The other day, I wanted a cab from my office on Outer Ring Road Bellandur to Commercial Street as I had some shopping to do. I tried booking a cab on the internet site of Meru without any success,
However, 15 mins later I get a phone call saying that cabs have come available suddenly and I can avail them, I asked them clearly that this is w.r.t the booking I did on the internet and I will not pay any convenience charges(For the uninitiated, Meru Cabs charge a premium of Rs 60 if a reservation is made over phone vis-a-vie on the internet, God knows why). Anyway, the caller confirmed that there would be no such charge.
After my jouney when I asked for the bill, to my utter disgust I saw the convenience charges in the bill. When I asked the driver, he told he didnt know as it was handled centrally. When I called Meru and asked them, initially they said it was OK for me not to pay, moments later, they told that I had to pay it because it was Meru plus.
For heaven’s sake, I came to know for the first time that another entity called Meru Cabs exists. I was literally forced to pay the amount. To all onlookers, be very scared of Meru, especially after this Meru plus thingie came into the picture, their service is all over the place and they can charge anything extra as apparently your calls are handled not by Meru but by its agencies. In addition to this convenience charge woe, many a time.
I get a confirmation that my cab is booked both ontheir website as well as on SMS, the cabbies never shows up. Thankfully this has not happened to me on a time critical journey such as to the airport or railways station but anyone who even contemplates availing their service, do take into consideration that their drivers may never show up and even if you call the number you recieve on SMS, either they dont pick up the call or refuse stating they were not informed. This is height of unprofessionalism and it didnt take long for them to convert a Meru loyalist into a total hater.