Overview | Booking | Payment Options | Special Situations | Account Management | Operators | Troubleshooting
- How do I use Text A Cab?
You can use Text A Cab to get most modes of ground transportation, including cabs, taxis, black car and executive car service, tow trucks,
shuttles, and special needs transportation. There is no special software or device required to use Text A Cab. To place a reservation you can:
- Send a text message (SMS) to EZCAB™ (39222).
- Call us at 877.43.EZCAB (877.433.9222).
- Submit a request directly from our website, www.textacab.net.
In your request, you can include:
- Pick Up Address – this is the only required input.
- Pick Up Time
- Drop Off Address
- Number of passengers
- Type of transportation
- Promotion Code
- Group/Corporate Code
- Operator Keyword
- Comment/Special Instructions
When we receive your request for transportation, we will reach out to verified and qualified local operators to get you at least three (3)
quotes with expected time of arrival and price. Once you select the preferred of the three (3) quotes, we will send the car to get you and
send you car and driver details prior to the car’s arrival at the pickup location.
Use Text A Cab to pay for your transportation by using saved payment information in your profile. Within your account, you can also keep
track of your past trips, transportation expenses, and operator preferences.
We also offer directory listings of participating car operators and a registered user can comment on and review any of the operators which
are then viewable and searchable by anyone using Text A Cab.
- What are Text A Cab groups?
When you create a Text A Cab group you can share common attributes with other, invited users. You can share payment information and saved locations with select users. Once you create a group you will be assigned a group code which can be used by the invited users to invoke the group attributes.
You can use a group to set up a corporate account or even a family account. Invite Text A Cab users and non-users to join your group and give them permission to use the group code to pay for their transportation, and use the common favorite locations and operator preferences.
A group administrator, such as any concerned corporate administrator, or parent, or a social club treasury can monitor the individual user activity and transportation uses.
Creating a group is a convenient and efficient way to implement a travel reimbursement program without doing any actual reimbursement. As a group administrator, you can see a history of associated trips organized by user, time, location, or operator.
- How can car operators use Text A Cab?
If you manage, oversee, or represent a car operator, you can sign up with Text A Cab to increase profitability and customer satisfaction. We offer a nationwide recognizable brand and convenience to individual and corporate users.
When you enter a valid bid in each zip code where you would like to pick up passengers, we will start delivering requests to you via our web interface, email, text messaging (SMS), or even phone.
Once a request is provided, it is your turn to enter a price and expected arrival time of the car at pick up site. If your quote is selected, you will get a confirmation with all trip details and at the same time deducted your bid amount from your account.
Our Pay-As-You-Grow™ program allows an operator of any size and efficiency to improve profitability by setting how much they want to spend for each trip, for each day, for each week, and for each month. As your profitability grows, you can increase your budget and continue to grow.
- How do I book a car?
To place a reservation you can:
- Send a request via text message (SMS) to EZCAB™ (39222).
- Call us at 877.43.EZCAB (877.433.9222).
- Submit a request directly from our website, www.textacab.net.
In your request, you can include:
- Pickup Address – this is the least amount of information we need in order to arrange for your pickup. Please specify your address as accurately as you can. Including a zip code will significantly reduce the chances of not recognizing the address you entered. We do recognize all airport keywords and any locations you have saved in your profile as a registered user or any locations saved by the group administrator of a group you are requesting transportation through.
The following are examples of valid addresses:
- 111 Main Street, 68070
- 123 Main St, Ithaca
- 47th and 5th ave, NY
- LAX
The following are not valid addresses:
- 111 Main St
- 47th street, NY
- Ithaca
Please precede the drop-off address with from for better recognition.
- Pickup Time – enter the local time of the pick-up. This is optional and if not entered will be assumed that the pickup is required immediately. Using our web interface, you can also schedule recurring trips. This option is not available through mobile or phone access.
- Drop Off Address – once you enter the destination, you may be provided with concrete prices from local operators. Without specifying this location, the operator will negotiate price with you upon arrival. The format of this address should be consistent with the pickup address. Please precede the drop-off address with to for better recognition.
