Shuddle

Wow. I really hoped that they had worked out the kinks as reflected in my last update. Unfortunately, I had to beg for a driver on Monday, and now again, they cannot find me a driver. Very stressful.

Shuddle has a great concept and there’s definitely a need for this type of service, and when Shuddle is able to find a driver, it’s great. But I have the same problem other reviewers do: Shuddle just isn’t reliable, and when dealing with childcare, reliability is as important as safety. I’ve been left scrambling at the last minute (or worrying I will be) on multiple occasions. When I book a ride for my child a week or more in advance, I expect it to be confirmed well in advance, and I’m certainly not looking to find out on the day of the pickup that they haven’t found a driver. I’ve given them some leeway as a startup, but today is the third time this has happened. I’m going to have to look for other transportation options that are more reliable.

Beware of hidden fees! You must make arrangements at least a day in advance or you are hit with a surcharge. And once a ride is scheduled, you cannot back out without paying a fee. In addition, they have a monthly fee of $ 9 just to have this option! This fee was not very clear when signing up. It’s a fine service, but far more expensive than you think. If a bank operated this way, the regulators would be all over them.

I would give 0 stars, but unfortunately I couldn’t. Stay away from this service. I was using it occasionally when my nanny wasn’t able to pick up my kid from school. It always wasn’t easy, but for this time they was even worse then usual. Here is the story: I was in a business trip in Europe, ordered a ride and a ride back for my child in 3 days in advance.
Shuddle didn’t find a driver for a first ride and were sending me text messages instead of just giving me one call. I’ve lost $ 50 for private class that my kid didn’t have a chance to participate in. They charged me «cancelation fee» for a ride back. Can you imagine it? I need to call and ask why? They returned me money for a second ride with no apologies at all. They didn’t cover my loss, they didn’t even try to work around the issue. But next month they charged me their’ monthly fees again like nothing happened.
Living in Bay Area I always try to support local startups, but if you want your kid be on time for after school activities — try to avoid Shuddle, they can’t provide good service and they are not customer oriented startup.

When it works, it’s great. When they cannot find a driver, it’s a huge problem. I use the service 2×3 times a week after school, and have been doing so for five months. About 85% of the time, the service works great. However, 15% of the time, Shuddle either cannot find a driver (even with 48 hours notice) or cancels and sends panicky messages until they find a replacement driver. So bottom line is that you have to have a back up plan and that defeats the whole purpose. I hope Shuddle can get it together because it really is a good idea. The app is great. The drivers have been nice. Please figure it out!

We have used Shuddle about 6 – 7 times and absolutely love the service. My 9-​year old son’s baseball practice ends at 6:30 PM in Belmont and his basketball practice starts at 7:00 PM in Burlingame. Each time, the Shuddle driver has been prompt and punctual in taking care of the ride. They have also be polite and friendly, and my son has enjoyed the trip. There was one instance where about 2 days before the trip, we were told there was no driver … and then they found someone 1 day before the trip. So, this gave us sufficient time to plan. We would highly recommend the service to other parents who need to manage the crazy schedules of their kids.

Sounds like a great idea — turns out to be a major problem. They claim to help families to be at two places at once. They actually create more problems by promising to help and then not delivering. When I plan my week I need to be sure that my daughter gets from a to b Thursday at 3:30. Finding out Wednesday night that they cannot provide a driver is a major nuisance. So far out of three attempts they did not come through twice. The whole idea of pre-​booking is to have one more issue checked off your list. — And then last minute find out that it does not work and have to cobble together a plan B? What a nuisance.
Looking at all 1-​star reviews except one 5-​star, Unilocal should check who provided this «great» review.

Another Unilocal user said it best, when it comes to your children, you want a ride service that is 100% reliable. You don’t want your child stranded somewhere while you are at work or out of town.
I’ve been using Shuddle for months I have had too many instances where Shuddle drivers were late (sometimes 15 – 20 minutes), drivers have gotten lost or have gone to the wrong location, or the company cancelled a planned ride all together because they couldn’t find a driver. Customer service often times doesn’t answer the phone when you call about a «live ride» issue. Unfortunately, this is a good idea that has been executed poorly.

