Irish Taxi Forum
Public Area => Taxi Talk => Topic started by: Rat Catcher on February 19, 2018, 12:53:25 pm
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SMS received yesterday:
Hi Grath ,
Thanks again for downloading Flag, we look forward to launching the app to the public shortly. All accounts will remain pending/inactive until closer the time of launch. If you've missed any of last weeks driver news from 48 Mount Street click here http://m0r.at/c54 (http://m0r.at/c54) and read about part of our massive marketing plan here http://m0r.at/c55. (http://m0r.at/c55.) We really appreciate all the drivers coming into the office and forwarding the news to others. Here's a download link to the App Store http://m0r.at/cWL (http://m0r.at/cWL) and iOS http://m0r.at/cWM (http://m0r.at/cWM) if you wish to spread the good news amongst drivers. Thanks again
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Not sure who Grath is but hey ho...
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Not sure who Grath is but hey ho...
Probably McGrath....even the fukin dogs on the street know who he is!!
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I can seehow some might think I was involved by the perfect grammer in the introduction .......The timing to start preparing how world are going to become familiar with Flag is perfect as the next version is on the brink of being unlocked. rofl rofl rofl rofl
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Mine addressed me as Lisa
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Mine addressed me as Lisa
Is she still involved in the taxi game....our Lisa!!
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Has their business begun to Flag, even before it has started ? 8)
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Mine addressed me as Lisa
Is she still involved in the taxi game....our Lisa!!
Nope, she gave it all up
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Defo signing up to flag, because then with google maps and social media collaboration I can get to the dickhead students quicker, because I love these particular customers who tend to cancel en route, leave you waiting while they loudly discuss their camden/harcourt street destination choice for 20 minutes, turn your radio up full and are offended when you turn it back down, bitch about rip off taxi drivers and then leave you short with their 20c pieces and on occasion puke with no cash for the soilage charge and fxxk your night up.
Just saying!
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what are the odds of you and the rest of your pals at the end of the night not only not having any dosh, but not having a bank card between you all to go and get bread out of the many bank machines.
Fuckin' Load A' Gick.
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(https://s17.postimg.cc/a5d4p3f6z/dave_and_ted.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/a5d4p3f6z/)
http://m0r.at/c54 (http://m0r.at/c54)
Is that Dave from Hailo in the above Flag photo ?
The one memory that sticks with me about Dave was the time we had a Hailo meeting in the Silverspring's hotel in Cork and Dave was sat at the top table spouting off, during his talk he raised his two hands and tweaked Two fingers on each hand in order to show punctuation marks on his next sentence. His next sentence being; "When we said that closest car gets the job, that wasn't entirely true". I'm sat there thinking to myself 'Wow ! If that's not true, well what else is not true ?'.
On looking at the Flag website, I saw this Golden Nugget;
"Many drivers that have come in to see the team on 48 Upper Mount Street have been delighted with other benefits such as no priority drivers (meaning the closest car to passenger gets the job)".
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Surprising that MyTaxi didn't put some sort of agreed 'Ban' on the Three Amigos disallowing them to operate a Taxi app in Dublin fer a said number of years during their 'Merger' talks last year.
Back in the Eighties when the English bookies came to Eire buying up all the independent bookie shops at exorbitant prices, the independent bookies selling their shops had to sign waivers to say that they would not open up another premises within usually a 10 mile radius and usually fer 5 years, and then they were paid in annual instalment's to insure they kept their word.
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Defo signing up to flag, because then with google maps and social media collaboration I can get to the dickhead students quicker, because I love these particular customers who tend to cancel en route, leave you waiting while they loudly discuss their camden/harcourt street destination choice for 20 minutes, turn your radio up full and are offended when you turn it back down, bitch about rip off taxi drivers and then leave you short with their 20c pieces and on occasion puke with no cash for the soilage charge and fxxk your night up.
Just saying!
Today's students are tomorrow's captains of industry. Anywaysanall, how's your uni course going?
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I doubt trading restrictions extended to counter staff, Ken. Little Robbie (posted as John 911 on Roy's) always maintained that you could easily tell when Dave (and the other two) were lying. Apparently their lips moved.
