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Comment by jdotjdot | Hacker News Reader

The two key differences for me:

(1) FancyHands, having been around a lot longer, has far better execution and delivery. Email, phone, an app, recording through the app--many ways to give a task assignment. I usually don't want to text them, I forward them emails to take action upon or simply leave a voice message.

(2) Jarvis is unlimited tasks. THAT is a big one for me. If there ever were a service that were at or somewhat approaching FancyHands quality with unlimited tasks, I'd be on it in a heartbeat. For the time being, I've been using Visa Signature Concierge for tasks that don't require a FancyHands level of attention paid to them, since they are unlimited and free if you have a Visa Signature card.

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> For the time being, I've been using Visa Signature Concierge for tasks

Could you explain that a bit more? I have a couple Visa Signature cards, but always thought the Concierge service must be some sort of scam or ripoff. What are some examples of things you've gotten them to do? (When making purchases, do they charge a premium/commission?)

It's definitely not a scam or ripoff, they cost nothing and I use them frequently. I have never actually purchased anything through them, so I don't think they charge a commission, though I can't be sure--as I understand it, they just make money by having you use your Visa card for the purchase. In this article[1] they tried to take it to an extreme, but frankly most of those tasks would be better for Fancy Hands.

Since I also have Fancy Hands and FH is better quality, I use Visa for tasks that are low priority, or I can afford to have redone a couple of times, or are very simple. Good examples of these include: not immediate restaurant reservations, basic research of all kind (anything from 'find me a place in NYC that sells Petrus Aged Pale Ale in bulk' to 'get me a list of all the language classes that NYU has for non-students with dates, times, location, and price' to 'how do I mail a letter to Spain'). Mostly generic things. Fancy Hands is what I use for specific, personal, or high-touch items--"Cancel my AT&T account," "Get PayPal on the phone again and again until they fix my account," "Please call this number in the UK during their morning and get this information so I don't have to stay up late," etc.

[1]: http://fourhourworkweek.com/2010/05/01/credit-card-concierge...

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