Grab receives a flood of 1-star reviews.

Grab app.

Following the incident where driver NTH posted a video alleging a customer (identified as musician Minh Khang) threatened to punch him during a ride, causing a public uproar, the driver involved stated that his partnership with Grab had been terminated. The driver partner shared on social media that the app permanently blocked his account because the customer reported him for disclosing personal information.

The ride-hailing platform also confirmed this information on March 18th. Following the statements from both sides, Grab became a target of backlash, alongside musician Minh Khang. The popular ride-hailing app in Vietnam received a large number of negative reviews on app stores.

1-star storm

Since March 17th, thousands of new reviews have appeared below Grab's descriptions on Google Play and the App Store. The majority of these have a 1/5 star rating, equivalent to the lowest rating on the scale. Instead of focusing on app features or service quality, these users are reviewing the app out of frustration over the incident on social media.

"Boycott Grab for not siding with the driver in the case of musician Minh Khang. Instead of defending him, they stopped cooperating after the driver posted a video of a customer cursing and threatening him. In Vietnam, we must respect the truth, not side with those with money and power because of pressure," one user commented on the AppStore.

"The security guard who fired the driver was dismissed. He handled the situation very calmly and professionally, yet Grab fired him," another user commented, giving the ride-hailing app a one-star rating.

A large number of one-star reviews have appeared for Grab following the incident involving musician Minh Khang.

On social media, Grab's fan page also received a large number of abusive comments. New posts from the ride-hailing app were met with a flood of angry reactions from Facebook users. The administrators had to filter and hide negative comments.

Speaking to Tri Thức - Znews, a representative from the Grab platform stated that they received a complaint from the ride-hailing account holder, D.L., on March 12th, regarding the dissemination of their personal information and that of their companions on social media.

"After verifying and cross-referencing the information, we have grounds to determine that the driver partner collected, used, and disclosed passengers' personal information for personal purposes outside the scope of service provision," Grab stated.

According to the platform's representative, this behavior violates the code of conduct that the driver had committed to, and is also inconsistent with the platform's privacy policy as well as legal regulations on personal data protection.

Freeze the score.

Not only in Vietnam, but also globally, internet users express their opinions with one-star ratings when controversial issues arise. However, this method is often ineffective. Mass comments unrelated to the app's features are often categorized as "bombing reviews" by the platform.

Google Play and the App Store always prioritize the user's actual experience with the application. Reviews that don't focus on product quality and features are considered to have little value. Comments that are political , ideological, or attack the developer unrelated to the app will be considered a violation.

The platform has multiple layers of protection to block "bombing reviews". Photo: ShutterStock.

In its 2025 Ecosystem Safety Report, Google announced it had prevented over 160 million spam reviews and ratings that year. Their AI system helped prevent an average 0.5-star drop in ratings for apps targeted by "review bombing." Apple, on the other hand, strictly prohibits review manipulation in its App Store Review Guidelines, sections 1.1 and 5.6. Accounts engaging in this activity may be permanently banned by the platform.

After confirming that an app has received reviews that violate the rules, app marketplaces typically freeze the rating and switch to a new review moderation system. Despite thousands of one-star ratings, Grab maintained its 4.8/5 star rating across both platforms, remaining unaffected.

The data in the tools remains unchanged, but the image of the ride-hailing app may be affected by the wave of negative reactions and demands for its removal from users on social media.