FreeNow - what has been your experience?

31-01-2020 7:04pm #1

I started using it about 6 years ago back when it was Hailo. A truly fantastic app. A fantastic app, that has gotten steadily worse year on year. Tuesday morning I was in a hurry, went to book a taxi via it and it wouldn't let me until I added a second payment method. They kind of shot themselves in the foot as I opted to
Lynk instead and found the service great, like Hailo in the good old days.

Some problems I have had with FreeNow:

- Showing no available taxis in my area even though there are
- Telling me the driver has cancelled even though he hasn't
- Sending the driver to somewhere not what I've indicated

So, have you used it and if so, what has your experience been like?

Ashleigh1986 · 31-01-2020 7:14pm

As a driver with freenow .... The app itself is a joke .
The customer can't pinpoint exactly where they want to be picked up from.
In galway ... Hotels come up as actual house numbers and NOT hotels .
Constantly having to ring customers to see is the address actually correct that comes up on the drivers app .
It's shocking that a company owned by Mercedes is not capable of correcting this.

punisher5112 · 31-01-2020 7:17pm

Happened a few times where driver agreed pick up and as soon as close they would cancel as many others would be flagging them down.

I have found the few occasions this happened to be extremely poor service and there should be a way of flagging such carry on.

We booked a few at a friend's house and ordered for 7 and they arrived at 655 but we're gone at 657. That's bad.

ED E · 31-01-2020 7:23pm

Have the please of using it for work...."pleasure".....

Ashleigh1986 · 31-01-2020 7:25pm

punisher5112 wrote: »

Happened a few times where driver agreed pick up and as soon as close they would cancel as many others would be flagging them down.

I have found the few occasions this happened to be extremely poor service and there should be a way of flagging such carry on.

We booked a few at a friend's house and ordered for 7 and they arrived at 655 but we're gone at 657. That's bad.

That's very annoying .... As a driver we get plenty of calls off freenow from customers that are waiting at bus stops for a bus .
They go on the app and order a taxi ... If the bus comes first they get on the bus and won't answer their phone .
When dealing with people be it drivers or customers there's always bad apples.

punisher5112 · 31-01-2020 7:27pm

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

That's very annoying .... As a driver we get plenty of calls off freenow from customers that are waiting at bus stops for a bus .
They go on the app and order a taxi ... If the bus comes first they get on the bus and won't answer their phone .
When dealing with people be it drivers or customers there's always bad apples.

Fully agree, just think if providing the service it should work with you not against.

I'd be for a charge to the person that does what you said. Even if it's €2 just as a punishment.

Polar101 · 31-01-2020 7:42pm

I haven't had a lot of issues. Never have had to wait long for a taxi (except once when the driver seemed to be on a break - I cancelled after 20 minutes of waiting). The main problem i have is that if you're on the move, it's hard to get the app to find an address that makes sense - if you are at what is "10 Main Road", the app will definitely find something like "23 Back Alley Grove" and then you'll just hope the driver doesn't actually leave the main road.

fullstop · 31-01-2020 9:51pm

Closed my account about 3 years ago because they became a joke. It was a great app and great service when it was Hailo. As soon as MyTaxi took it over, drivers cancelled 90% of the time when en route and they refused to do anything about it.

Ashleigh1986 · 31-01-2020 10:00pm

Another big issue with the " freenow " app is that a lot of the drivers are also with other companies .
So what happens is a driver could accept a " freenow " job and while on their way to do it they also get a job from the other company they are with .
The job they accept with the other company could be either a cash job or a better paying job .
In these instances drivers could just cancel doing the freenow job thus causing annoyance to the freenow customer .

Thisonedone · 01-02-2020 12:22am

Mr.S wrote: »

Been using it since the Hailo days and I honestly have no problem with it, there's sometimes an issue with drive availability when it's super busy on the roads eg raining or rush hour, but you'd have the same problem hailing a taxi on the street so no biggie. In Dublin anyway, there seems to be enough drivers that I never really effects me.

It's a godsend at the airport vs using one of the taxis from the rank.

Whereabouts do you arrange the pickup at the airport? I plan to do this as taxi drivers at the rank are such psychopaths.

Ha Long Bay · 01-02-2020 12:28am

Thisonedone wrote: »

Whereabouts do you arrange the pickup at the airport? I plan to do this as taxi drivers at the rank are such psychopaths.

Zone 18

https://free-now.com/ie/airport-pickup/

JeffK88 · 01-02-2020 12:52am

Be great if the app would find a taxi driver using the app.. Down in kildare. Constantly getting €5 discounts but not taxis use it except for rare occasions.

biko · 01-02-2020 12:50pm

I've used them since Hailo and never had a bother.

The name is very "newspeak", it's neither "free" nor "now".

trellheim · 02-02-2020 1:54pm

Cabs with card machines will be mandatory in the airport after 1 may AIUI

FreeNow - what has been your experience?

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