Free Now Taxi Save Jobs

[Rat Catcher]

Got two offers last night / this morning - the first two I've seen:

c.01:30 Lorcan Avenue (Kilmardinny pub) -> Somewhere not far - estimated fare €6-8
c.02:00 Greenwood (Blunden Drive) -> D3 - estimated fare €16-19

Readily identifiable with a white backed Taxi Save label at the bottom of the offer card in addition to the lack of +€3 booking fee banner at the top of the card.

I've already calculated that estimates of €30+ are necessary to make Taxi Save jobs beneficial to me so I didn't accept either. I generally don't take jobs from public houses anyway so the first would have been a non-runner for me at full fare never mind paying commission to give a discount to ferry drunks during Golden 8 hours!

[mercenary for hire]

I'd just opt out out meself.If they think you are interested in them they might adjust the algorithm so you're always available for taxi saver jobs.

At least we know they're actually offering them now.I'm already opted out.

[watty]

c.01:30 Lorcan Avenue (Kilmardinny pub) -> Somewhere not far - estimated fare €6-8

Strip out the minimum fare and you're practically doing it for free!  At half past one in the morning 

In reality, under the 'old' way of doing things, they probably would have given you a tenner (keep the change) if it was under a tenner, and you (me anyways) would have called it a tenner if it was just over a tenner and the passenger would probably have added some coins to that tenner.  A civilised way of doing things!

[Taxi driver42]

Switch them off
If I go to THEIR business will they undercharge me for being a taxi driver
Not a hope
Fuck u freenow drop the

Tech charge

[Belker]

Excerpt from FN email;

"We (FN) wanted to keep you informed about the upcoming launch of Taxi Saver, a new fleet aimed at boosting bookings during off-peak times in Dublin. While this fleet will currently be available only in Dublin, we’ll be monitoring its performance closely. We’ll keep you updated on how it progresses and share any future plans that may be relevant to your area."

How is 1.30am on Sat night/Sun morning OFF-PEAK ?? 

[Dr. Martin Gooter Bling]

you usta get warning messages sayin you're undercharging now you get warning messages sayin you're overcharging. i did a whopper drug run tonight for a wunner. multi stopper all over the kip. i was convinced your woman was a runner but she was a gas cunt so i kept going. anyways it was only on the last hurdle that i said aw gick i shudda ended the fare early on in the app now they'll take a huge chunk off me now. i stuck in 100 and they said that's way too much. stuck in 90. that's way too much. 80 the same. 70 the same. 55 seemed to be the sweet spot. stuck that in.

[Rat Catcher]

I guess "peak" / "off-Peak" are largely subjective terms, Ken. In any event, both jobs disappeared very quickly (too quick for me to capture a screenshot in both cases) so there's obviously no shortage of drivers willing to cover such work up above in Dublin within that 30 min timeframe.

On the same shift I had a couple of 3 figure (estimated) job offers from Free Now that disappeared as soon as they appeared. Maybe Free Now should consider charging drivers higher rates of commission on bigger fares.... perhaps on a sliding scale instead of charging clients for "premium services" that they neither ask for nor want. From a rider's perspective I could never use Free Now again as there's no telling what the fare will be when they've added on all the undocumented supplements. Even their "Taxi Save" rates are significantly higher than Uber's fares. If they got back to just charging the fare shown on the driver's taximeter it'd be better for punters and for demand for our services in totality. If they need to increase profit and dividends paid to their UK parent company, increasing freight would make more sense and using a sliding scale would eliminate the need for all their priority schemes i.e. let the computer do the math to calculate the commission price point of equilibrium between supply and demand at any given time for any given fare.

[Rat Catcher]

Having said that, my freight for a passive day shift spanning 8 hours (probably 5-6 working hours) was €47 inc. VAT last Thursday. While there's probably more in it for the rideshare platforms it's a far cry from the days when Irish dispatch firms charged €80 for as many hours you wanted to work within any week. It's a different ballgame these days but, I guess, we're not the first trade to be swallowed up by multinationals rewarding minimum skill with minimum wage... and we won't be the last.

[markmiwurdz]

Taxi Shaft Job.

They are some cowboys these lads,still charging their technical fee and surge or whatever else they do but we must suffer a huge percentage drop on any short job and they will tell you they are doing it to keep you busy,snake oil for sale.

[Punter]

Was in big smoke Sat evening 8.pm off rank, got a Lithuanian home ,here 20 years ,own his own van, hates the apps one job for FN last week--says business way down on post Covid,9 hours on Fri yielded 200 spuds, doesn't work past 2 am  as ranks are stacked up--he reckons he's lucky to have van paid for--

[Taxi driver42]

There's other apps
And I'd rather starve than work them taxi saver jobs

[Jack Meoff]

“We must all stick together”

[Horse]

The minute lads started putting stickers on their cars for these apps and competing against each other for gold stars and bonuses it was game over. Ye have practically handed all the work over to these parasites, advertised for them for free AND payed them 15% of YOUR wages for the privilege. I can't even use the word stupid because that would be an insult to stupid people. Wankers would probably be a more appropriate word.

[Rat Catcher]

Guilty, as charged.

[Bob Shillin]

Guilty, as charged.

Wanking or competing for badges.?