BevQ, the much-anticipated virtual queue management app that paved the way for the reopening of liquor outlets after more than two months on Thursday, got off to a disastrous start with a large number of disgruntled users displaying their displeasure by giving it a low rating in Google Play Store.
The app had an overall rating of just 2.4 as of Thursday evening with one-star ratings thriving in a scale of five. The reviews posted alongside the rating varied from angry rantings to outright sarcastic.
“Usually a good app is supposed to have a rating of four or above. An app similar in feature to BevQ is rated 4.3 in Google Play Store,” said Akash K, a lucky user who managed to book a slot.
Direct search
The app, though live in Google Play Store, was still not available through direct search, which Faircode Technologies Private Limited, the start-up that developed the app, attributed to the time taken to index the app by Google.
Instead, users were asked to try searching the app with the command “pub:Kerala State Beverages Corporation”.
Naveen George, CFO of Faircode Technologies, said that 15 lakh users had registered the app as of Wednesday evening. He, however, declined to reveal the number of tokens issued. The app has a capacity to register 25 lakh users in a day while the number of tokens per shop remains restricted to 400 a day.
“We have not detected any hitches on our part and most importantly the end user experience at the shops has gone smooth as everyone with token received liquor,” he said.
However, the customer feedback in general painted a very different picture. The most prevalent complaint was about the non- receipt of one-time password (OTP) verification. “Though I managed to register, the OTP never came,” said Bhuvanesh, a youngster who tried in the morning.
Many users complained that though they received the message that the OTP has been successfully sent to their mobile, they never received it. “I got the verification code and submitted it only to receive the message that slots can only be booked from 12.05 a.m. to 9 a.m, which was very odd considering that the allotted time for booking is between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m,” said Eldhose, another user.
Earlier, the tipplers had their patience running thin on Wednesday when their wait for the app got prolonged and they vented their frustration by bombarding the Facebook page of the start-up.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday that an estimated 2,25,000 consumers had used the BevQ mobile phone application to purchase liquor. There were some inevitable teething troubles. The makers of the application resolved the glitches.
The resumption of the sale of alcohol had not precipitated any law and order situation in the State nor any large-scale violation of physical distancing norms and the mandates of the health protocol, he said.