Bad feeling on Uber and Grab in Vietnam.

I use always regular Taxi - no problem and the price same

It's called price surging.  Vinasun and Mai Linh have taken a hit since Uber and Grab joined the market (revenues are down 15-20%).  Regular taxis are still more expensive than Uber and Grab (especially with frequent promotions), but are convenient when they wait in good locations (as opposed to waiting and explaining to Uber driver, despite GPS).  Regular taxis have improved slightly as a result of the competition, but still many of the same problems old persist (rudeness, long detours, bad odors, lack of cleanliness etc.).  I take Uber a lot and regularly change times I take it.  If you have a routine schedule, it seems to surprisingly have price surging correlated to your use behavior patterns.

The difference between Uber customer service and Amazon customer service:
Uber: after waiting 20min for a ride where the initial ETA of the driver was 10min, and the current ETA was another 15min (!), with the driver driving away from me on a freeway, I cancelled the ride and got charged 15k. I disputed the charge, but was told firmly by the CS person that "this is Uber cancellation policy" and was given the link. Nothing in the system protects riders from egregiously wrong ETAs, FWIW.
Amazon: I order a small-value item with two-day shipping. AMZL delivers it to a wrong address (probably a neighbour). I complain to CS. I immediately get an apology, an undisputed full refund, a $20 gift card, and an offer to waive the cost of the highest-speed delivery option if I wanted to repurchase the item.
I'm no longer an Uber customer and am very much still an Amazon customer.

The same happened to me in Saigon back in April. I ordered a Uber motorbike and the dude was not even moving for more than 5 minutes, so I cancelled and got "fined". I guess a good way to make money, and you don't even need a vehicule, is to go to a local bar, just accept rides as a driver and keep drinking your beer. You'll make easy cash with cancellation fees!

Uber just hired a new CEO and the company is in huge financial trouble.  The company has never turned a profit and operates with investor (read speculator) money.  They operate below cost mostly to take market share away from taxis.  Interestingly, the US will not tolerate such activity for imports, calling it dumping.  I am surprised that Vietnam,  which still is more of a controlled economy than people like to think, allows Uber at all.  Uber is also under investigation in the US for violations of the law that forbids US companies from bribing foreign officials, which would not be hard to imagine has happened in Vietnam.  This article https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/opin … .html?_r=0 suggests among other things that the new CEO should cease all non-US operations except London.  Discussion of Uber in Vietnam could be moot sooner than later.

Uber is not much different than what Amazon was to libraries starting at the end of the 90s, or what Netflix was to video clubs. I really don't see this as dumping, it's not the same at all. Dumping is for *products* that would sell at below cost, not services. There are plenty of companies that make no money for years before they turn a profit. Tesla anyone?

WillyBaldy wrote:

Tesla anyone?

Tesla sells above market prices, not below.  Also dumping relates to economic activity generated in other countries, not within.  Granted, the concept of dumping does not usually relate to services because service companies inevitably have a local component.  None the less, don't be too surprised to see Uber Vietnam disappear because of a decision made in the US.  Of course it could resurface as a wholly Vietnamese company.

Uber could disappear but Grab will definitely stay, and they have very similar business models. Grab is just more Asia oriented.

You live in Vietnam, you get a motorbike.

gobot wrote:

You live in Vietnam, you get a motorbike.

We belong to the group of old folks who rely on bus, taxi, and our own feet.  The last time I rode my motorbike in Saigon, Nixon was in the White House.  Nowadays, I'm only brave enough to ride pillion, and spouse is not brave enough to deal with Saigon traffic while operating a two-wheeler.

THIGV wrote:

Uber just hired a new CEO and the company is in huge financial trouble.  The company has never turned a profit and operates with investor (read speculator) money.  They operate below cost mostly to take market share away from taxis.  Interestingly, the US will not tolerate such activity for imports, calling it dumping.  I am surprised that Vietnam,  which still is more of a controlled economy than people like to think, allows Uber at all.  Uber is also under investigation in the US for violations of the law that forbids US companies from bribing foreign officials, which would not be hard to imagine has happened in Vietnam.  This article https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/opin … .html?_r=0 suggests among other things that the new CEO should cease all non-US operations except London.  Discussion of Uber in Vietnam could be moot sooner than later.

Exactly.
Uber starts in new markets with below cost pricing.  At some point, it must raise prices significantly.
I still like it here in HCMC, but it will get more expensive.

I stopped using both because of the pricing scheme. Normal taxi's post their rates and never change because of "peak hours". Grab has tried to charge me peak hour increase when it was not a peak hour. Vinasun or any of the others are predictable, know the city etc. Half the time Grab and Uber drivers do not know the city well. I am speaking of HCMC. I am done with them.