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SMS from Flag:
Hi Grath,
Our offices on 48 Mount Street are closed today and tomorrow due to meetings. Opens as usual Thursday morning for drivers that would like to call in. Thanks again to all for coming in and registering. Keep an eye out for Dave and Ted on the ranks this week. Safe Driving
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SMS from Flag:
Hi Grath,
Our offices on 48 Mount Street are closed today and tomorrow due to meetings. Opens as usual Thursday morning for drivers that would like to call in. Thanks again to all for coming in and registering. Keep an eye out for Dave and Ted on the ranks this week. Safe Driving
Maybe Grath should send them a mail telling them that sending Dave around taxi ranks might not be a good idea!!
I'm surprised that no one from Flag knows his tactics from his Hailo days(or maybe they do!!) and that some drivers have long memories.
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Mine addressed me as Lisa
Me as "David"
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Might be deliberate.Hailo used to get my name wrong on texts all the time.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4030698/Starbucks-employees-spell-wrong-cups-PURPOSE-share-pictures-social-media-conspiracy-theory-claims.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4030698/Starbucks-employees-spell-wrong-cups-PURPOSE-share-pictures-social-media-conspiracy-theory-claims.html)
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Hardly spelling errors. To be frank, even the erm wouldn't spell Harold D A V I D.
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Mine addressed me as Lisa
Is she still involved in the taxi game....our Lisa!!
Mine addressed me as Mohammed. I shit u not!
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I think Mohammed is a fairly common first (almost said Christian) name among Ireland's taxi drivers.
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Mine addressed me as Lisa
Is she still involved in the taxi game....our Lisa!!
Mine addressed me as Mohammed. I shit u not!
Alri Mo....story?
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I doubt trading restrictions extended to counter staff, Ken.
No obviousely it didn't, counter staff were most usually kept on by their new employer, but most of the small independent bookies got a massive 100K Ir Punts wedge fer even the smallest of premises with a licence and went off to do other things, mostly working their local race-courses and dog-tracks at their leisure.
Thirty years on and today's Irish bookie shops have no value at all, William Hill, Stan James, Victor Chandler, Etc all took their lose's and headed home empty-handed. LawBreakers are only hanging on because it's cheaper to stay rather than pay the staff redundancies, a lot of old LawBreakers staff were kept on from their last job with their former employer meaning that some of their time worked would be over Thirty or even Forty years and Lawbreakers sure don't want to be paying anyone a Thirty or Forty year redundancy package.
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Mine addressed me as Lisa
Me as "David"
Bad show that they couldn't get your name right Harry !
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Who are LawBreakers?
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Who are LawBreakers?
Probably referring to Laddies ?
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Who are LawBreakers?
That would be in reference to Ladbroke, seeing as how they Broke the Law back in the 60's
and had their Ladbroke casino licence revoked by the UK gaming authorities fer a full Ten years,
then I thought LawBreakers was a fair reference.
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It's quite a fascinating story if you wish to Google and review it.
In the end it was the 'Church-going' lady secretary who refused
to delete the Ladbroke X casino files before the police arrived
that sold them 'Down the Swanee' !
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RC.. You are right, future captains of industry and most will go on to become bigger scabby dickheads. I would rather pick up out of councils estates all the time. Never had any trouble, have their money ready, usually cash and 99% give you a tip.
Course is going well, on placement now til May, I could have used that time and resources to develop eircab. Genuinely believe in a drivers app that is really owned by drivers but would have been mad to go head to head with whistle and deflect from either's success. Whistle was a few months ahead with their app development.
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Mine addressed me as Lisa
Me as "David"
At least that's the same sex ffs
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I would rather pick up out of councils estates all the time. Never had any trouble, have their money ready, usually cash and 99% give you a tip.
I'd rather the students than the council estates, at least with the students you know your not in any Danger,
picking up in council estates is frought with Danger by night, ya never know what is coming at ya !
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Pity to see it (Whistle) floundering. I went in at the start and told John that I had a similar idea and rather than compete, we could work together to create a genuine driver owned app and no contact after that.
