Last week, Oreva, our data quarterback educated us on the state of ridesharing in Africa. Did you know that Lagos alone has 14 ridesharing apps? I bet you didn’t. On Friday, we were greeted with the news of yet another ridesharing app, Taxify, launching in Lagos.
I was at the office till dark and didn’t want to stress over public transportation so I decided to download the app and try it. It didn’t hurt that I had seen positive feedback about it on my twitter feed too.
Used #TaxifyInLagos for the first time yesterday, thanks to @Nwankpa_A's free promo – I'm grateful to have an alternative to Uber that works
— OluTimehin Adegbeye🌈 (@OhTimehin) November 21, 2016
After downloading the app and setting up my profile, I tried to add my card but was unsuccessful.
There was nothing else to do but pay with cash. I noticed that I wasn’t the only one who had that problem. Taxify’s twitter feed was filled with apologies about the payment problem.
Hello Taslim, payment integrations will be resolved in the coming days. Can't wait to have you try us out 🙂 #TaxifyInLagos
— Taxify Nigeria (@Taxify_ng) November 19, 2016
By Saturday evening, Taxify had taken off the card option to avoid confusion. I expect that the option will be disabled until the payment issue is resolved.
We had a set back in integrating in app payments so we took it away to avoid the confusion
— Taxify Nigeria (@Taxify_ng) November 19, 2016
On to requesting my ride. I found that the app didn’t get my accurate location so I had to move the pin around on the map. I requested for the ride and the nearest driver was 17 minutes away. Not the best.
My assigned driver, Samuel, called me soon after to ask for my location and I just knew that this was just another Uber re-incarnate. Both apps are built on Google Maps’ API so what did I expect? Anyways, after about twenty minutes and two more calls from my good man Samuel, he finally arrived at the office and we left.
I was going from Yaba to Surulere but Samuel didn’t know the way so I had to direct him while having a phone conversation throughout the trip. In the midst of it all, I asked him about Taxify and how he came about being a rider.
He didn’t switch from Uber as I previously assumed but had seen adverts on Facebook and decided to sign up. According to him, he was aware of about 250 drivers already on the platform. I asked if he knew any drivers that had made the switch from Uber to Taxify but he didn’t.
We arrived at my destination without incidence and Samuel actually came out to open my door ( I later realised the door was faulty and couldn’t open from inside). The trip cost N800, Yaba to Surulere, not bad. We sorted out cash and change issues and I was on my merry way.
All in all, it was a good experience, same as my experiences with Uber minus “Aunty, my five stars.”
