Taxi Driver Online

Hello all,

I am Chris, the general manager of Gett for Scotland and I’d like to make you aware of exactly how Gett works for drivers.

Gett is an on demand taxi app that uses world class technology to enable passengers to book a ride. We work exclusively with hackney carriages. We take only 10% of the fare, there is no contract, no additional fees, work when you want and pay as you go. We provide contract work on a global scale - bringing commercial contracts to the street cars. In addition to giving you more jobs we provide additional revenue streams that can boost earnings, a driver in Manchester made an additional £600 through Gett last week just by talking to his passengers! This was on top of his Gett and street work.

We entered Edinburgh and Glasgow 3 months ago and demand has been incredible. Bearing in mind we have entered gently, to test the waters - using only word of mouth and social media marketing,. There are drivers in Edinburgh earning over £1200 a week.

To give the landscape more context, 88% of people have a smartphone in Scotland. This is the future of the taxi industry and in Scotland this change is happening a lot quicker than any of us could have anticipated.

I want to make you aware that Gett - (working only with Hackney Carriages) are bigger than Uber in the UK, we are in 25 cities nationwide, connecting drivers to not only Scottish passengers, but millions of users from around the world
We offer fantastic deals and incentives for passengers, so provided we can meet the demand a passenger has no need to use any other app.

Ask any passenger, business or private, and they will tell you they prefer to use a black cab. We are safer and know the quickest route. We are a third party app and there is absolutely no legal reason why any driver should not feel able to work with us.

Gett are at the forefront so let’s ensure we stay there! On a personal note, as an Edinburgh boy myself, I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved in Scotland - I understand the strength of the Black cab in both Edinburgh & Glasgow, and very much believe that our technology can help future proof this for the coming years.


I welcome any comments and please feel free to contact me on chris.elsheikhi@gett.com

How much does it cost the driver per job though, if it's more than 5% its cheerio

Apart from some of my passengers who absolutely refuse to use black cabs for various reasons. And what passenger would prefer to go on a 200 mile airport run at 50mph in a ratterley London style cab as opposed to a luxury PH saloon. So not 'any passenger'.

Yeah cos in all these non-black cabs you'll be lucky to get there alive and they always go the longest way (the quickest isn't always the shortest/cheapest by the way).
Go climb back up your ar$e please.

Look fella, those of us that have been in the trade a while take the above with a pinch of salt.

You are sounding like an operators/taxi owner.

All the apps in the world really isn't going to increase the amount of punters. Yes a supa dupa app might increase a drivers takings, but if everyone joins that app then there will be less for everyone else.

The trade should be spending money and time increasing the number of punters, not the number of apps.

_________________
IDFIMH

can you send a cheque to TDO for your advert?

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Or better still, save your money, remove the plug and stop trying to [edited by admin] on we Private hire drivers, you spout crap that everyone loves black cabsThey dont. then you go on to shamelessly take 10% of the Hack drivers meagre fare for the privelige, whilst at the same time taking jobs off the same guy or his mates when they are trying find work on the street.

There's a finite number of customers, your not creating any extra work but just creaming off 10% of the fare for shifting that finite work around....and Uber are doing the same for an even bigger cut from the PH side of things....Only winners with these trendy apps is the app provider, money that would have otherwise gone to the drives themselves.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... al-process

The example shown by the reporter near the end of this article where he booked a vehicle with fake documents was almost an exact example of an exercise that was carried out recently with another Taxi App company operating within Edinburgh.

An individual had registered with this company at an Open Day and was set up as an approved driver even though he had no public hire vehicle, no public hire drivers licence or insurance.
As I had the App on my phone I carried out the exact same excercise as the reporter and booked a supposedly Public Hire vehicle and with the driver standing alongside me he accepted my job request.
The driver owns a privately owned Ford Focus with no Public Hire licenses or insurance.
The fare was not completed and the excercise was only carried out as a test.

I am sure that there are those who wouldn't really care if a Ford Focus turned up to take them to their destination if the fare was cheap enough even though the ramifications of travelling in a privately owned car without the correct insurance could be severe but what are the long term implications


The irony of it all is that the City of Edinburgh City Council were unable to take action as the Company involved do not have a Booking Office Licence and so have not broken any local licensing laws.

