Curb - Request & Pay for Taxis Reviews

by Doom Owl

I was trying to go back to using a taxi instead of Uber or Lyft and my first experience was extremely off - putting and unpleasant.

My ride arrived , I confirmed it was my driver, and suddenly as I got in the car, the driver seemed to have disconnected the ride from Curb . So, there goes my ride fare estimate, my $5 credit I was planning to use, and now I needed to re-tell him where I was going. Well , we were heading to the destination, his driving sucked and I had to use a panic attack app to breathe properly since so many things were making me uncomfortable at this point. I kept checking Curb to see if my ride was being tracked, NOPE. I watched the meter amount go up and up.

He asked again where I was going and proceeded to take a turn in the wrong direction where we ended up unnecessarily in heavy traffic. I was so stressed out, I had to call the office where I had the appointment to tell them I’d be late, and I kept saying I’ll get out and walk. He disagreed that we were going the wrong way but we definitely were. Nearly in tears, I arrive at my appointment and the only silver lining is that the charges did not appear on my account since the driver disconnected the ride. He also told me I couldn’t have walked because it’s not good for me. That made no sense. Never again. As they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

by Peachesxcream

Curb is just a big NO. I tried to get a ride from Chicago IL to Harvey IL *which is right outside the city*. I made an account as instructed and proceeded to book my ride. Long story short, after adding the pickup and drop off location along with my card, I tried to hit *book ride* and it wouldn’t let me. The book ride option was grey. I don’t know if that’s normal but after 30 minutes of me getting irritated and logging in and out, I was told that my account was disabled or something. Never booked a ride and I never canceled. Not sure but ever since yesterday April 17th at 3pm, I have been unable to log into my account. I contacted customer support so I’m hoping they’ll hurry up. Curb says it services Chicago but I don’t know if it meant Chicago land area as well. I figured that would’ve been fine, since taxis go EVERYWHERE. Well I thought they did. Guess not. I honestly just want to delete my account. If I’m not able to book rides, then I don’t want to just have my info in this apps hands.

by Donnargny

Please don’t use Curb go to Uber or Lyft yes this app might show cheaper but they are going to charge you twice ones on Curb and ones you get in the driver try blocking the meter with his hand and said oh this nothing this for us only I didn’t understand what he was saying then he press a button on that meter thing and boost up the price and at the end of the ride were it says thanks for using this app car service and shows you how much your fare is he put his hand in the way and try making me look another way saying oh this is a nice house making me take my eyes off the screen that’s on the back of the driver seat then at the end they charge your card you have on file in Curb without your say so then at the end of the ride they log you out of Curb an it’s impossible to reach customer service I will never never again use Curb

by JD_jrlong

I tried Curb to schedule a taxi like you do with Uber or Lyft. Once for international travel and another time for domestic travel. Both times, leading up to my ride, it states, your ride will be here in X minutes. But then when my window of departure comes it says, requesting your ride. We’re looking for the nearest driver. When you used to call and schedule a taxi, the taxi just came at the time you wanted. I thought this was going to be similar, but I have been sadly mistaken twice and resorted to other ride-share apps like Uber or Lyft. When I live further away from a city center, these requested rides should just be scheduled with someone. I want to support regular taxi drivers, but I can’t if they app never connects me to a driver. Curb is useful when I get in a taxi that has it from the airport or whatever. But I have not found it useful otherwise. Will not try it again for on my way somewhere.

by MotleeKruez

I’m on a week vacation in NYC. I took my elderly grandmother who doesn’t get around well & my mother to see my equally elderly great aunt yesterday. Curb says to call for a larger car, so I did. The customer service rep didn’t know what I was talking about, I had to order a car & wasn’t able to confirm the charge THEY billed MY credit card. Despite this, we got there. When we left, I cancelled a ride I requested because it took awhile to connect to a driver & I had to get on an elevator. By the time I got out of the elevator, I was logged out of Curb & it LOCKED ME OUT after ONE typo of my password. I called customer service, they wouldn’t help me because I had to send an email. I sent an email. Nothing. Not even an auto response. Whatever they did locked me out of using my credit card completely & for ANY car service online. What should have been a 30 min taxi ride took 3+ hours to get my grandma home.

I sent another email this morning advising I will make sure to review this appropriately. I finally got an auto response this afternoon they are busy & will get back to me when they can.

