What do you think?

I was faced with a decision this morning and I think I made the wrong one.

I was plotted rank on the Sheraton Hotel waiting for a timed booking when the GPS gave me a job at the Duxton Hotel about a block away. It was for room 1203 @ 4am to the domestic airport.

I get to the hotel and go inside to let reception know I am there and who for etc. Well he tells me the pax has just walked out to the (other) taxi waiting outside, I run outside and call to the customer "Rm 1203 sir?? Your taxi is over here."

At this point the driver of the other taxi approaches me and explains he has been waiting with the gentleman's bags in his boot for the past 5 minutes. I point out that I have the job on my taxi dispatch computer and the other driver hasn't switched his meter on which I can tell because the flee light on the roof is still lit up.

I ended up taking the customer.

Part of the problem was the time of day the situation occurred. My change over time is 5am. It's a 15 minute drive from the city to the airport and I need to leave the airport by 4.20am to have time to fuel up and drive to change over. So had I missed out on the fare I would have most likely not got anything remembering I was sitting on a booking at the Sheraton before all this started.

I think had it been earlier in the night and had I not been so tight for time I would have let the guy take the job and in hindsight that may have been the right thing to do in this case as well.

What would you have done??