Flywheel - The Taxi App

The idea of being able to order a Taxi ahead of time and know that I can rely on it to be there early in the morning for my airport ride is fantastic. And it really is great…when the app actually works. This app is so full of bugs that it’s sometimes completely unusable for ride scheduling. Some days I can’t even enter a pickup address because the map functionality doesn’t work. I learned the hard way to NEVER open the payments tab in the app before arriving at my destination because the app will erroneously start charging my card. Simply opening the payments page triggers a charge before the ride is even over. There is no option to see what will be charged to the card on file in advance or to confirm the payment. I had one ride for which I had two separate charges get automatically applied to my card and then the driver announced at the end of the ride that he didn’t accept app payments (drivers are not actually allowed to do this) and I had to pay him with my card again! I ended up paying over $100 for a 15 minute ride to the airport and I had to reach out to customer support to get refunded for the two extra charges.

The app has been very convenient in the past but four out of the last seven times I’ve used the app, the GPS shows the driver is a block away but the app says the taxi has arrived. When I tried repeatedly to call the driver by tapping the phone icon, an automated message says I don’t have any active orders, then says I’m being connected to customer service, then the call disconnects. The only thing to do is to run the block to try to catch the driver before he/she leaves but I live on a very steep hill so it’s not easy. Or cancel and try again but usually the same driver responds so same problem again, plus Flywheel charges a cancellation fee which you then have to deal with customer support about through email. But still no ride! The problem is the drivers weren’t looking closely at their GPS AND not paying close attention to the address. I live on xxx Terrace and the drivers go to xxx Avenue. When the drivers blamed me for not calling them, I demonstrated what happens when I tried to call — the message saying no active order plays and their phones don’t ring. Still doesn’t make me not 20 minutes late to my destination. Sure, it’s driver error but the ability to call or otherwise alert the driver needs to be fixed in the app and/or infrastructure and there should be an option to reach Flywheel customer service right at the time you’re frantically trying to get another taxi because the driver’s not at your address and you can’t call them. I’ve avoided Lyft and Uber for various reasons but recent problems with Flywheel are making me change my mind.

When I first started using Flywheel it was great: I never waited more than 10 minutes for a cab the average time was 5 minutes. Five stars all the way! Most of the time that is still true. However, recently wait times have gotten longer and it is clear that some drivers are trying to game the system; instead, they are just shooting themselves and all their cab driving comrades in the foot. I hear drivers complain bitterly about having to compete with Uber. Yet I have drivers regularly cancel on me after making me wait. I give good tips; so that is not a likely factor. Recently my appointed driver actually pulled over right in front of me and picked up a guy then canceled on me even though I was clearly signaling that I was his ride (the app has a flashing light for this purpose). My name is very female, so there should have been no confusion about the gender of the person being picked up. I hope that driver got a puny tip for his trouble: he is the kind of driver that makes it hard for other cab drivers to make a living- the reason for the Uber competition.