Curb works, but if you have ANY 👏🏽 TROUBLE 👏🏽 AT 👏🏽 ALL👏🏽 there is NO 👏🏽 SUPPORT 👏🏽 to help you in a strange city with an elderly grandmother. I will risk not finding a taxi to hail the old fashioned way to get to the airport before I ever use this service again.

NO THANK YOU. 😡

by EricRossAllen

AVOID this app! I do NOT recommend using the this app TAXI APP. Yes, it is convenient, and seemingly brings the grumpy taxi-cab world up into the 2000s on par with an Uber pay-by-smartphone experience. But twice in recent months, Curb has not worked when I’ve gotten out of taxis in both NYC and Miami. The this app app stalled and wouldn’t confirm the transaction -- both cabbies said it was a cell phone connectivity issue and asked to be paid in cash. Cabbies said “since I don’t have a connection you can’t pay by regular credit card either.” In both cases, I paid cash, and in both cases, the this app app later charged my card for the completed ride, meaning I paid twice for each fare. There is no customer service feature at this app that handles these issues in any way. In both cases, I’ve had to dispute the charge with American Express, who also said they received no response from their inquiry to this app and just refunded my disputed money to avoid further hassle. AVOID this app!

by Orgildinho

I usually use Uber or Lyft, but I decided to get a taxi because of the professionalism. So I download Curb , called a taxi first time through it. Curb charged me $20 before I call the taxi, I said ok, then app called the nearest taxi but the taxi that I called wasn’t moving on the map. I waited and waited then I had to cancel it. I tried it again this time they charged another $20. I was surprised, but it is a program it is not perfect, so I thought ok maybe I’m eligible to use it for another rides. This time the taxi came, and the driver took me the destination. When I tried to get off the taxi the driver told me “your payment didn’t go through” I said “wait, Curb already charged me twice $20, and it is only $11 ride!” so when I checked the phone I was already signed off, then I couldn’t sign back in. I had to pay cash to the driver.
Then I emailed to their customer service, they replied me we will fix the problem. I still couldn’t sign in after three days so I replied them I need refund, now they don’t reply me.

by PDC Larry

I’ve used Curb 3 times. A day or two after each use fraudulent transactions appeared on the registered credit card. That’s 3 times I’ve had to cancel the card, replace it, and change the dozen or so automatic monthly charges against the card. A real pain. Fortunately the card issuer caught all of the fraud, so I didn’t have any losses other than my time. To quote Auric Goldfinger, “once is happenstance, twice coincidence, third time is enemy action”. These are the only 3 times I have had fraudulent charges on this card. Coincidence? Your guess is as good as mine. But I’m not trying for a fourth.

UPDATE:
this app contacted me and suggested it was their preauthorizations I was seeing. As my card issuer cancelled the card because of fraudulent transactions from California and Mexico that is not the answer. But the bottom line - even if the card fraud is a coincidence, this app offers nothing that I can’t get from Uber or Lyft in summoning a cab, charges an additional fee, and is no more convenient than Apple Pay which is completely secure.

by Gaflick_57

I’ve updated this review “slightly” after finding the developer’s response below. Their response is TOTALLY off base. You’d have to be an idiot to think it’s meaningful. A support email FINALLY was received on Monday, after I was back home in Chicago, but I‘d tried to use Curb in Austin, TX Saturday night and was left totally hanging.

My experience echoes several other critical reviews. On attempting to set up my account, I could not finish selection of my Visa card that was checked with a blue check mark. Curb simply froze. Notes on Curb update of a couple days ago supposedly fixed this bug!

After quitting Curb and re-entering my user info, I requested a cab, but the map jumped as I was verifying pickup address, so I had to cancel that ride. On rebooking, Curb couldn’t find a driver nearby and timed out. Then my account was “temporarily” frozen. I wrote to support, which was of absolutely no real-time help.

So here I was in an unfamiliar city during a driving rainstorm, with a $20 temporary authorization on my Visa, and frozen out of Curb . I decided to wait-out the downpour and eventually was able to walk back to my hotel.

After back in my room and still locked out of Curb with no effective support response, I wrote back to them: “I don’t normally communicate with people in the following manner; however, as far as I’m concerned, you all can suffer a miserable torment burning in hell for eternity!”

by Jen VW

I had been using this app for a while in NYC, felt it was convenient outside of the fact that it hits your account for $20 every time you use it (then credits it back usually within a day). But then one day last month I attempted to use it and Curb wouldn’t load by the time the trip was over, so I paid with cash. Then I got a receipt for someone else’s $50 cab ride!!! Made perfect sense what had happened, since the pickup point was steps from where I’d been dropped off...Curb had loaded in time to pay for the next ride in that cab.

