Taxi Driver Online

WOW, I got a letter from Sainsbury's this morning inviting me to tender for the exclusive right to pick up their customers using the in-store free phone when the store opens in the autumn. We already have a Tesco store, a Morrisons store and a Co-op store in town and you can count on one hand how many calls you get to pick up at these places every week. Still i am sure that someone will think it is worthwhile paying for the privilege.

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Grandad,

Well I would deffo take it, we have payphones at the hospital, Iceland, tesco, asda, Morrisons, health centre. But The more work you get the better so I would deffo take it

For the number of customers that are likely to use the service it could end up costing more per journey to get the job than you could ever earn from it.

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Grandad,

A lot of it will depend on whether it will result in silly just down the road calls - and then wait for an hour for the next. If it does not turn out to be worthwhile - bin it, on the other hand it does create work that you do not have at this moment.

Having said that - you will not know until you try..........give it a whirl.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

We are a very small town. All jobs are "just down the road". Just how much would the supermarket want us to pay to provide a service that very few people are likely to use? I think I will leave this one to someone who is more desperate to pay for a job.

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Grandad,

It's still worth putting a tender in for a small amount. Others may not bother and you could get it nice and cheap!

If it's a giant store then it's worth it, if it's a piddly little thing then it ain't.

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IDFIMH

I wouldn't, they start somewhere in the region of £5K depending who's running the phone. If it's UGO they'll try and squeeze every penny out of you they can.

Didnt some firm that had the monopoly with supermarket phones get prosecuted for charging extortionate fees where the owner got backhanders?

It's all about the money nowadays.

I was offered the same a couple of years ago. We have a medium Sainsburys in town and the firm who had the phone contract decided not to renew it. The manager at the shop wanted us to take it on as we are probably the only reliable firm in town.

the company who run the phone franchise wanted some extortionate amount for the privilege, ISTR about £3k a year. As other have said, most of the runs are local £5-£6 jobs at odd time. A newcomer eventually got the phone line and found the cost was nowhere near being covered by the work he was getting.

We found we were still getting the same amount of calls from the customer information desk without paying for the Freephone line. The franchise holder stopped paying the bill there.

Unless it's a big store or you tender for a small amount, don't bother.

I was offered the same a couple of years ago. We have a medium Sainsburys in town and the firm who had the phone contract decided not to renew it. The manager at the shop wanted us to take it on as we are probably the only reliable firm in town.

the company who run the phone franchise wanted some extortionate amount for the privilege, ISTR about £3k a year. As other have said, most of the runs are local £5-£6 jobs at odd time. A newcomer eventually got the phone line and found the cost was nowhere near being covered by the work he was getting.

We found we were still getting the same amount of calls from the customer information desk without paying for the Freephone line. The franchise holder stopped paying the bill there.

Unless it's a big store or you tender for a small amount, don't bother.

It seems very strange to me that they want us to pay them for doing the work but the information that they are asking for seems odd. They want a copy of a personal driving license, a home utility bill or a council tax bill for ALL partners or directors.
Well one of our directors doesn't have a drivers license so our application would not be considered.
The application needs to be sent to a company called Transport Innovation.

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Grandad,

I think if you are starting off a new firm, then this is a good way to help as it could lead to a steady stream of ok (ish) work, and build a customer base if you card all the punters.

But don't rely on it for the long run, as your costs will increase if you are worried about the effect it will have if you lose the contract.

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IDFIMH

the answers simple

get a freephone number - instantly all supermarket phones become obsolete

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most