Big_Show

Millhouse

Probably worth reminding everyone to be off the road by 5.30pm at the latest too.

scrubbedexpat141

I'm getting a cab to Mirdiff at 1830

DXBtoDOH

First day of Ramadan.

What are the odds of finding a taxi close to iftar time?

Good luck, Scamp.

scrubbedexpat141

Uber will be around. They always are.

Big_Show

They don't mind, they get paid more for the extra half hour it'll take to get you anywhere...

Meow

In case you are interested Careem treat their drivers better than Uber. That's from drivers who work for both companies.

Big_Show

I've heard that mentioned too. Think they get a higher cut of the fare or something.

mikewot

I went from JVT to 2nd October Street (Jumeira Rotana) for a brunch to celebrate Ramadan last night, 311, 66 and across trade centre roundabout. Roads were absolutely dead at 8pm.


Forgot to mention that Rotana were doing brunch for 159, if you have a Rotana card it took it down to 130 a head (6 of us), then they give you a voucher for half the money (380 Dhm we got) plus a scratch card for a free night in a Rotana when you spend over 600 Dhm. Crazy prices!!

Inselaffen

quality of Careem drivers has really dropped.

Meow

Really? That's not my experience and I invariably get upgraded even if I request an economy car.

Have you told the company whenever you have had a bad experience? They are very good at dealing with problems.

Millhouse

I use Careem extensively. Often a few times a week.

Their drivers have dropped in a quality a lot and I have complained to Careem. The basic problem is that they are growing quickly and so need lots of new drivers. Many times they don't know where they are going and have managed to break their GPS. One time, we even had to use mine.

In Saudi, I regularly get billed twice or double for a journey. They generally fix that though - although I'm currently 370dh out of pocket for a double billing at the moment.

All that said, I wouldn't use any other.

scrubbedexpat141

I used Careem before I used Uber but what I prefer about Uber is the ability to book for now, you just go on 10mins before you need one and you'll get one. Never struggled.

The downside - having to book and then hold your phone because you KNOW they are going to phone and ask where you are, despite accurately adjusting your pin location and them having the ability to stop and look at the phone with the map of where you are on it.

Otherwise - I have had one or two take the piss with silly routes, but a one-star rating and an email to Uber gets that sorted with some credit added.

Use them at least twice a week.

If Careem are good though, I might try them again.

Big_Show

I tend to use Careem if I need a taxi at a very specific time and I don't want to gamble on there being an Uber in the area at the time.

All other times I use Uber though, as it's just a lot easier.

It came as a bit of a surprise when I found out that the drivers rate the customers too, but it makes sense I suppose. If someone gets a reputation for being a dick to all his drivers, they'll stop taking those jobs. Raises the possibility of "revenge ratings" though...

norsk

Careem have added a Now option recently (don't know when) but the key selling point for me is they don't have the ridiculous surge pricing.

It seems a lot of the drivers actually work for both Careem and Uber. A couple of times I have been assigned a driver and when I watch them on the app I can see them driving in the opposite direction, stopping for ages and then coming back to get me. My guess is that when they are approaching a drop-off they will accept a new job on the other provider rather than having to risk any idle time between jobs.

On one hand I get why the drivers do this, but on the other hand it is bloody annoying if you are in a rush as you could be left waiting for a lot longer than you should have to...

Careem will automatically add credit to your account if the driver takes too long which is cool though.