It’s snowing in Buffalo right now. Really snowing. Up until this point, it’s been a super mild winter. But as of yesterday, the snow really picked up, which means that a lot of residents and business owners are standing ready, shovel in hand, prepared to clear the sidewalks. Others are thinking about their cars that are getting snowed in on the street. Digging out a car after a snowstorm is no fun. It’s exhausting work. It can also be cold and dangerous work. By the times the snowplows have come through a couple of times, the snow and ice is a real hassle to deal with.
A lot of people don’t like shoveling out their own cars due to time, energy, cold, and other reasons. For those people, a new phone app will soon be available to Buffalonians called Yeti. While it is not available today, the app is scheduled to launch as soon as this storm lifts. Once the app is up and running, residents and business owners will be able to have their cars dug out with a click of a button.
The Yeti app first launched in Boston in 2016, and since that time has met with great success. Founder and CEO Chris Barry reached out to Buffalo Rising this morning, to let us know that Yeti will start accepting new orders on Thursday, January 31st at 6am, just in time to help dig out from the coming storm.
The initial service area will include a 5 square mile area centered around downtown Buffalo that will gradually be expanded as business ramps up.
“Yeti is an ‘Uber for snow shoveling’ app and we’re planning to launch in Buffalo immediately after the coming storm so we can help the city dig out,” said Barry. “Currently we only serve Boston but with the intense snowfall headed your way this seemed like the perfect time to expand into Buffalo.”
Both pricing and Yeti payouts are dynamic, they will change throughout the day based on labor supply, demand and snowfall.
Using Yeti is easy as pie. A customer simply logs into the app, drops a pin on the map (location of the car), accepts the current pricing, and waits for verification. Just think, while “a Yeti*” is outside, digging out your car, you can be safe and snug inside, with a hot cup of coffee working. When the Yeti is done with his or her job, the customer is sent before and after photos of the car in distress.
This is certainly welcome news in Buffalo. To know that there is a Yeti awaiting your beck and call is pretty cool, to say the least. Hopefully, in years to come, Yeti will also be available for clearing neighborhood and commercial sidewalks… now that would really be something!
Yeti is currently available on iOS only.
*For those who wish to make some money the sign-up process to become a Yeti is quick and painless, you can begin working your first order less than 5 minutes after downloading the app. Yetis will see the exact payout they will receive before accepting an order. All customer payments are handled via credit card payment while the Yeti payouts are direct deposited into a checking account provided by the Yeti during signup. Actual numbers will vary given the dynamic nature of the pricing but generally shoveling orders cost between $25-$45 while Yetis earn an average of around $40/hour.