Any performance feedback on the Uber to Grab change

[Lumbini]

Any performance feedback on the Uber to Grab change ?

 

1. Availability

2. Pick up times

3. Costs

4. App usefulness

5. Driver's attitude & helpfulness

 

[tolsti]

still works the same as it ever did for me. Good response times and polite drivers in clean, aircon taxis.  No price changes.

[Lumbini]

Aircon Taxi ? No private cars ? I always found private cars MUCH cleaner and nicer than taxi . Also I find the Uber app much superior to Grab app and the app is big part of why I love Uber . Been using outside the country and app has had some great software modifications so I will miss that in Thailand . Just happy there is Grad in Chonburi area as the taxi's in that area REFUSE to turn on meter so in many ways ride sharing in that area is real blessing .


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[wpcoe]

Do Grab Car drivers get harassed by local taxi mokes like the Uber drivers were?  It was getting very difficult to get an Uber at Tesco Lotus South Pattaya toward the end.  If the Grab Car drivers are harassed, what about Grab Taxi?

[tolsti]

     I only use Grab Taxi, I know then that the driver will be registered, his/her picture is displayed in the vehicle and as it is a Yellow and Green Taxi they do not get hassled. I will not use a car where the driver could be any old man in the street and with no idea as to who he is or if indeed he is the person the app says he is. 

[Apiwan2]

     I only use Grab Taxi, I know then that the driver will be registered, his/her picture is displayed in the vehicle and as it is a Yellow and Green Taxi they do not get hassled. I will not use a car where the driver could be any old man in the street and with no idea as to who he is or if indeed he is the person the app says he is. 

I've never used uber and never will.

I used grab for the first-time last week as it was my first time I requested a grab car instead of a grab Taxi.

A Prius turned up took me to my destination I paid the agreed Fare,

however grab cars are illegal in Thailand it is a grey area But ultimately if there was something to happen and I was hospitalised I don't think my travel insurance would pay out.

I've never had a bad experience in a taxi here in Thailand if one refuses to go where I want I'll try the next and the next there's always another one around the corner.




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[terminatorchiangmai]

Grabs GPS positioning sucks , Uber had/has a much better app.

[Minnehaha]

1. Since change .. Grab is much more expensive and fewer cars available of any type

2. Uber app was superior in many ways

3. Grab wants to fill my inbox with ADS and pop up ads while using the app. VERY ANNOYING

4. Overall this change sucks. I am terribly disappointed in drops of service levels. 

 

Note

I run Thonglor Prakanong to Asoke

[iang]

I tried using the Grab app just a short while before Uber withdrew. Despite all the vehicle icons dashing around on the app map, when I attempted to book a car, the app advised there were no available vehicles in my area (CM). As Uber were not yet finished, I tried the Uber app & had a car in a matter of minutes. Haven't tried Grab since & feel I can't rely on the service. Maybe the 12 noon timing was the problem - all drivers out at lunch! Sorry to see Uber go.....

[dilloss]

I've used Grab about 6 times now. All turned up within 10 mins. Every car was spotless with polite drivers.

[James2020]

I'm in BKK and am very happy with Grab.  The cars arrive sooner, are usually cheaper, and they accept my US based credit cards with Thailand addresses (which Uber would not).  I can get a taxi or a car - you have to scroll down on the app.  The drivers seem fine.  The only negative is that the route won't show on the app, but otherwise all is well.

[chowny77]

I have only used Grab taxis once while I was in BKK. Just finished shopping at Mega Bang-na so using my wife we got a taxi and she gave the destination in Thai to the driver. Could not believe it when he drove us to Swampy airport. I had no luggage and just shopping bags, luckily myself and the wife thought it was funny and when my wife told him the destination again, he realized he had made the cock-up and accepted a 150 baht rather than the 400 plus baht that the meter was showing. Apart from the misunderstanding the guy was ok and the taxi was fine. Better than previous experiences with the normal meter taxi guys who would have still wanted the full price even though it was their error.

 

[CMBob]

5 hours ago, terminatorchiangmai said:

Grabs GPS positioning sucks , Uber had/has a much better app.

Agree with that but, other than that, pretty much the same as Uber.

