The Bla BlaKar service, reviews of which are mostly positive, is currently officially operating in 18 countries. During the year, 10 million people use it regularly or occasionally.
About service
The name âBlah blah carâ consists of the slang English word bla-bla, meaning chatter, and car (car). His choice is intended to emphasize the basic principle of the service - the provision of all services on the basis of agreements reached between the driver and his potential passenger-companion.
This type of car travel appeared in 2006 in France. The author of this original idea was a NASA employee Frederick Mazella. One day at Christmas he needed to get from Paris to his parents in the province. Attempts to purchase tickets turned out to be futile, and Frederick decided to take advantage of the Internet to find travel. The driver was found pretty quickly. Moreover, that day, thanks to his announcement on social networks, about a dozen other Parisians who needed to get to different parts of the country or even to Belgium or Spain were solved in social networks.
Thus began the history of the social service âBla bla carâ. Over time, the companyâs branches appeared in many European countries, and since 2014, an online search for passing trucks began to operate in Russia, where this French ridesharing campaign began its work.
How does it work?
A popular app for finding travel companions for traveling on Bla Bla Car cars allows drivers to save on gas by charging a fee for passengers. At the same time, travel companions travel at lower rates than Russian Railways and especially airlines. For example, using the services of the Bla Bla Car service from Moscow to St. Petersburg, you can get for 500-600 rubles per person.
After registering on the site, you need to leave a request or view available offers. For the convenience of potential passengers, the resource has an option that hides flights in which all seats are occupied. Choosing the right one, you can contact the driver and discuss all the details of the trip. By the way, if you are a fan of talking on the road, pay attention to the mark "blah blah blah." If it is absent, then with this driver, is it worth your harm to hit the road. Note also that the choice is not only yours, and the driver also has the right to refuse to take you as a companion, without explaining the reasons.
Trip abroad
Reviews of âBla Bla Kareâ show that this service is also suitable for organizing trips to the neighboring countries and to Europe. In this case, the application and all other operations are no different from those that need to be done in order to travel to a neighboring city.
How to find a travel companion?
To use the Bla Bla Car service (see reviews below) you must:
- Download the application of the same name for iPhone or Android;
- Register
- indicate where you are going to go, as well as set additional parameters.
In addition to the cost and the route, it is indicated whether smoking is allowed during the trip, whether it is possible to bring a pet, etc., with you to the salon.
How to leave a review on "Blah blah car"?
Do you want to thank the driver or, conversely, warn other passengers about the boorish behavior of a particular motorist? Then go to the site of the service âBlah blah blah carâ. It is quite easy to leave travel reviews there. To do this, find the driver search form by phone number. After its introduction, you will be redirected to the car ownerâs personal page, and you will be able to publish your opinion on the services rendered to you, on the driverâs behavior on the way, his punctuality, attitude towards the passenger, etc.
Reciprocal reviews
One of the advantages of using Internet services is the ability to know the opinion of strangers about a particular product, service or person. That is why, before deciding to find a fellow traveler through the Bla BlaKar service, passenger reviews must be read. After all, it is possible that you will come across a client who suddenly demands to change the route, will not answer calls or will inadequately respond to a request not to smoke in the cabin.
The user to whom you leave a review will be able to read what you wrote about him only if he decides to share his opinion about you with other visitors to the site.
What should be indicated?
On the website of the Bla Bla Car service, reviews are left as follows:
- indicates whether the user was a driver or passenger towards you;
- in the column âTell us about your tripâ one of the proposed answers is selected (âexcellentâ, ânormalâ, âgoodâ, âdisappointed (a)â);
- a comment is left with a brief description of your travel experiences with a specific user and it is noted whether you recommend it as a travel companion.
After that, you can view your review in the preview mode and adjust it if necessary.
The user about whom you expressed your opinion will have two weeks to leave a response comment about the experience of the trip or communication on the issue of organizing it with you.
How to leave a response?
The service of searching for travel companions via the Internet does everything to make both drivers and passengers satisfied. Indeed, this is precisely what the Bla Bla Car mission is all about. Feedback from drivers about customers allows you not to spoil your trip by inviting brawlers or nerds to your fellow travelers. However, experience shows that in any conflict situation, each side is confident in its correctness. Therefore, âBLA BLA CARâ also provides an opportunity to talk about the experience of traveling with a specific person.
So that the user does not remain unaware of how a recent travel companion described him, the system notifies him of the posting of a review on the site without indicating its content. This is done so that you express your response as objectively as possible, and not try to answer the allegations if they are present in the note. As you can see, everything is fair!
The response feedback itself is left exactly as described above. After publication, it appears on the page of your fellow traveler. As practice shows, 75% of users receive feedback.
Anonymous driving rating
If the review is left to the driver, then you can also evaluate his skills. And this is done completely anonymously. As a result, the average score is calculated, which is displayed in the driver profile. Such additional feedback helps the service increase security, trust and responsibility.
Leaving reviews, passengers increase their level of experience and create a reputation for themselves as a reliable companion.
"Blah blah car": negative reviews
As with the work of any other service, negative reviews can also be read about the application that allows you to find travel companions for car trips.
For example, those who have been using its services for a long time, note that the great idea of ââmutual assistance over time has become a commonplace business for those who want to earn some money on trucking. In other words, many car owners simply use this service as a kind of control room that allows them to find passengers. At the same time, nobody cares about the convenience of the latter, and sometimes the car can drive up to the indicated address already full. Or instead of the declared convenient minivan, the client will be offered to hit the road on a ruin. In fairness, it should be noted that service managers are trying to control the behavior of drivers and limit the number of seats that they can offer.
In any case, it should be remembered that the trip is made on the basis of mutual agreement. Therefore, reviews also testify to this, situations are possible when the driver refuses to travel at the last moment.
Now you know what the Bla Bla Car service is. The reviews published in user profiles will help you not to make a mistake in choosing a travel companion. And after the trip, you can share your impressions that will be useful to other travelers.