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DUBLIN TAXI DRIVERS hoping to break the dominance of Hailo are rolling out a rival app that promises lower fees and better service than their giant booking rivals.
In a market already recovering from the introduction of global gamechanger Uber, local cabbies Martin Byrne and Stephen O’Connell are about to launch the Dublin edition of Saytaxi.
The app, which is now operating in 12 cities around the world, will connect passengers with licensed taxis charging the metered fare – although bills will be free from any pickup fees.
So why Saytaxi?
For drivers there is the lure of lower fees than rival Hailo, while for customers there is the promise of more accurate estimates for pickup times, the ability to pre-book services and a more “courteous” collection, Byrne told TheJournal.ie.
“We are trying to be customer friendly, so we will wait longer – we have a 7.5-minute (free) waiting time,” he said.
“We also have a no callback policy … we will wait 5 minutes before we call the customer and tell them that we are there.”
We don’t have the huge funds that Uber and Hailo have to throw at this for advertising, so we will very much be driven by customer loyalty.”
Saytaxi is already running in locations including Australia, Bahrain, India and, believe it or not, Lagos in Nigeria.
Hailo “heavy handed”
Byrne said 220 Dublin taxi drivers had already signed up ahead of the service’s official launch on 20 September and it was possible the app would be brought to Cork and other cities in the future.
“Basically, what we are trying to do is operate it in a small way to begin with … we want to keep the costs as low as possible for drivers,” he said.
They have felt that Hailo were using their dominance in Dublin and being a little bit too heavy handed.
Byrne said there will also be features to suit the restaurant and hotel sector, including a website plugin allowing taxi customers to book a cab direct to their destination with one click.
Too many hands in the pot?
Byrne said it was “an interesting question” whether there was enough demand in the Dublin market to service three major players.
“Drivers certainly think there is (demand); this is very much driver charged,” he said.
Hailo has reported booking about 20,000 trips a day in Dublin, although Uber, which has launched across the world and was recently valued at US$18 billion, is yet to release any firm figures on its local users.
Another app, Wundercar, allows drivers to share their rides in return for non-obligatory tips – although Irish authorities have warned it may be illegal if the cars are not licensed for hire.
READ: Ireland is the first country to see near nationwide coverage for Hailo taxis
READ: 300 taxi drivers protest in Dublin city over ads, parking and too many taxis
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Never had a problem with Hailo so doubt i will be switching sides. Its one of the few apps i have that never lets me down. And all the drivers i have gotten with it have been nice guys and not obnoxious pigs you get home in the evening off the street.
Did have a problem with a hailo driver once, the driver details didn’t match at all. Neither the taxi plate, car reg, or the driver picture matched up, he had the ID folded flat against the dash so cudn’t see his ID number but read it in the reflection on the windscreen and it didn’t match. He was a beligerant boll*x as well and pulled in to the far side of Nassau St to where we were standing and made us cross through traffic. The drive was ok and we got home safe but reported him to Hailo straight away. It turned out all four sets of details, car reg plate, taxi plate, driver ID and driver profile on Hailo were from four different Hailo taxis and they had no clue who the driver actually was. They immediately refunded us and gave us extra credit and suspended all four drivers pending investigation. The point is no system is perfect and just cos it is Hailo don’t be complacent. It is an excellent system but you still have to be careful.
I wish there was an app that only hails clean taxis with drivers who remain silent for the journey unless spoken to, are professional full time taxi drivers, own their car, don’t like to drive in 3rd gear an jump back and forth from mach 1 to mach 5 on the accelerator to make you ill, haven’t got a violent criminal record, have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the city map and carry change for notes bigger than a tenner.
I’m taxi driver in Galway, drive 7 series bmw, car always sparkling clean as it should be . I myself shower every day, sum times twice and am not afraid to use aftershave . I don’t whinge, or talk shit to passengers. I charge only what’s on the metre and round it down to the nearest €. Tunes always at hand if passenger requires , what more can 1 do
Pay THEM to get into your car, 7 and a half minutes free waiting time with saytaxi? Can’t see drivers climbing over each other to sign up.
Can’t see it beating hailo
If it’s cheaper and as reliable I don’t see why it can’t at least compete. If it was run more like a driver’s co-op I think it would be more successful as driver loyalty would be stronger and they would work harder for it to maintain it’s reputation.
Lower fees for the drivers, not the customers.
Hailo are getting heavy handed because they are now requiring drivers to be available for work at peak times, if your not available your bumped down the line when things are quiet. Hailo take 12% off the fare and tip the driver gets. If it’s busy in town drivers will just work the street and pick up fares from there. The drivers are getting 100% of the fare plus there’s less messing around. Some Hailo customers at that hour of the night are legless and trying to find them from a drivers point of view can be a nightmare as the app doesn’t always have the customer in the right location. So on a busy night trying to find Hailo customers is costing us money plus Hailo are taking 12%..
I agree. It would take a lot for me to leave Hailo.
I like Hailo… If the driver rips me off by taking a tour of the city or makes a descriminatory or racist comment I can report them and Hailo will drop them.
It’s good having that independent accountability
Any taxi driver care to say how hailo are heavy handed? Anything to do with requiring all the drivers and cats documents are in order before going on their system?
Saytaxi will not be cheaper, hailo don’t charge pick up either.
They will need at least 1000 to have any chance of offering the service hailo offers.
Can’t see this happening.
This app doesn’t work it wouldn’t let me verify my number.
Hailo changed the game but it obviously needs competition.
This is a great service
have your say