Rant: Cab Drivers
For friends on Twitter and FB, they would already know the gist of the story. I wasn't feeling very well yesterday and thought about taking a cab home from work. So I headed to the nearby taxi stand where I saw a cab waiting. I boarded, only to realise that someone had already ordered this cab. Before I could alight though, the driver offered to take me where I wanted to go, as long as I covered the booking fee.
I was appalled. Not just because he expected me to pay the booking fee, but because someone else had called for this service. How irresponsible of this driver. I was so mad that I left the cab immediately, so quickly that it didn't occur to me to take down the licence plate number.
However, after posting a message on Twitter and FB, friends have encouraged me to lodge a complaint. And I realised that even though I didn't have the identity of the driver, the company would still have records of the taxi booking right? So it would still be possible to trace the errant driver down! So I did.
I work in the vicinity of XXX Street and boarded a taxi around 4.30pm at the taxi stand in front of XXX Building.
After telling the driver my destination, he asked if I booked a cab. I then realised that I had boarded an On Call taxi unknowingly.
Before I could apologise for my muddleheadedness, the driver told me that if I am willing to cover the booking fee of $2.50, he's willing to take me where I want to go.
I happened to peer at the monitor and saw that there was a valid booking and the driver SHOULD be waiting for the requestor of this taxi. I thought that perhaps he might have been waiting for a while and hence was trying to find some way to cover his losses for the missing passenger.
I asked him if he had been waiting for a long time, and he said, 'No, I just got here.'
There's therefore no reason for his unreasonable, unethical behaviour. I was appalled and left the cab immediately. What if someone had taken him up on his offer, what would happen to the passenger who asked for the taxi. This is unacceptable conduct from the driver. Kindly investigate.
Updates if they ever get back to me.....
Update:
Comfort got back to me the next day, requesting for the taxi licence plate which silly me did not take down *sighs* I replied that I did not have the information, but was hoping that they might be able to trace the driver from the booking details, but the following day, they called me directly and explained really nicely that while they took my feedback seriously, without the proper information, they would not be able to identify the driver. But they've assured me that they will feedback the incident to management who'll send out a comms to the drivers about it.
I've done what I can. It wasn't a loss for me in any way, I just wanted to be heard and I guess I have and that's good enough for me.
I was appalled. Not just because he expected me to pay the booking fee, but because someone else had called for this service. How irresponsible of this driver. I was so mad that I left the cab immediately, so quickly that it didn't occur to me to take down the licence plate number.
However, after posting a message on Twitter and FB, friends have encouraged me to lodge a complaint. And I realised that even though I didn't have the identity of the driver, the company would still have records of the taxi booking right? So it would still be possible to trace the errant driver down! So I did.
I work in the vicinity of XXX Street and boarded a taxi around 4.30pm at the taxi stand in front of XXX Building.
After telling the driver my destination, he asked if I booked a cab. I then realised that I had boarded an On Call taxi unknowingly.
Before I could apologise for my muddleheadedness, the driver told me that if I am willing to cover the booking fee of $2.50, he's willing to take me where I want to go.
I happened to peer at the monitor and saw that there was a valid booking and the driver SHOULD be waiting for the requestor of this taxi. I thought that perhaps he might have been waiting for a while and hence was trying to find some way to cover his losses for the missing passenger.
I asked him if he had been waiting for a long time, and he said, 'No, I just got here.'
There's therefore no reason for his unreasonable, unethical behaviour. I was appalled and left the cab immediately. What if someone had taken him up on his offer, what would happen to the passenger who asked for the taxi. This is unacceptable conduct from the driver. Kindly investigate.
Updates if they ever get back to me.....
Update:
Comfort got back to me the next day, requesting for the taxi licence plate which silly me did not take down *sighs* I replied that I did not have the information, but was hoping that they might be able to trace the driver from the booking details, but the following day, they called me directly and explained really nicely that while they took my feedback seriously, without the proper information, they would not be able to identify the driver. But they've assured me that they will feedback the incident to management who'll send out a comms to the drivers about it.
I've done what I can. It wasn't a loss for me in any way, I just wanted to be heard and I guess I have and that's good enough for me.