FREE NOW St.Patrick's Week

[Rat Catcher]

We probably needed them more than they needed us back then, Ken. Uber, at least, is a viable alternative these days.

...not that I condone under-declaring fares. They do have a virtual meter of sorts running in the background so they can detect it easily enough. My own view, however, is that you can choose to accept or reject any job. If you don't accept the applicable, however extortionate, fees don't accept the job!

[Octavia1]

We probably needed them more than they needed us back then, Ken. Uber, at least, is a viable alternative these days.

...not that I condone under-declaring fares. They do have a virtual meter of sorts running in the background so they can detect it easily enough. My own view, however, is that you can choose to accept or reject any job. If you don't accept the applicable, however extortionate, fees don't accept the job!

If feenow want to save ther business..... I'm available for consultation.... I'm not cheap... 500 an hour aut to suffice  .... but I'll turn that cunty ting around in  a week Trump style .... how I hear ya ask ?
Sack the cunts that fukin ruined it with totally unnecessary complications
Used to justify the cunts wages 
Silly cunts 

[Rat Catcher]

Remove Tech fees, Increase commission to 32%?

[Rat Catcher]

To be honest, the damage is probably done... bar throwing a large fortune at advertising the new lower fares that are still higher than Uber's fares.

I know I won't go back to them as a rider. Why risk being charged anything from €1.50-€40+ on top of the metered fare for "premium services" that you don't need or want. Uber is simple, they generally charge less than the metered fare and you know you're not going to be charged more than €1 (inc. VAT) for tech fees / premium services and you (well, those of us that do a bit ourselves) know that the driver is being paid significantly more than Free Now would pay him... and the service is generally good so why fix something that ain't broke?

[Bob Shillin]

To be honest, the damage is probably done... bar throwing a large fortune at advertising the new lower fares that are still higher than Uber's fares.

I know I won't go back to them as a rider. Why risk being charged anything from €1.50-€40+ on top of the metered fare for "premium services" that you don't need or want. Uber is simple, they generally charge less than the metered fare and you know you're not going to be charged more than €1 (inc. VAT) for tech fees / premium services and you (well, those of us that do a bit ourselves) know that the driver is being paid significantly more than Free Now would pay him... and the service is generally good so why fix something that ain't broke?

Until critical mass market share is achieved.

[Rat Catcher]

Absolutely. Then they can "charge whatever they like" in the words or our NTA lords and masters.

One can see a situation arising through manufacture or otherwise where taxis simply become too expensive for the working man. Free Now's "premium service" fees have already done irreparable damage to our trade. Folk will tolerate paying whatever is demanded at peak times but the problem when that's formalised (rather than negotiated with a driver on an ad-hoc basis) is that they get the impression that the hugely inflated fares are normal so will make other arrangements for off-peak journeys only resorting to getting a taxi when there's no other option.

Eventually, I can see the temporary moratorium on the issue of saloon hackney plates being lifted to promote a more affordable service for clients who don't need to use bus lanes and aren't bothered by the first 2 digits of the number plate. Given the shift to taxis being a premium service it might make sense to restrict taxi plates to EVs less than 3 years old in conjunction with lifting the temporary moratorium on the issue of saloon hackney plates with no applicable vehicle age restrictions?

[markmiwurdz]

To be honest, the damage is probably done... bar throwing a large fortune at advertising the new lower fares that are still higher than Uber's fares.

I know I won't go back to them as a rider. Why risk being charged anything from €1.50-€40+ on top of the metered fare for "premium services" that you don't need or want. Uber is simple, they generally charge less than the metered fare and you know you're not going to be charged more than €1 (inc. VAT) for tech fees / premium services and you (well, those of us that do a bit ourselves) know that the driver is being paid significantly more than Free Now would pay him... and the service is generally good so why fix something that ain't broke?

They-FN are desperate at this stage,they've even got punters to think it's still busy at about 10.30 in the morning with about 80% of working drivers free after the morning rush by getting them to order a "Priority Driver" for a surcharge with hundreds of drivers doing nothing probably right beside them anyway....that's a fukkin disgrace.

[Rat Catcher]

One would imagine they're familiar with the price elasticity of demand. I think the real challenge they have is reconciling the current owner's (BMW /Daimler) requirement for profit with competing with the extremely low (in relative terms) fares offered by Uber et al.

[Rat Catcher]

I should have said low fares currently being offered by Uber. As BS pointed out it's all strategic... well above our pay grade!

[mercenary for hire]

Cheaper saloon taxis wont bring down the fares IMO.The fares are comparable to other big developed cities.I think the prices just look higher because we're all older now and some of us still remember Irish punts..Thirty years ago I was getting about one hundred punts a week in Mackers for a full week as a student.Now they're getting 6 or 7 times that in euros.I remember lads on forums saying a trummer in (kens language) was something to brag about for a night driver, now the day lads can make them if they really wanted them and more.By the time I retire in thirty years at 77 I'll be taking in thousands... a day and a pint will be fifty quid in Templebar.

Kinda bleak really..

[watty]

The fares are set by the NTA after a rigorous assessment of the economic landscape in Ireland and it ensures the average taxi driver gets an average wage for doing an average job an average working week.  In other words, taxi fares are not expensive compared to everything else in Ireland.  Just look at your weekly shopping bill or try pricing stuff and/or tradespeople for your house 

[Rat Catcher]

So how are Free Now fares so much more expensive than anyone else's? I took a taxi home from the pub recently and a tenner covered the fare and a generous gratuity. Free Now would charge €12.50-€41.00 excluding the driver's gratuity for the same ride. Uber would charge c.€8.40.

Metered fares (i.e. before premium services fees) probably are comparable to other big cities, MfH but many of those cities have cheaper private hire options with which the natives would be familiar. We also have a situation where rural folk are being charged city prices to get home from the bar or down to the station... for the most part their needs are less refined than their city cousins i.e. they don't need to use bus lanes and they don't care about the first two digits of the cab's registration number, they just want to get from A to B without paying the immigrant driver or multinational dispatch operator rates a GP would struggle to justify!

[mercenary for hire]

The culchies can get the big wages too RC.On my last trip to Bantry and beyond it was noticable how many new cars were on the drives.Lots of solar panels and not much poverty to be seen.Rural Ireland isn't as backwards as we might think these days.They can well afford the Dublin taxi rate.Even the dole spongers and pensioners down the bog get the same as the dubs but likely have lower outgoings.I doubt they're boiling their linguini over the fire.

I'm not sure think hacks are really much cheaper in the UK as they're often run by Uber and Bolt etc who take 25%.Inflation has been nuts in the last 5 years.No escaping it.

[silverbullet]

So how are Free Now fares so much more expensive than anyone else's? I took a taxi home from the pub recently and a tenner covered the fare and a generous gratuity. Free Now would charge €12.50-€41.00 excluding the driver's gratuity for the same ride. Uber would charge c.€8.40.

Metered fares (i.e. before premium services fees) probably are comparable to other big cities, MfH but many of those cities have cheaper private hire options with which the natives would be familiar. We also have a situation where rural folk are being charged city prices to get home from the bar or down to the station... for the most part their needs are less refined than their city cousins i.e. they don't need to use bus lanes and they don't care about the first two digits of the cab's registration number, they just want to get from A to B without paying the immigrant driver or multinational dispatch operator rates a GP would struggle to justify!

Pub? would that I could.

[Belker]

.... . We also have a situation where rural folk are being charged city prices to get home from the bar or down to the station... for the most part their needs are less refined than their city cousins ......

You have mentioned this before Stephen and I don't understand how you reckon a Rural TAXI should be less expensive than a City taxi ?