Curb - Request & Pay for Taxis 4+

Perfectly good if you know what you’re signing up for

I use Curb pretty often both in NYC and Chicago. In NYC, it’s great for getting a cab from Manhattan back to Brooklyn (or around Manhattan), less so for calling a cab to the outer boroughs to begin with. It’s almost always much cheaper than Uber/Lyft, and it’s nice to support taxi cabs, but you do have to not be in a big rush. The cabs often take longer to get to you (unless you’re in a very dense area of Manhattan). But all the cab drivers I’ve been matched with through the app are very accommodating and kind, and often more flexible than Uber/Lyft on some things (e.g. seating 4 passengers in a normal-sized car). I’ve never had any payment problems. In Chicago, it’s a lot more hit and miss, but when it works it’s great! I got a cab to O’Hare from Hyde Park at $30 less than Uber/Lyft were charging. I just knew to expect a ~15 min wait so I planned accordingly. Tl;dr almost always cheaper than Uber/Lyft, but definitely longer wait times & more spotty availability; plan accordingly and you’ll be fine.

Discriminatory

In NYC growing up, I never took yellow cabs because we knew they wouldn’t stop for us, or would refuse to drive us if we were going to Outer Boroughs, or would hike up meters on us. When ride apps got popular I was a huge fan, because drivers had to commit to the ride you requested to a static price you agreed to pay in advance. While Curb does manage to be cheaper than Uber or Lyft by a decent amount, the few times I’ve tried to use it on the past week have felt like dealing with yellow cab racism all over again.

These drivers will drop your ride if they see you going to brooklyn (my friend from the bronx has had the same problem), and twice now I’ve been on the phone with a driver using my work voice only for them to drive right past me and cancel when they physically see me. Twice now despite putting in my numbered address, drivers have followed the terrible Curb GPS, tried to drop me off in the wrong place late at night, and then argued with me about it. I’m coping w a back issue getting to and from work in Manhattan and trying to use this for the last two weeks has been depressing. Truly worth just sticking to Uber or Lyft, which obviously have their own problems in excess & ridiculous surges but with way less rider discrimination at the very least. At least I get in a car and get where I asked to go, which I think is the bare minimum to ask from a ride service.

Developer Response ,

We're sorry to hear of this driver's behavior. If you should wish to report an issue with a driver, please contact support@gocurb.com. Our team can point you to the department that regulates drivers in your city.

Confusing and extra charges? (DC)

I am form LA and I want to book an early pick up to airport at DC. Since I lost faith in scheduling services with Lyft and Uber, I searched online for ways to book taxi services like the old days. I found this app and the reviews are clearly amazing.

I tried to book my ride to DCA, and the estimated fare is shown to be slightly less than 25 dollars. They also provided extra guidance saying this included government fees and other things, but tip can be added at the end of the trip. So far so good. I tried to pay with Apple Pay and received an alert of me been charge ( a hold is placed on my credit card, not exactly a charge ) more than 29 dollars. I was quite surprised and looked back into the app. Apparently, they also charge a 3 dollar booking fee, which I never knew about, which was OK, but would have been better if they directly included it into the estimated fee when showing me the cost. But still, I can do my math, it only bumps up the cost to close to 28 dollars. It should have not been more than 29 dollars. I see trouble and I decided to cancel my booking and go back to try Lyft, which is more expensive.

I will see the ‘hold’ of 29+ dollars will be removed from my credit card in a couple of day. I surely hope there will be no cancellation fee since I literally just booked it for 10 seconds.

Developer Response ,

We're sorry to hear that there was some confusion. The $3 reservation fee that applies to advance bookings is mentioned in the booking process, and it is included in the Upfront Fare that you agree to at booking. The temporary hold that is placed at booking is not a charge, and it's typically slightly higher than the Upfront Fare. This hold is placed to secure a valid payment method in advance, and it is voided when your payment is processed at the end of your ride or if your ride is canceled.