- Number of passengers – you may require transportation for more than one person. If so, you can enter the number of people that are travelling followed by passenger, pass, or people, and ppl.
- Type of transportation – we offer various modes of transportation for you. The default is a cab or a taxi if you do not enter a destination address and an executive/black car service if you do enter a destination address. In addition, we will contact a shuttle service on your behalf if one of your locations (pickup or drop-off) is an airport. You can specify your choice of choosing:
- Promotion Code - at different times, we will offer promotions to our users. To exploit a promotion, enter the code in the body of your request. We will apply the promotion to your final transportation bill.
- Group/Corporate Code – if you belong to a social or corporate group, you can order transportation for yourself on behalf of the group and use the groups saved payment information, favorite locations, and operator preferences.
- Operator Keyword – you may have your own preference for using a specific operator because of a pleasant past experience. By including an operator keyword in the body of the request, one of the quotes you get will be from your preferred operator. We include other quotes to ensure you get a fair price and are able to get transportation in case your chosen operator cannot handle your request.
- Comment/Special Instructions – if you chose special transportation vehicle, please enter specifically the type of vehicle you would like or what type of disability the vehicle and driver must be equipped to handle. Otherwise, you can choose to include any other specific instructions in your request, such as an arrival gate at the airport, or if you are travelling with atypically large luggage or pets.
- Where can I book a car?
We offer our service nationwide and support the carriers listed below for receiving text message (SMS) requests. However, in some regions we have not yet established a partnership with any operators. In those regions, we try our best to find a local operator even if we are not partnered with them. We apologize in advance, if we still fail to find anyone. We are quickly growing in popularity but there are places where we haven’t yet reached. If we can’t find an available operator, the best way to book a car is to call a local operator directly. We would appreciate if you let us know of any operators that we may still partner with by sending an email to suggestions@textacab.net with operator details.
 Alltel |
AT&T |
Boost USA |
| Cellcom |
Cellular South |
Centennial |
| Cincinnati Bell |
US Cellular |
Cricket |
| Communications |
Dobson |
Metro PCS |
| Midwest Wireless |
Nextel Communications |
nTelos |
| Sprint PCS |
T-Mobile USA |
|
| Verizon Wireless |
Virgin USA |
|
- When can I book a car?
Our service is live 24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week. However, our operators may have various operating hours. Whenever you make a request for transportation, we will request quotes from only those that are open at time of pickup.
- What happens after I send a request?
After you send a request, we will notify available operators of your request. Once we’ve collected their estimates of arrival time and trip cost, we will reply to you within several minutes (usually less than 2) with your available options. You will typically have three (3) quotes provided to you unless there are no available car operators in that area at the time requested.
When we receive your response, we notify the operator of a confirmation. That’s it. Simple, fast, and convenient.
- What happens after I book a trip?
The confirmed operator will notify you with the car and driver details closer to arrival time.
You also have the option to pay using your Text A Cab account. Ask the driver to make a request to us for the trip amount, and we will charge your account the cost of the trip plus any transaction fees associated with credit card transactions.
Finally, you can review, comment on, or rate the operator after the trip to let others know of an unpleasant or pleasant experience that you had.
- How are transportation providers chosen?
Operators are chosen based on their availability, your account preferences, the preferences set for a group, any operator specified in the request, and operator’s participation with Text A Cab.
Any registered user can add Default and Preferred operators. A Default operator will be the only operator to receive a request, unless there are more than one Default operators, in which case all Default operators will receive the request, if it falls within their coverage area. A Preferred operator is guaranteed to provide a quote, but there will be other quotes from different operators provided in addition. A group is likely to add at least one Default operator, whereas an individual is likely to add at least one Preferred operators. A user can also create a Prohibited operator. This operator will never receive any of the future requests created by the user.
- How do I keep track of my trips using my account?
Once you have registered and logged into your account, on the left menu you will be able to go to the My Trips section of our interface. Inside this section you will have access to view a list of and details for upcoming and past trips.
- What are CabMiles™?
If you pay for your transportation via your Text A Cab account, you will earn CabMiles™. You can redeem these miles for fare discounts and other promotions available through our partners. Check out details of available redemption offers in your own personal account.
