Where's my Ryde? Driver reveals possible reasons behind long waiting times and cancellations

Ever wonder why it takes so long for your Ryde driver to reach you, or why drivers seem to cancel all the time? 

One driver may have inadvertently revealed some possible reasons why this keeps happening to passengers in a TikTok video posted on Wednesday (Aug 3) by a user who goes by the name Grace Koh. 

The minute-long video shows Koh in the midst of a conversation with her driver, where the latter didn't seem to be aware that Koh was filming. 

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@gracedotc0m/video/7127496076017339650?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1[/embed]

"Private Hire POV (point-of-view): Sharing why Ryde drivers always take so long (or canceling your ride) [sic]," Koh wrote in the video. 

In the clip, the driver said in Mandarin: "I could be on my way to picking you up, but the app might suddenly show me another job with a higher fare and nearer pick-up point, so I'll cancel your job and pick the other passenger. That's the bad part about Ryde." 

The man also revealed why some drivers don't head directly to their passengers' pick-up points. 

"[The drivers] will circle around the area to see if there are any jobs with a higher fare," he revealed. 

"It's these loopholes in the app that allows drivers to exploit the system, and it makes customers very unhappy." 

Some netizens in the comments section seemed to resonate with the driver's account, sharing that they've experienced something similar with their private-hire drivers.

They did not elaborate if their encounters were with those from Ryde.

One wrote that his Grab driver cancelled his ride after the app charged him $4, and did so despite having already arrived at the pick-up point.  

However, others pointed out that passengers too, tend to book rides across multiple ride-hailing platforms and cancel on drivers when a cheaper deal turns up. 

One even chimed in that the same thing also happens with food delivery apps. 

On Ryde's website, it says that drivers will receive a cancellation fee of $5.30 if a passenger cancels four minutes after matching. 

Drivers can also charge a waiting time fee of the same amount if he or she waits for more than four minutes for the passenger to arrive. Alternatively, they may also choose to cancel the ride. 

Over on Grab's website, passengers who cancel a ride after three minutes of being allocated a driver will be charged $4. In addition, the company also has policies in place to ensure that drivers do not cancel on passengers, whereby drivers who make fewer cancellations will qualify for incentives. 

Similarly, Gojek charges a $4 cancellation fee if a passenger cancels the ride five minutes after a driver is allocated. However, there is no mention of drivers canceling on passengers on their site. 

AsiaOne has reached out to Ryde for more information. 

It looks like drivers aren't the only ones finding loopholes in ride-sharing apps.

Just recently, TikTok user Mozzarellapapi shared a 'hack' that he found while booking a ride on the Grab app. 

The TikTok user discovered that when he attempted to book a ride to a pre-saved location in app, the cost was higher as compared to when he manually keyed in his destination. 

When AsiaOne reached out to Grab for comment, the ride-sharing company said it does not charge passengers higher fares for locations saved in the app and that the pick-up points next to each other may have different fares as they're located in different zones.

ALSO READ: 'I'm so scared': Woman says her private-hire driver dozed off at the wheel

claudiatan@asiaone.com