I could have used that time and resources to develop eircab. Genuinely believe in a drivers app that is really owned by drivers but would have been mad to go head to head with whistle and deflect from either's success. Whistle was a few months ahead with their app development.
Maybe give Whistle another call and see if'n there interested in you as a consultant or a technician or whatever that pays a premium wage. They seem to be Floundering these days and could probably do with all the help they can get.
Flag is just an accident waiting to happen, Hailo burnt all their bridges with the drivers.
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I disagree with most of what you've written there, Ken. I do most of my work from working class areas and I've never encountered any serious issues. The working classes were always the bread and butter of night work, the middle/upper classes generally don't go down the local seven nights a week. Students tend to be pissed (hence relatively messy) on their way to the pub/disco. Fortunately, I don't work late enough on student nights to witness the state they are in going home. With mytaxi I actually now serve a good few regulars in working class areas that I wouldn't necessarily stop for on the street (hooded young lads, etc) all of whom have proved to be perfectly decent folk. Furthermore the working classes generally tip and would be able to divide 24 by 3 without the aid of a calculator in the unlikely event that they found a need to do so.
Having spoken with Richie Cummins a few times over the last couple of years I reckon Flag is geared for success. Whatever about having ex-Hail0 enforcers in the office, it has forged some seriously impressive alliances. As far as getting value for it's investment goes it's streets ahead of Whistle , Hail0, Uber and mytaxi combined.
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I will bow to your superior knowledge about Flag, but somehow I just can't see the drivers hooking back up with "Hailo".
As fer the "Working class". "Council estates" was the word I used Not "Working class", I have no problem with Working class, the vast majority are perfectly sound and as you say most add a generous tip (I even published that in my book that Cork Northside women were the best tippers of all), my problems are with picking up from council estates by night, track-suited social welfare Druggies are the norm and Yes I have had my fair share of problems with them. I lost Two wing mirrors and the back light to some crazed nut-job in a council estate a few years back and then a kicked-in car and a smashed windscreen to some other Glue-head from a council estate a few years later. There is many estates in Cork (All Council) that I won't pick up in after Midnight and with good reason.
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With houses on some "council estates" up above in Dublin selling for €500,000+ it seemed more appropriate to specify working classes as the traditional occupants of those schemes.
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I logged on with Flag but like other apps I cant really see it succeeding .You all know my logic we dont need competition as the only way to compete is on the Fare card and we the drivers will pay .Flag have one small chance and that is Drivers First .The App with the drivers gets the passengers .No fucking about with Ambassador or Priority drivers first man first if you are nearest you get the first offer .This might create some tech problems based on how long you have to accept before the job is offered to the next driver causing slight delay to the passenger but that is a small issue .Mytaxi have improved and started to listen If they could only drop or cover the exploitation of the backhander of two Euro out of your earnings which they promoted among Hospitality customers they would have an Ideal product .I can forsee lots of Bonus Pyments by Mytaxi to Drivers to cover work when FLAG launches to try to abort it at conception .I spoke with people from Amazon and they were not interested in taxi apps as they saw no profit in them as any kid in a bedroom could create one .Its all about promotion and I dont think FLAG will have the funds to take on Mytaxi in the real commercial world .Remember the crowd who gave away steak dinners and had IDA grants they never got off the ground .
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Wini Cabs....daddy gave that toy to the spoiled brat so he couldn't fuk up a real business!!
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mytaxi and Whistle have both conceded that drivers aren't going to offer discounts in the current economic climate. mytaxi has used vouchers and bonus payments to compete, others have used lower commission. The problem with no competition is that drivers become dependent on a commercial firm to make a living. We weren't far away from that being the case with Hail0 and we all witnessed how the then driver team sought to abuse the firm's dominant position.
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Wini Cabs....daddy gave that toy to the spoiled brat so he couldn't fuk up a real business!!
To be fair, iCabbi started the same way and it's probably more successful than ISM now.
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mytaxi and Whistle have both conceded that drivers aren't going to offer discounts in the current economic climate. mytaxi has used vouchers and bonus payments to compete, others have used lower commission. The problem with no competition is that drivers become dependent on a commercial firm to make a living. We weren't far away from that being the case with Hail0 and we all witnessed how the then driver team sought to abuse the firm's dominant position.