The trade and the local authorities have a bit catching up to do at all levels if we are to protect the unsuspecting General Public of these sharp practices. Or is it the case that we have to wait until something goes terribly wrong before action is taken.

The Company involved has been made aware of its failings in the way it processes its applications from potential drivers and the individual involved in this exercise has had his registration withdrawn.
However there are other non public hire vehicles registered with this company within Edinburgh.
It is concerning that at this early stage of starting up due diligence is not being displayed in the signing up of new drivers and vehicles and that this Company does not operate with a Booking Office Licence, which would ultimately hold them accountable for their lack of scrutiny before registering drivers to work on their system picking up unsuspecting passengers.

One thing these new App Companies do have is the ability to bring new language to an old industry. You just have to look at any of the recent adverts to see how the public and drivers will be seduced by this promise of a new age in the transport business.
I think that most people would assume that through the promise of providing the public, and new potential drivers, with "New World Class Technologly" basic licence and insurance checks would be a corner stone of any new company making these claims.
App based services will continue to grow as they operate from low start up and running costs. As more come onto the market the earnings of drivers will be driven down. This is already been the case in other major cities where the App booking service has gained a significant market share. As you will see from the link above the flood of drivers signing up to an App service are already joining the Unions to demand a minimum wage.
To finish on a more positive note there is always the prospect of earning additional revenue through providing "delivery services". Just no nibbling the pizzas guys..

Think we have to set the record straight here Les.

I understand you are trying to protect your position and I have no issue with that, but by not naming the company involved and using the blanket term 'these app companies' you are just as guilty of making false claims as those you are pointing the finger at.

Cabapp go to considerable lengths to ensure all approved drivers operate public hire vehicles. On application evidence must be provided of the taxi driver licence and the taxi licence and it must match the details provided. Try signing up Les you will see for yourself.
Customers are provided the driver and vehicle details so a driver turning up in a different vehicle should at least cause suspicion.
No system is infallible of course so any suggestions in improvement for the sake of public safety are welcome.
Cabapp ensures that drivers only see jobs for the area they are licenced to pick up in.
Cabapp operates throughout the country not just the cities so this is an important principle which also respects Licencing laws.

Cabapp is a taxi driver designed app for drivers who wish to see themselves and the industry flourish and as it is low cost to drivers it will serve as a buffer from exhorbatant radio dues.
Cabapp has no restrictions on drivers taking work from any source. Cabapp respects drivers rights to ply for hire as and when they wish.
So there is no reason whatsoever that the success of cabapp will as you claim drive earnings down!

Apologies to anyone who considers this an advert but
a) it would be to the detriment of the taxi trade to allow Les views to go unanswered.
b) if drivers cannot promote new innovations, or tools for improving earnings amongst themselves what is the point of the forum.

Is CabApp operating in Edinburgh?

Cabapp operates throughout the uk and Ireland including Edinburgh.
There are drivers signed up in 90 towns and cities at the last count.

I presume what you really want to ask is do you have significant competition from cabapp in Edinburgh?

The answer would be currently no. cabapp has currently only a small number of drivers in Edinburgh.

No I wasn't enquiring because of that but it's just I haven't heard anyone mention your App within Edinburgh and I wasn't aware of it.

Ah. That explains the content of some of your posts, and why you haven't signed up already.

There are one or two threads on TDO discussing cabapp, check them out for yourself.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Another company trying to take 10% of our earnings

Who would that be Boab?

Not picking on your post in particular Boab.How's Granton star doing these days ?
Some drivers need to be more open minded, this app (gett)is more than handy and may lead diluting the effectiveness of uber .
An example of what constantly happens now, is as last night drop of at shore ,tap free on app offered constitution st to lothian rd the fares e.g. £10, I then take note that £9 goes into my acc the following week.
I've not lost £1 I'm £9 up.
And on weekends when ranks are clogged early summer evenings ,your collecting the people who want to come into town.
Customer and driver care is manned 24 hrs I was surprised when I got a bogey and the operator couldn't trace them they scrub the job and give you £5.
This is solely my opinion from using it for three months now, I just don't think it's fair to knock something you haven't tried.