It's not just the crews' time that is wasted by these calls. so is the call centre staff (possibly even more so as they weed out the obviously pointless). It's not unknown in my part of the world to be put "on hold" on a 999 call. Having said that, on the few occasions I have need to call an ambulance for people I know, I have had no problem with response time or care received - whether it was a paramedic or double-technician crew. tbh, sometimes I don't even notice whether or not I have a paramedic. On one occasion, patient had been advised by consultant to call ambulance if acute attack lasted more than 30 minutes. Even the, patient waited 75 minutes and considered whether it would be better to go to hospital by car. BTW - you mean "taxi fare" not "taxi fair".