I was in Latvia a few weeks ago. Riga’s one of the Europeans cities without a good transit link from the airport into city. Snooping around online, I found that the recommended way to get a ride was the use of an app called Bolt, a European clone of Uber. I realize now that I didn’t actually check that Uber wasn’t available in Latvia, but I’m not against experimenting with a new app here and there.
I used it twice to get to and from the city center, and it worked perfectly. Neither of my drivers spoke English and I didn’t speak a word of Latvian, but that’s what technology’s for. The rides went off without a hitch and I got exactly where I was supposed to be both times.
I arrived in Lyon recently and figured, hey, this is Europe, why not try the European app again, and used Bolt.
Car pulls into airport, drives to the waiting spot, stops up ahead of me, I walk over to it, driver pulls away, and leaves the airport. Mystified, I photograph the guy’s license plate as he drives off figuring I might need it for dispute evidence.
The driver doesn’t cancel the ride as he rides off into the distance, leaving me to do it, presumably so it falls to me to pay the app’s €7 cancellation fee.
I cancel and try again. I get a ride parked not far off, but with a message: “This is an automated acceptance. This car is set to charge for another 45 minutes.” Sure enough, it’s unmoving and unresponsive, and eventually the ride times out (thankfully, avoiding another €7 charge).
No message this time, but another car that appears to be charging and/or long term parked (it’s a Tesla, so I suspect charging again). I leave the app, waiting for the pick up to time out.
I give up on Bolt, and switch to Uber. I match a driver right away. It’s almost suspicious how quickly I matched him. But this is good! Progress. He drives over and I walk up to meet him. I get in the car and we start moving. Finally, this fiasco is over.
But then a guy runs up to the driver’s window. Hey, he shouts, you’re our ride! We booked you on Bolt. We just talked about on the phone a few minutes ago, remember?
Knowing that his license plate and photo matches what’s on their screen, the driver doesn’t bother denying it, and instead just points to his phone’s screen and says, I pick up Brandur. See?
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