So far Shuddle hasn’t worked for us. Twice the service never founds driver. I’m trying one more time but the reliability concerns me. There is no guarantee that your child will get a ride and they can just cancel the request!

When it comes to your children, you want a transportation system that is 100% reliable. Shuddle is so far from there I would give them zero stars if I could.
It is a good idea that fails in execution, not every time, but in my experience 3 out of 6 times, stranding my daughter on 2 occasions. The iPhone app needs much better design, their communication to users is poor, and they have yet to recruit an adequate depth of drivers.
I hope they’ll improve in time but I’m closing my account till then. I predict they’ll go belly-​up within a year.

In one word: UNRELIABLE!
The idea is great, but the service is not reliable.
I booked a ride for my son 48 hours before, and they haven’t found a driver! 6 hours before the ride, Shuddle sent a text saying that «We haven’t yet found a driver to take your ride today. We’ll keep looking unless you cancel your request»; and 30 min before the ride, I received another text saying «We’re sorry, we weren’t able to find a driver to take your ride today. We have canceled your request» … what??? «we have canceled your request»…
I never canceled anything!!!
And what the point of paying a membership of $ 9/​month (+ cost of the ride) if you can’t assure your service ???
By the way, the process of registration is not quite legal :
Nowhere on your website it’s written that there is a membership of $ 9/​month. So when you filled up the online forms for the 1^st time, you’re asked to provide a lot of personal information, pictures of your son, address and phone numbers, and only then it asks you for subscribing to a $ 9/​monthly fees ???
Even if we don’t agree with this process, we decided to give it a try. But Shuddle never finds a driver for our ride. This was supposed to be our 3^rd ride with Shuddle, but for sure it’s the last one.

I scheduled a ride for my daughter almost 24 hours in advance. They had picked her up at the same location before, without issue. I got a call from her after half an hour that they had not shown up. I called and they said they had tried to call me (I was in a board meeting which is why I booked them) and that the driver could not find her and left. My daughter is 12 and was waiting in the dark for them. Who leaves a child in the dark because they can not find them? One person told me they went to the wrong school and the other told me it was my fault because the instructions were not clear. Being that they had 24 hours to clarify it was rediculous to say that. They are now offering me free rides. Sorry, my children will never get into another Shuddle car again.

I would give 0 stars if I could. At 6:30am, 45 minutes before the scheduled ride, I received 2 simultaneous texts that said: «your driver is unable to make your ride this morning, we are searching for a new driver for you. We apologize for the inconvenience» and «We haven’t yet found a driver to take your ride today. We’ll keep looking unless you cancel your request. You can cancel any time until a driver is assigned without a cancelation fee.»
REALLY?! No call nor email just these texts that went unnoticed as I was in the shower (a state away).
To add salt to the wound, it’s been two days and I have not received an explanation nor apology email, text or call.
All the Forbes articles and positive press in the world aren’t going to help if they can’t do the simple job they claim to do. And then when you do screw up you cant even bother to explain nor apologize???

how the heck has no one set up or reviewed my beloved Shuddle?
As someone who works insane amounts of hours, Shuddle has been a godsend!
What is it? it is Über for your kids that you schedule and control via an app.
Why not just use Über? Are you nuts? have you not been on an Über ride that you thought might end in your death? The drivers are carefully screened and vetted so you can be confident that your kids get home or to practice or appointments safely.
I can watch their ride home on the app if I had time to do that! I know exactly when they are picked up and when they are dropped off. I have only had one negative experience in that a driver was fairly late picking up my boys.. .but that is an anomaly.. I use them almost daily and their record is excellent.
I was a stress case every day trying to coordinate rides for my kids.. this makes my life a 1000 times better.. .
I love shuddle and cannot recommend it highly enough!