Netizens Perplexed After TikToker Exposes Grab Charging Extra For Same Destination
TikTok user mozarellapapi (Eddie) discovered a puzzling “glitch” on the Grab app. He found that booking prices for a destination had a significant difference between manually entering its address and using a saved location on the app even though they were the same place.
His video went viral with over 168k views and quite a heated debate in the comments section that called out Grab for their weird booking prices.
According to Eddie, his friend posted a screenshot of how the Grab app overcharged her for booking a trip to her saved work location. When she manually typed in the same address, the fare was $5 cheaper.
He then conducted an experiment to see if it was true.
He found a $7 difference between booking a ride to his saved work location at 27 Ann Siang Road and manually typing out the address, 28 Ann Siang Road. Despite the one number difference, it is only one minute apart according to Google maps and the drop off point for both locations is the same.
Our Plan B reporter decided to test out the theory and true enough, there was a price difference between two locations that were just a minute away from each other. However, instead of a saved work location, the ride was booked from Funan Mall to a saved home location on the Grab app.
Despite being just a short walk away from each other, there was a $4 difference in fares.
Some commentators tried their own experiments, reporting similar results with price differences ranging from $6-$13.
But there were also sceptics who thought that the price hike was simply due to surge timings.
Some offered tips for circumventing the issue by checking different drop off points near the intended destination.
Eddie clarified in the comments that he was not trying to condemn Grab but simply to remind people to check for price differences so they can save some money.
At the time of writing, Grab has yet to address the issue. It could just be a technical glitch due to surge price timings but the price difference is rather jarring. It is a good idea to check the different prices on various apps before making a booking especially during times of inflation now where every cent matters.
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