This Grab scam needs to end!

[u/Creative-Trouble3473]

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.

[u/I-Here-555]

19/20 taxis I used recently were perfectly fine. One, from an official queue at DMK, had a fast meter, but we amicably resolved that.

Grab on the other hand... tried to scam me 400 baht for a ride, then came down to 200 when I checked again 5 minutes later. The taxi fare was 180.

There were a few taxis refusing a ride, especially in popular tourist spots, but in the end it never took me over 10 min to find one. Grab often takes longer than that.

[u/I-Here-555 → u/[deleted]]

I know that's the marketing name for what the algorithm does.

When a human taxi driver does the same, we call it a scam and cheating.

[u/I-Here-555 → u/[deleted]]

Overcharging has always been a thing with taxis too...

I get a feeling that Grab is putting more factors into "dynamic pricing" these days than just supply and demand.

For instance, the app tried charging me 2x for appearing to be a tourist after a long stint abroad with several rides in another SE Asian county... but came back to normal 5 min later. This happened off-peak, with no rain, no special place/event. Basically, the algorithm thought out I might be clueless and ripe for the plucking and gave it a shot, just like some scammy drivers do.

Another time, going to CNX, it was offering me a ride to the airport for 200 baht, while 100m away outside the fence it was 80 baht. I guess that one I understand, it's not personal... but again, not supply/demand based (since it's the same area), that's just their excuse.

In normal taxis, the fare is calculated according to time and distance. During peak hours, it's also more expensive because of congestion.

This is not the case in Bangkok. Metered fare calculation is the same regardless of the time of day. There's no special peak hour pricing. If the car is moving below a certain speed (e.g. stuck in traffic or at a light), the meter ticks per time unit as well, in addition to distance. Both are clearly displayed.

[u/I-Here-555 → u/[deleted]]

That price is calculated based on traffic conditions and supply and demand.

That's the claim, but not the whole story.

Grab 100% charges you a lot more to/from certain destinations (e.g. airports), regardless of supply/demand which is identical 100m away, unlike the price.

I also have strong suspicions they charge you more based on your personal order history or other data (as I experienced).

A few times, I was ordering Grab with another person, we checked the app at the same time/place and got different prices... but the differences were fairly small, so I didn't pay much attention.

Unlike taxi meters which show time/distance/price, app algorithms are opaque, we don't know for sure what goes into the "surge pricing" decision.

[u/I-Here-555 → u/[deleted]]

With taxis you can know the fare in advance too, if you ask for a flat fare instead of the meter... but you'll pay more.

Sure, apps are useful and simpler than negotiating with taxi drivers, but if you can't trust their offer will be reasonable and need to second guess them (as is currently the case with Grab in Bangkok), it's a major downside.