Taxi turmoil: Thai woman cries foul as Bolt taxi charges 1,350 baht for 30 minute trip in Bangkok

[bignok]

1 minute ago, Beerzy65 said:

I was ripped off buy a Bolt driver a year ago 99 baht for 7 minute trip down Sukhumvit road. He took me via sukhumvit 63 road and Sukhumvit road. Now I use Indrive and never had another r r problem. Yes use grab too occaisionally

Many are the same drivers

[shackleton]

I feel its time for a good taxi driver story coming 

Taxi driver finds wallet or bag  containing money ???????? in the back seat belonging to a tourist 

Happy Times again ????

[Rimmer]

Some posts contravening our Community Standards have been removed.  

[Ohyesuare]

Going by the facebook screenshots, looks like it was switched to Taxi which gives estimated fares but still not sure why it was so far off the estimated 300-400. I use Bolt all the time and never choose Taxi and the fare is always what it says it will be before confirming the trip.

[bob smith]

34 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Bolt thugs, 

We all know that was a misprint…

they meant to say meter.

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, freeworld said:

i don't know how it works here but in another country the app quotes the fare before one starts the journey.

 

Then one has to be careful of the tricks the drivers have where before they arrive they tell you they have arrived at your pick up point but they are not there and the fare start rising for waiting time. Also in the app the address location of the destination has to be exact, some times it is in the same vicinity when you select the address and when you tell the driver to go to your real address location the fare starts rising.

 

But all in all Bolt is quite a good app for transport and it is much much cheaper than taxis or renting a car in my home country.

Same in Thailand, the Bolt screen shows the fares for 2 or 3 types of vehicles, customer selects one of the offered fares.

 

I've used Bolt maybe 30 times in thailand, final price has always been he price I selected before the system confimed my booking and found / sent a car to pick me up.

 

Agreed price remains on my screen until trip is fully completed.

 

Never once has the driver asked for more. 

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, bignok said:

I complained to Grab and got credit within 48 hours.

Awesome anecdote.

I complained to the wife & got a smack across the head !!! ????

[zig]

24 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Same in Thailand, the Bolt screen shows the fares for 2 or 3 types of vehicles, customer selects one of the offered fares.

 

I've used Bolt maybe 30 times in thailand, final price has always been he price I selected before the system confimed my booking and found / sent a car to pick me up.

 

Agreed price remains on my screen until trip is fully completed.

 

Never once has the driver asked for more. 

Yes, it is usually a fixed price but if the selected car type is Taxi then in Bolt app it just shows an estimated range of the fares, e.g. in article it states that it was in 300-400 baht range. It used to be then that you paid what was shown on the meter in taxi plus 20 baht for booking. But now few times I have noticed that even in taxis they do not turn on the meter anymore but the fare is calculated by Bolt app instead. At the end of the ride you are expected to pay whatever the app has calculated. 

[PETERTHEEATER]

4 hours ago, metisdead said:

 

Maybe you should contact  The Thaiger to find the answer to your question.

The Bolt car has.....bolted?

[747man]

2 hours ago, shackleton said:

I feel its time for a good taxi driver story coming 

Taxi driver finds wallet or bag  containing money ???????? in the back seat belonging to a tourist 

Happy Times again ????

Won't Be Too Long Coming.....

[bignok]

2 hours ago, Ohyesuare said:

Going by the facebook screenshots, looks like it was switched to Taxi which gives estimated fares but still not sure why it was so far off the estimated 300-400. I use Bolt all the time and never choose Taxi and the fare is always what it says it will be before confirming the trip.

Taxi gives you a 100 baht range

[khunPer]

The article says: This is another reminder to taxi customers all over Thailand to demand drivers switch on meters or ask for a price before travelling...

[digger70]

6 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Why does the photo show a Taxi Meter car?

Natcha said she did not understand Bolt’s system. The taxi driver had not turned on the meter, but she assumed that the application would accurately calculate the fare.

[thesetat]

5 hours ago, freeworld said:

Not only that but one is dealing with a faceless organisation. The complaint is through the app and they accept the complaint and then you never hear from them again.

 

For the odd 1300 Baht fare it would not be worth the time and effort and stress back and forth with them.

you are not thia making 15,000 to 30,000 a month living in Bangkok... you can not use yourself to compare with her dilemna. 1300 is quite alot to throw away to many thais 

[digger70]

Well no probs , No meter No ride no Fare.

[SingAPorn]

When will the authorities properly punish and enforce the rules to force the taxi crooks to put on the meter and stop cheating tourists and foreigners ? It's due to all the taxi cheats that these app's are popular and now the taxi cheats even try to scam you on the app. UBER must come back to thailand.

[Gottfrid]

9 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Why does the photo show a Taxi Meter car?

Because you should have something to ask about.

[swm59nj]

If the driver actually did that and the app demanded a different amount.  The passenger needs to contact Bolt. Grab does use taxis and Bolt as some people here have said uses taxis also. 
If the passenger used a taxi from the street.  The driver might have used the meter.  But probably would have demanded 2000 baht
 

[Deserted]

Same thing happened to me once but it was only a difference of 40 baht, so I didn't really care.

[bignok]

8 hours ago, Deserted said:

Same thing happened to me once but it was only a difference of 40 baht, so I didn't really care.

Start a topic about it. Others would.

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, bignok said:

10 hours ago, Deserted said:

Same thing happened to me once but it was only a difference of 40 baht, so I didn't really care.

Start a topic about it. Others would.

What... start a topic about how he didn't care about being over-charged 40 baht ? 

[richard_smith237]

18 hours ago, SingAPorn said:

UBER must come back to thailand.

Exactly this...   By removing competition (UBER) which operated to an international degree of standards & proffesionalism it provided room for Grab to inflate their prices... 

 

UBER provided solid competition and ensured Grab maintained standards. 

Without UBER the standards of Grab have dropped, the prices have increased.... Bolt is just another add on to this. 

 

When UBER was operating in Thailand it was 'Taxi paradise'...  you could always find a Taxi to come and pick you up for fares which were marginally greater than a flag-fall fare, the convenience was great. 

 

Fast forwarding the the protectionist policies which made 'ride hailing / sharing' illegal forcing UBER out, meanwhile somehow allowing exactly the same thing with Grab has created a situation where 'Thainess' can surface.

 

One thing I cannot understaind: Why the regular Taxi companies do not set up their own Apps - We can order Taxi's by phone (which is a little awkward and clumsy), wouldn't it be much easier if we could order 'regular taxis' via an App ?

 

Someone will of course suggest, just flag down a taxi - but its not always that simple or easy... i.e. from within a Moo-baan or at a restaurant down a quiet sub-soi etc - which is where such an Apps excel - the issue of course is that it seems fewer drivers are signed up to these Apps meaning its often difficult to get a ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[John Drake]

Next time, don't complain when a driver offers to do it off meter for 400 baht

 

[ThailandGuy]

"This is another reminder to taxi customers all over Thailand to demand drivers switch on meters or ask for a price before travelling."

Yeah right!  Thats how they scam you by not turning on the meter.  Land of smiles!