Price increase
I used to be someone that would use Via all the time and recommended it to everyone.
Since I live and work in DC I thought it was a great way to move around the city, specially with the Via pass for commuters for $149 a month.
Unfortunately the prices have gone up significantly. To explain how the Via pass works: You pay a monthly fee that cost $149, with that they cover up to $8 of the ride, any additional charge you need to pay for it. I didn’t mind when the additional charge was $1 or $2. But lately I have been getting $14 or $16 as the additional charge. It’s also ridiculous to be charged so much money fo rides that you need to literally wait 15 to 20 minutes for your driver. It has become more unaffordable and in some way a commodity that doesn’t really benefit me as a commuter. To end my review I was almost paying $500 a month for Via ( almost a car) and at this point public transportation is waaaaaaaaaayyyyy cheaper.
#byeVia
Since I live and work in DC I thought it was a great way to move around the city, specially with the Via pass for commuters for $149 a month.
Unfortunately the prices have gone up significantly. To explain how the Via pass works: You pay a monthly fee that cost $149, with that they cover up to $8 of the ride, any additional charge you need to pay for it. I didn’t mind when the additional charge was $1 or $2. But lately I have been getting $14 or $16 as the additional charge. It’s also ridiculous to be charged so much money fo rides that you need to literally wait 15 to 20 minutes for your driver. It has become more unaffordable and in some way a commodity that doesn’t really benefit me as a commuter. To end my review I was almost paying $500 a month for Via ( almost a car) and at this point public transportation is waaaaaaaaaayyyyy cheaper.
#byeVia
Show less
I’d rather take the bus
The wait time for pick up is never accurate. As soon as you select a time for pick up, the app gives you an even later arriving driver stating “the driver is no longer available but we have another on the way!” Yeah, but by the time they get here I’ll be even later than I was originally going to be, and if you cancel, you get charged, but was I aware that it was gonna take that long in the first place, I would have never requested e ride. I also have a M-F commuter pass, and as soon as I got that, my normal $9 commute to work, increased to $11, & then $15, and today it was charging me $19 for less than a 20 min shared drive. And $32 for a private ride. Lyft only charged me $11 for the shared ride so I took that instead. How did I pay $100 for the commuter pass to save money, but since I’ve gotten it, the prices for rides have almost doubled. It makes no sense. There have not been surges that I’m aware of. Super frustrating app if you’re not in the center of DC.
Show less
Not possible to delete payment info
This app should receive zero stars.
I installed this app and created an account during a visit to NYC on the recommendation of a friend. However, finding that Lyft was less expensive, I never did use Via and tried to remove my payment info before deleting my account and the app.
When I went into the app to do this, I found that there is no way to delete payment information or an account. I contacted Via Customer Support and this is the reply I received:
“I'm so sorry for any inconvenience. Unfortunately, there must be a payment method in the app at all times. You can add a decoy/fake paypal account or an expired card as a payment method and once you do that, you'll be able to delete the payment method you currently have and do not want to keep stored in the system. Once this is done, please let me know so I can proceed with the deactivation of your account.”
I’d like the developer to respond to this and tell me why I should have to make up fake payment information in order to delete my real payment information from the app. I realize that I need to have payment information to use the app, but there should be a way to delete payment information for those of us who are intending to delete our accounts and the app from our phones. Keeping our payment information hostage is really a bad practice and makes this company liable if our accounts are accessed illegally.
An answer, please, Via developers?
I installed this app and created an account during a visit to NYC on the recommendation of a friend. However, finding that Lyft was less expensive, I never did use Via and tried to remove my payment info before deleting my account and the app.
When I went into the app to do this, I found that there is no way to delete payment information or an account. I contacted Via Customer Support and this is the reply I received:
“I'm so sorry for any inconvenience. Unfortunately, there must be a payment method in the app at all times. You can add a decoy/fake paypal account or an expired card as a payment method and once you do that, you'll be able to delete the payment method you currently have and do not want to keep stored in the system. Once this is done, please let me know so I can proceed with the deactivation of your account.”
I’d like the developer to respond to this and tell me why I should have to make up fake payment information in order to delete my real payment information from the app. I realize that I need to have payment information to use the app, but there should be a way to delete payment information for those of us who are intending to delete our accounts and the app from our phones. Keeping our payment information hostage is really a bad practice and makes this company liable if our accounts are accessed illegally.
An answer, please, Via developers?
Show less
Worst app for transportation
Its a cheap and affordable way to get around the city. There are many reason why I am finally takin my service somewhere else, one of the biggest reasons are the times to wait for the drivers are inconsistent, the app says that they’ll be here in 10 minutes, but ends up taking 30 to 40 minutes before they place you in another vehicle. I don’t mind waiting past the stated time, but it was more than 25 to 30 minutes. This has happen on more that one occasion and unfortunately the final draw. I get it, that the app was new, but it’s already been in my city for two years and I’ve noticed that nothing has changed. Maybe it’s just where I’m located, but I am upset due to its potential to be a decent app for transportation. The only reason I am giving it a star is for the customer service provided when running late thus giving a full refund.
