Free Now say FUCK off to taxi drivers

[john m]

Free Now has announced today a new partnership with micro-mobility operator Tier, meaning people in Ireland could soon book e-scooters through the Free Now app.

A recent passenger survey revealed growing demand for multi-mobility options among Free Now passengers in Ireland, with 59 per cent saying they would like to see additional mobility options available in the app.

In response to this demand Free Now is progressing plans to add more mobility options to the app, starting with e-scooters and partnering with Tier and other mobility providers as legislation comes into effect.

The partnership will initially launch in eight German cities next month, followed by France before a wider European rollout, which both companies plan will include Ireland, should Tier be successful in launching an e-scooter rental scheme in one or more Irish cities.


The partnership follows the Government’s recent announcement that it will legalise e-scooters on roads, with the legislation expected to be passed in the coming months, followed by city tenders.

Tier, which recently won highly prized tenders in Paris and Dubai, will partner with Free Now in all common markets, with both companies united in their mission “to improve urban mobility and reduce dependency on car ownership”.

Anyone booking a Tier e-scooter through the Free Now app will get the benefit of industry-leading safety features which minimise the risks to riders and the public, including an integrated helmet, indicator lights, shock absorbers and the largest front wheel in the market to better handle varied terrain.

They also have triple brakes and a double kickstand which help Tier to lead the sector when it comes to stopping distance and wind resistance.

[silverbullet]

Free Now has announced today a new partnership with micro-mobility operator Tier, meaning people in Ireland could soon book e-scooters through the Free Now app.

A recent passenger survey revealed growing demand for multi-mobility options among Free Now passengers in Ireland, with 59 per cent saying they would like to see additional mobility options available in the app.

In response to this demand Free Now is progressing plans to add more mobility options to the app, starting with e-scooters and partnering with Tier and other mobility providers as legislation comes into effect.

The partnership will initially launch in eight German cities next month, followed by France before a wider European rollout, which both companies plan will include Ireland, should Tier be successful in launching an e-scooter rental scheme in one or more Irish cities.


The partnership follows the Government’s recent announcement that it will legalise e-scooters on roads, with the legislation expected to be passed in the coming months, followed by city tenders.

Tier, which recently won highly prized tenders in Paris and Dubai, will partner with Free Now in all common markets, with both companies united in their mission “to improve urban mobility and reduce dependency on car ownership”.

Anyone booking a Tier e-scooter through the Free Now app will get the benefit of industry-leading safety features which minimise the risks to riders and the public, including an integrated helmet, indicator lights, shock absorbers and the largest front wheel in the market to better handle varied terrain.

They also have triple brakes and a double kickstand which help Tier to lead the sector when it comes to stopping distance and wind resistance.

No doubt they'll provide training  plus alcohol and drug tests.

[Shallowhal]

Nah SB.....they'll absolve themselves from any of that shite!!

[Bob Shillin]

Two items.
1. Anyone ever not get paid when job said "pay by app", i.e. was there ever insufficient funds in the clients FN app? Had a client who said "take me as far as €15 will cover, I only have that in my account". I did, and it paid out €15. If he had travelled, say another €5 worth, would I have been paid? I have never not been paid by the app, do they give the client extended credit?
2. FN cash job. App says journey  A to B. At B client says "please drop friend here, and take me on to C. At end of job at C client mistakenly only pays me €15 by Revolut for a €20 job, and is gone before I realise that the job is €5 short. I try unsucessfully to contact client, and leave him a voicemail. I input €15 into the app as fare paid, and the app tells me "this seems too small a price for this job, do you want to change it", therefore the app is constantly following the journey, and recalculating the fare for the job, not just the original journey that the client inputted, because €15 would have covered easily the original journey. I thought that it just calculated from the original requested journey, but clearly not. Client subsequently responded to voicemail and revoluted €5. His mistake arose from a slightly different journey home which he usually takes, and costs €15, as I have had him previously.
 

[Shallowhal]

With regard to (1)....i did have passengers who told me that in the past when there was insufficient funds(unbeknownst to them)to pay for a journey,that FN paid the driver but when they next e-hailed a joe they were not allowed until they paid the balance owed by them.

The (2) you describe sound like an update since i last used the app a year ago,it seems to havecthe ability to tell you what you should be inputting on the fare screen!!

[Rat Catcher]

1) Prior to SCA or whatever it's called it wasn't an issue. Students, in particular, were well aware that payments weren't quite processed in real time i.e. the system would return "payment successful" regardless of whether it was or not and the driver would be paid. SCA or whatever it's called has changed that. Last time I hailo'd a Free Now from the shebeen it pre-authorised an estimate of the fare. Banks may request customer authorisation so I guess it stands to reason that many clients would refuse authorisation if requested hours or days after the journey, possibly suspecting a scam.

2) The virtual meter has always run in the backgound. It's used to calculate the fare where unlicensed vehicles are used to cover taxi eHails so I guess there was always some sort of control system detecting taxi drivers who frequently under-declare cash jobs. Having it in the foreground is new.

[markmiwurdz]

So if for some reason you feel generous or sorry for someone and ask for a tenner for a 15 euro fare the ap will give out Joe Bollix to you??

[Bob Shillin]

So if for some reason you feel generous or sorry for someone and ask for a tenner for a 15 euro fare the ap will give out Joe Bollix to you??

Exactly, and then send the required explanatory note via "help" to, as RC would have it, your employer.

[Dr. Martin Gooter Bling]

I saw this on the news today but don't know how it works.
does a Brazilian turn up and give ye a backer on his scooter something.

[markmiwurdz]

So if for some reason you feel generous or sorry for someone and ask for a tenner for a 15 euro fare the ap will give out Joe Bollix to you??

Exactly, and then send the required explanatory note via "help" to, as RC would have it, your employer.

World gone fukkin mad lads...

[Bob Shillin]

A colleague recently had 2 FN cancellations 5 mins after being received, but continued on to the job locations, and on 2 occasions found ambassador cars picking up there. He's convinced that the app caused the switch to the abassador. Can't see it meself. Anyone had similar?

[Shallowhal]

There was talk of that before Bob....drivers on here experienced it if memory serves.

[vandriver]

A friend of mine is convinced it's regularly happening to him.

[Punter]

Its happened to me also and I complained to no avail --but at the moment without Ambassadorial Skills and Priority I get fuck all anyway--one job today 10--two yesterday 23--tend to go home after a couple of hours and leave phone on but still zilch --little doubt this is my worse week ever driving a car and I am nearly 30 years at it --

[Bob Shillin]

Logistically, how would it happen? I was assuming that maybe the clients realised that they had booked a car without a screen, cancelled, and rebooked.

As my colleague is a night driver, the app would have to have the ability to know that there is an ambassador close by, maybe whose slow finger touch it was able to detect after a few minutes, or when it becomes aware of his proximity, cancel, and resend the job to just one driver. Doesn't seem likely to me. Anyone care to offer a possible explanation?