[zzidenn]

14 hours ago, Lumbini said:

Aircon Taxi ? No private cars ? I always found private cars MUCH cleaner and nicer than taxi . Also I find the Uber app much superior to Grab app and the app is big part of why I love Uber . Been using outside the country and app has had some great software modifications so I will miss that in Thailand . Just happy there is Grad in Chonburi area as the taxi's in that area REFUSE to turn on meter so in many ways ride sharing in that area is real blessing .


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grab has always been cheaper than uber, you can choose all sorts of vehicles, taxis, motorbikes, private cars, premium cars etc. grab has a much better customer support

[Lumbini]

In Bangkok the same distance that an Uber trip was is much more with Grab . No competition means higher prices for same distance and no promotions that Uber had most of the time . Ever time I see a Grab sticker on yellow and green Taxi ( that for years would possibly like most would not stop and not put meter on if they saw a westerner ) looks so wrong . The whole idea of ride sharing and how well it worked has been spoiled in Thailand like so many things . As much as I love Thailand the place always seems to be plagued with the three steps forward then two BIG steps back syndrome ( like what happened to Uber that was such and amazing service here but now gone )

I love keeping a place here in Thailand but it's possibly not the opportunity it once was as so many other spots around the world become more accessible and still unspoiled .

 

 

 

 

[Lumbini]

grab has always been cheaper than uber, you can choose all sorts of vehicles, taxis, motorbikes, private cars, premium cars etc. grab has a much better customer support

 [emoji667]

 

That's a funny post [emoji13] Do you work for Grab [emoji780]

 

PS ... interesting you did not say Grab app was better than Uber also because if you had ... well , you know

 

 

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

10 hours ago, iang said:

I tried using the Grab app just a short while before Uber withdrew. Despite all the vehicle icons dashing around on the app map, when I attempted to book a car, the app advised there were no available vehicles in my area (CM). As Uber were not yet finished, I tried the Uber app & had a car in a matter of minutes. Haven't tried Grab since & feel I can't rely on the service. Maybe the 12 noon timing was the problem - all drivers out at lunch! Sorry to see Uber go.....

 

I had the same experience MANY times here in Central BKK with Grab prior to the takeover. Open the app, see supposedly dozens of Grab taxis available in the radius around my home, request a ride, and not a single driver accepts the trip.  Then go to Uber app, try to book the same trip, and I'd get an Uber ride confirmed in a minute or two.

 

I can't imagine Grab has gotten any better since swallowing up Uber.

[balo]

I used Grab both in BKK and Pattaya during my trip to BKK a few weeks ago. 

 

Grab in BKK was almost same as taximeter , I paid 70 baht to the bus station from my hotel  My Kasikorn bank is connected to the app , so I don't pay anything cash .

Grab in Pattaya is a different story . It's basically double or triple price . I paid 160 baht to my condo from the bus station , and thats only 2 km distance!  

 

Also the Grab driver would not show up at the bus station so had to walk opposite the road. 

UBER was cheaper , that's the only difference really, and the GPS map was more accurate.  

 

 

 

 

[HerbalEd]

On 4/26/2018 at 9:11 PM, Lumbini said:

 

 

That's a funny post Do you work for Grab

 

PS ... interesting you did not say Grab app was better than Uber also because if you had ... well , you know

 

 

 

 

 

Do you work for Uber? Well, you know ... 

[Dibbler]

grab has always been cheaper than uber, you can choose all sorts of vehicles, taxis, motorbikes, private cars, premium cars etc. grab has a much better customer support

Hmm no Uber was always cheaper than Grab, and Grab is more expensive than taxis. RIP Uber


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[Lumbini]

Why do taxi's in Jomtien and Pattaya area refuse to turn on meter and just sit with their cars on the street for hours at a time not moving until someone agrees to get in without meter and pay double or triple rate ? Seems if government does not make it mandatory that a taxi uses its meter and have it calibrated at intervals the tourists loose out . If the taxi does not use meter and want high prices for just short trips seems the big tour busses are the only way many tourists can afford coming to the beach area . Food and things to do and lodging is cheap and attracts tourists but transportation with only overpriced taxis's that refused to turn on meters for tourists to get around in makes big big tour buses mandatory . it's so nice in Bangkok with most of the cabs willing to use the meter and or the skytrain and the MRT but if tourist is going to the beach things can get ugly fast if one wants to move around and check out different areas . Uber was a godsend and Thailand lost much when they made no effort to help Uber stay .