I see it different .If Mytaxi have a big chunk of he industry they wont want to rock the boat .Their size gives us a strong hand they have to much to lose .In all my conversations with the Head Honcho in the Dungeon I always said their PR was Shit as that is what they are trading reputation if they mess with drivers they lose if they mess with customers they lose .With or without Mytaxi or any other app taxies will continue to operate.
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If mytaxi have a big chunk and Flag have a big chunk and Whistle have a medium sized chunk and Uber have a small chunk, they are more likely to incentivise drivers as they compete for bigger chunks... that puts money in drivers' pockets. Furthermore, no driver is dependent on any one firm.
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If mytaxi have a big chunk and Flag have a big chunk and Whistle have a medium sized chunk and Uber have a small chunk, they are more likely to incentivise drivers as they compete for bigger chunks... that puts money in drivers' pockets. Furthermore, no driver is dependent on any one firm.
Again I dissagree if the pie was shared out then the pie owners would try for more pie and the only sustainable way is fare reductions and a race to the bottom.Keep others out let Mytaxi have their small piece of the pie and leave the rest to street hail and ranks .No need to institutionalise passengers into using the app and forgetting about the five digit hail .Cant see why drivers would promote another app to hoover up more customers .
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In the current economic climate,drivers won't be heading down the reduced fares route anytime soon,even Whistle saw the error of their/his ways there....and after drivers have just received a fare increase and the associated costs involved in implementing that,i think any app company will have to compete on a level playing field.
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It's not up to drivers to promote anything, that's the app providers' area of expertise. As a professional driver you are going to promote the app that gave you the job on a job by job basis. Given a choice, drivers might prefer that apps didn't exist and all customers walked out onto a main road to hail taxis.
As alluded to by Hal, the "race to the bottom" is merely a propagandists term for the price elasticity of supply and demand. In the current economic climate supply and demand are as close to being in equilibrium as is reasonably possible at a price point which equates to the maximum permissible fare as determined by the National Transport Authority giving due consideration to taxi cost indexation. Ask yourself why Whistle had to (try to) withdraw it's recent discounted fare offer despite charging drivers zero commission.
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Whistle failed because it offered nothing worth while to drivers and has not got the funds to sustain a PR battle with Mytaxi/Daimlers billions .Dont think Flag will either, but as you pointed out Mytaxi dont mind giving drivers some of Daimlers Billions by way of driver Bonus so I welcome Flag as they might ignite another flurry of bonus payouts .
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Whistle is still trading, it hasn't failed.
Don't forget Flag has access to some of Hail0's expertise. Whatever about Dave's relationship with drivers, he will be well aware of how much Hail0 spent - it attracted investment totalling c.US$100,000,000 and hadn't a pot to piss in when it was rescued by Daimler/mytaxi - and, crucially, the effectiveness of various items of expenditure relative to both strategic and tactical objectives.
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Whistle is still trading, it hasn't failed.
Don't forget Flag has access to some of Hail0's expertise. Whatever about Dave's relationship with drivers, he will be well aware of how much Hail0 spent - it attracted investment totalling c.US$100,000,000 and hadn't a pot to piss in when it was rescued by Daimler/mytaxi - and, crucially, the effectiveness of various items of expenditure relative to both strategic and tactical objectives.
Thats sort of what I said, but I said it in a different way .Very little chance of success without Billions to trow away .When you refer to Trading I know from your experience you are not confusing trading with making a brass farthing which is sort of the idea behind business .
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It's not up to drivers to promote anything, that's the app providers' area of expertise. As a professional driver you are going to promote the app that gave you the job on a job by job basis. Given a choice, drivers might prefer that apps didn't exist and all customers walked out onto a main road to hail taxis.
As alluded to by Hal, the "race to the bottom" is merely a propagandists term for the price elasticity of supply and demand. In the current economic climate supply and demand are as close to being in equilibrium as is reasonably possible at a price point which equates to the maximum permissible fare as determined by the National Transport Authority giving due consideration to taxi cost indexation. Ask yourself why Whistle had to (try to) withdraw it's recent discounted fare offer despite charging drivers zero commission.
