GrabTaxi not an option -- app now defaults to "JustGrab"

[scottiddled]

I'm not sure if anyone else has had this happen, but this morning I ordered my usual Grab and had an unusual experience in the greater Bangkok area (not downtown).

 

A non-taxi showed up. It felt more like an Uber in the U.S. But I thought it might just be an anomaly. When I checked my phone a few hours later, I saw an alert from my bank about the charge, which was 30 baht higher than usual (my fare is consistently in a 3-baht range, as it's a short distance and the route is always the same). I then noticed that the app had ordered me a "JustGrab" instead of a taxi. I thought to myself: That's strange. Did my thumb slip when ordering? 

 

I then tried to book again just to see if I had accidentally selected the wrong type of Grab, but GrabTaxi was not even an option under "View All" (only JustGrab, GrabCar, and GrabBike). I then thought maybe it was my app, but three colleagues had the same issue. Two of those colleagues always select GrabTaxi.

 

My initial email to Grab yielded no real answers--just a "you ordered a JustGrab" followed by their boilerplate about how it's a flat fare that can be higher or lower than what a metered fare can be (in my experience, it's significantly higher 99% of the time, and 100% of the time for a predictable commute). 

 

Anyone else notice anything?

 

 

[scottiddled]

Still going on today. And the JustGrab I got stuck with went nowhere for 10 minutes, followed by a threatening warning from Grab when I cancelled it to hop in a taxi that conveniently happened by: "You'll get nearer drivers in the future when you cancel less."

[scottiddled]

A colleague who previously was unable to book a GrabTaxi just wrote to me that it's working for him, but he's home in Bangkok (Bang Wa area). It still isn't working a bit further out from downtown. 

 

Anyone else experiencing similar issues?

[VocalNeal]

One would suspect an area rule? As Grab knows where you are? 

 

Go nearer to downtown and try?

[scottiddled]

Vocal you may well be right, but the end of your post is a bit paradoxical. 

 

Go "nearer to downtown" how? Most folks I know in this area don't drive. They take public transit, win bikes, or taxis to work. They live where they live and work where they work.

 

Going downtown to "test" if it's just a regional bug is one thing, but it doesn't accomplish much beyond understanding.

 

Grab's messed up somehow. There are plenty of GrabTaxis (or, rather, there were through Wednesday night) here. There are still plenty of taxis out here using Grab--you just get stuck with them at the higher flat fare as "JustGrab." 

 

Grab's been pretty nonresponsive. A few incorrect support emails (just toggle your selection), a few boilerplate explanations of what the flat fare means (low reading comprehension from support), and a few poorly worded "your response will be escalated to the proper people."

[fhickson]

had this happen also.

 

some dufus in a white van shows up with no meter, just a cheap cell phone app.

just sits in car and never gets out. has problems with the route, etc.

 

these joes are just regular blows driving around with a cell phone with app running. this guy had an iphone 4 knockoff i think. he could barely see the map. and he was stupid. he asked security where the enterance to makkasan rail link station was when we were under the station platform.

 

it could have been the promo code i used which knocked off the usual grab taxi option.

Edited February 16, 2020 by fhickson

[scottiddled]

Finally got a somewhat substantive response from Grab, even though it raises more even more questions.

 

Quote

About the GrabTaxi service issues, we would like to inform you that your current area and your pick up -  drop off locations have been counted as Nakhon Pathom area where is not in GrabTaxi service operating area so you won't be able to choose the GrabTaxi service. 

 

So, even though I've used GrabTaxi in this location hundreds of times (as have my colleagues and others in the area), it's apparently no longer an option. We're just over the Bangkok provincial line (and often on the Bangkok side), and most of the time I've been forced to use JustGrab, a meter taxi shows up (but doesn't use the meter, obviously). Fares are a good 20% higher. It's not so much the price increase that is bothersome as it is the obvious money grab for no good reason.

 

I was away last week and didn't need a taxi, and for many colleagues I've been speaking with, this move by Grab is added motivation to find an alternative (e.g., buy a scooter, find an everyday driver). We're drafting an email to support that a few dozen folks are going to sign basically saying we'd like this change reversed or we'll be taking our business elsewhere.

 

Yeah, it's only 30-40 baht here or there (probably a lot more for longer rides, such as to downtown), but it's the principle of the thing. Zero notice and zero rationale for the switch. 

[scottiddled]

Did some rough calculations today, based on the relatively predictable metered fare I pay everyday and the "JustGrab" prices I had to pay a few weeks ago before giving up on Grab pending an explanation/changes.

 

For my morning commute:

 

The forced change to JustGrab represents a 25+% increase over a GrabTaxi. It represents a 60+% higher price than a (non-Grab) metered taxi, which can be hailed right outside the house (or, on a bad day, at a taxi stand a 5-minute walk away).

 

The one-way price increase from GrabTaxi to JustGrab alone is roughly the equivalent of a round trip on the nice new bus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Just Weird]

On 2/23/2020 at 3:01 PM, scottiddled said:

We're drafting an email to support that a few dozen folks are going to sign basically saying we'd like this change reversed or we'll be taking our business elsewhere.

"...or we'll be taking our business elsewhere".

That should really make them sit up and take notice.  Geez...

They've already decided that for you, they don't want your business because of your location (and maybe also because of "You'll get nearer drivers in the future when you cancel less.")

[Just Weird]

On 2/24/2020 at 9:33 AM, scottiddled said:

a (non-Grab) metered taxi, which can be hailed right outside the house (or, on a bad day, at a taxi stand a 5-minute walk away).

What's the big deal, then, if you can get a metered taxi right outside the house?

[scottiddled]

I should have clarified in the OP: not interested in Just Weird's perfunctory next-level trolling.

 

In just five lines, you manage to open with a cynical dismissal of the value of consumers not supporting bad business practices and then spew three different factual inaccuracies.

 

Do you have any reason to be lurking in this thread? Does this issue impact you? Does it interest you? I suspect the answer to the latter two questions is no, which means the answer to the first question is no, also. Save it for the Farang Pub or the customary blame-the-expat jabs on the visa and work permit threads.

[metempsychotic]

On 2/24/2020 at 9:33 AM, scottiddled said:

Did some rough calculations today, based on the relatively predictable metered fare I pay everyday and the "JustGrab" prices I had to pay a few weeks ago before giving up on Grab pending an explanation/changes.

 

For my morning commute:

 

The forced change to JustGrab represents a 25+% increase over a GrabTaxi. It represents a 60+% higher price than a (non-Grab) metered taxi, which can be hailed right outside the house (or, on a bad day, at a taxi stand a 5-minute walk away).

 

The one-way price increase from GrabTaxi to JustGrab alone is roughly the equivalent of a round trip on the nice new bus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy the nice new bus or take a taxi.

 

I have a whole slough of grab options here in bangkok.

 

Grab taxi is just one of them.