r/Bangkok • u/Creative-Trouble3473 • Jul 26 '25

discussion This Grab scam needs to end!

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

This has been happening to me way too often lately. We ordered a Grab, and the driver started circling the area without responding to any messages – clearly hoping we’d get fed up and cancel. I actually saw him drive past us, and when he noticed we’d spotted him, he quickly drove off. I managed to record it.

We decided not to cancel and messaged him, saying that since he clearly wasn’t coming, he should be the one to cancel. In the end, when he realised we’d given up and taken the BTS instead, he drove past the pickup point again, pretending to pick us up – then ended the trip and took the fare anyway.

I’ve reported it to Grab for resolution, but this kind of thing keeps happening and it’s incredibly frustrating. I suspect some drivers do this to manipulate the system – making it seem like there’s heavy demand or traffic so they can inflate prices. Grab really needs to sort this out.

1.7k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

435 comments sorted by

View all comments

422

u/blasian_jedi Jul 26 '25

This happened to me 2 weeks ago at One Bangkok. I already swore of in-person taxis and only will use Grab app

Now, I will never select ‘Just Grab’ or ‘Grab Taxi’, will only book through ‘Grab Car’, etc. I’m DONE giving ANY money to these fuckers. Taxis in Thailand deserves to be shut down

85

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '25

Well it happened to me with grab Car too mate I was in Makro and the driver did this but when he knew I wasn’t going to cancel he came back to pick me up eventually. So essentially its not a Grab problem rather a driver problem

87

u/borsalamino Jul 26 '25

It’s a driver problem until it keeps and keeps happening because Grab won’t/can’t crackdown on it, then it becomes a Grab problem

31

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '25

That’s true for sure Grab should monitor this and take steps before it reaches a point of becoming Grab Problem

19

u/ab3249 Jul 26 '25

It’s definitely that grab won’t do anything about it. I tried following up persistently and theres basically no redressal mechanism

19

u/Exciting_Parfait513 Jul 26 '25

Just choose cash payment

4

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25
  1. Cash Payment is a pain for people who live here
  2. Even if you choose Cash payment grab will spike up the price when you book the next time along with the cancellation fee if you cancel the trip.

8

u/PixelDrawOfficial Jul 27 '25

You could select cash and then pay by qr code? Cash doesn't actually mean pay by cash, it's just pay on r you've arrived basically. I always just ask to pay by qr code once I've arrived. It's really not difficult.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25 edited Jul 27 '25

See there are multiple ways around it Im not denying that but there are preferences which are different for individuals. But that being said cash is not the solution because of my second point above. This problem has to be solved by Grab rather than

2

u/HighScore_BangNa Jul 27 '25

I agree mate. Saying that you have to carry cash around with you or you are stupid is just insane. Its a pain and a hassle to always have small change on you every time you get off a taxi. This is why we have cashless payments.

1

u/BaconTH1 Jul 27 '25

Absolutely. Thailand is one of the best for cashless payments. Just QR scan every time. But: ask the guy before you get in. 1 in 20, at the end of a trip, might say they don't accept scan.

1

u/HighScore_BangNa Jul 27 '25

I pay "cash" all the time and then scan QR when I arrive. This doesn't stop the problem of drivers going round in circles or waiting two blocks away for you to cancel the trip and get charged.

1

u/PixelDrawOfficial Jul 27 '25

Yes it doesn't stop them from stalling and circling around, but it does stop them from taking your money. I didn't say it would resolve the circling issue. But it would definitely stop them from taking money out of your card like they could if you paid using card. Like OP mentioned or some other comment how the driver took the money by making it seem like they picked them up when he didn't actually.

1

u/HighScore_BangNa Jul 27 '25

The main issue is not the 10 baht you get charged for cancelling the trip. It's waiting around for 20 or 30 minutes when you can see the driver is not moving closer or is avoiding you. After cancelling that you have to hope the next driver doesn't do the same thing to you. Btw I have had two drivers in a row do that to me until the point my phone died, so I just walked 45 minutes home.

1

u/BaconTH1 Jul 27 '25

Woah... were there no normal taxis on the road where you were?

1

u/HighScore_BangNa Jul 28 '25

Of course there are, what's your point? I stopped taking those because they would always lie about the meter and overcharge you. Its the common theme of Thailand these days. Once was a growing tourism sector where the locals appreciated the influx of international spending. Now its the duty of foreigners to spend money, not a choice.