Hey rats I actually understood most of that economic jargon. Had economics module Last semester. Hard to remember all that supply and demand and price elasticity.
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Whistle is still trading, it hasn't failed.
Don't forget Flag has access to some of Hail0's expertise. Whatever about Dave's relationship with drivers, he will be well aware of how much Hail0 spent - it attracted investment totalling c.US$100,000,000 and hadn't a pot to piss in when it was rescued by Daimler/mytaxi - and, crucially, the effectiveness of various items of expenditure relative to both strategic and tactical objectives.
Thats sort of what I said, but I said it in a different way .Very little chance of success without Billions to trow away .When you refer to Trading I know from your experience you are not confusing trading with making a brass farthing which is sort of the idea behind business .
Rumour would have it from reading on this forum that MyTaxi/Daimler and Uber have little interest in turning a profit but are much more interested in collecting driver data to be used at a future date fer autonoumous vechicles.
You, Me, Whistle and Flag are in a different boat, we all need a few quid coming in every week to pay the rent and lecky.
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Not necessarily, Ken. The value of these firms is derived more from market penetration than the profit and loss account. If Flag, for example, becomes as big as mytaxi (globally) it would undoubtedly become a takeover target with the potential to set Richie up for life and maybe even get Dave a restaurant somewhere.
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Thats sort of what I said, but I said it in a different way .Very little chance of success without Billions to trow away .When you refer to Trading I know from your experience you are not confusing trading with making a brass farthing which is sort of the idea behind business .
US$100 million isn't billions. You seem to be working on the assumption that Flag doesn't have access to (or won't attract) the kind of investment that Hail0 attracted. To date, it has built some pretty impressive alliances so I wouldn't rule that out at all. It already gets more bang for it's buck than Hail0 ever did and that can only improve with Dave's in-depth knowledge of contrasting results between Hail0 and mytaxi investment successes and failures.
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Rodent what does Flag offer that Mytaxi does not and do drivers actually want it .Whistle offered cheaper commission and driver ownership, drivers didn't want it .Dont think Whistle or Uwha considered that drivers do not want to own any part of an app to much fuckology and time wasted attending AGM ,EGM or being sued by drivers who are excluded or removed from the register just to much bother for little or no return .
So Flag are offering cheaper or lower commission I use both terms as they are totally different .So two possibilities Flag take customers off our existing provider and then distribute the same amount of work over two apps not increasing the amount of work but increasing the amount of distributors in reality no benifit to drivers .Scenario number two they attract another or different client thus removing full fare commission free work from the streets costing us money .
I have yet to see a coherent argument put forward as to why drivers would or should support another taxi hailing app .
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Eggs and baskets.
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Eggs and baskets.
Thats the strategy I support If all the eggs are in the one basket we control the basket carrier he has to much to lose if he dropps it or shakes it ..
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Unfortunately not. We only have to recall how Marto Taximan was sacked by Hail0 and the support he got from his colleagues/competitors. Human nature being what it is there'll always be bullies to abuse dominant positions, in Hail0 we got three for the price of one. Furthermore, commission rates will only find the lowest level through competition. Currently we're paying 12%. Ignoring bonuses that means the app owner is getting a taxman's takings for every eight drivers he controls. Some of us remember paying hundreds of punts for an airline ticket to the mainland and thinking nothing of it, it was just the price. Next week I'm flying to Bristol for €30 return with Ryanair.
From a customers perspective, all firms are going to piss off riders on busy weekends, having two or three firms to choose from allows clients the satisfaction of vowing never to use that firm again until the other(s) let him down on the next busy weekend.
Healthy competitions is... well ... healthy.
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Pity to see it (Whistle) floundering. I went in at the start and told John that I had a similar idea and rather than compete, we could work together to create a genuine driver owned app and no contact after that.
I could have used that time and resources to develop eircab. Genuinely believe in a drivers app that is really owned by drivers but would have been mad to go head to head with whistle and deflect from either's success. Whistle was a few months ahead with their app development.
Maybe give Whistle another call and see if'n there interested in you as a consultant or a technician or whatever that pays a premium wage. They seem to be Floundering these days and could probably do with all the help they can get.
