As I said in my previous post, my experience with Tap Tap was not over, but I tried another app before the last disaster with Tap Tap.
I heard 
then that Flash also had a ride hailing app. When I was consulting in Kenema, Kailahun and Kono, we were provided with Flash vehicles. They are quite huge and so I wondered if it would be the same type of vehicles they were running in the app. I looked them up and added the app. The first time I wanted to try it and saw the price I winced. It was quite expensive, at least 10 to 20k more than Tap Tap, so I put it off. When I finally did try it I decided to go with an option I didn’t see in Tap Tap, a multi stop option. In fact I don’t even know if Uber/Lyft had that option (see image below).
I needed to go somewhere and wanted to make a quick stop somewhere else so I crossed my fingers and booked. Everything went through right away. In a few minutes I got a call from a driver. Right away I knew it was different because they introduced themselves and spoke English. You can tell they were not like an Uber. Flash was more like a hired, vehicle service although the app looks like a regular ride hailing app. Everything went without any issues. In fact, me being my nosy self I asked the driver some questions. I told him about Tap Tap and he said:
Everyone complains about them
Oh I guess the competition is not too happy with their competition.
He also told me that Flash’s app has been operating for awhile and I wondered how I didn’t know about this till now. He also revealed that they have about 7 vehicles in operation.
“Just seven!?” I asked him. I felt that it was too little and he agreed and said that they are very busy. I imagined so.
I tried Flash again because I also noticed you could schedule your pickup, so I scheduled a pickup for the next day through the app. First thing in the morning I got a notification that my scheduled ride will be coming.
It came on time and since then I actually found it was easier to use them but there is still a lot of work to be done because they also rely on the pin and not exact locations. I spend a lot of time directing drivers and they don’t think for themselves and completely rely on the passenger to figure things out. I wonder about someone who doesn’t know the town and how they would be able to direct the driver or someone who doesn’t speak Krio?
I also used Tap Tap again and had a very strange incident. They were delayed again because they couldn’t find me and after much direction they finally arrived. It was the same driver from my first trip. I got to my destination only to find the issue of ending the ride again becoming a problem. This time I waited for 10 minutes, nothing. The driver called head office and was having several conversations that didn’t seem to be going anywhere, so I called. The lady said she’ll call me back but after 5 minutes, she STILL didn’t call so I called her back and told her I am leaving and they could sort this out because this is not my problem.
She asked me where I was coming from and where I was dropped off. After I told her she told me to give the driver 20,000, I told her that was not what the amount said on the app at first, she asked what it said and I said I couldn’t remember, but I do know it was below 20 because I had inputted a discount. Let me pause to say, it is not about the amount, but the principle of the matter and I was very frustrated. She said “ok 18,000.” I told her I didn’t have change and asked the driver if he did, he said no, so I told her I was leaving they could sort it out and said well it’ll come out of my next ride.
When I got home, I received a call from the owner. He apologized for the inconvenience and said they were replacing the mobiles of all the drivers because that’s the reason for the issue and I thought “how nice, they are actually apologizing.” What good customer service, right? Then he reminded me what I owed. What!? After all this? Then he WHATSAPP me what I owed and I received the notification email from the app about what I owed. I couldn’t believe it and ignored his WhatsApp and swore I wouldn’t use the app again, but I had to again once when my taxi guy fell through and I had to be somewhere very quickly. This is how they get you!
The other thing I try to avoid at all cost if I can, is going to the bank. Going to the bank in Sierra Leone is work. You’ll have to schedule yourself really well or know someone or you could be there for hours, so I was happy when I finally got a bank account with UBA and got a bank card the day I got an account. I also downloaded their mobile application. Since then, I pretty much rely on ATMs. I am VERY thankful for Ecobank for having so many ATMs because it has allowed me to avoid the bank as much as possible.
The UBA app is simple enough and other than checking my balance, I don’t use it often. I can’t top up because I mostly use my Orange number, but they have that option to put credit on your phone. I have used it to send money to other UBA bank account holders and it was simple and easy and convenient. I wish you could make transfers to non-UBA, but I guess that requires more authorization, but I am all about as many things that I don’t have to go to a branch for as possible.
Here ends my adventures so far with applications in Sierra Leone. I am interested in getting back to working on this educational app that I was working on while I was getting my Masters recently and so I am really interested in seeing more of that type of market open up in Sierra Leone. I am always willing to test out new apps! So if you got one or if you want to help me build an app, message me!
So after this experience with these applications, I would give the following advice:
- Don’t enter your bank card information in ANY of them (the apps frequently malfunction & could maybe over charge you & also customer service is not their forte and who knows what they will do when they are trying to get money out of you)
- If you are in a hurry, don’t use Tap Tap! OR even Flash, except you book in advance. You never know when this will be the time they take forever to get to you
- Try different restaurants in town and ask if they deliver and take their number. Don’t order when you are hungry! It takes forever to get delivery and again you’ll have to do some major directing if you don’t live somewhere everyone is familiar with
- Make sure you check EVERY transaction that comes through in your Mobile banking app. Again these apps are not reliable. They might double charge you and honestly most of the people you will call to fix an issue, can’t fix it. Before I left my job, I told UBA (like a month in advance) to remove my work email as my notification email. Till this day, they haven’t. I have been up and down the management team and I was even blamed at some point that I didn’t give my email correctly
If I think of any other advice, I’ll let you know or just ask! For the JCs especially coming, don’t rely too much on these apps because it is the holiday season and I am SURE they are going to be overwhelmed.
Peace and Love
(C) Voice of the Salone Diaspora
Salone Creatives 
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