"If I were to ask them where the restrooms were, or on which floor a particular tenant was one, would you expect them to say "Sorry, I'm here to provide security, not give directions." It seems to me that those sort of functions are obviously within the realm of what someone at a security podium in an office building is expected to do, even though they're not strictly speaking "security." I had assumed that calling a taxi for a tenant visitor would fall into a similar category."

That's a red-herring. Pointing you to the toilets is hardly a service, and checking you into a floor and directing you to it IS security related. But they are not doormen simply because they are by the door. The concierge provides taxi calls etc...not security. Unless you are drunk and they need to get you home.

I agree with the posters who suggest asking "what's the best way to get a taxi from here?". You can ask a client or a doorman or anyone else you meet. It's a civil question that, IME, is a common occurrence at the end of a meeting. But always phrased as a question, not as claiming a right.

The transaction then usually proceeds with:

Client/doorman: ah, I know a good company - reliable and fast - I'll give them a call. Where are you heading?

You: thank you, that's very kind. I'm going to the airport, please

Client/doorman: That's a pleasure; it'll be here in ten minutes. Do take a seat over there.

Both parties feel warm and happy at the thought of a good deed done for the day.

You can ask anybody almost anything. There are just two points to consider. Firstly, who is best equipped to provide the desired solution. This might not be security but indeed the front desk or the client or his secretary (admin - what a strange word, secretary implies much higher value, but I get distracted).
Secondly, how you word the question. If you just show up at the front desk and say "Please call a cab for me" they might get miffed because that is indeed not a very polite phrasing. Especially in the US where they are much more sensitive. Instead if you say: "Excuse me, I need a cab to the airport. Would you be so kind to call me one, please?", that should never get a strange look and should always be fulfilled. It's part of being a helpful human and part of being a professional.

Till

I assume, then, that you're independent or work for a small company in which you have to support yourself in terms of travel, documents, etc (ie, no administrative assistant).

In my opinion, it is not inappropriate to ask the client or prospect ahead of time for advice with regard to transportation if you will be in an unfamiliar city. Often, the contact will direct his/her assistant to provide transportation options. Just another option for you in planning for your next trip.

If calling taxis is not part of the person's duties, then even this phrasing could appear demeaning. It suggests you think it is and that the person behind the desk is a gofor who is there to do your bidding. Projecting a sense of entitlement is probably not going to do you any favours.

On the other hand, if you ask for advice (how can I get a taxi?), then that is flattering. It implies that the person you are asking is knowledgeable and in a position of superiority in that situation. In that situation, they are much more likely to (a) want to demonstrate their knowledge and (b) offer assistance to someone in need.

You could ask the guard or receptionist for an outside phone line to call 1-800-TAXICAB (which will route your call to the local taxi service).

Agreed 100%--I thought the same thing when I read tfar's post.

As someone in the service industry but whose job it isn't to fetch people taxis, if someone asked me (even pleasantly as tfar suggested) to call them a cab, I wouldn't be inclined to help them. After all, I may need to look up the phone number to a taxi company--the same as they'd need to do, in which case my impression of them is that they're too lazy or too self-important to do the work themselves, in which case I'd be tempted to decline their request (they can do their own d*** work).

On the other hand, if someone asked me the best way to catch a cab or to get to the airport, I'd actually feel (as Mr H suggested) flattered that they think I might be knowledgeable enough to help them. I might offer to look up the number for them, call the taxi for them, suggest a better alternative, or--who knows?--I could even say that I was going to be heading that way in a few minutes and I'd be happy to take them with me (I've done that a time or two).

That doesn't route you to "the local taxi service." First of all, how would one even define what "the local taxi service" is? Rather, that number routes you to whatever taxi service that serves that general geographic area and has paid to receive calls through that phone number. That company may be far from the best option from that location, depending on the circumstances.

Wirelessly posted (Android: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 1.5; en-us; T-Mobile G1 Build/CRC1) AppleWebKit/528.5+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.2 Mobile Safari/525.20.1)

One other option that hasn't been mentioned yet: Do you have a smartphone or web-enabled device? My Android-powered G1 has a program called "cab4me" that determines my location (based on GPS) and then displays a list of local taxi companies/car services. I assume that similar programs are available for the iPhone, BlackBerry, etc.



With that said, I agree that I suspect you will encounter almost uniformly positive responses by altering your query from "please call a cab for me" to, "I'm sorry, but do you know what the best way to get a taxi from here would be?" Those who would have reacted well will still be willing to help, but less over-achieving security staff will likely take less offense to a question phrased this way.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8703e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

I'm just waiting for this scenario:

OP to lobby attendant: "Call me a taxi."

Lobby attendant to OP: "OK: You're a taxi."

But seriously, if I were contemplating requesting that the building's lobby attendant call a cab for me, I would probably ask when I entered the building if the attendant will be able to secure one when I am ready to leave, or if I need to ask the business I am visiting to do so.

If you have an iPhone, (inevitably) there's an app for that.

If the person at the front desk is not normally engaged in customer service or guest service, and he does not have a rapport with a preferred cab company, then it probably behooves him not to call cabs for visitors.

For there is the chance that the visitor might have gone to the rest room or have changed his mind and is now a no-show for the taxi whose driver comes into the lobby asking who called the cab company.

In this day and age (the cell phone era) most people don't need to ask where a phone is let alone ask someone to make a call. Therefore asking the security guard to call a cab is even more out of line.

Maybe I'm just too nice (ha, ha) but when I have a guest I ask THEM "Can I have the receptionist call you a cab?"

It is a good technique, I may even use it. Nonetheless, I find it ever so slightly manipulative and there shouldn't be any need to use such a technique on a normally calibrated person. It's really funny how the cultural differences on this pan out. I would say people are generally more helpful in the US and generally more status conscious in Europe. But in the US they have very easily offended sensitivities and a high "not my job" attitude. My polite question would get the desired results without them even thinking the question is demeaning in Europe. The proposed technique might not lead to an offer for help but just to an answer telling you what is the best way to get a taxi without actually offering you any help. I can see the American visitor standing there thinking "Duh!".

As for who to ask. Of course, it is better to ask the business partner, then the lobby attendant and only ask the security as a last resort.

But the lobby attendant should really be able to do that and I see that as a classic job for a lobby attendant. I mean, ...? (excuse my language), what else is a lobby attendant there for than customer service? Especially if there is extra security anyway.

Till

Rther than presuming that any given person would do this for me, I would ask them (whoever they may be) if there was somebody who could do it for me.

In the case of a front desk type person (asssuming that they are answering calls, etc) it's not unreasonable to assume that they'll do it, but I would not expect a "security guy" to do it - though I would expect them to direct me to the appropriate person.