Curb Mobility
Is This Your Business?1.4
1.9
Overall Score
Author: Kaitlyn Short
Curb, formerly known as Taxi Magic, is a ride-hailing app that connects you with licensed and insured cab drivers in your city looking for a fare. Service is offered in 65 US cities and is available for booking up to 24 hours in advance.
The company, unlike many of its competitors, works with the taxi industry by strictly adhering to the rules, complying with cities' standards and regulations. This fact puts Curb at an advantage, setting an example to other companies, and ultimately serving them well. This is convenient for both taxi drivers and clients, providing relief in terms of legal procedures.
Payment methods are up to individual clients. Given two options, you can either pay directly through the app—by the credit card information entered initially—or even pay with cash.
If a driver cancels on a client, their business account is suspended for approximately five hours. It is irrelevant whether it's because the driver found someone nearby or someone with a lengthier destination: the punishment is put in place regardless.
The features are convenient and easy to use, making the app all the more worthwhile and appealing. The instructions are self-explanatory and the writing clear and easy to understand in most cases. The codes of conduct make sense and are normally common knowledge, such as being punctual, following through and expecting the same conduct to be applied by both parties.
Keep reading for Curb pros and cons, plus Curb Taxi reviews from real users.
Top Ranked Companies
The Good
- Pre-Booking
- Car Options
- Safety
Pre-Booking
Pre-booked trips are allowed on Curb car service. This is incredibly important in such a black-and-white industry, where apps are normally immensely successful or not at all. This app has managed to fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.
Like the similar app Hailo, which isn't offered in America, this app offers a pre-booking experience, which is an extremely important feature for people looking to ensure that their transportation is guaranteed. For example, if you have a flight to catch, rush hour traffic or congestion might delay the process of hailing a cab.
With Curb, this is no longer an issue—consider it yours. With the pre-booking feature, one is additionally able to receive receipts before the ride is over, especially if a final price has been set prior to the ride.
Car Options
There are three car make/model options for Curb users to choose from. These include:
- Sedans
- Cabs
- "Black" cars
Safety
Even if you're in a rush, safety is a priority. On the smartphone app, you are generally shown a picture of the driver and the driver's name. That way, you can make sure that the face matches that of the driver, guaranteeing that Curb has performed a solid background check prior to your ride. The system, for your relief, also knows each car's location at any given moment.
The Bad
- Fees
- Automatic Tips
Fees
If your phone dies and you can't find the driver’s vehicle on the street, you will inevitably be charged a $5 fee. Yes, punishment goes both ways and is imposed on you, too. Just as there is a punishment for drivers' cancellations, there is a punishment for passengers’ cancellations as well—or no-shows.
A $5 fee is generally charged on one's account if there has been a no-show or a cancellation outside of the grace period. So, be wary of this and conscious of drivers' time as well.
Automatic Tips
In cities that offer automatic payment, the default tip amount is set automatically at 20%. You can change this number by tapping on the amount and then adjusting it up or down. Be aware of this issue.
Users do have the option of setting their own default tip percentage for future rides by selecting Payments from the menu. Additionally, if you would like to adjust a tip that you already paid for previous trips, you are asked to contact customer support via email at support@gocurb.com.
The Bottom Line
There are many apps that essentially offer the same ride-matching functions, but Curb stands out for its extras: the ability to book a trip in advance, and the option to pay with cash in the cab.
Kevin McGowan New York, NY
4 years ago
