Hassle Free Cabbie

courtesy of google images

Getting to work on commute can be pretty challenging for me due to limited modes of transportation where I live. I can only either take the jeep which would take hours before they arrive or via cab which you have to take by chance. I live in a village where mostly people own a private car and my sister would often drive me to work so supposedly commuting shouldn’t be one of my concerns except the car broke down last week plus my sister got sick (and she drives me to work, yeah I know right? I know how to drive except I haven’t acquired my license yet lol) so I was kind of stressed out how I could get to work, so I resorted to Grab. 

Grab which used to be Grab Taxi, the popular taxi service app you could download from Apple Store or Google Play to your compatible Smartphone which would allow you to book a cab and avoid the hassles fighting over with someone out on the street because you called the cab first and they literally grabbed it from you. Yeah, simple road altercations happens all the time because of a simple I called the cab first. With Grab, no one else can just grab the cab you booked through the app because it's exclusive to you and you alone. 

Grab e-receipt sent to your email...

Let me just share that I downloaded the app ages ago but didn't really get the chance to actually use it because I dismissed the thought of taking public transit due to time wasted waiting for a ride until one fine day my sissy got sick and I have no choice but commute because I don’t have any driver’s license yet. So this is what happened, I updated my Grab app the night before, tested it and made an attempt to book but went panicky because I didn’t know that once you hit the green ‘book’ button it will send a cab right away lol, my bad. The cab driver started calling me to probably ask where exactly he could pick me up so I turned off my phone not knowing what to do because I booked by accident. He sent me an sms after I switched my phone back and told me I shouldn’t book if I’m in a hurry. I was really sorry but I did not respond anymore. I mean, what am I to say right? That I’m just testing the app? Lesson learned: make sure to read the instructions before you book. I actually saw the option to dismiss the booking but I guess I was too sleepy that’s why I failed to do so. Seriously, I felt bad because of the effort he took just to pick up a passenger nevertheless it was an honest mistake. 

Going back, I decided to book a cab to take me to work the next day and it just took me less than five minutes to get a driver. I made sure I’m all set before I made my booking because I don’t have any idea how fast it would take for the cab to arrive. Booking a cab with Grab is pretty simple because all you have to have is a reliable internet connection and a smartphone. 

So, how do you use the Grab app? 

First, make sure you’re already connected to the internet before you open the app, set the pick up and drop off location, hit the neon green button that says ‘book’ and the app will search a driver for you. It’s pretty straightforward that it will allow you to see where the cab driver is already located (kinda like GPS), how long it would take for him to reach your place, the cost, the driver’s name and the plate number. Grab drivers are nice mind you because you have all of their details so they cannot do anything unlawful as it would be suicide for them. Why? you have their name, you could see their mobile number and of course the cab’s plate number. Not that I’m saying that all cab drivers here in the country are unscrupulous, it’s just that I’ve gotten used to getting overcharged by cab drivers in the past before Grab and Uber and came along. 

Overall, I love Grab’s service because it’s very hassle free and it would only take about ten to less than fifteen minutes to book using the app plus you will receive an e-receipt via email confirming the transaction. But then, I would suggest for you guys to try it yourself because the wait time for the cab to arrive may vary depending on your location and of course the traffic as usual. I have a friend at work who told me that Grab doesn’t really work for her because it takes roughly half an hour for the cab driver to arrive so don’t take my word for it really because it’s a case to case basis. All I can say is that so far it works for me. Let me also say that the availability of the cabbie drivers depend on the season as well. Say for instance last Friday, it was a little difficult for me to book a Grab cab because it’s the 15th, payday Friday so expect that a lot of people will take a cab since they have money to splurge. So far, I’ve availed Grab’s service for four consecutive days and it’s pretty consistent. I may be paying P25 more than what I should pay but what the heck, I could care less as I wouldn’t stress myself out waiting for a ride when there’s Grab.