner's Office)](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/direct-marketing-and-privacy-and-electronic-communications/guide-to-pecr/electronic-and-telephone-marketing/electronic-mail-marketing/) what counts as electronic mail; the soft opt-in; corporate bodies; bought-in lists - [How do we comply with the PECR electronic mail marketing rules? (Information Commissioner's Office)](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/direct-marketing-and-privacy-and-electronic-communications/guidance-on-direct-marketing-using-electronic-mail/how-do-we-comply-with-the-pecr-electronic-mail-marketing-rules/) opt-out at collection; reasonable expectations - [Telephone marketing (Information Commissioner's Office)](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/direct-marketing-and-privacy-and-electronic-communications/guide-to-pecr/electronic-and-telephone-marketing/telephone-marketing/) TPS and CTPS screening, specific consent, caller ID - [A guide to the data protection principles (Information Commissioner's Office)](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/data-protection-principles/a-guide-to-the-data-protection-principles/) data minimisation and storage limitation - [Scope of the Code (Advertising Standards Authority)](https://www.asa.org.uk/type/non_broadcast/code_folder/scope-of-the-code.html) clause I(a): mailings, emails and text transmissions - [Tips to get more reviews (Google Business Profile Help)](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474122?hl=en-GB) no incentives for reviews Dispatch AI is a trading name of CABO TECH SOLUTION AI LTD, registered in England and Wales, company no. 16255667.