3 Things Uber Kenya Needs To Improve On

I use Uber so much that my cabbie actually called me the other day to find out why I hadn’t called him in weeks. It’s convenient and pocket friendly. It’s incredibly exhausting to have to haggle with a cabbie and it’s great to know you’re being charged in a transparent manner. The announcement that they would now be accepting cash was an exciting one as payment via cards has been an issue for many. However, there are some things that make the Uber experience imperfect that I think they need to improve on.

1.The start aspect of a ride

The start of a ride is done by the driver. This can be convenient in the sense that you as the customer don’t need to deal with anything else after requesting a cab. However, it can be an issue when the driver starts the journey before you are actually in the cab, considering you are billed based on the time the ride takes. I have more than once received a message that I’m on my way when I am still exiting a building. There should be a way for me to confirm that I indeed am on my way before I begin to get billed.

2. The stop aspect of a ride

The stop ride is done by the driver as well. This means that the if there’s an issue with the driver’s phone, there’s going to be an issue with stopping a ride. A few days ago I used an Uber home. When we arrived, the driver’s phone was hanging so he couldn’t stop the ride. It was incredibly annoying and unsafe to have to sit in the car outside the gate at 11pm waiting for him to restart his phone. In the end, the app was still hanging and we had to estimate the price of the ride because I wasn’t about to sit there for another minute. Even worse, he didn’t stop the ride even after leaving so I received a notification that my ride cost Ksh 1100 and saw that he had traversed Nairobi on my account. Thankfully, I pay in cash because if it was on a card, I would have been charged for a ride I wasn’t on.

3. The lack of a customer service number

Seriously, what kind of a serious company operates without a telephone number? The fact that I have to email to have an issue addressed is ridiculous. Uber needs to invest in customer service.

I really hope Uber is able to sort these issues out soon as it makes no sense to use a service that is an inconvenience.