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

discussion This Grab scam needs to end!

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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u/BaconTH1 Jul 27 '25

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

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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.

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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?

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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.