Have you tried Uber in Bali ?
For the context, I took a Bus from Java to Denpasar in Bali. This bus is normally direct to Denpasar but it stops at a bus station 20 km from the destination. Several guys got into the bus and said “Terminus”. With some other passengers, we were surprised and hesitate to get off the bus, it wasn’t Denpasar. After 5 minutes, we went down the Bus. At this moment, a lot of taxi drivers start to harass us to take their taxi. We suddenly realised that the guys that have said “terminus” were taxi drivers and they got us in their trap.
So we were trapped in an expansive taxi terminal out of nowhere
We were determined to find a solution to not take a taxi. When I checked our position in google map, I realised that Uber is available in Bali. The cost of one Uber for everybody was less that the taxi drivers was asking for each person.
So with 2 other guys, we decided to order an Uber.
I reinstalled the Uber app, updated the phone number by my Indonesian number and here we go.
It took 5 minutes for a driver to accept our request. We waited 17 minutes to see the driver arrived.
The taxi drivers start to run after the Uber car
The Uber driver gets scared and left before we enter the car. I understand him, it wasn’t a good idea to call an Uber from a taxi station :(
So we decided to move elsewhere and made a new Uber request.
After 10 minutes, a new driver accepted our request. Just after that, the driver called me and asked me to for a lot more money arguing that Uber s not paying him properly. I was ok to give tips, but not that much so I refused his deal. He asks me to cancel the ride, I said I won’t and he had to cancel it (I didn’t want to pay fees for cancellation, but apparently I discover later there is not a fee). The driver called me 2 more times asking me to cancel the ride and because I am stubborn, he ended to cancel the ride himself.
So for the 3rd times , I requested an Uber driver
After 2 mins, a new driver accepted the ride, he was 20 minutes away.
At the same time, the first driver have sent me an SMS that said:
Uber is illegal in Bali, be careful to not use it in a public place. A friend had some problems and Uber didn’t help him.
I thank him for the informations and I started to discuss with him. He offered to give us a ride on his own out of Uber system.
At this moment, the 3rd driver was 25 minutes ago (15 minutes earlier, he was at 21 minutes) and he was riding in the other direction
So I canceled the ride.
I said yes by Whatsapp to the first driver for the ride.
I gave him our position.
After 10 minutes, a car stop on the other side of the street and the driver gave us a sign to get into the car. The driver asked for the destination and said the same price we discuss on Whatsapp. So we put our stuff in the car and start riding, we were happy and relieved to be on the way to our destination.
After 5 minutes driving, I received a call from the driver. Surprised, I ask the driver near me: “did you just call me ?”, he said no. I look at Whatsapp and see messages from the driver asking where we are.
We weren’t in the good car
The current driver had seen us waiting along the road and saw an opportunity. He stops and asked us the good questions to make us believe he was the good driver.
At the end, we ended up at the destination for a lower cost than the taxi, but tired and we lost nearly 2 hours. I may have put beside my principle and just paid a taxi driver (that have made a good play for their businesses but not for there reputations). The difference is high for Balinese people, but it’s not the case for my western income.
- I will be more than happy if send me comments on English mistakes :) ( https://twitter.com/jdauphant )
