When Yasmin Lewis attempted to schedule a Bolt cab for the early hours of the next morning, she was shocked to discover the earliest available ride was in three days’ time.
Lewis, a sales agent in iGaming, attempted to book a Bolt cab at 6pm on Tuesday for a ride to work at 3am the next morning.
But when she tried to book the taxi at her preferred time, she received a notification stating: “You can’t schedule a time within that window.”
The earliest available taxi was at 4am on Friday.
Her experience comes after Bolt said it lost large numbers of drivers following a government crackdown on worker permits to non-EU workers in the industry, claiming it is “saturated”.
The lack of notification or warning left Lewis feeling “really bad and worried”. She explained: “My car is with the mechanic, so I wouldn’t have been able to get to work without the taxi.”
Lewis’s company has a deal with Bolt that covers employees’ rides but, due to the unexpected issue, she was forced to find another cab service and pay from her own pocket.
Not uncommon for the scheduling feature to be temporarily suspended- Bolt spokesperson
When she contacted Bolt’s customer service, Lewis grew even more frustrated, saying she had to wait 12 hours for a reply. When she finally received a response, she was simply told to “be a bit patient” and wait for the issue to be resolved.
With her car still in the shop and the company’s agreement with Bolt, Lewis tried using the service again a few days later, this time booking a cab for immediate pick-up instead of scheduling it in advance.
The taxi arrived without any issues.
When she shared her experience on social media this week, other frustrated cab users said they had similar experiences with the scheduling function.
At least two people said they scheduled rides to the airport but, shortly before their taxi was due to arrive, it was cancelled.
A spokesperson from Bolt said it was “not uncommon for the scheduling feature to be temporarily suspended for short periods when there is a spike in anticipated demand”.
The spokesperson also emphasised that this does not affect their on-demand service, which remains available 24/7.
This incident occurred a month after the government announced that new applications – or attempts to change employers – by third-country nationals for cab driving and food courier work permits were denied due to market saturation.
Shortly after, service users began complaining about increased fares and longer waiting times for Bolt cabs. In response, Bolt claimed the price increases were a result of the government’s clampdown on work permits.