That will be $1,533: Grab app 17-minute glitch leaves customers stunned
The glitch lasted for 17 minutes and affected users in Malaysia as well.
A Grab customer was left puzzled when he opened the app on Aug 20 to book a ride home - only to be confronted with fares of up to $1,533.10.
The Grab customer, who wanted to be known only as ZZ, was booking a ride from Dover Road to Geylang when he encountered the glitch.
Entering the app at 12.12pm, the 37-year-old data analyst was shocked to find that a standard car ride cost $1,520.70, while a six-seater car ride amounted to $1,533.10.
"I was wondering if it was a bug and whether it applied to my pickup location or destination," he told TNP.
ZZ waited until the fares dropped to around $20 before booking.
But he was not the only customer affected - the Singapore Atrium Sale Facebook page posted screenshots of "amazing Grab fares", while Bloomberg also reported that users in Malaysia faced similar issues.
TNP understands that the regional glitch lasted for 17 minutes, and that bookings with unusually high fares would have been blocked.
Full refunds processed for affected users
In response to TNP's queries, a Grab spokesperson apologised for the glitch, which was attributed to an unexpected "temporary system issue" caused by a "misconfigured fee" that was corrected within 20 minutes.
Although most of the erroneous charges were blocked by Grab's safeguards, the company confirmed that some users were incorrectly charged. "For every user who was affected, we've already processed full refunds for the incorrect charges as of 9pm today (Aug 20)," the spokesperson added.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include an additional statement from Grab