FAQ & Help/Service standards/

News Centre

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024

We anticipate increased demand between 21st to 25th of May, from morning to evening, as the Chelsea Flower Show takes place. The event will take place at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, London SW3 4SR.

Important Changes to cancellation fees

Starting from the 21st of May, the cancellation fee will change to the following, based on your class:

Within 5 minutes of being assigned:

No cancellation fee.

After 5 minutes:

Business/Concierge: £11 + £1.4/mi

First: £16 + £2/mi

New First: £21 + £2.7/mi

XL: No changes

Once you have arrived at the pick up and waiting for passenger:

Business/Concierge: £11 + £1.4/mi + £0.85/min

First: £16 + £2/mi + £1.25/min

New First: £21 + £2.7/mi + £1.7/min

XL: No changes

Advice for the warm weather

• When in-between journeys and you are offline, do feel free to take the jacket off in order to be comfortable. Once you have a journey however, the jacket must be on. As well, please do not have your jacket off if you are driving towards the pick-up, as the passenger might already be waiting for you.

• We heavily recommend keeping a spare, ironed white shirt, neatly folded in a bag in the boot of your the vehicle. This way, you can ensure you are not in a sweaty and hot shirt midway through the day or night.

• Kindly ensure you never use the same shirt two days in a row.

BAFTA TV Awards Event Partnership

Wheely is proud to be a partner for the BAFTA TV Awards Event on the evening of 9th of May. We anticipate an increase in requests during the event.

The event will take place at Dovetale (at 1 Hotel) from 20:00 to midnight.

Founders Family Office Forum

We are expecting high demand for the Founders Family Office Forum event that will take place on 8th of May, at the Wormsley Estate, High Wycombe. It’s located ~1-1.5 hour from Central London.

The event will take place from 9 am till late afternoon.

Please read the following essential information if you acquire a pre-book or ASAP journey:

1. Fixed fares apply from General London Area and London Heathrow Airport on 8th of May:

London (Inner) or Heathrow ↔ Wormsley Estate:

Business £150

First £220

New First £295

XL / Kids £220

1. Journey instructions:

• Exact pick up and drop off point is Wormsley, Stokenchurch, High Wycombe, HP14 3YE

• To reach the entrance, take Junction 5 off the M40. If from Oxford, turn right; if from London, turn left towards Ibstone. Look for the entrance marked by iron gates and a yellow thatched lodge house. The closest postcode to the entrance HP14 3GG.

• In case the gate is closed, you may enter code 9714.

• Wormsley stewards should be available to guide you towards the Cricket Grounds where you will drop off and pick up passenger.

New fixed fares for Gatwick Airport journeys

Effective from 14th of May, 2024, new Fixed Fares will be applied for Gatwick Airport.

South West London (SW postcodes)

Business/ Concierge: £120

First: £175

New First: £240

XL/ Kids: £175

Central London (WC, EC postcodes)

Business/ Concierge: £135

First: £220

New First: £300

XL/ Kids: £220

Other Locations (Minimum Fare)

Business/ Concierge: £120

First: £175

New First: £240

XL/Kids: £175

No changes in other Fixed Fares for Gatwick Airport.

Founders Forum Event on May 8th — Fixed fares and Pick-up instructions

We are expecting high demand for the ‘Founders Forum’ event that will take place on 8th of May, at the Wormsley Estate, High Wycombe. It’s located ~1-1.5 hour from Central London.

The event will take place from 9 am till late afternoon.

Please read the following essential information if you acquire a pre-book or ASAP journey:

1. Fixed fares apply from General London Area and London Heathrow Airport on 8th of May:

London (Inner) or Heathrow ↔ Wormsley Estate:

Business £150

First £220

New First £295

XL / Kids £220

1. Journey instructions:

• Exact pick up and drop off point is Wormsley, Stokenchurch, High Wycombe, HP14 3YE

• To reach the entrance, take Junction 5 off the M40. If from Oxford, turn right; if from London, turn left towards Ibstone. Look for the entrance marked by iron gates and a yellow thatched lodge house. The closest postcode to the entrance HP14 3GG.

• In case the gate is closed, you may enter code 9714.

• Wormsley stewards should be available to guide you towards the Cricket Grounds where you will drop off and pick up passenger.

Important Updates regarding queueing at Heathrow:

Kindly have a thorough read of the following implementations in how the queue systems now operates:

• Pre-books are now part of the queue job dispatch. This will ensure an even higher and more consistent influx of jobs for chauffeurs waiting in the queue at Heathrow.

• Refusing a job or timing out (missing) will move you at the back of the queue.