Flag is just an accident waiting to happen, Hailo burnt all their bridges with the drivers.
Was thinking of doing that depending on the vibe at the meeting next wednesday.
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Rodent what does Flag offer that Mytaxi does not and do drivers actually want it .
I have yet to see a coherent argument put forward as to why drivers would or should support another taxi hailing app .
Bloke on the Flag's Driver Pledge thread reckons it offers everything he ever wanted... someone called john m.
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Rodent what does Flag offer that Mytaxi does not and do drivers actually want it .
I have yet to see a coherent argument put forward as to why drivers would or should support another taxi hailing app .
Bloke on the Flag's Driver Pledge thread reckons it offers everything he ever wanted... someone called john m.
I read that from that inteligent lad ,he also ended his post by saying {.Im still not a great fan of empowering apps to dispense our work but I like the no frills approach of flag so lets see how it works out .}
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Indeed, not the sort of lad that'd interpret a bit of sales banter as a coherent argument.
As I was saying, I think you may have underestimated Flag.
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Pity to see it (Whistle) floundering. I went in at the start and told John that I had a similar idea and rather than compete, we could work together to create a genuine driver owned app and no contact after that.
I could have used that time and resources to develop eircab. Genuinely believe in a drivers app that is really owned by drivers but would have been mad to go head to head with whistle and deflect from either's success. Whistle was a few months ahead with their app development.
Maybe give Whistle another call and see if'n there interested in you as a consultant or a technician or whatever that pays a premium wage. They seem to be Floundering these days and could probably do with all the help they can get.
Flag is just an accident waiting to happen, Hailo burnt all their bridges with the drivers.
Was thinking of doing that depending on the vibe at the meeting next wednesday.
If'n Whistle don't take you on, then try Flag, but be sure to get 'Cash on the Dash',
because IMO neither will be around by this time next year !
And you can be sure neither John nor Dave will be chasing around looking fer you
to pay you your redundancy money.
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Don't forget Flag has access to some of Hail0's expertise.
What Hailo 'Expertise' exactly would that be ?
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Explained briefly in the sentence following the sentence quoted.
Don't forget Flag has access to some of Hail0's expertise. Whatever about Dave's relationship with drivers, he will be well aware of how much Hail0 spent - it attracted investment totalling c.US$100,000,000 and hadn't a pot to piss in when it was rescued by Daimler/mytaxi - and, crucially, the effectiveness of various items of expenditure relative to both strategic and tactical objectives.
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Explained briefly in the sentence following the sentence quoted.
Don't forget Flag has access to some of Hail0's expertise. Whatever about Dave's relationship with drivers, he will be well aware of how much Hail0 spent - it attracted investment totalling c.US$100,000,000 and hadn't a pot to piss in when it was rescued by Daimler/mytaxi - and, crucially, the effectiveness of various items of expenditure relative to both strategic and tactical objectives.
So Hailo's expertise was how to get "c.US$100,000,000" in investment and end up without "A pot to piss in" just a few years later ?
That's hardly an impressive CV fer new Flag/Ex-Hailo to be presenting to new potential investors !
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I think Flag having Daves expertise is what RC is referring to....he's trying to be funny Ken!!
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I'm not trying to be funny. You might not consider that to be impressive, Ken, but it was still attractive enough for Daimler to want to subsume it into it's mytaxi service. Furthermore, if you continue to the end of the sentence you will get to a, perhaps, more substantial point i.e. Dave's in-depth knowledge of the effectiveness of various items of expenditure relative to both strategic and tactical objectives:
Strategically, we know Hail0 was still attractive to Daimler despite not having a pot to piss in.
Tactically, we know Hail0 was successful (at least in terms of market penetration) in some jurisdictions, notably Ireland and Spain (rather like the Kinahan Crime Cartel!) and we know that mytaxi (pre-merger) was successful in a lot more jurisdictions. Knowledge of the relative pre-merger tactics of both firms is therefore invaluable.
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Should stop signing off on "Dave and Ted" too much like the comedy priests, or the fast show, or Ant and Dec.
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Maybe they are married?
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Maybe they are married?
Could be plenty of fluid there alri!