 

 

 

 

[balo]

21 hours ago, Lumbini said:

Why do taxi's in Jomtien and Pattaya area refuse to turn on meter and just sit with their cars on the street for hours at a time not moving until someone agrees to get in without meter and pay double or triple rate ?

Because they can!  They don't have to work all day if they can find a customer willing to pay the rates.  If they can get 500 baht for a small trip , they could earn 5k in a day carrying only 10 passengers.  Thats the way it is in Pattaya and most tourist cities in Thailand. They can get away with it. Also controlled by the mafia. 

 

 

 

 

[zzidenn]

On 4/28/2018 at 9:55 PM, Dibbler said:

 

Hmm no Uber was always cheaper than Grab, and Grab is more expensive than taxis. RIP Uber


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This doesn’t seem to take into account that prices actually vary, depending on the demand.  Grab has always been the cheaper option around Bkk, on nut, since there were almost no Uber drivers around, hence making Uber rare and expensive. The same distance can have different pricing depending on where to travel from and to. Asoke to onnut costs 10 thb more than onnut to asoke I.e. 

one drop of rain and prices go up.... and yes regular taxis are always cheaper but with grab or Uber you obviously pay for the extra convenience and you can have much cleaner and nicer vehicles.

[samtam]

My recent experiences with Grab since "Uber went under" in Bangkok is that Grab's fares have increased. My usual trip (exactly the same route) cost THB130 with Grab Car Plus whilst Uber was still running, and now it's THB150. Drivers are the usual hit and miss on an equivalency with Uber, (as in their level of ability to read a map or listen to their SAT NAV). Yesterday I had pre-booked the night before a Grab Car Plus at 9.00 am to go to Immigration. The driver rang back just after I made the booking and I explained both verbally and by msg how to get to me, (not difficult). At 8.55 or so I rang the driver and he said he would be 30 minutes late, "because of traffic". Completely destroys the point of pre-booking. So I immediately cancelled and booked another Grab Car Plus, which arrived within 10 minutes. I wanted the driver to use the highway, but he said his Easy Pass was empty and he had no cash. So I gave him THB500 to deal with the tolls. Before we reached the first one he said he had paid into his Easy Pass account, so returned my cash. As we attempted to go through the first EP tollway, he was rejected, so I fished out the cash again. Same with second one. Car's suspension was rough, interior scruffy. 

 

Unfortunately with competition gone, so does pricing and service, like so many of the monopolies in Thailand.

 

By comparison, my recent trips in two European cities with Uber were brilliant from one of the key aspects of a car service: the driver turned up within minutes, and knew exactly where to go, because he knew the city and how SAT NAV works.

 

Grab needs to up its game. Grab UP, not Grab DOWN! Grab Car PLUS, not Grab Car MINUS!

[jethro69]

Just downloaded the app, and I can just agree the positioning is fishy. In thiscase it was about 100m into a death end soi and would not have caused a problem, but just imagine it would have moved into a soi which could only be reached from a paralell street, the car would have been 15min away. However, as soon you got the app installed, you can open GoogleMaps and you get a new icon, like hail taxi, public transport, or something alike. Positioning on GoogleMaps is accurate, and also much easier to choose the destination.

From there you just click open app, and there you go. Note that GoogleMaps give you wrong price estimations. A fare from around TalatPhlu / Thonburi is below 100 on Google, the Grab price is about 232, wich is pretty much the same like I had with Uber.

How it works out I'll test tomorrow.

 

My understanding now is that Grab has Taxis, wich are a bit more expensive than Grab cars. Did the Thai gov came already out with a statement wherever those are legal or illegal? Not that it would bother me much.

Are the tolls paid by the driver same as with Uber?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 4/26/2018 at 11:16 AM, iang said:

I tried using the Grab app just a short while before Uber withdrew. Despite all the vehicle icons dashing around on the app map, when I attempted to book a car, the app advised there were no available vehicles in my area (CM). As Uber were not yet finished, I tried the Uber app & had a car in a matter of minutes. Haven't tried Grab since & feel I can't rely on the service. Maybe the 12 noon timing was the problem - all drivers out at lunch! Sorry to see Uber go.....

 

Same exact experiences many times in BKK, and not just at lunch time. Grab SUCKS!

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I have greater experience with UberEats and now the Grab Food service.