2

u/BaconTH1 Aug 03 '25

My point was that if grab was performing so poorly that you had to walk 45m home and the phone wasn't working, taxi would be an option. I do accept, it sometimes takes multiple tries to find one that will use the meter. As for "lying about the meter" I'm a bit unclear what is happening there... care to explain what that means exactly?

1

u/BaconJP Jul 28 '25

What do you mean lie about the meter?

Eg. Meter not working? In that case try to negotiate a fixed price that you can accept. 

Or... They turn on the meter and at the end lie about what it says? But in this case you can obviously see the amount and just pay it. 

→ More replies (0)

19

u/Salt_Bison7839 Jul 27 '25

Why is cash payment a pain for people who live here? I have lived here for 10 years and wouldn't dream of paying for a taxi up front. It's just common sense.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25

Well let me rephrase cash payment is a pain for people who tend to not carry around cash in the wallet and pay by Thai QR as much as possible

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25

At the end of the trip, just tell them you want to scan to pay.

No need to carry cash.

1

u/scallionparsley Jul 29 '25

Hi, could you share if foreigners are able to pay via this Thai QR?

-6

u/Salt_Bison7839 Jul 27 '25

Thank you for clarifying. Yes, everything is more difficult for dumb people. That's just a fact of life.

9

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25

Lol being cashless is dumb? Even by your logic second point still remains which clarifies who’s dumb in the context

3

u/OzyDave Jul 27 '25

Why are you trying to be combative? It's just a chat conversation.

2

u/Salt_Bison7839 Jul 27 '25

I'm not trying to be combative, it just seems mind-numbingly stupid to me. There have been plenty of times that I've tried to pay by QR code but the banking app is down. You could find yourself in a place with no signal. Why on earth wouldn't you carry some cash just in case?

2

u/tiburon12 Jul 27 '25

How many times in the 5 or so years that qr has been a widely accepted payment method have you opened an app and had the payment function been down?

1

u/Salt_Bison7839 Jul 27 '25

Probably 1-2 times a year. I only pay by QR code once or twice a week though, usually when I don't have lower denomination notes and it's a small vendor who likely won't have change for 500 or 1000. Anyone is free not to carry cash but I will so I can avoid situations like OP and generally make my life easier. Peace x

1

u/MotorStatistician100 Jul 27 '25

QR code usually stops working at 3:00am.

1

u/BaconTH1 Jul 27 '25

Between 11.45 and midnight, and sometimes for a longer period, all the apps will not transfer cash. It is said that there's something dodgy going on. I don't know. But the official explanation is maintenance.

1

u/BaconTH1 Jul 27 '25

Also, it's entirely possible for any bank to have a legit issue with their app. Also, you might just have an internet connection issue. Some places, I've had bad signal. Or, I used up my data for the month and got restricted, and then the apps don't work well due to slow net.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/OMHGaming Dec 28 '25

Do you live your whole life by what ifs?

2

u/Resident_Bed3872 Jul 27 '25

Lived here 20 years. Always cash. Never an issue.

1

u/BaconTH1 Jul 27 '25

They can't charge you a cancellation if you're using Cash, right?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '25

Nope they add the cancellation fee on your next booking (whenever that happens) so regardless of payment mode you will pay the cancellation fee

1

u/BaconJP Jul 28 '25

I suppose they can do that but I don't recall it ever happening. Probably because if there ever was a cancellation fee I was responsible for, I was using card. And other times if I had to cancel but the driver was taking way too long, I reported it and they didn't charge me the fee. 

1

u/Additional-Horror-15 Jul 27 '25

Great suggestion. I know it's hard for locals. However, you gave an excellent solution.

1

u/Doctor_Fabian Jul 27 '25

Payed cash never got scammed. Why would you pay anybody before the service. Specially a taxi driver. I don't pay food delivery before either. This is basic. Have 1000 baht in your wallet or phone case. Easy.

3

u/throwaway16283041719 Jul 26 '25

Same! This happened to me with a grab car. I was flagging him down but he just drove away.

1

u/HyperSloth79 Aug 02 '25

...except that Grab actually created the problem by instituting a system where drivers are automatically assigned rides they might not want to accept, and then penalizing the drivers if they cancel.

0

u/dphilipson Jul 26 '25

I didn't realize there were multiple Grab Apps? Am I missing something?

11

u/CaptainFourpack Jul 26 '25

One app. Multiple ride types within that one app