I had booked a drop to Nizamuddin railway station recently with OLA. At the time of boarding the cab, I checked with the driver if he knows the way and whether we can reach the station in time. He confirmed that he knows the way and we can reach station in time.
On the way I realized that the car was was in poor condition and speed could go beyond 60km/hr only with great difficulty. To add to the vows, driver did not know the right way and took the road to Kashmiri gate flyover, resulted in the cab getting stuck in a kilometer long jam on the bridge, and finally reaching the station on the wrong side and with a long delay, resulted in me missing the train.
I reported the matter to OLA immediately and was promised speedy resolution. Now after 3 week and more than 4-5 calls, I am witnessing a lack of intent to address the matter. Every time I call up, I am promised quick action, but I am able to see no results.
In addition to the poor service, the cab charges included charges for a wait period of 25 minutes for wait in the traffic. This mean that for a 29 km ride the charges worked out to Rs 511 @ Rs. 17.6 per Km as against the advertised figure of Rs.14 per Km. This practice is in contrast to other similar providers which do not charge for wait period. The practice of charging for wait means that:
1) the actual bill will not be known to the customer at the start of the journey
2) in cities like Delhi, Mumbai probability of getting stuck in jam is very high, therefore without any fault of customer, there will be a hefty surprise addition to the changes
3) Ola is not as in-expensive as it may seem on paper
Personally, I would prefer to be sure about the charges at the start of the journey and pay a little extra for that surety.
Hope this input would help users to have a view of the underbelly of the companies like OLA who advertise IIT pedigree of their owners, and showcase themselves to be fair to customers.