Del Mar Mom – a surge pricing app for local tuk-tuk drivers and cleaning ladies launched two weeks ago on the App Store – and has absolutely caught fire locally, with nearly eighty percent of all local Tuk-Tuk drivers and cleaning ladies reporting that they use the app daily. During yesterday’s torrential rains and flooding, prices were surging well over $500 on the app as desperate Del Mar Moms tried to bring in their cleaning ladies, get rid of their children, and reach their morning Pilates classes.
When we reached the Esperanza river crossing just after 9 am yesterday, the mood was chill and the vibe was relaxed. 4×4’s and motos were idling on both sides, with drivers trying to summon the mojo to cross. Cheers, laughter, and raised cell phones greeted each of these attempts. A cluster of tuk-tuks was circled up on the near side, and we counted nearly twenty screens with the Del Mar Mom app open – green price bars pulsing upwards. The women in the back seats chatted back and forth rapidly, comparing offers, as their drivers nervously eyed the crossing.
“The river is too dangerous, I don’t even want to cross it,” said Isabel González Pérez, a well-known local housekeeper from Garza. “Yesterday, I stayed home. I cleaned my own house, took care of my three kids because their school was closed, helped my neighbor fix her roof, and cooked three meals for my family.”
“But when I woke up this morning, I already had eight offers on Del Mar Mom, all over $300. One lady offered me $400 just to come clean, just a single bathroom. When I didn’t answer right away, she offered me $200 just to tell her where the cleaning supplies were.”
Just then, Isabel’s app pinged with a $600 offer to Wait for an Electrician and Cook Lunch for a four-year-old. In ‘Message Your Tuk Tuk Driver’, the client was offering an extra $100 if the same driver could get her down to Bodhi for a 11 AM spin class. Isabel spoke quickly to her driver, Reinier Moya Villalobos, they agreed on a split, and Isabel slammed the green YES button on the app. Confetti exploded across the screen, along with the words “¡Felicidades! ¡Esta mamá de Del Mar te está pagando un 70% más de lo normal!»
Villalobos gunned the Tuk-Tuk, the crowd began to cheer, and they plunged into the river, with Isabel clutching desperately at the roof. The tuk-tuk began to struggle and drift – and for a one, horrifying, brief moment – it seemed the river would take it. The cheering stopped. Phones were lowered – but then Villalobos miraculously found a sandbar, and the Tuk Tuk straightened out. The cheering rose again, and phones flew back up, capturing the unbeatable social media content of a brave little Tuk Tuk emerging from a muddy, flooded river, spitting out sand and water, and roaring off towards the large, white mansions on the hillside beyond.