• For chauffeurs who have a drop off at Heathrow, you will be automatically added to the back of the queue.

• Should a journey be accepted but the passenger cancels, you will be returned to the front of the queue

New Fixed Fares for Soho Farmhouse and Estelle Manor

We are introducing new Fixed Fares to and from these luxurious locations as a result of increased demand:

LHR (Heathrow)

Business/Concierge: £175

First: £255

New First: £345

XL/ Kids: £255

Any West London Postcodes:

Business/Concierge: £225

First: £325

New First: £440

XL/Kids: £325

We are confident these new fares will make the journeys more valuable for all our chauffeurs.

Perfections in Performance

Tips on delivering the best of the Wheely standards.

1. Amenities must be placed in the following way:

• Business class, water and amenities in the door only.

• First and New First, water in the centre cup holders, rest of the amenities in the armrest.

1. Kindly only wear sunglasses when driving, never whilst waiting for passengers or when dropping them off.

2. As the country is currently battered by frequent showers, we ask you to have an umbrella ready in the boot of the car and use it whenever there is even slight rain. Also, we recommend having enough dry cloths and squeegees or chamois leather to dry your car well after a shower.

Appropriate procedure regarding Kids Tariff and the Child Seat

Before starting a journey under the 'Kids' Tariff, whether pre-book or ASAP, ensure the following:

• If your journey is pre-booked, ensure the IsoFix child seat is already fitted in the vehicle before reaching the pick-up point.

• For ASAP Kids Tariff journeys, quickly and safely fit the child seat before heading to the pick-up point. If you anticipate a delay in fitting the seat, please call Customer Services immediately to notify them.

Important: If you’re not on a Kids Tariff journey, store the child seat to free up space for passengers.

Phone Etiquette during an Active Journey

We kindly ask all our chauffeurs to abide to the following procedures in order to maintain your focus and attention during an active journey as well as provide a luxury experience for your passenger:

• Phone should be on vibrate when you are on your way to the passenger as well as when waiting at the pick up location. This will ensure you will be aware of any phone calls or messages from Customer Services or the passenger.

• Phone must be on silent at all times with the passenger on board. This will ensure there will be no distractions and ensure a smooth and luxurious chauffeuring experience.

Switching the phone from Vibrate to Silent will only take a few moment of your time and will significantly enhance the level of service.

Confirm Arrival at the appropriate time

We kindly remind our chauffeurs to change their journey status to 'Confirm Arrival' only when outside the vehicle at the pickup spot, ready for the passenger.

Avoid pressing ‘Confirm’ while parking or still inside the vehicle. Likewise, only press 'Confirm' when you are confident you are at the correct building number/name.

Once your status has changed to ‘Confirm Arrival’, stay alert and refrain from other tasks like cleaning or stocking up amenities. Those tasks must be done only in-between journeys, whilst you are offline.

Minimum Fare for Prebooks has increased

Starting from the 22nd of March, you can expect the following increase in minimum fare for prebooks:

Business: £25

Concierge: £25

First: £30

New First: £45

These changes will increase your earnings to cover the additional waiting time and early arrivals for prebooks.

Please note:

ASAP minimum fares remain the same; Airport fixed fares will remain the same; No changes to the minimum fares for XL/Kids.

Passenger capacity now increased for First and New First

You must now allow up to four passengers in your vehicle. For the S-Class, you can put the middle barrier up and it will still allow comfortable sitting. As always, a passenger can always sit on the front passenger seat as well. Please do not deny service if four passengers wish to use your vehicle.

The Academy will be closed on the 29th and 1st of April

If your documents are due to expire soon, please ensure you upload updated documents before the evening of the 28th, as otherwise they will only be approved from the 2nd of April.

If you need wet wipes or water (tissues are not yet back in stock) please also come before the 29th of April.

The Academy will be open as usual from the 2nd of April.

No-Show Procedure

We would like to kindly remind our chauffeurs of the waiting time and No-Show procedures for a smooth riding and waiting experience for you and your passenger. There are significant differences between Regular Journeys and Airport Journeys.

Regular Journeys — Remember to press ‘Arrived’ only parked and you are standing alert outside the vehicle.

• You may message the passenger only after 20 minutes from arrival. Please only do this once and no earlier than 20 minutes as it will deduct from the experience.

• You may call Customer Services 45 minutes from arrival. It is encouraged to call Customer Services in this type of situation to ensure you receive a quicker response.

Contact the right team for assistance

For optimal assistance with your inquiries, we kindly request you to reach out to the appropriate team. While it may be tempting to contact Customer Services for every matter, please note that the Operations Team exclusively handles inquiries not related to an ongoing journey.

