A first-time rider’s checklist
Six things worth knowing before your first Topsy trip, in the order you will meet them.
If you have never used Topsy, the flow is short. These are the six points where a first trip most often goes slightly wrong, and how to avoid each.
One: pick both places from the suggestions
Type an address and choose from the list rather than typing it and moving on. Choosing from the list is what attaches real coordinates, and coordinates are what the route and the fare are built from. An address without them cannot be priced.
Two: look at the whole priced list
Every ride class available on your route is priced together. Read the seat counts. Choose for your bags as well as your people; that is the mistake almost everyone makes once.
Three: move the pickup pin
After the quote, the map shows where the driver will come. Drag it to where a car can actually stop. Four seconds here saves several minutes later.
Four: write a pickup note if the place needs one
Gates, side entrances, landmarks. If describing where you are would take a sentence, type the sentence.
Five: check the PIN before getting in
The trip carries a four-digit PIN and the driver needs it to start. If it does not match, it is not your car. This is the one habit worth forming from the first trip.
Six: know where the fare came from
The number you agreed is on the quote, held for ten minutes while you decided. If it expired, you were shown a new one before booking. Nothing else is added silently, so the receipt should not surprise you.
And afterwards
Rate the trip. Ratings run both ways, and a driver's record is built from them. If something was wrong, report it against the trip rather than letting it go: reports carry the trip with them, which is what makes them worth investigating.