- How do I make changes to a scheduled trip, such as cancellation, the pickup time or drop off location, etc?
Once a reservation is made, it cannot be changed. To change a reservation, simply cancel the existing reservation and make a new one with correct information.
Cancelations can be made at anytime. However, charges may apply if you cancel bookings after vehicle is dispatched, policies vary by operator. Generally you will not be charged if you cancel at least one (1) hour in advance.
If a cancelation cannot be made, you must call the transportation provider directly. Leaving your pick-up location without canceling or notifying the service provider may result in a "no-show" charge.
- What are the various payment options available?
Using Text A Cab is free. You can use Text A Cab to pay transportation by saving your Credit Card or PayPal account information. Once you have saved your information and it was approved, you can begin to use Text A Cab to pay for your ground transportation.
- How can I pay for the trip?
During your trip, the driver or the operator will let you know your final cost. They can initiate a payment request. The amount requested will require your confirmation, which we can receive over the phone, by calling 877.43.EZCAB (877.433.9222) with a payment confirmation number, which will be provided by the driver, or responding to a confirmation SMS.
We will accept any amount that is greater than or equal to the amount requested by the cab company. In addition, you may respond with Yes to pay the requested amount exactly.
- Is my payment data safe?
We keep your payment data private and never share it with anyone, not even the operators. View our Privacy Policy for our data privacy policies.
- How do I get receipts for trips?
When you log into your account, in My Trips menu you will find a logged history of your past trips. You can use this information to print receipts or simply check your account activity.
- How are tips and fees calculated?
Since Text A Cab is a free service, there is no fees from us, but credit cards and PayPal may charge transactional fees. Please check with their policies to understand any fees you may incur.
It is up to you to select the tip amount. Once you get a payment confirmation request for an amount requested by the driver or operator, you can respond with Yes to pay the exact amount or an amount that you would like to pay. The amount you enter has to be at least as much as the operator had requested, otherwise the confirmation is invalid.
- Can I pay with cash?
Of course!
- What do I do if I can't find my car?
After confirmation you will be provided with operator contact information in the event that you need to contact them directly. If after you have received car and driver details, you still have a hard time locating the car, you should contact the operator directly.
If the car is more than 10 minutes late and you are not notified of the delay by the operator, then you have the right to forfeit the trip without incurring any penalties. We recommend for you to call the operator directly and determine the status of your transportation, instead of finding other means of transportation.
- What do I do if I want to cancel a ride I have booked?
To cancel a schedule trip, log into your account on www.textacab.net and cancel an upcoming trip in the My Trips menu or send “CANCEL” to EZCAB™ (39222).
Once you have scheduled a trip you can cancel it however, charges may apply if you cancel bookings after vehicle is dispatched, policies vary by operator. Generally you will not be charged if you cancel at least one (1) hour in advance.
- What if I require Special Needs Transportation?
To request special needs transportation, indicate so when making the request for transportation. You can include keyword special in the SMS or by selecting Special Needs from the web and phone interfaces. In addition to indicating that you require special needs transportation, please enter specifically the type of vehicle you would like or what type of disability the vehicle and driver must be equipped to handle.
- How can I use Tow Truck and Shuttle services?
To request a tow truck or shuttle services, make the appropriate selection from our web and phone interfaces or use the keywords tow, tow truck, and shuttle to make the request via SMS.
- How do I change my preferences?
In My Account menu, you have access to view and edit your preferences. The following account attributes can be edited:
- Profile – Your name, address, and other general info.
- Operator Preferences - Any registered user can add Default and Preferred operators. A Default operator will be the only operator to receive a request, unless there are more than one Default operators, in which case all Default operators will receive the request, if it falls within their coverage area. A Preferred operator is guaranteed to provide a quote, but there will be other quotes from different operators provided in addition. A group is likely to add at least one Default operator, whereas an individual is likely to add at least one Preferred operators. A user can also create a Prohibited operator. This operator will never receive any of the future requests created by the user.
- Favorite Locations – Frequent pickup locations and destinations. You can nickname these locations and use these nicknames to order transportation easier and faster.