To streamline communication:

• Contact Customer Services only when your query is about an active journey and directly involves the passenger.

• For all matters concerning the chauffeur not during a journey, please contact the Operations Team at londonpartners@wheely.com.

Perfections in Performance

Based on the feedback received last week, we would like to bring some quality points to enhance your performance:

1. Remember to always open the door for your passenger.

   • When approaching the drop-off, just as you are about to park, let the passenger know you will open the door for them.

   • Only press Arrived when parked and standing alert outside the vehicle. Pressing ‘Arrived’ too early, such as when parking, can result in you not having enough time to open the door for your passenger and cause unneeded stress.

2. Water is to be in the vehicle at all times, 2 unopened bottles for each and every journey. If you run out of water, please go offline until you buy more.

   • For New First, 2 Fiji 330ml.

   • All other classes, 2 Evian 330ml.

3. Always use Google Maps to assist you with navigation, and not Waze. There are a number of reasons why we are very particular about this:

   • The route on the Passenger App is the same as on Google Maps, therefore, by using Waze, the route will look different to the passenger, which can lead to complaints.

   • Using Google Maps gives you safety as well, as it allows us to much easier keep track of your route and if it is the most optimal one, therefore if a passenger complains, we can see you nevertheless took the best route.

   • Generally, Google Maps will give a route that takes in main roads and thoroughfares, rather than Waze taking them down back streets and over speed bumps, ensuring a smooth driving experience.

Pathways to Success

1. Always communicate delays while en-route to pick-up. As delays can affect both the passenger and yourself, calling Customer Services directly ensures the delay is communicated to the passenger whilst yourself can focus on the road.

2. Our Service Standards page is there to help you refresh your memory on the Wheely standards, we encourage you to have a read over it regularly.

Congratulations to all our Chauffeurs

A highly impressed passenger has brought to our attention how extremely impressive looking, dressed impeccably and attentive chauffeurs have been at Heathrow recently, and with well-written name boards. Wheely truly appreciates the attention to detail and conscientious, can-do attitude you are showing, many thanks to you all.

Boutique bags for Lost and Found items

When visiting the Academy, you will receive a number of Wheely-branded Boutique bags for all items lost by passengers in you vehicle. Please put all lost items in the bags for safekeeping when returning them to the customer or to the Academy.

Smooth driving

We’ve received recent feedback regarding smooth driving from our chauffeurs. We hope the advice below will assist all of you in ensuring a comfortable and professional driving style:

• Situational Awareness: When approaching or stopping behind another vehicle, always ensure you can see the rear tyres and a bit of the tarmac. You are considered to be too close if you are not able to make these observations, which can lead to sudden stops.

• Anticipation: Maintain a forward focus to prepare for manoeuvres well in advance, ensuring consistently smooth driving at all times. Keep both hands on the wheel, minimizing reliance on navigation aids.

• Soft Touch: Refrain from forcefully pressing the pedals; instead, smoothly roll your foot onto and over them. Gradual pedal application guarantees a seamless driving experience.

• Disable Start-Stop Automation for a comfortable journey.

Pathways to Success

• Please remember always to park where it’s safe and legal for you. Should the passenger be further away, meet them on foot then escort them to the car. This will ensure you do not incur any penalties or fines. Rest assured passenger will appreciate you for meeting them in person.

• We encourage our chauffeurs to call Customer Services if any App issues are noticed during the journey; please only do so once the passenger has left the vehicle and before ending the journey. This way we can ensure adequate compensation for you without delay.

• It is always good practice to use as much as possible ‘Luxury Language’ during Wheely journeys. For example:

  • When meeting passengers — ‘Good day (passenger name)’; ‘Good morning/afternoon/evening (passenger name)

  • Avoid the use of casual words such as ‘No worries’; ‘No problem’. Instead we can use ‘Absolutely’; ‘Certainly’; ‘Of course’

Earn more diamonds in the mornings for ASAPs

We are increasing the daily diamonds earned for ASAP journeys in the morning from 12 to 16 diamonds, effective from February 29th. We encourage our chauffeurs to be online between 6am to 9.59am as demand increases.

Smell in the vehicle

We have been receiving feedback about smell in vehicles. We must avoid vehicles smelling inside under all circumstances, therefore we kindly ask our chauffeurs to follow the below points to maintain a fresh smell and comfortable journeys for you and your passengers:

• Air the vehicle after every journey. Even if it seems like there is no smell, please bear in mind you can get used to it, therefore in between journeys open the doors or roll down the windows for at least 10 minutes.

