Why I don’t recommend EasyTaxi / Tappsi Easy (Cabify) in Colombia

EasyTaxi / Tappsi Easy (Cabify) is a taxi app that should have been the obvious winner from the withdrawal of Uber from Colombia. You can pay using a card and you can leave a rating. This is what most gringos in Colombia want anyway. From my point of view, they have managed to shoot themselves in the foot! Continue reading to learn about my experience.

Knowing that Uber will leave Colombia, I decided to give another app a try: Cabify which in Colombia is called EasyTaxi or Tappsi Easy. The app is easy to install and the interface is what you would expect.

Ride #1

I was in Cali and I need to go to the airport, situated about 20-30 minutes outside of Cali. I have compared the price from Uber and Cabify and concluded that the taxi price was better. Wrong!

Initially, the estimated cost was COP 27,524 (about $8.27). I ended up paying double the price. How is that possible?

The driver dropped us at the airport. With the little Spanish that I understand he demanded more money for the ride. I told him that I pay what the app says. He drove off but did not complete the ride until he was in the city again.

Immediately after the taxi driver ended the ride, I was charged again, for the “extra” journey.

So the app has the possibility to raise an issue with the ride, which I did. After 3–4 days, I got a reply telling me that the price is the correct one, that the initial price is just an estimate and if I don’t believe them, I should check with the city transport authority regarding the prices.

To be honest, I was shocked by the response received. Of course, I have replied back and explained my position. 5–6 emails later they still don’t admit any fault.

Look, maybe the official rate was what I have paid, but what kind of customer service is this? I would have expected that:

• they refund me for the distance where I did not travel
• acknowledge that the app has an issue and did not calculate correctly the estimated cost
• fix the app

Ride #2

Pick-up point: Cartagena Bus Terminal. I have ordered a cab and the estimated time of arrival was 15 minutes.

Issues this time:

• waited 33 minutes for the driver to show-up (instead of 15)
• could not find the driver as he had a different license plate
• the driver paid absolutely no attention to the route/destination, got lost and I got overcharged again.

Again, I have opened three separate issues for this ride, reporting different issues. Without even reading what I have reported, the agent quickly closed two of them and written back that the actual fare may differ from the estimate. Good to know!

So for me, this was enough! Bye-bye EasyTaxi / Tappsi Easy / Cabify.

How was your experience with Cabify in Colombia?

Was I simply unlucky or is this the norm? Let me know by leaving a comment.