- Message/Communication Preferences - You can change how you prefer to receive booking confirmations and other communications. You can receive confirmations via SMS, email, phone, or our web interface.
You can also change your payment options from the Billing section.
- What is a bid?
In order to start receiving requests for trips from customers, you must first enter a valid bid for the zip code that matches the zip code of the pick-up location. To view, add, or change the current bid settings, please go into the Coverage Area section once you have logged into your account.
A valid zip code must be set at or above the zip code minimum, which is displayed when creating or editing a bid. The minimum will fluctuate over time as competitive environment within the zip code changes, and you can set the bid to be soft to increase with the minimum to ensure that the bid will remain active. Setting the bid to be hard will ensure that you never pay more than you had set, even if your bid becomes inactive.
Our operators set the price – price setters – not take our price – not price takers.
Once you have created active bids for the zip codes within your coverage area, you will start receiving transportation requests. You will only receive requests during hours of operation, which can change in your profile. If the customer has confirmed your quote, you will be charged the bid amount by Text A Cab, LLC.
In the Coverage Area section you can also view and change the likelihood of receiving a request in each zip code. As your bid changes relative to the bids of other operators within the same zip code, the probability of receiving an incoming request changes also. Since hours of operation are different for some operators, there are different probabilities assigned to different time periods displayed in the detailed view available from Coverage Area section.
- What is the Pay-As-You-Grow™ program?
With our unique, patented Pay-As-You-Grow™ program our partnering operators can choose to spend as much as they want and feel comfortable spending. There are no monthly or annual minimums.
Once you have created active bids, you can create weekly and monthly budgets to ensure that you don’t spend more than you are ready to. Once your budget is reached, you will stop receiving requests until the next time period.
The more robust your budget, the more requests you will receive. Finally, a platform that allows for direct relationship between, and control of, spending and profitability!
- How is the minimum determined?
Text A Cab administrators are responsible for identifying the correct bid minimum in each zip code. We use a combination of competitive landscape and population and employment densities to determine a correct minimum. Our goal is to set a minimum such that all active bids get requests on a regular basis. We strive to avoid a scenario when, despite, having an active bid an operator does not get any requests because there are too many participants within the zip code.
- How do I set or change an existing bid?
You can create a bid for a new zip code or change the bid for an existing zip code from the Coverage Area section in the menu. Once you have identified if the zip code already exists, you can choose to Edit it or simply click Add to create a new bid.
- How is ranking determined?
Operators are not ranked based on their bids. We use the bids to calculate a probability that the operator will receive an incoming request. Since we deliver up to 3 price and time quotes to the customer, you see the probability of being one of the three. The probability depends on bids for other local operators, hours of operation, and random chance.
Please refer to Operator Terms of Service for in-depth details on probability calculation.
- What happens after I receive a request?
After you receive a request from a user, you need to respond with expected arrival time and price. You need to respond within a limited time window or the request will be opened to other operators to respond and take advantage of.
Depending on your communication preference, you will be give appropriate response instructions along with incoming request to ensure you respond accurately and timely. From the web interface, you can check for new incoming request via My Account or My Trips sections.
After we deliver the quotes to the customer and they make a selection, we will notify you if you were awarded the trip along with complete trip details. Closer to arrival, you can notify Text A Cab or the customer directly with car and driver details.
At customer’s request, you can request a payment for confirmation by the customer. They can pick to pay at least the amount you specified.
- How do I change my preferences?
In My Account menu, you have access to view and edit your preferences. The following account attributes can be edited:
- Profile – Your company name, address, and other general info.
- Public Profile – Your company name and description to be viewed by users and potential customers.
- Coverage Area – Set, change, and view your bids for each zip code within your coverage area.
- My Drivers – add and manage your drivers and their cars for easy management and reporting of trips.
- Message/Communication Preferences - You can change how you prefer to receive booking confirmations and other communications. You can receive confirmations via SMS, email, phone, or our web interface.
You can also change your payment options from the Billing section.
For all troubleshooting or any questions not answered above, please contact support@textacab.net.