I used the Taxi Magic iPhone app this weekend for the first time to order a cab. It was the most pleasant cab calling experience, thanks to “the first nationwide free online taxi booking service that is directly integrated with taxi dispatch systems.” It’s available for the iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and Palm webOS.
1:42AM I launch app with a quick tap to book a cab, at which point it asked me for the address of my location. I quickly switched over to Yelp to look up the address of the IHOP we were at and copy-pasted that into Taxi Magic. The App remembers my credit card number for me to use, so I tap “Book”. My cab is booked.
1:47AM I receive a text from Yellow Cab that my cab has been dispatched. I open up Taxi Magic and see a map that has three points: my current location, my destination, and the location of the cab dispatched for me. When I click on the cab icon, it shows me the driver name and vehicle ID.
1:58AM I receive an automated call notifying me that my cab is about to arrive. I look at the Taxi Magic App to see that the cab icon is now at my current location. My friends and I step outside and see our cab. I greet Hassan as if I’ve always known him, he seemed confused.
2:07AM We arrive at our destination. I open my app and click “Pay.” I type in the amount I want to tip and select “Confirm.” The cab payment system makes a noise, the cab driver looks back and tells me I’ve successfully paid.
2:08AM The cab driver looks back to tell me I’ve only paid him $3. I was supposed to enter the amount of the fare plus the tip. I open the app and there’s an option to “edit payment”, where I reentered $15. Easy.
2:19AM I receive an e-mail receipt with a pdf receipt attached. It’s very detailed and includes: travel date and times, payment method, cab provider name, phone number, driver name, vehicle ID, payment information, and the address of pick up and drop off with a map.
Pretty cool.
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