Boycott Addison Lee

Speak up then. Your boss is practically calling you a mug.
It's about the integrity. Personally I don't get cyclists who would work as couriers for AL.

Bill doesnt work for Addy Lee....
also as bike couriers are not contracted by their companies, a rowdy one (someone who speaks up) just gets the sack. In my experience bike couriers arent generally the kind of people who can afford to throw away a job because of some vague, subjective notion of 'integrity'. As a bike courier you inherently get exploited from 8.30 to 6, 5 days a week, Addy Lee are no different though yes they are not very nice people

I know Bill doesn't, it was a figure of speech.

I don't think EEI was saying Bill should speak up, just the plural use of "you"

In my experience bike couriers arent generally the kind of people who can afford to throw away a job because of some vague, subjective notion of 'integrity'.

In my experience they listen to the Crass, so man fucking up!

Speak up then. Your boss is practically calling you a mug.
It's about the integrity. Personally I don't get cyclists who would work as couriers for AL.

They work there for the money, and their boss already treats them as mugs.

In my experience they listen to the Crass, so man fucking up!

in my experience they could give a rats arse about that stuff but maybe London couriers are different

They work there for the money, and their boss already treats them as mugs.

It's only my opinion.

I'm with Bill on thinking that considering how far and wide this thread has gone... perhaps we can avoid the c-word.

Joined the boycott addison lee.

but the f-word is ok?

i blame user number 2

but the f-word is ok?

Yeah. Talk to people, one word is passable, the other is a big and permanent no-no.

but the f-word is ok?

IMO, in a debate such as this, the people doing the effing & jeffing are the ones on the losing side.

John Mason of TfL just called me again to clarify something.

Specifically that they're not doing nothing, and that they are in the high court on Monday at 10:30am to get the injunction on TfL. If the judge doesn't grant them the injunction then it's a slow regulatory route.

He also clarifies that TfL handle the regulatory enforcement, and that when evidence is provided to them, they must consider it in a way that doesn't harm the livelihood of those involved before a decision has been made. Which basically means that drivers can continue driving, and AddLee can continue trading and driving in bus lanes until the legal path is exhausted... which is where the "it may take 6-8 months" comes from, they hope it will be resolved Monday morning, but you never know.

Additionally, as a regulatory body TfL has to be the one that gathers the evidence that they use. So whilst we could send evidence to TfL, it wouldn't result in fines or the like. TfL need to gather evidence using their own CCTV.

What can we do with evidence? We can send it to the police, but similar to the earlier statement... a moment of time (photo) is likely to be unenforceable due to the argument that it's a safe place to put a passenger down. You need definitive footage.

You need definitive footage.

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/110710594174?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&cbt=y

but truly... fuck Addison Lee.

IMO, in a debate such as this, the people doing the effing & jeffing are the ones on the losing side.

oh

Velocio well done for posting this from the response I have had everyone seems to hate Addison Lee drivers for their complete disregard for everyone else on the road.

Have signed petition see you on Monday

Zebs

Signed, bunch of cunts!

I was hit by an addison lee driver on southwark st last summer.. His 'not seeing me' damaged me and my beautiful bike good and proper. Still a little bit furious.

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.

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.

All of this applies, in spades, to all of the other PHC companies.

I would say that I know some AL drivers, and they can make decent money, if they know what they are doing. I don't know enough about the way AL operate to say whether it is worse or better than the other big PHC companies, but there is no question that if you want to get rich, you won't do it by driving a car. It's like all semi-skilled manual labour, if you put in a lot of hours, you can make ok money, but some get shafted.

As far as not owning the vehicle goes, the drivers are responsible for damage, so it's not in their interest to drive recklessly. I haven't seen any numbers for AL drivers, or for the PHC generally, but I would guess that the reason a lot of people say that AL drivers are worse than most is down to the availability error.

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.

This is incorrect, as AL use reasonably sophisticated auto-allocate software. It is possible to cheat the system, but not in the way that you describe, as the software relies on GPS location to allocate work, ie you might clear the job before you're actually clear, but you still won't be close enough to the next job to be allocated to it.

In terms of rating AL, you aren't restricted to the apps - google also permits rating and reviewing of businesses. I found it via google maps.

I'm with Bill on thinking that considering how far and wide this thread has gone... perhaps we can avoid the c-word.

I can't, sorry. This is how I feel.

And as for all the couriers who work for AL - someone was very upset when I called them names. Obviously their low mental capacity doesn't leave any space for sarcasm.
Me speaking up about their lack of integrity and calling the worst possible names is a blanket statement. The same blanket statement their boss used yesterday. If it hurts so much you feel exactly the same what every regular cyclist feels and what thinks about your company of berkshire hounds.

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.

This is incorrect, as AL use reasonably sophisticated auto-allocate software. It is possible to cheat the system, but not in the way that you describe, as the software relies on GPS location to allocate work, ie you might clear the job before you're actually clear, but you still won't be close enough to the next job to be allocated to it.

Bill, I know well that this is all stuff you know about, but I did hear that AL jobs are often taken by the 'first responder' who is on the patch. Perhaps that is out-of-date, or just crap, I can't say I heard it direct from a driver. Is it possible there is still a scramble even with the GPS system if several cars are within radius?

Sad to hear that AL are just the best-known PHC exploiters rather than the worst.

Directors sitting at boardroom tables shiny with the sweat and blood of others. Still AL do deserve to be picked with Griffin coming out with the old 'we pay road tax, so cyclists should shut it'.

John Griffin's response to criticism included this R4 news feature.
Drag to 0:16:22
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b01gd4ly
With added Pussy Riot and Russian cussing!