For those of us who are “fortunate” or sometimes “unfortunate” to use ride-hailing services (e.g Uber, Bolt, Yango, Lyft, Shaxi, etc) in Ghana, this story may be similar to your experience. Before we go into the main story, let me take a moment to restate what a ride hailing service is.
What is Ride-Hailing Service?
Ride-hailing is simply a transportation service that connects passengers with drivers through an app. All a user does is to request a ride, and the app matches them with a nearby driver who arrives to pick them up and take them to their destination. The simplicity in the process is intended to make it hassle-free and pleasant.
There are times when you need to get some work done before you get to your destination. Sometimes you may even be just too tired to drive or even want to enjoy the comfort of your own space before you get to the next point. Whatever your reason may be, many of us, have had to use a ride-hailing service at one point in time. Whether in Ghana or in any other part of the world.
My Ride-Hailing Experience
For the purpose of our reflection today, I would like to contrast my experiences with ride-hailing services in Ghana and Nigeria. What makes this comparison even more compelling is the difference in the quality of service offered by the same brands in these two West African countries.
In 2021, I had my first experience with a ride-hailing service in Nigeria. This is how it all unfolded. The moment I got into the car, the driver was the first to greet and say hello. The first thing that I noticed was that unlike Ghana, the air-conditioning in the car was on and fully functional, the music was at reasonable decibel level and obviously the interior was well maintained. Note that all of this happened while I had said nothing about my destination and the driver had also not asked same. As soon as we arrived at our destination, my friend who was hosting me just proceeded to alight and my reaction was “Eeeeiiii aren’t you going to pay? He then replied that his card was linked to the app and payment had been made with that. I burst into laughter and he immediately understood why. You see he is also a Ghanaian and is fully aware that none of the ride-hailing service drivers are comfortable with a card payment option. (So much for a cash-light economy…let me go my way!).
Fast forward, I visited again in 2022 and the experience with ride hailing services was still good. This time, what caught my attention was that most of the rides had phone chargers available in their cars. I then engaged one of the drivers to confirm if this was a standard or a requirement. He explained that it’s not a requirement for them to have phone chargers but it is nice to have so most drivers have it in case a passenger may want to use it.
In all these instances, there was nothing so grand about what they did, It’s was just the little courtesies, the thoughtfulness of their actions and just the willingness to offer a little more service.
Don’t get me wrong, I have encountered some good experiences with ride hailing services in Ghana but that is more of an exception than the norm. There is a lot more we must do to re-orient our attitudes towards providing riders or passenger with much better service.
Let me go ahead to demonstrate my point further with more of my ride-hailing experiences. Raise your hands if you have ever experienced any of the scenarios listed below.
- You request a ride, and then the next moment a driver calls or sends a message to confirm your destination before he decides to provide the service.
- A driver arrives and as you sit, he looks at the app and asks if it is a return trip. One driver asked me to get down because it is a return trip and he won’t go again.
- A driver calls after you have requested for a ride and asks you where you are headed, he then proceeds to negotiate the fare with you with total disregard for the charge indicated on the app, very often with a “take it or leave it” kind of attitude. (Then why won’t one use the everyday taxi we are used to if we really wanted this frustration of price negotiations)
- In another experience, a driver whiles having a passenger in his car, stopped by his girlfriend’s house to give her money and engages in “love chats” while the passenger was sitting in the car waiting.
- Drivers accept and cancel trips at will, so while you may be thinking he has arrived, you later notice that it’s been cancelled.
-The last one which has become a recent craze, is the request or notice from drivers to go “Offline” with the reason being that they felt cheated by the ride hailing companies for the service they render. The mere thought of a ride going “Offline make me cringe. Without sounding insensitive or selfish, my security or safety is more so I wonder why they even contemplate that idea of going “Offline”
These experiences has eroded all the big selling point the ride hailing companies trumpeted when they came on to the market. Comfort and convenience was a big part of advertising campaigns. Most cars if not all don’t offer air conditioning. (This was a big selling point/brand promise at the outset of ride-hailing services in Ghana, what changed?) Some rides go to the extent of show casing a price list in their ride to inform you that you will pay more for the use of the air-condition or better still you will have to choose the “comfort” option whiles requesting for your ride, that’s if you want to enjoy the air-conditioning.
It came as no surprise to me, when some bloggers and tourist who visited Ghana in December 2022 shared their negative experiences with ride hailing services in Ghana. Why should the same global brand offer different service experience in different countries?
Without straying into the issues of security and other social concerns, as a CX professional, these are questions that agitate my mind when I reflect on these ride hailing experiences;
- Is it a problem related to culture and mindset regarding service?
- Is it a management problem between ride owners and the owners of the ride hailing brand?
- What experience do these ride-hailing brands want customers to have and what measures have they put in place to ensure that happens consistently.
- Who take responsibility and ownership for the poor service customers receive?
I believe ride hailing services in Ghana can do better. Actually, I insist they do better! Another December is approaching and as usual we are going to have a lot of people visiting the country and using any of the ride hailing services, I pray the experience improves so they leave with a positive experience about the ride-hailing service in Ghana.
I hope you liked this piece. Feel free to share your ride-hailing experiences with me, we just might cause a change.
