George Yang, Author at Goody Feed

It’s common for software to have glitches. In fact, if you just go through the Google Play Store or App Store, you can find many glitchy apps. If not, just read the reviews of apps that have bad reviews, and you’ll understand. After all, all it takes is just a lack of a key in the code, and the entire software might collapse: or even better, turn all rides to mere $6 even it’s supposed to be $26. Well, that was exactly what happened yesterday. Other countries have it better (or worse, depending on how you look at it), but let’s start with the very beginning. What Happened? According to netizens and reports, the glitch started at around 3:25 p.m. yesterday (25 October 2018). All riders and drivers see that from that time onwards, every JustGrab trip would be $6 regardless of the distance. The system was back to normal after about an hour, though some reported that the “real normal” started from about 7:00 p.m. GrabHitch was Affected Too It’s not just the usual Grab service that experienced the glitch; reports indicated that GrabHitch, Grab’s carpooling function, was also affected. The amount was fixed at $5 regardless of distance. Oh, wells. At least it’s $1 cheaper #justsaying According to Mothership.SG, JustGrab and GrabShare have the same price of $6, GrabFamily is at $8, GrabHitch (as mentioned) is at $5, GrabFamily with baby seat is at $11 and GrabAssist is at $7. Like a lelong sale seh. But if you think you’ve got a deal, think again. Because… Drivers Are Cancelling or Not Accepting Rides Let me ask you: would you spend twelve hours queuing to buy a BTS concert ticket for $3, and sell it to a BTS fan for $1? No? Well, same goes for the drivers. At $6 a ride, they’re making a loss, so some of them have been cancelling rides or not accepting them. Many of them just go offline and lepak one corner. It’s like being forced to take unpaid leave. So yeah, I wasn’t out there but I guess it’s chaos. #FirstWorldProblem The Only Ride Not Affected: Taxi You do know that you can book a taxi from Grab, don’t you? Comfort has their own app, so when you book one from the Grab app, you’ll get a non-Comfort taxi. For some reason, the fares for taxi (that is, if you opt for Standard Taxi, not JustGrab that finds both GrabCars and taxis), the fare would be normal. Traditions still win #justsaying It’s not Just in Singapore According to reports, users in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia face the same issue. Over in Malaysia, prices were fixed at RM5, and it occurred at the same time as Singapore. RM5 is SGD$1.66 leh. Imagine travelling from JB to KL for $1.66, though I don’t think any sane driver would accept that job. Glitch Allows People to Book Trips to Mars Okay, maybe not to Mars, but the glitch allows users to book a trip to any part of the world for $6. If only I had known about this earlier, I’d have tried to book a Grab to Paris. I just tried checking how long it would take and here’s what I get: Image: Google Maps But it’s just $6 leh. Let’s quote our boss’s famous words: “I don’t care how you do it, just get it done for $6.” Wise words. Hotline was Ponded—I mean, Flooded—So Grab Drivers Couldn’t Get Answers I think it’s clear by now: when there’s an outage (or in this case, a glitch), the best way to know what’s happening is to look for Google and not the company involved. After all, remember how I knew about Singtel’s outage: I was about to throw away my phone, you know. Grab Has Responded Well, given that it’s a tech company, there can only be one response: it is a glitch, primarily “in the computation of fares”. But how about those people who have successfully booked a $6 ride? What if their rides are supposed to be $16? Riders Who Took the $6 Ride Won’t Need to Top Up for the Wrong Fare According to Grab, “For passengers, Grab will honour fares for all rides completed during this time.” In other words, it’s really a steal for you (if you managed to Grab the deal, that is). Then again, how about the poor driver who has to fetch you from Jurong to Changi for $6? Drivers Would Receive the Correct Fares, and CR and AR Won’t Be Taken to Account During Glitch Period So, maybe the ride from Jurong to Changi is $30, but you as a driver fetched someone and got the $6 fare. No worries: Grab would compensate you to the normal amount, so you won’t be making a loss. How about those drivers who cancelled or didn’t accept their jobs? Each driver has a cancellation rate (CR) and acceptance rate (AR), and they need to keep it at a certain rate for their incentives. During the glitch period, if they cancelled or didn’t accept jobs, those actions won’t be taken account into their overall CR and AR. So yeah, you guys are safe even if you cancel ten jobs. Now, I don’t know about you, but this goes to show us this simple fact again: we’re really too dependent on technology. I wonder what’ll happen if one day, the whole Internet is down for one minute. We might finally remember what life is.

George Yang

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