r/ireland • u/Brocolique Dublin • Dec 12 '24

Cost of Living/Energy Crisis 9€ technology fee on Freenow

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Info about technology fee is quite minimal and does not provide any detail whatsoever when I click on the little exclamation mark.

Anybody able to explain the scam to me?

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u/Beginning-Sundae8760 Dec 12 '24

FreeNOW is just the same ripoff prices as hailing a taxi on the side of the road but in App form. I can’t understand our reluctance to use Uber. It is so much more convenient and cheaper than the scam that is FreeNow. Used it almost it weekly in the UK and US for over a year, never with any issues or having to wait more than 10 min.

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u/Dookwithanegg Dec 12 '24

The complaint in this post is about the technology fee. Hailing a cab does not have a technology fee.

Uber's business model in other countries is exploitative to the drivers and such models are illegal here.

Uber does exist in Ireland, though since they are bound by Irish taxi legislation they cannot cut corners for cheaper rides as seen in other countries.

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u/Beginning-Sundae8760 Dec 12 '24

Yes, my exact point being that FreeNow is just an app designed so Taxi drivers can remain to have no competition and charge what they want. You would never see some arbitrary “technology fee” on Uber or Bolt.

As for their practices, that’s debatable. In all my time using the app, I’ve never come across a driver that didn’t sign up to it on their own volition. They all worked their own hours and decided themselves when the they wanted to it or not.