You have Grab(bed) my attention
For the past 4 years, taking a taxi to work had become part of my daily routine. Due to the high demand of taxis during the morning peak hours, flagging down a taxi along the road was difficult — it would take up to 45 minutes to get a taxi. That was one major factor that got me to use Taxi Booking Apps instead. Using the Apps allowed me to get a taxi within 5 to 10 minutes. That saved me a good 25 to 35 minutes everyday! I have personally tried a few Apps that are available in the market which include ComfortDelGro Taxi App, Uber and Grab. Out of the 3 Taxi Booking Apps, Grab has won me over with their better User Interface(UI), better offers and it has been the App that can provide me with a taxi at the shortest time. Although Grab has become my preferred App for taxi booking, I have recently encountered an issue with them.
Sometime in Apr 2017, they were having a promotion on their JustGrab bookings. Commuters are entitled to a SGD$7 discount on the second JustGrab trip for the day. As I have yet to book my first JustGrab trip, I wasn’t really expecting myself to get any discount. I made my first booking and soon enough, I got a ride coming my way. At the same time, a notification came in and indicated that I am entitled to the SGD$7 discount on my second JustGrab trip. However, the driver cancelled my booking and I would need to make another booking (second booking). So I went on and made my second JustGrab booking for that day with the promo code provided from the notification. Little did I know that, it was a start of an unpleasant experience.
Technically speaking, I did make my first booking on the App. The problem was, the first ride didn’t happen. That got me to make a second booking for the day for the same trip. At this point of time, most people might conclude, “If I have made my first booking for the day and I received a notification telling me that I am entitled for the discount, I should be able to do a redemption right? If I am not entitled to it due to the fact that the first ride did not materialize, the App should be able to indicate that and bring it to my attention.”
The first problem started off with their UI. Grab offers many booking options and they have multiple promotions going on concurrently. Promo codes are only applicable on their respective booking category. Although you have keyed in a valid promo code, it will not be usable if you are not on the right category — the App will prompt you an exclamation mark icon beside the promo code and a notification (Feedback). However, if you were to swipe to the right category without removing the promo code, the App indicates it is valid and allows you to proceed and this is what I did for my second booking.
Below is a similar example:
I managed to get a JustGrab taxi and after a short wait, I boarded the taxi. In the taxi, the driver confirmed with me that it was reflected in his GrabDriver App that I have entered their promo code and will be eligible for the SGD$7 discount. However, at the end of the trip, I was not given the discount in my fare. The driver indicated to me that the discount is done automatically in his system and not manually entered to his meter. With this, I decided to contact Grab’s customer service.
The Customer Service Officer (CSO) confirmed with the Technical Dept that my promo code was not captured in their system, and suggested that I did not enter the promo code for my second booking.
Question: If the promo code was not captured in their system, WHY did the App indicate that my booking with the promo code went through? And WHY did the driver indicate that his system shows that I’m eligible for the discount?
I went on to explain the whole process to the CSO and was told that their system doesn’t work that way. She mentioned that if I had first entered the promo code in a different category, I would need to delete and retype the promo code in the right category for the system to capture the promo code entered.
Obviously, the system was not programmed to cater to how users will be using the App. Furthermore, there wasn’t any clear indication that the users needed to retype the promo code if they are in the wrong category in the first place. Why do they even want the user to redo the whole process? Wasn’t the App created to simplify the processes? For the App to acknowledge and proceed with the booking gives the users the wrong impression that their booking was done correctly.
From the CSO’s reply, I re-emphasized that there isn’t an indication from the App to the user about retyping the code and I made another effort to take her through the process of my booking. Eventually, she understood and acknowledged that problem. However, she did highlight to me that the system is unable to do a reimbursement of the SGD$7 but she will get her technician to generate a code that grants me a SGD$8 discount on my next ride.
The code was read out to me over the phone and it says “UCBCUYR” (Sounds like acronym for some vulgarities in my local context). Maybe, the Technician wasn’t very happy with what I have reported. LOL