This is a tech error that should not be allowed. But to make matters worse, the this app service person who contacted me after I disputed the charge with my bank (I wasn’t about to argue with someone there BEFORE retrieving my stolen money) was skeptical about the story and asked if I was certain I hadn’t taken that trip. And my account was suspended, as if I wanted to use that crappy service again. So, in summary, flawed tech could take your money and you’ll have to deal with rude customer care people if you want it back. Just Apple Pay.

by Tiffany Wilczewski

Last night my friends and I decided to just get in a taxi (a this app taxi) instead of calling a Lyft to go from Fremont Street to the Wyndham by The Stripe. NEVER AGAIN! I will walk back before I get in a this app taxi. The driver had no clue where he was going, went the wrong way for at least $10 worth of the ride (got on 15 going the wrong way!).... till someone in my party pulled up a map with directions as he asked us what exit!!! When he realized he didn’t know where we were going he tried to get directions (at least that’s my assumption) while he was driving and dropped his cell phone and proceeded to pick it up WHILE still driving!!!! I lost count of the number of beeps his lane crosser made as he drifted in and out of the lane he was in. He was constantly speeding then suddenly slowing down which made a very jerky ride! I don’t get car sick.... and he almost made me toss my cookies! When confronted at the end of the ride about the going the wrong way he made excuses and insisted on the metered rate. $41 for the worst ride ever! I will take my business back to Lyft, they at least know where they are going, and don’t rip you off!

by JessNicoleThig

Curb works great and I’m so happy to have the opportunity to support taxi drivers overall. However, I’ve now had several experiences with drivers that went the wrong way or got lost and rudely blamed me for it even though I had entered my destination correctly. Overall the drivers are angry and rude. Last week I had a driver ask me when my baby was due pointed to my belly (for context I am a 30 year old woman who weighs 125 pounds…the driver was clearly making a very unwelcome comment about the form fitting dress I was wearing) Today I was late due to a driver cancelling my ride as I was walking up to the cab because he saw that a gentleman next to me was headed to the airport and he could make more money off of that ride. When I pointed out that I had already booked the taxi and was there first he responded quite rudely and refused to drive me, even though the gentleman going to the airport also said I should have the taxi because I was there first. It’s nice to have immediate access to a cab by using this service but it always seems to come at the price of having to deal with awful interactions with drivers.

by Gwen342

As I’m sure many people have been experiencing, Uber and Lyft ride fares are through the roof! What used to be a $10 or less ride is now at least double that. I downloaded this app hopeful that it might offer more reasonable ride fares.

I live in Chicago and tried to request a ride on a Saturday night for my boyfriend and I. We were going about a mile and a half back home — walkable, but we definitely would have preferred a ride given it was 11pm. I tried requesting a this app ride and it wouldn’t confirm after a couple minutes so I canceled. I tried again, no confirmation again, canceled again. Frustrated, we walked home instead of paying the $30 Uber. I then received an automated phone call about 30 minutes later from this app telling me there were no drivers (which I had gleaned after canceling twice).

I tried emailing this app about my poor experience and didn’t receive any response. this app, you can have very competitive prices, but don’t offer a driving service if you don’t have drivers available. I live in a major city and was requesting a ride on a Saturday night when there should be lots of drivers available.

by LindsayLu2

So I have used Curb twice. Neither time did it accurately locate me. The first time, Curb told me my driver was 8 minutes away. Then it froze. I called my driver (not 8 minutes later) to tell him that Curb had incorrectly located me, and he told me he had already arrived. I had hit “cancel” while Curb was frozen not realizing that it would cancel the ride, particularly without any kind of “are you sure you want to cancel?” warning. Then I figured, well I’m standing right next to the taxi. If I request the ride again, it will pair me with this driver. Nope. It kept giving me people 5, 8, etc. minutes away. WHY?! Then Curb disabled my account because I canceled those rides (seconds after requesting them). My partner then paired his to the taxi, but I was trying to use a promo, which, it turns out, is not allowed with the pair function. The only way to re-enable the account is to send an email (no number to call). And they only work business hours. So no way to fix it.
I’d like to see yellow cabs have a good app, but this is definitely nowhere near an app like Lyft or Uber.

