I haven’t always had happy times in taxis. You know the story: grumpy drivers, confused stabbing at the sat-nav, nose-bleed charges for a ride from the airport (and why are Auckland cabs so expensive compared to their unionised brethren in Sydney?).
A new app, Zoomy, promises to make life easier for passengers and drivers.
A number of the guys behind it were (or are) also involved in GrabOne – the daily deal site that did a great job of launching a GroupOn knock-off before GroupOn-proper arrive in NZ (with leading market share, fast-growing revenue, and a big payday for its found, if slim profits).
Here, there’s a similar play. Taxi-ordering apps are already all-the-rage in the US (notably Uber) and are now hitting Australia. Zoomy is angling for first-mover advantage here.
I gave Zoomy a whirl on Monday.
It’s available as a free iOS or Android app, and it’s free to use.
The interface is smart, simple and user-friendly.
Zoomy uses GPS to locate you on a map – and it correctly pinned me outside 10 Britomart Place in the Auckland CBD (about 30 seconds walk from a rank of Corporate Cabs – one of the participating companies along with Green Cabs, Budget Taxis and Goldline in Auckland. A number of Wellington firms have also signed up).
You can tap icons on a map showing nearby taxis, and see who the companies and drivers are, and how previous customers have rated them.
You simply tap on a taxi to order it (the interface is something of an homage to Uber, if you’re familiar with it. As with GrabOne and GroupOn, I guess there are only so many ways to skin a cat).
It did just that, and Zoomy told me my cab was ordered and five minutes away.
I immediately received a phone call from a Zoomy staffer (you give them your cell during the sign-up process).
He asked if I had meant to order a taxi.
He explained a lot of people had downloaded the app, then ordered a taxi while around with it.
I assured him it was a genuine order.
Next, the taxi driver of the cab I’d ordered phoned me.
Was it a genuine order, he asked. Yup, I replied.
As I hung up, a pop-up message appeared saying my order had been cancelled (Zoomy later emailed me to say this was a bug. Forgivable, any new service will have a few gremlins).
I ordered another cab, which arrived in half a minute.
The driver said he’d few problems with Zoomy since it launched Nov 6 (this was Nov 11).
I also used Zoomy on my return trip, and it worked fast and fine. I tapped the screen to give the driver a five-star rating.
A few minutes later I received a receipt by email for a $1 Zoomy payment. I initially thought this was a hither-to undisclosed fee. Zoomy tech support emailed to say it was a receipt for the full fare (which I paid by credit card); the driver must have input the wrong amount into the app.
From December, Zoomy will commercialise its service. It will stay free for passengers, but taxi drivers will be paid a small charge per passenger. The two drivers I spoke to said they would be happy for Zoomy to take a small cut.
Cofounder James Fisk (formerly consumer sales manager at Compass Communications) tells NBR that around 1500 drivers work for partner taxi companies. When I spoke to him earlier this week, around 400 had downloaded the app.
I can see more downloading it, for the blunt, simple reason it’ll help them get more fares.
I’ll keep using Zoomy.
It won't be everyone's bag - especially companies that use services like TaxiCharge's new online system that lets them lock down how much money each employee spends on cabs, or how many trips they take.
But I liked the way Zoomy put me in control. You choose which cab to hail, and you can choose the time of the pickup and the size of the vehicle etc without the hassle of calling a human.
And it’s easy to see how passengers concerned about safety, especially after dark, will like the pinpoint control over pickup, and selecting a driver – plus the fact the driver’s name and license number is on your smartphone (on the flipside, they see who you are too).
There are a couple of missing elements, such as the ability to use a social sign on, or to pay from within the app. Mr Fisk says watch for upgrades from next month.
And it'sll be interesting once those passenger ratings reach a critical mass.
Witness the recent tweet from Xero boss Rod Drury in San Francisco, where a driver - eager for a good Uber rating - offered him an iPhone charge, among other frills:
Ratings systems work well. So far offered chocolate, chewing gum and an iPhone charge pic.twitter.com/srMyyA50eV
— Rod Drury (@roddrury) November 7, 2013
Zoomy investors include cofounders James Fisk and Neil MacDonald, former GrabOne chief marketing officer Campbell Brown and Vaughan Magnusson, who replaced departing founder Shane Bradley as GrabOne CEO.
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Mixed adventures with the GrabOne guys’ new taxi app
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