• Please avoid using strong aftershaves, perfumes or any air fresheners and diffusers not Wheely approved. Our passengers may be sensitive to some scents, therefore the best habit is to simply air the car.

• Be aware of customers who have perhaps eaten or smoked before entering your vehicle, as the smell may stay, therefore pay extra attention to any smells in the passengers’ seats and ventilate thoroughly.

• If you are a vaper/smoker, please pay extra attention to the following points:

  • Go offline beforehand and never smoke during an active journey, even before picking up the passenger. Please do it away from the car as well, as a customer may walk into a clear cloud of your smoke as they enter the vehicle.

  • We recommend removing your suit jacket so the smell of smoke doesn’t remain in the fabric of your clothes.

  • Use a fresh breath spray, mints or mouthwash to freshen your breath afterwards and use a hand sanitizer gel or wipe to clean your hands.

  • It is strongly recommended that you remain offline for at least another half an hour after smoking. This will allow residual smells/vapours to fully disperse.

Pathways to Success

• Safe and smooth driving:

  • Always have the ‘Stop-Start Automation’ off. We trust you to efficiently handle your car without the function

  • Avoid unnecessary braking and accelerating by maintaining a consistently smooth and comfortable driving style

  • Likewise, maintaining an assured and confident driving style ensures smooth turns and lane-changing

• Please remember to always open the door for your passenger during both pick-up and drop-off. Once you park at the drop-off, inform the passenger you will open the door for them.

• Handle passenger complaints effectively — BLAST system:

  • Believe — ‘I understand you are upset...’

  • Listen — ‘Please tell me about the issue...’

  • Apologise — ‘I am sincerely sorry about this...’

  • Solve — ‘Allow me to help you in this situation... I shall immediately inform our Customer Service team’

  • Thank — ‘I sincerely appreciate your feedback and honesty’

Start Journey when the passenger is on board

Recent feedback indicates instances where chauffeurs forget to start the journey while the passenger is on board. This seems to stem from chauffeurs checking the route on Google Maps and subsequently neglecting to press the start button. While we acknowledge this can be frustrating, we rely on your commitment to initiating the journey promptly once the passenger is aboard. Always remember to return to the app to commence the journey for fair compensation, as recalculations won’t be possible after the journey concludes.

Luton Airport Parking

We kindly advise our chauffeurs to book in advance Parking at Luton, for both pre-booked jobs and on-demand. This will ensure you won’t have to walk to the off-site parking which is 10 minutes away from Luton, ensuring comfort and speedy service for both yourself and the passenger. As always, remember to upload the parking receipt/invoice before finishing the jounrey.

Pathways to success

• We recommend always starting a pre-booked job yourself once the ‘Start Journey’ button becomes available. This will ensure you will not miss on your pre-booked journey as well as evade delays for the passenger.

• Please remember to use statements and not questions when passenger is on board*.* This projects confidence and helps your passenger see that you are a skilled professional **. We recommend having a read of our Standards Phrase page regularly.

• Winter dress-code — We want you to feel comfortable during the winter seasons as you wait for the passenger alert by your vehicle, therefore remember you can wear a long overcoat. This must be placed in the trunk of the car after the passenger is in the vehicle. For exact types of overcoat you can wear, please read our Chauffeur Dress Code page.

Our Quality Inspectors have been extremely impressed with the Quality Checks this week, with excellent service during all checks. We would like to thank you for your continuous hard work and professionalism!

Automatic reassignment

If your ETA to a pre-book is longer than 5 minutes, the job may be automatically reassigned if we find a closer chauffeur. Rest assured in case of reassigment diamonds will be returned. This way we will ensure there are no delays for the passengers and remove any stress from our chauffeurs if they are delayed due to circumstances outside their control.

Maintain consistent vehicle standards

Together we can ensure we maintain our luxurious standards across the fleet that will ensure our customers return to us. Please read our thorough vehicle standards based on your model at your earliest convenience.

Please remove all old-brand amenities

All previous Wheely black tissue packets, sanitizer wipes & Oshibori scented towelettes are to be permanently removed.

All previous blue & white sanitizer wipes, Aesop sanitizer bottles and plain white tissue packets are also to be permanently removed.

Pathways to success

• Always remember to inform Customer Service first if you are delayed for any reason. This will ensure smooth waiting time for the passenger and not cause you any stress.

• Please inform Customer Services of any waiting times mid-journey longer than one hour to ensure fair compensation. Waiting times before journey start are 45 minutes after which please inform Customer Services.

• For Electric Vehicles, please make sure to charge your battery in between journeys. Calling to unassign due to low battery does not exempt you from being penalised.

