Free Now increasing drivers' wages

[Rat Catcher]

... by 30%

Drivers with on-car advertising earn 30% more. Still not got yours?

Anybody signed up or is it one of those scam SMSs?

[C5]

How do they know you have the stickers on, if they want you to send a photo of your taxi with them applied, just put them on with sticky tape on the back of the stickers before you take of the paper bit , take the photo then remove them, I don't want my cab covered in branding maybe just a small sticker on the roof sign and maybe one on the glass.

[Rat Catcher]

I work for Bolt as well as Free Now, although I'm going to give Uber another try when I get round to reactivating my account so it'd be unethical to advertise one employer over another and rather silly to advertise the one that charges the highest fares and pays the lowest wages... but a 30% fare increase could change that!

I'm guessing it's not as simple as getting a 30% "bonus" on every fare though, hence it'd be interesting to hear from any drivers who have signed up.

[Octavia1]

The ammount of taxis out today it's bleedin dead  .... must be nite drivers ....the business is in recession as is the country ....30% of fuk all for branding yurself ....emm ....no thanks .....tink ill start painting again to pass the time ....
 

[watty]

I work for Bolt as well as Free Now, although I'm going to give Uber another try when I get round to reactivating my account so it'd be unethical to advertise one employer over another and rather silly to advertise the one that charges the highest fares and pays the lowest wages... but a 30% fare increase could change that!

I'm guessing it's not as simple as getting a 30% "bonus" on every fare though, hence it'd be interesting to hear from any drivers who have signed up.

I guess you're not the taxi driver I saw the other day with FreeNow stickers on his front doors and Hola Taxi stickers on his rear doors.  When you go to Hola's homepage, you find out that they are a of 'team of like minded people who believe drivers should get the right portion of their hard earned money. We are the providing drivers a platform with the lowest commission charges.'

[Rat Catcher]

Not guilty!

[watty]

I suspect they earn 30% more because they work 34.5% more as they get more jobs.  This is a very simple job - you can only earn one fare at a time.  If you want to earn more money, work more.

Anyways, as FreeNow themselves have admitted via a RTE report: 
- Their [ASAI] analysis showed that 83% being split nearly equally between €0 - €499 and €500 to €1,000, with 10%, having earned between €1,000 and €1,299. The remainder, 7%, earned more than €1,300.
- In other words, 83% of FN drivers earn less than a grand a week v. 7% over €1.3k. 
- The ASAI also upheld the complaint that those numbers do not say if they're net or gross. 
(https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/0227/1434779-asai-complaints/)

[Rat Catcher]

Might give Hola a go. Anyone else signed up?

[Taxi driver42]

... by 30%

Drivers with on-car advertising earn 30% more. Still not got yours?

Anybody signed up or is it one of those scam SMSs?

Na I'm doing nothing to deface my car with crap stickers
Its a lie 30% more
I'd have to give them 30% more of a cut of my wages too

[silverbullet]

... by 30%

Drivers with on-car advertising earn 30% more. Still not got yours?

Anybody signed up or is it one of those scam SMSs?

30% more than who?

[markmiwurdz]

... by 30%

Drivers with on-car advertising earn 30% more. Still not got yours?

Anybody signed up or is it one of those scam SMSs?

30% more than who?

Non Embarrassedadors.

[Belker]

... by 30%

Drivers with on-car advertising earn 30% more. Still not got yours?

Anybody signed up or is it one of those scam SMSs?

If you were to retain a decent Silver/Gold weekly status and be reguarly 'On Priority' then I would agree with the 30% on FN income. I would actually put it higher than 30% on FN income only.

[watty]

What?  The more loyal you are to a company, the more money they can take out of your pocket?  The more you work, the less you earn per job?

[Belker]

I work for Bolt as well as Free Now, although I'm going to give Uber another try when I get round to reactivating my account so it'd be unethical to advertise one employer over another and rather silly to advertise the one that charges the highest fares and pays the lowest wages... but a 30% fare increase could change that!

I'm guessing it's not as simple as getting a 30% "bonus" on every fare though, hence it'd be interesting to hear from any drivers who have signed up.

@ Rat Catcher; I did about 3 or 4 jobs each fer uber and bolt when they first came to Cork but gave up on both of them quickly fer various reasons. It defo did feel a bit awkward turning up to a bolt/uber job while branded with FN.

I know the 'Anti-everything' mongs will have a field day with this but I find that the more you do fer 1 app the more you get from them in terms of job offers which is what we all want.

I am not a big fan of any of the taxi apps, I think they are all greedy with some more greedy than others. I don't understand how sum-up can run a healthy business model on 1.5% commission while the taxi apps need 15% ??

[watty]

Apart from a computer program which relies on taxis they don't own, FreeNow don't any sell or do anything.

Taxi app FreeNow sees profits triple as annual turnover rises 73%  (Examiner, Nov 2023)

Pre-tax profits at the firm which operates the taxi app Free Now more than tripled last year, rising to €4.95m as the cab industry recovered from a pandemic-induced slump.  Up from a pre-tax profit of just €1.6m in 2021, accounts filed by Free Now Ireland Ltd also report a 73% increase in annual turnover, rising to more than €38.4m in 2022 despite a surge in new competitors.

While up significantly on 2021, profits at FreeNow have yet to recover from pre-pandemic levels. In 2020, Free Now posted a pre-tax profit of €6.38m, with a surge in new competitors coinciding with subdued earnings.

The taxi app reported a cash balance of more than €20.8m, up significantly from just over €14m in 2021, with net current assets also up by more than €4m to €14.9m following efforts to restrucuture its costs.

Almost all of that comes out of your pocket and mine