Diazo wrote:

I stopped using both because of the pricing scheme. Normal taxi's post their rates and never change because of "peak hours". Grab has tried to charge me peak hour increase when it was not a peak hour. Vinasun or any of the others are predictable, know the city etc. Half the time Grab and Uber drivers do not know the city well. I am speaking of HCMC. I am done with them.

Yes I must admit that's one thing that really stressed me out back in April, the Uber and Grab motorbike drivers were constantly looking at their darn phone/GPS instead of looking at the roads... and in Saigon even when you look at the roads it's dangerous, so imagine when you're distracted by a GPS. At least the old xe om guys know their city very well, usually.

Hope Vinasun and Mai Linh, both company improve their service as much as they can, then people won't go away from them.

gobot wrote:

You live in Vietnam, you get a motorbike.

You are correct I am planning to buy motorbike sooner.

I am from Malaysia, Uber and Grab still the best choice back home. In Vietnam , is very bad for me to say this, they are opportunist , they really dont mind to earn a little bit more (whenever they can) from the foreigners coz majority of the foreigners dont mind coz of language barrier and sometimes a dollar or two doesnt hurt to avoid the troubles..... I am here in and out for the past four years.. nothing change much and we have teach more things and they are wiser and wiser.... All the best guys..

I do not think it is just a foreigner in VN thing. A lot of VNese use both of them. I suppose they could be just charging us foreigners more. To be sure they track you once you use them one time. You get the normal rate for a bit. Then it turns into a high rate due to peak hours ( at 2 am?)

I don't get it though, when Uber charges higher rates, called Surge, there is a big disclaimer *before* you order and you need to confirm you accept the modifier. When Uber is charging too much at peak hours, why just *not* use them and call a taxi instead? I don't understand why people call Surge a ripoff, it's your choice to use or not, there is no surprise... not that I'm trying to defend Uber.

Well if you were trying to defend Uber your doing a poor job of it. If course, they inform you they are trying to rip you off before hand. I think you are assuming that people are still booking tontrip. That has never been the case with me. I simply call Vinasun or hail one and go. The business model still sucks that is what is being said.

Haven't used Uber yet in Saigon, however, have tried to use Grab. Tried being the optimum word.

The drivers always go to the wrong place and that has happened EVERY time - how difficult is it to go where the pin is on the map? So aggravating

Ineed, they never know where you want to go. I had a motorbike one drive me all over South Vietnam. I knew he had no clue. Then he tried to barge me for the tour. I gave him 40 and went inside the restaurant . He threw a shit fit. They had to finally call the police.

You can easily contest the amount with Uber and Grab because the whole trip is recorded with GPS, so you can easily show that the driver did not use the fastest route. It's something that's very hard to prove with a standard taxi.

And I have never had the problem with a standard taxi. Just to much bother to try and give someone your businesss if you have to do that much work. Heck I would rather walk.

I suppose the only benefit of using Grab in this instance is that the price is pre determined isn't it?

1312j wrote:

I suppose the only benefit of using Grab in this instance is that the price is pre determined isn't it?

For Grab, so far, yes it is.... at least in my experience.
With Uber it's not.
I've been using both Uber and Grab alternatively  for the past one and half years.
I still use Grab (cars and bikes) just because so far they've stuck to their quoted fares.

Uber used to be the same until recently when at least on three occasions they charged me more on arrival at my destination.
Each time it was the driver's fault as he didn't know where to go and had to make a detour.
First couple of times I ignored it although I wasn't happy.
On the third occasion I confronted them and the driver, who could speak enough English, told me "Uber is NOT Grab .... their billing systems work differently".
He asked me to get in touch with the so-called customer care (on a questionable VN mobile number) for confirmation. I didn't as I knew it was just a ''show''.
That was the end of Uber for me.

With Grab, I haven't encountered this problem yet .... that doesn't mean they won't do it tomorrow though!

You can add a "note to driver" while booking a car/bike. That note is supposed to give them the direction to your pick-up point.
Ask someone to type it in Vietnamese and keep it saved, if you are going to use the same pick-up spot frequently.
I've to do the same as my apartment is inside an alley and most drivers can't locate it on their maps.

Even with that 'note', expect half of them won't still be able to locate you.
That's the way it is in VN, unfortunately!

Haven't even considered using the note for some reason, so will give that a go this evening and see if it makes a difference. Its ridiculous how much more cheaper Grab's are than the Vinasun taxis; we shall see later, fingers crossed!

WillyBaldy wrote:

Diazo wrote:

I stopped using both because of the pricing scheme. Normal taxi's post their rates and never change because of "peak hours". Grab has tried to charge me peak hour increase when it was not a peak hour. Vinasun or any of the others are predictable, know the city etc. Half the time Grab and Uber drivers do not know the city well. I am speaking of HCMC. I am done with them.

