Booking, cancellation & complaints

Operator

FAS Services, trading as Ride-Now.ie

Role

Licensed SPSV Dispatch Operator

General email

dispatch@ride-now.ie

Complaints email

complains@ride-now.ie

Regulator

National Transport Authority (NTA)

FAS Services operates the Ride-Now booking service under the Taxi Regulation Act 2013 and the SPSV Regulations. Our Dispatch Operator Licence number is shown on request and displayed here once issued.

• Every ride is pre-booked. Ride-Now does not accept street hails and is not a rank service. You book in advance through ride-now.ie, by phone, or through a partner hotel or front desk.
• We dispatch; a licensed driver carries you. FAS Services arranges the booking and passes it to an affiliated driver. The transport itself is provided by that driver under their own SPSV licence.
• Every driver and vehicle is licensed. We only dispatch to drivers holding a current SPSV driver licence and vehicles holding a current SPSV vehicle licence and valid insurance. We record both licence numbers and their expiry dates, and our system automatically stops offering work to a driver or vehicle whose licence has expired.
• We keep an up-to-date list of all affiliated drivers and vehicles, with their SPSV licence and insurance details, available to the NTA on request.

• The price is fixed before you book. Because every journey is pre-booked, the fare is agreed in advance and shown to you in full before you confirm. There is no meter and no surprise at the end.
• The quoted fare covers the journey described. A material change on the day — extra stops, a different destination, an extended wait — may change the price, and you will be told before it does.
• Cancellation and no-show fees are set out in sections 4 and 6 and are always shown and confirmed before they are charged.
• You may pay by card through our secure payment provider, or in cash to the driver where the booking allows it. A receipt is emailed for every completed journey.
• We never see or store your card number. Card details are handled entirely by SumUp and the card schemes; we retain only your name and the last four digits, for reference.
• Passenger transport is exempt from VAT in Ireland, so no VAT is charged on the fare.

Free cancellation

• You may cancel within 2 minutes of your driver accepting the ride, with no fee.
• Cancelling is always free while your driver has not yet started travelling towards your pickup.

After 2 minutes, once your driver is on the way

No fee is ever charged when

• your driver has not started travelling toward the pickup;
• your driver is significantly delayed — for example 5+ minutes beyond the expected arrival;
• your driver is not making reasonable progress toward the pickup;
• your driver asks you to cancel for their convenience;
• the ride cannot proceed because of a driver or platform issue.

• Your booking stands. If a driver can no longer do your journey, it goes straight back to our other drivers, and the next driver to accept it collects you. You do not need to book again. The one exception is a short-notice booking (a pickup less than 45 minutes away) that you have not paid for yet: if no other driver takes it within 2 minutes, your booking page tells you straight away and nothing is charged.
• Driver cancellations are recorded. Unless it falls within a short free window just after the driver accepted, a driver cancellation adds a penalty point to the driver's account, and three points suspend that driver from taking work for 7 days.
• Once your driver is at the pickup, a journey that does not go ahead is covered by the no-show rules in section 6. A driver may still refuse or end a journey for safety reasons (section 11).

1. Your driver arrives at the pickup point.
2. The app automatically confirms the arrival using GPS.
3. A 5-minute free waiting period begins.
4. Your driver can contact you through the app at any time.
5. After 5 minutes, the driver may mark “Passenger didn't show”.
6. A €5 no-show fee applies to the passenger.
7. The driver receives the applicable compensation.

Most problems are sorted quickly. Reach us any of these ways:

• Complaint form: ride-now.ie/complaints.html — your reference arrives by e-mail as soon as you send it.
• From your receipt: the Have a complaint or a question? button on your receipt e-mail — the quickest route, because it already carries your journey details.
• Email: complains@ride-now.ie

What to include

• the date, time and the pickup and drop-off points;
• your booking reference — we can look it up — and the driver's name or vehicle registration if you have them;
• what went wrong, and the outcome you are looking for.

• We record the driver's name, SPSV driver-licence number and the vehicle licence and registration, with the date, time and nature of the complaint — logged against that driver and vehicle so that any recurring pattern is identified and addressed.
• The driver is told of any complaint recorded against them and given a fair chance to respond. Records are corrected if shown to be inaccurate.
• Complaint records are available to the NTA on request.

If our answer does not satisfy you, ask us to review it. A senior person not involved in the original decision — our Complaints Officer or the Managing Director — will respond within 10 working days.

The NTA is the statutory regulator for SPSV complaints about vehicle condition, driver conduct, overcharging, booking and hiring, and identification:

• Online: transportforireland.ie — taxi support & complaints (the NTA's online complaint form)
• Email: compliance@nationaltransport.ie · general SPSV: taxis@nationaltransport.ie
• Taxi Information Line: 0818 064 000

If you leave something behind, contact us as soon as you can at dispatch@ride-now.ie with your booking reference — we can identify the exact vehicle from the booking record.

• Drivers are required to check the vehicle after every journey and to report anything found to dispatch the same day.
• We log found items against the journey and hold them for 28 days, after which unclaimed property may be handed to An Garda Síochána or disposed of.
• We will arrange return by collection or, at your cost, by courier. We do not charge a handling fee.

• Assistance dogs and guide dogs travel free and are always welcome. Refusing one is not permitted.
• Tell us when booking if you need a wheelchair-accessible vehicle, extra time, or help to and from the door, and we will dispatch accordingly where such a vehicle is available.
• This document is available in an accessible format on request: e-mail dispatch@ride-now.ie.

• Every passenger must wear a seatbelt. Children must travel in an appropriate restraint — tell us when booking so the driver can prepare.
• The number of passengers may not exceed the vehicle's licensed seating capacity.
• No smoking or vaping in any vehicle.
• Drivers may refuse or end a journey where behaviour is unsafe, abusive or illegal, or where a passenger is unfit to travel safely.
• Damage or soiling caused by a passenger may be charged at the documented cost of cleaning or repair.

FAS Services is the data controller for your booking data, processing it under the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Full detail is in our Privacy Policy.

• Complaint records are kept for 6 years from closure and then securely deleted. We hold them because we must be able to produce them to the NTA.
• You may request access, rectification, erasure, restriction or objection at dispatch@ride-now.ie, subject to records we are required by law to keep, and you may complain to the Data Protection Commission.
• Cookies and device storage: the booking page keeps one item on your device so your booking survives a refresh, and uses outside services for the map, address search, routing and card payment. You are asked before anything optional loads. We do not advertise, track or profile you.

• FAS Services arranges your booking; the journey itself is carried out by a licensed SPSV driver who is responsible for the driving and the vehicle, and who carries the insurance required by law for carrying passengers for hire and reward.
• Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded — including your rights under Irish consumer law, which are unaffected.
• We aim to arrive at the agreed time but cannot be responsible for delays outside our control, such as traffic, weather or road closures. If you have a flight or appointment to make, please book with time in hand and tell us.
• These terms are governed by the laws of Ireland and subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish courts.