Too long; didn't read: This app is a complete waste of time and your phone's battery. Support is beyond useless.
I have been using this app for about a week and been logging trips (mostly my daily commute) with no issue or stated error within the app with the promise of accruing rewards points for maintaining a certain score (mine is 99 out of 100 over the last week, minimum 40 to accrue points per the app FAQ). Points are supposed to update Monday, Thursday, and Saturday before midnight. I have passed at least 3 checkpoints by which points should have accrued, and my balance remains at zero.
So, I reached out to support through the app asking why I hadn't received any points yet and this was our conversation:
- Support Team: I apologize that you are encountering problems with not all of your trips recording/points aren't updating. Often this is because the phone is in low battery or power saving mode, or location services are not currently enabled.
My response: A few problems here - I reviewed all the app permissions and confirmed that I had covered everything that Plymouth Rock was requesting. Also, the app shows that all of my trips are recorded without any kind of known error, and even if there are issues where "low battery mode" was a problem, I have trips recorded in the morning when I do my daily commute and my battery is still full for the day. I reiterated this to their support email and asked that they advise why I have not received any points updates and received the following response:
- Support Team: Points accrue Monday, Thursday, and Saturdays before midnight. Thank you!
I initiated this entire conversation on 2/14, my first trip was recorded on 2/9 and I had 4 recorded trips by 5 pm on 2/10. 2/9 should have recorded points by midnight as that was a Thursday, but if they were talking Wednesday into Thursday, then I still should have had a balance update on 2/9 into 2/10 or 2/10 into 2/11. Nothing. By this point support is being less than helpful. I responded per my original email, I have been using the app for about a week and I'm not receiving any points balances. Support is not helping and I asked to talk to someone else. Instead of someone else, I just get another email:
- Support Team: Upon reviewing your account I can see that trips that recorded on 2/10, 2/12 and 2/13 were all recorded while being in low battery mode and when that is the case those trips will not successfully record. The points you earn is not based on how many trips you take, but rather the overall score of your trips. There are instances where a trip here and there can be missed, but that doesn't affect the ability to earn points as it comes from the overall score.
So now this is where the problem is. The app itself will say that "low battery mode" is less than 10% battery life, but trips record shortly after a trip ends. It's not instant recording, but lets say within 15 minutes. On 2/10, 2/12, and 2/13, I had trips record in the app in the 8 am or 9 am hours when my battery is above 80% for the day. However, support will just claim that you were in low battery mode, so sorry, you get nothing. I allow that there's a possibility that data doesn't record until some arbitrary point during the day, such as midnight, and if your phone battery is low then it doesn't record, but the app doesn't say that anywhere. In fact, you will get a push notification at the time the app states it's recording your trips.
All of this is to say that this app is a huge waste of time and support is beyond useless. They will exclude your trips for arbitrary and unexplained reasons, and the only thing you end up doing is giving a ton of driving data to your insurance company and as a kicker, having an app that's always running and killing your phone's battery life. Don't bother with this. Just an exercise in frustration.
