Taxi?

[marcmagus]

I'm having car trouble again - specifically difficulty starting the car. I think it's the cold. I'm going to try to be awake around 1 tomorrow and see if I have better luck when it's warm. So I had to take a taxi to campus for my coaching hours. I missed the first hour and a half of my hours.
Is there some aspect of taxi etiquette of which I'm unaware? They told me 15-20 minutes, so I played online for about 10 and then went downstairs. It seemed chilly out, so I sat on the stairs just inside the front door where I can see the street. No taxi stopped in the vicinity, and nobody honked. I waited for about an hour - I was reading a book and spacing out and didn't check a timepiece. I finally got fed up and called them. They said the driver said there hadn't been anybody there, and they'd send another car. I went back downstairs and waited. I saw a van pass my door, so I poked my head out in case it was them. The van had stopped about halfway down the block - eventually he backed up to me.
Did I do something wrong? Am I supposed to wait outside and/or go running so they know which house is mine? Should I even bother giving them the street address in the future? Why do I have such bad luck with taxis?

Comments

[mneme]

Sounds like a bad company/driver. IMEX, they usually -do- stop in front of the address you give them and honk.

OTOH, to be safe, it is usually best to wait outside...