Yes I must admit that's one thing that really stressed me out back in April, the Uber and Grab motorbike drivers were constantly looking at their darn phone/GPS instead of looking at the roads... and in Saigon even when you look at the roads it's dangerous, so imagine when you're distracted by a GPS. At least the old xe om guys know their city very well, usually.

to reiterate your point, my wife got into an accident on a grab bike 2 days ago because the driver had one hand on the throttle, one hand and both eyes on his phone. he smashed into the bike in front of him, and another bike behind hit him. thank goodness my wife wasn't hurt.

villanova wrote:

to reiterate your point, my wife got into an accident on a grab bike 2 days ago because the driver had one hand on the throttle, one hand and both eyes on his phone. he smashed into the bike in front of him, and another bike behind hit him. thank goodness my wife wasn't hurt.

Oh gosh I'm glad she's all right. At least with Uber cars it's much safer even if the driver doesn't know where' she's going, someone might end up dead but it won't be you ;-)

If anyone hasn't already there's an app called UpCar which gives your price comparisons for your journey with Grab, Uber, VinaSun etc etc.

One thing I've noticed recently as has been mentioned above, nearly every time I try and get a grab now its always on 'surge' mode and VinaSun turns out cheaper.

Got a taxi which was yellow the other day, was the only one I've seen and it turned out ridiculously cheap, it was when the storm hit so Thursday I think? The journey took just under an hour and it was only 130k!

Was at the airport in HCM yesterday and trying to get a motorbike taxi to New World Hotel in D!. I asked several drivers, one being a Grab motorbike. I had not used their app and no longer do. But he plugged in my request to their database and told me the fare would be 87,000 VND. I make this trip twice a week. And unless raining always take a motorbike and always pay 50,000 VND to take the old fashioned motorbike taxi. That is 74% higher rate. Pretty hefty increase to ride on the back of a bike with a green helmet. So I am still a committed non- Grab/Uber user

Last night I had booked Grab a bike, my location was district seven the driver came to exactly the correct point and took me the end without any struggling. I was so happy with the driver, and I gave him extra 20K  just for good service.

I always pay little extra (5k - 10k) whenever the actual fare is low (12k-15k for bike and <=25k for car) and the driver is good /efficient or the ride is smooth.

As for the 'surge' issue, I did some observations in the past few weeks and now I believe it's genuine.

It's around 5:30 PM now. Peak hour for people taking off from their offices in Q1.

Check the fare from say Bitexco Tower, Q1 to  Gia Dinh Hospital, Q. Bình Thạnh.
You will see the fare is ''higher due to high demand".
Just reverse the search options, i.e. from GD hospital to bitexco, and the fare is normal.
So, that's it.

As I said before, so far I'm happy with Grab. There were cases when I was taken for a ride (the driver didn't know the way). .... but, none of them demanded any extra money.

It's Just that i use this simple technique  and it is very effective for me.
I usually go to office by 8-8-30 and i give a margin of 10-15 before booking Uber.
I usually book uber for my office and on a regular day it takes 100K VND.
I first type my office address and check the fare and leave the window open for 1 min and after that i go back and again type the same address and the fare goes down to 85K VND.
In comparison to Vinasun and Melin and Grab Uber is the best It's Cheap and Driver are well behaved also they maintain their cars well.

What I mean those companies need to understand they still have demands for this service but companies need to teach their drivers to maintain good attitudes, for excellent service no matter how much it cost but still people willing to pay that.

I've yet to use UEBER etc., but the other day I learned about "shared rides" offered by regular taxis. Prices varied but during those 10 minutes, several unsolicited offers were made (HA TRUNG to THANH HOA CITY, about 22 km). Ended up accepting a 25,000 d ride where the meter read 285,000 d. There were 2 other people in the car. A woman handed fruit to the driver - as tip, I presume, or was it barter?

I was worried and took photos during the ride. the driver was friendly & honest and handed me the proper change.

The bus would have been 18,000 d.

Doubt the driver or the cab company made even 1,000 d on this particular trip.
...
The local PHO shop lost my custom when one guy hiked up the charge by 25%, just for me as a foreigner (who had been eating there exclusively, ordering the same meal).

I'm still having a nightmare with them and VinaSun's prices are creeping up as well, is there a website or anything to hire a driver on a monthly basis as opposed to keep flagging taxis down etc?

I've bit the bullet now; grab bikes arrive no problem at all and its the best way to experience it all (as opposed to getting a bike yourself) and the best thing is they're cheaper and arguably faster as well. They're definitely faster at arriving because there's so many of them knocking about, not for the faint hearted, mind.

As I said previously my issue with Grab and Uber bike drivers was with them looking more at their GPS than the road itself, but I'm guessing that with time these young drivers will become more experimented and will know the roads more and more, thus having to rely less on their GPS.