This is my pet peeve regarding all (most) cab companies in the US - their conveyances are filthy and nasty. They just don't have the same standards of professionalism and cleanliness that their counterparts in say, Dubai or Singapore have.

As for talking on the phone, I just ask them to get off it asap or I won't pay my fare. ne time, the guy ignored me so I pulled out my phone and began shouting loudly and swearing into it in a language the cabbie understood. That did the trick