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INUVIK - Two local women are fed up with United Taxi service and say they can no longer tolerate constant no-shows.

Edna Firth and Mary Blake are employees of the Inuvik Regional Hospital and rely on taxis to bring them to and from work. In the last couple of months the pair say many of the taxis they've hired have showed up 15 to 45 minutes late, and in several cases not at all.

Firth, who lives at Balsom trailer park, says the problem has gotten so bad that she's been warned by her employer about her lateness.

"If this keeps up I won't have a job," said Firth.

Firth said she gets further enraged whenever she calls the taxi dispatcher about a no-show.

"They say the same thing every time, that the taxi came but no one was there," she said. "That couldn't happen because I'm standing right at my door."

Blake, who's employed as the hospital's caretaker, works the late shift and usually finishes up at 12 a.m. She said she's lost track of the number of no-shows. She usually ends up calling friends or relatives for a drive home.

"It's not just at night either," she said. "I've been complaining to drivers but nothing seems to be happening.

"We need some competition here."

Both believe the problem lies with the taxi company's relatively new computer dispatching system that replaced the radio units. Each taxi contains a monitor on which customer addresses are assigned by the dispatcher. Both women say that causes a communication breakdown that results in many customers being stranded or kept waiting.

Mayor Derek Lindsay said the town has received its share of complaints about the company's service. He also believes the problem might lie with the change from the radio to the computer dispatching system. Either way, Lindsay said if the town continues to receive complaints, he'll interfere, if that's what's needed.

"I said it to cabbies before and I'll say it again -- keep pushing and I'll recommend that we put meters in the taxis," he said.

Abdalla Mohamed, United Taxi owner, said he hasn't heard any complaints lately about company drivers. He said if there's a problem it "probably has something to do with the taxi being busy," and nothing to do with the computer system.

He said he'd like to look into the problem but said he can do little without a formal complaint that includes a record of when the infraction occurred.

"These women did not bring their complaints to me and if there's a problem, I would like to get to the bottom of it," he said.

Michelle Portman said she's a regular customer of the taxi company and has nothing but praise for its drivers.

"They're absolutely wonderful with me," said Portman. "I love them and usually they're always right on time."

Angela Ruben is a temporary resident at the hospital while she waits to give birth to her child. On Friday morning she said she waited for more than an hour for her cab to arrive. But she says she has gotten used to regular delays and now calls well in advance.