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@Nishiki_Alien
AL most definitely mug off their employees (who are not in fact regarded as employees). Victims?
Here's some background:
Addison Lee is a proper unprincipled scam operation. They don't make their money from fares, they make it from all the rentals they force on their cabbies. Skint Naija boys, Polish guys, Bangladeshi boys who don't have a decent motor of their own reckon that they can make some money working for them as they seem to be a class outfit. They don't find out the bad news until they have coughed up and are in a hole. Seriously, you need to work 60 hrs a week. If you work 50 hrs you won't break even as fuel and AL fees will top £350 a week.
Fair enough AL set the fares, but how come the drivers are then 'self-employed'? And you get a ban if you turn down a job, but your're lucky to get any jobs, as they overload the circuit with drivers so there are always lots free. Good for picking up passengers fast, but very bad for the drivers who might get two jobs in a shift. So the drivers are forced to lie that they have already dropped off their last passenger so they can get another job and make some money. So they are late to pick you up, and nobody's happy.
Well nobody apart from Addison Lee who make money from the drivers even while they are parked up, and also take percentages of their fares, charge booking fees etc. I've heard from drivers that the longer you work for AL, the more you are trapped, as you can't make enough money to get a car of your own.
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2010/09/how-self-employed-are-addison.html
Bitter comments.
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110328034455AAVeNro
Yep, something that sounds reasoned on yahoo answers.
AL head honch Griffin is a major shark, and makes big donations to the Tories. He's hooked up with Boris Johnson too. It's tough to boycott AL cabs, because AL still get their money, but you're making it even tougher for the drivers.
Oh yeah, from a cycling safety point of view, AL don't monitor the working hours of their drivers, as the whole sweatshop system would collapse if they didn't allow their drivers to cover insane hours. So in addition to talking crap, Griffin is an icon for exploitative employers everywhere.
The fact that AL drivers may not drive a car regularly, and do not own the vehicle they use for cabbing may also have an effect on their driving style, but not as much of an effect as their desperation.