 

Suffice to say, UberEats typically operated very well in BKK, had a huge range of restaurants participating, you could place an order either via their app or via their website, they had regular promotions/discounts, their GPS was good, and by and large, they operated without grief and typically provided what they promised.

 

The still fledgling Grab Food service has nowhere near the same number of restaurants as UberEats had, you can only order by their app which is mostly Thai language, no ordering via a website, they seem to have no promotions, often wrong GPS, and even for the restaurants they do offer, Grab seems to be drawing much shorter/smaller delivery areas than Uber Eats used to offer.

 

For example, I had various restaurants out at W District near Phra Kanong that Uber Eats would deliver to my home in lower Sukhumvit without any problem. Just a few of those same places now are with Grab, but Grab shows them all being out of my delivery area. And I'm sure that's something that Grab has decided, not the restaurants suddenly deciding they don't want to deliver to the same areas anymore.

 

[Lumbini]

 
Same exact experiences many times in BKK, and not just at lunch time. Grab SUCKS!
 

Root of the problems and there are many seem to be rooted in the app and how much more expensive it is than Uber that was stunning . Grab has no competition ( yet ) so it can be lame . Drivers are great just like Uber if you choose Grab car ( and I always do ( but app , prices , way it's set up and customer service is missed opportunity for drivers and customers .

[wpcoe]

tl;dr -- Grab is definitely higher than Uber was, and there is some shenanigans going on with the system.

 

Long version:  First time using GrabCar since Grab absorbed Uber:  Couple days ago I was at Tesco Lotus Sukhumvit and wanted a ride to Jomtien.  On Uber it had ranged from B105 to B115.  GrabCar was showing B180.  But, I had perishables and it was still cheaper than the "legal" pick-up truck taxis, so I submitted a request.

 

Driver called me to say he couldn't/wouldn't pick me up because of "taxi mafia," but refused my repeated requests for him to cancel the ride so I could request again and get someone else.  Luckily, I had a Grab phone number saved on my phone and they finally cancelled it for me.

 

Next, I decided to try GrabTaxi since I thought maybe a green/yellow taxi wouldn't have the issue with the "mafia."  Rate was B220, and though 2x what Uber used to be, it was still cheaper than the B250 "legal" pick-ups.

 

Arranged to meet the GrabTaxi at Tesco entrance by Outlet Mall and got in.  He said I had cancelled my ride, and sure enough when I opened the app, it was showing canceled in History.  I did not cancel.  He asked if I could pay him cash or credit card directly for the same price, and by then I was kinda tired of this whole mess and agreed.

 

Not sure, but I think the GrabTaxi guy canceled the ride from his end so he could get me to pay the full fare directly to him, cutting out Grab's grab.

[Dibbler]

Have now used the Grab app and service since Uber left the Thailand market in April.  In my opinion Grab sucks badly. Reasons why below;

 

The app itself is poorly designed, even with the recent revamp.  The location of drivers is often inaccurate, and occasionally positions the rider at a place other than where you are waiting.  Requires the rider to always be looking at the map to make sure the ride is properly in progress.  Very difficult to know when a driver will arrive at the pickup point.

 

Fares for both Grab taxi and Grab car are higher than Uber, and higher than regular mafia-run public taxi, so not competitive with the latter.  Even the promotion prices (50thb, 80thb or 100thb off) are still higher than public taxi rates.

 

Availability of Grab is spotty.  At an airport rail link station a few days ago I waited 45 minutes to get a driver to accept my ride.  I could have taken a public taxi as they were streaming into the parking lot.  I had opted for a promotion fare (80thb off) and only when I turned off the promotion in the app did I finally get a driver to accept the ride.

 

Grab car drivers complain of waiting long times for a ride.  Makes sense as Uber customers arriving in Thailand can't use the service and most of them don't know about Grab.  Drivers report not accepting rides where the rider has opted for promotion prices.  Two drivers I had tried to get me to pay them more in cash at the end of the ride after already debiting my card as they said he didn't make much with the promotion price.  Confirms my previous suspicion.  Uber drivers did not know what a rider paid for them to reject a ride or try to renegotiate a fare in retrospect.

 

At the current fare rates the only benefit of Grab for me is that I don't have to fumble in my wallet to find the right cash to pay for a ride, and there is a way to accumulate points for my THAI frequent flyer account.  Other than that the Grab experience is a seriously disappointing one for riders. But I won't easily go back to the mafia public taxi option.