Show less
Awful Billing and Service
I first tried Via in Washington DC this summer and it was great. On my next run with a Viapass I found the service had completely deteriorated to the point that Via was not a good option for any of my commuting. Estimates for pickup times are wildly optimistic and often they just cancel the driver and put you with a new one when the driver is already running late. I’ve had several recent experiences of being delayed 15-20 mins waiting for a vía that never came and then doing something else.
Based on this bad experience, I figured, oh well, lost the money I spent on this month’s pass, but won’t sign up again. Then, today I found Via automatically billed me for a new pass. I had disabled auto billing months ago. I guess one time when I deleted the app they reset that option. So misleading and shady! Don’t waste your time or money with Via! Don’t give them access to your billing info (which, by the way, you can’t delete from the app). This is an all around awful company. Stay away!
Based on this bad experience, I figured, oh well, lost the money I spent on this month’s pass, but won’t sign up again. Then, today I found Via automatically billed me for a new pass. I had disabled auto billing months ago. I guess one time when I deleted the app they reset that option. So misleading and shady! Don’t waste your time or money with Via! Don’t give them access to your billing info (which, by the way, you can’t delete from the app). This is an all around awful company. Stay away!
Show less
Hard to rely on
Via has some work to do, in my opinion. I use a rideshare to get to work, and have been frustrated by the WIDE variance in pick up times. When I search for a ride, it will often estimate something like 4min, and when I actually book the ride, it ends up being up to 17min! This means I have to be ready to head out to the curb (in case it’s ACTUALLY 4min), but commonly end up waiting for 10-15min.
Frequently, in the morning commute, the app will not be able to find a driver. So, I can’t rely on Via alone - I have to have Lyft, Juno or Uber as a back up for when Via doesn’t have a ride.
The reasons I have stuck with the app: 1. The low cost of rides and 2. The driving routes when an additional rider is added seem to be less disruptive than the experiences I’ve had in Shared Lyft.
Frequently, in the morning commute, the app will not be able to find a driver. So, I can’t rely on Via alone - I have to have Lyft, Juno or Uber as a back up for when Via doesn’t have a ride.
The reasons I have stuck with the app: 1. The low cost of rides and 2. The driving routes when an additional rider is added seem to be less disruptive than the experiences I’ve had in Shared Lyft.
Show less
Works OK with public transit, annoying details
In King County / Seattle, Via uses the Orca card, and works with employer paid Orca cards. This effectively makes Via free for me, so Via wins hands-down on price. There’s a few details though that are really frustrating. The vans are all-black, with blacked-out windows in the heat of summer and drivers never turn AC on, the van side windows don’t open, and drivers rarely if ever open the front windows. A <5m ride and you’re soaking in sweat. And if you’re sharing a ride, those blacked-out windows prevent you from seeing into the vehicle so you can’t tell which seats are occupied. Other passengers tend to get upset if you open their door because they can see you but you can’t see them. They need to ditch tinted windows and turn on AC by default and maybe use white vans instead of black ones so they heat up less.
Show less
Low price not worth the screw-ups
Of all the share-ride apps that I use (and I use plenty), Via is the absolute worst for so many reasons. For starters, they ALWAYS take longer than eta suggests, for pick up and drop off. Even if it’s a delay on THEIR part, they don’t always waive the cancellation fee— this one time it said my ride was 8 minutes away for 6 entire minutes and my cancellation fee wasn’t waived.
The drivers are oftentimes rude— some examples are a driver not letting me sit in a front seat, a driver not turning on the AC at request (in the middle of summer) and lastly a driver outright driving away completely b/c he couldn’t figure out where to park for pickup (I had to run after the car!)
Sure, Via is low in cost, but that doesn’t mean they should throw good customer service and reliable ride-share service out the window. I will no longer be using Via.
The drivers are oftentimes rude— some examples are a driver not letting me sit in a front seat, a driver not turning on the AC at request (in the middle of summer) and lastly a driver outright driving away completely b/c he couldn’t figure out where to park for pickup (I had to run after the car!)
Sure, Via is low in cost, but that doesn’t mean they should throw good customer service and reliable ride-share service out the window. I will no longer be using Via.
Show less
You for what you pay for. Don’t use app after 10.
Yes at times the rides can be very cheap for the distance ($5.50 usually). But this is a not an all to use after 10pm as rides are impossible to find or your wait for a ride will be longer than hour trip. Multiple occasions I’ve ordered a ride and it said my driver would meet me in 25 minutes. Also sometimes the driver won’t get the notification that I need to be picked up and just drive in a different direction to pick up another client or to simply go home as. The app needs some tweaking on the communication between drivers and passengers, the system malfunctions way to much. The app is completely unreliable. I rather spend $4 extra on uber or lyft because at least I know i’m getting quality service.
Show less
Great VIA driver.
This driver has an obvious strategy to keep his cab safe and knowledgeable. When he picked up another passenger he kept letting us know “there’s another passenger coming up on your side” which allowed us to move over and make changes quickly and smoothly. I have opened doors to see someone sitting there, looking back at me as if to say “what do you want?” and had to go around where traffic is active. This guy should teach other drivers about safety and planing ahead prior to the next person entering, more importantly how to keep everyone happy. That little gesture made me happy. Great VIA driver seriously.
Show less