by InvestrRdr

this app saves time when it’s working as it’s supposed to; I like having my credit card stored so I use it to arrange payment when I get in the taxi and then don’t have to spend the extra time at the end of the trip—I can just exit the taxi when it stops, though I usually have to wait an extra 30 seconds for the payment to process, which is irksome. BUT too often I get in the cab, open Curb , and instead of seeing the “Pair and Pay” button I get a screen saying “No taxis available “ and “schedule a pickup” and have to wait until Curb decides to show the Pair & Pay button, which is annoying. There’s no menu option to get the Pair & Pay option; I just have to wait and stare at the screen. This can’t be a difficult fix, so please do it! Also, why don’t the drivers seem to realize when I’ve used this app to pay without my telling them?

by Mkoggg

I’ve been loving Curb compared to Uber lately as the rates are so much more reasonable and don’t seem to fluctuate near as much as they do on other apps. However, I recently had a bad experience with a driver who was acting inappropriately toward me. He kept asking me on a date despite my repeated rejections and then was asking invasive questions about what time my boyfriend and I leave and come home from work. It was beyond unsettling. When reported to this app, I was informed that the drivers are not affiliated with, employed or controlled by this app and that I should contact another entity. That’s all fine and well and I’ll do what’s needed but I’m absolutely thinking twice now about taking this app rides alone. I know this can happen while getting into any car you’re unfamiliar with, but the fact that this app can’t hold the drivers responsible for their actions just doesn’t seem safe to me and won’t be worth the risk for me personally. The message from support was sloppily written and there really wasn’t any support provided. Would rather pay more for quality from Uber.

by Bob601 G.

Used app to book an early pickup from LaGuardia. Driver spoke limited English. He took me to a destination that was about a mile or so away from airport. He said that was what destination was and I said no it’s airport. His English was weak so we had small communication issue but he took me to airport and problem was fixed. Not sure why his end showed different destination. I would recommend that customers submit final destination in “ driver notes” section. I put my phone number and pickup location there (but not destination) and he did call when he was at hotel and I appreciated that. I would definitely use app again but suggest that customers put pickup area ( hotel in my case), your phone number, and final destination just to double verify. If you have a driver with limited English as I did it may save you a miscommunication problem on pick ups and drop offs.

by The God Retrograde

I have had no issues with Pair and Pay since I’ve been using it. I love that I don’t have to fumble for cash or signatures while all the impatient drivers behind us leans on their horns.
My biggest gripe is setting up a new pickup. GPS always suggests a pick up at the neighboring building and often fights me as I try to correct it to my location. Then despite the fact that I have driven to the SAME location 6 times a day for the past two weeks, it never remembers. It offers a few random locations that I’ve never been to before and tries to guess addresses in neighboring STATES. I have to type out the entire address with city before it suggests the closest option. Sure, first world problems, but I’ve been rushing out to the hospital after a family emergency and I could do without the added stress.
Lastly, I wish the customer complaint response was faster but that’s more TLC and less this app. Out of nearly two dozen identical trips, one driver decided to charge an extra $3. Not a big deal but I still haven’t received a follow up.

by Squashbuckling Hero

As a frequent user of Uber back home in Seattle (because it makes more sense), I was very impressed with Curb. I used it while traveling in NYC for the first time and am too safety minded to just hop in some random person’s car in NYC (no offense) and too nervous at the idea of hailing a cab. I downloaded Curb immediately to help expedite the payment process, but also liked the request feature. I would suggest that similar to Uber, you include the destination in the map if I pair after I’ve already gotten in a cab. Also, it’s not immediately clear that your app works with various cabs. Some cabs have your logo while others advertise other apps - but your app worked just fine on those that promoted the other applications. There may be some missed revenue here for you guys if others make the same assumption and use your competitors instead...

by Emtdens

I live in a high-rise attached building. The building numbers are 100 and 120. When I put in the address 100 ________ it will not accept the number. I have to use 120 ______. I have complained many times and the problem still is exist. I was advised to take a screen shot on my address and email it to them, which I did.

