My Yandex Drive Experience Went from Good to Bad

Hello everyone!

I've been using Yandex Drive for a while now, and I have to say that my experience has been a bit of a rollercoaster.

I'm a huge fan of car-sharing, and Yandex Drive is one of the services I've used the most. It's great not to have to own a car and be able to take someone else's instead. Of course, there are always things to worry about, like what if there's an accident or what if I don't take a photo and they blame me for a scratch? But despite all these nitty-gritty details, car-sharing is really taking off, and I'm happy to be using it.

xa0

Registration process

One of the things I liked about Yandex Drive was the registration process. It was pretty straightforward and easy. First, you need to download the app – in our case, it's Yandex Drive, which is free and available on both iOS and Android.

The next step is to create a Yandex mailbox if you don't already have one (which was the case for me). After that, you just need to input your details, take a photo of your passport, take a photo of yourself with your passport, and repeat the process with your driver's license (although I'm not sure how this helps with security...).

And then you just wait for Yandex to approve you. In my case, the process took relatively little time.

xa0

Picking up a car

As for picking up a car, the service is simple and convenient. You just open the app and see a map with lots of markers (these are the cars, and Yandex has a huge fleet).

Then you just choose a car (they're categorized by your driving experience – if you're a new driver, you won't be able to rent a BMW, for example). So, you've chosen your ride and clicked 'book now.' The waiting time depends on how far the car is from you, which can be anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes. But trust me, it's not a second longer than it takes to walk quickly to the vehicle. In Delhi, for instance, the average waiting time is around 20 minutes, even if the car is just 5 minutes away. My tip? Plan ahead, step outside, and book your car at the entrance. Once you've booked, head straight to it.

xa0

Don't forget to inspect the car once you've reached it. I highly recommend being thorough. Check for scratches, the windshield (I've had instances where I noticed a crack during the trip), the rearview mirror (some cars were missing it), and make sure the floor mats are in place (they might be missing or only partially installed).

Once you're satisfied with the car's condition, move on to checking the documents. I've never encountered any issues with this step – everything's always been in order.

After that, you can confirm your booking and hit the road.

xa0

Ending the rental is just as straightforward as booking the car. When you arrive, park in a green zone (Yandex has plenty of those), step out, and click 'close car.' Job done! You're a pro!

xa0

Why I won't be using Yandex Drive anymore?

xa0

I've got some not-so-nice words in my head, but I'll keep them to myself. However, here's the thing. When you choose a rental car, besides the make, you can select a tariff for your journey.

There are several options:

Minute tariffHourly tariffDaily tariffFixed tariffWeekend tariffInter-city tariffPersonally, I've only used the minute and fixed tariffs for my needs – they're perfect for the distances I travel. Or at least, they were until recently.

I'll give you the lowdown on the pricing plans.

Per-minute rate

This tariff lets you rent a car by the minute. The total cost of rental depends on the minute rate and the number of minutes. Minutes while driving and minutes while idling cost differently. You can see the prices when you choose a car. During rental, the minute rate remains the same.

The minute rate in Drive changes throughout the day based on road congestion, demand for cars, and other factors.

On one hand, it's convenient, but on the other hand, with Yandex's new features, things aren't always smooth sailing.

Fixed rate

The Fixed rate is suitable for trips where you know the final destination and won't be stopping for long.

That's pretty much how I usually drive, without stopping for too long.

To find out the rental cost using this tariff, enter your final destination. The system will calculate your estimated time of arrival and show you the price. Rental time is determined based on the current traffic situation and any potential changes.

Usually, the estimated time is given with a bit of a buffer, which is a plus for this tariff.

The price applies if you arrive at the destination, not significantly exceeding the estimated time, and park the car in the designated zone marked in green in the app.

Significantly exceeding the estimated time? Seriously? There's a calculated time to reach point A from point B, and if you exceed it, the system automatically switches to the per-minute rate. There's no nuance to it.

If you significantly exceed the estimated time or leave the car outside the green zone, the rental cost will be recalculated using the per-minute rate that was in effect at the time of booking. In this case, the overall rental cost will depend on the minute rate and the number of minutes.

More often than not, the Fixed rate was more cost-effective than the per-minute rate.

You don't need to be a genius to quickly estimate which tariff is more beneficial at any given time. And that's exactly what Yandex thought it would do – make things more complicated.

Yeah, most of the time Fix is the better value, but sometimes the Minute tariff ends up being more cost-effective, and that's what happened this time. I booked with the Minute tariff, and at the time of booking, the trip cost me 300 rubles, whereas the Fix tariff would've been 230-250 rubles. The difference is small, but it's the little things that count.

But in the end, when I arrived at the destination and was expecting to pay 250 rubles, I got charged 450 rubles instead! That's not 250, and definitely not 300. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.

I did reach out to customer support, and it turns out the area I was traveling to is classified as a 'Zone with Minimum Prices.'

So, if you're traveling by minute and you're faster than the Fix tariff, you'll be charged the difference to bring it up to the Fix tariff price. Nice, huh?

I still can't get my head around this. Anyone would choose the tariff that seems more convenient and cost-effective, but in this case, I was denied that choice.

And to make matters worse, I was charged 450 rubles instead of 300, citing the change in Fix tariff prices as the reason. So, I'm not even allowed to dispute the charge because I agreed to the trip's conditions.

It's just not right. Why do users of Yandex Drive have to deal with these kinds of tactics? Why should I be forced to overpay for some arbitrary reason?

xa0

I have to admit, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this and I'm sticking with Yandex Drive for now. I'm not going to recommend this service to anyone, to be honest. I do appreciate that there are other car-sharing services out there with more reasonable pricing models.

I wouldn't recommend using this service, you never know what they'll come up with next - maybe they'll start charging you for the difference in fare if you take the express route, or for having their app installed on your phone (I'm exaggerating a bit, but you get the point).

Thanks for reading and have a great day!