Calling To Be Unassigned — new diamond and Acceptance Rate penalties

Calling to be unassigned from your prebook without a reasonable cause will now result in both diamond penalties and your Acceptance Rate being lowered. Please read the Penalties page for thorough information.

Airports covered by Wheely

Please have a read over the Airport Journeys. All airports on the list use fixed fares and offer a one hour complimentary for our passengers.

Refer someone for an exciting bonus

Earn £500 for every newly registered chauffeur that you recommend. They must be a brand new chauffeur who has never been on the platform or signed up with us. Please read the exact Terms & Conditions.

Over-height Parking at Heathrow T5

All New First, First and XL chauffeurs should look to use the overheight parking option when picking up from Terminal 5. This offers the quickest access to the terminal with only a 1-2 minute walk. When picking up the passenger, chauffeurs should take the door by the red lift, past the south meeting point to get back to the car park.

This area is also known as the ‘Fast Track Parking’ area, and to access this follow signs for ‘Overheight Vehicles’. When approaching this car park, chauffeurs should stay on the right, so as not to stray into the bus/taxi lane. You will be able to pay for the car park at the barrier and please upload the receipt before completing the journey to ensure that the fare is updated.

Luton Terminal 1 Car Park (Prebook in advance)

Please note that currently the Luton Terminal 1 car park is only accessible for pre-booked customers. Always pre-book parking at the Terminal 1 car park for Luton pick-up journeys and select a space as close to the terminal as possible to avoid a lengthy walk from the arrivals gate. As a friendly reminder, please refrain from booking too far in advance in case of potential journey cancellations.

[Reserve parking here] — https://parking.london-luton.co.uk/

Increased Drop-Off Charge at Gatwick Airport

The Drop-Off Charge at London Gatwick Airport (LGW) has recently been increased to £6. As with all other London Airports (including LHR, LTN and STN), you do not need to add a receipt for the drop-off charge as this will be automatically applied to the fare. The increased charge for LGW will also be automatically added to the fare. Please note that you will still need to upload parking receipts for airport pick-ups.

Changes to Diamond Penalties

To help create a better passenger experience and ensure that the pre-booking and ASAP system remains fair for all chauffeurs, we will be introducing further changes to how diamonds penalties work.

Unfulfilled Journeys

For both prebooked and ASAP journeys, if you are not able to fulfil a journey that you have accepted there will be a diamond penalty of -35. By accepting a journey that you are unable to fulfil this creates a negative passenger experience as they will have already received a notification that you will be on the way as well as creating unneccesary delays for any other nearer chauffeurs who would have been able to fulfil the request.

By getting in contact with customer service (either through in-app chat or the phone) and asking them to remove a reservation that you have prebooked this -35 diamond penalty will also apply. Before reserving a journey please be sure that you are able to make the commitment. If you do need to release a prebooked journey, please do this as soon as possible from within the app to avoid any potential further delays. If customer service release this job on your behalf the increased above penalty will automatically apply.

Feedback from Recent Quality Checks

Recent quality checks have outlined that some chauffeurs are not adhering to the correct Wheely amenities and the dress code. Violations of the Wheely dress code and service standards may result in the waitlisting of your account so as a reminder please see the general feedback below that we have received from our quality inspectors.

Amenities Reminders:

• Only use Evian or FIJI water for completing Wheely journeys, the recommended size is 330ml. New First chauffeurs MUST only use Fiji water which are to be placed in the rear armrest cup holders.

• For New First chauffeurs, the Aqua di Parma diffuser is only to be positioned in the 2nd from left air vent on the dashboard. For further instruction see the page below.

• No other non Wheely standard amenities, items or stickers are to be displayed or made visible to the customer

[How to install the diffuser] — https://wheely.com/en/faq-for-drivers/uk/6984332/8385592

Dress Code Reminders:

• The Wheely lapel pin is NOT to be inserted into the button-hole of the left lapel, but to be placed centrally in the lapel approximately 2 inches below the button hole. Please also ensure, upon arrival of a pick up, that the lapel pin has not spun around.

• The Wheely pocket square is only to be folded using the 'Presidential Fold'. See below for further instructions on how to fold this.

• The tie is to match the colour of the suit and must be a plain colour without any kind of pattern (black, navy blue, dark grey).

• Black, leather, polished Oxford or Derby lace-up shoes are the only shoes to be worn. Bangles and/or bracelets are NOT to be worn.

• Suit jackets are to be worn whilst driving at all times. Overcoats, hats and/or gloves are NOT to be worn whilst driving.

[Lapel Pin and Pocket Square Instructions] — https://wheely.com/en/faq-for-drivers/uk/6984332/8593197