The GPS acknowledged the other number of 120 and it has suggested 133 ______ which is across the street. Unfortunately that is a parking garage. I believe it is the satellites/GPS or the location finder in the privacy settings on the iPhone X. Also there have been similar problem in Manhattan the GPS and traffic regulations. I have to cross the street with my Rollator Walker. It is door-to-door service.

by FrenchieFriend

I just downloaded Curb , no problem. Thought I would try it out just to see how it works so that I am not in a panic if and when I would really need it. Pretty much it just sits there frozen no matter what button I push after I indicate my location and destination. I have signed up as a member, entered my credit card information (with some trepidation since this company is unfamiliar to me, and still nothing. I’ve tried “request taxi” and “ride later” ... still no response to any button pushed. I think I am going to go ahead and delete Curb, and hopefully I have not revealed my credit information to this shady outfit. Oh, and the help button is no help at all. Fortunately I do have a reliable taxi cab service in my hometown which is where I am right now, but this is telling me that I cannot trust Curb to identify a suitable taxi if I am in a strange town. Too bad.

by Kwiqone

I downloaded and setup this app while taking a cab from Rio to the Paris Casino. Account setup and pairing with the cab went fairly easy. When we arrived Curb would not allow me to progress to the pay confirmation screen (I assume this is a thing considering I never saw this part of Curb ). We waited as long as we could and decided to pay the driver with cash. So I pressed the "Cancel Trip" button on the screen which seemed to work and cancelled the transaction. Or so I thought. The next day I see a charge on my PayPal account and via email from this app. So at this point I've paid twice for this cab ride. It wouldn't be a problem if it was my mistake, but both myself and the cab driver witness the cancellation via Curb . What makes things worse is that I have e-mailed customer support and have yet to hear back after 2+ days. I'm hoping this review gets more attention and that I get my money back.

by Lance Nimrod

Curb worked extremely well in NYC until it quit, showing a message that my account had been temporarily suspended and to contact support, which I did — no response. This all happened when it was pouring rain and I really hoped I wouldn’t have to get soaked to hail a cab. I also got an email saying a credit card charge had been refused and to go into Curb to fix it. The card is good and I can’t get into Curb , so I contacted support about this as well. No response. I’ve been trying to use this to support a cab industry in NYC that’s been hurt by Uber but maybe I made a mistake. Uber works. If you read this, this app, you need some fixes or at least some support because even people like me who are inclined to use cabs instead of Uber have a limit.

ADDENDUM: I did ultimately get a response from this app and resolved my problem.

by OJMAo

I have been using Curb for a year or so, when it works it’s great. But the service/app working is at best a 50/50 proposition. When not trying to rip you off with their auto-mandated “cashless payment system” which annoyingly you have to turn off EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU USE Curb . The location service in Curb will show a driver parked on your front steps but are actually 5 minutes away. Or they say they are 1 minute away which turns into 10. Clearly not the drivers’ fault but that of shoddy technology in app. Additionally, after reading through a good portion of the reviews trying to figure out if I am the problem or Curb itself. A TON of purchased/fake positive reviews. Gave two stars because when it works it’s nice but again that’s a 50/50 shot in the dark. It’s best to just call the cab companies directly and setup a pick up.

by Garbyeller

The this app app is easy to use. If you’re in Manhattan, there are many taxis to be had but not as easy to find in the outer boroughs. The one problem I have had both times I have used this app as an Access-A-Ride (MTA Para-Transit) Customer is this: the first time I ordered a taxi, the driver tried to gouge me an extra $10 dollars because I am in a wheelchair. The taxi is an Accessible Taxi!! I had to call access-a-ride and have a supervisor tell the driver that the fee for Access-a-ride customers is $2.75 Period and that overcharging is Illegal. The second ride I took, the driver pressured me for a tip. Access-ride customers are not supposed to tip. Someone needs to tell drivers driving for access-a-ride that the fee for all rides is $2.75 and that gouging customers is illegal. Of course, they already Know this because they are trained for the program. I don’t want to have to haggle over an Access-A-Ride fee every time I use the service.

by Soundman245

this app has been great until recently, now I can never seem to “pair and pay”. it either spins forever or I get an outright trip not found or we’re sorry error. It is not my phone. is it the individual taxi transponders?

Update: Now Curb , even when paired, displays the forever spinning lockwasher as I call it, and never displays the map. and again recently i was unable to pair with a taxi at all and had to cancel Curb and pay with a card. This is frustrating because I would like to let my son who has special needs use this app, but it is not nearly dependable enough to trust it for him.

too difficult to to switch to a different card for one ride only, as for a business trip.