I was had to travel on the 15th of August by air and the flight was at 7.50 in the morning. I hence booked a Meru taxi for 5.30 AM pickup from Raj Nagar Extension in Ghaziabad. The airline asked me to reach 90 minutes before departure because of additional security checks owing to Independence Day. Taxi services such as Uber only allow you to book a cab instantly and do not allow advance booking. Those that allowed advance booking were charging a bit higher. So while looking for options I found that MERU was giving 50% discount to first time users. Though their per-KM charges were thrice as expensive as UBER, I decided to go for it as I needed to be certain I would get a cab in the morning. In addition, if the payment is done through PayTM wallet, there was an offer of an additional 100 Rs cashback.
Now the offer was applicable if the booking was done through the app only. I downloaded the app, used their promo code BIG50 and proceeded with the booking. Now the app never said if the promo code was invalid or if it was not applied, it just went straight to the location of pickup and drop and date. I stored adequate balance on PayTM, received a call in the morning and boarded the taxi. With apps like Uber, the system automatically debits money from the wallet or sends it to a negative balance if there is shortage of money.
My estimate of the trip was no more than 600 Rs. I anyway had around 1300 Rs in my PayTM wallet that was linked to the MERU account. I finally reached my destination after two detours taken by the driver – one for filling gas and another when he claimed he accidentally ended up turning towards the departures terminal instead of the arrivals terminal. It is a really really long distance to cover if one has to go ahead and come all the way round back to the arrivals terminal(I am sure people of Delhi must be aware of this about T3 – IGI Airport). Next comes the shocker - the total bill came to around 1300 Rs for a distance of less than 50 odd KMs. The driver then told me that I will have to pay cash as the bill has been generated. I called up Meru. Their explanation was that’oh it was a technical error due to which your discount didn’t get applied nor did your wallet get charged. Sorry but you will have to pay cash’. When I was almost about to miss the check-in deadline, I didn’t want to argue and just flung the money at the driver and rushed inside.
My flight’s departure time was nearing and hence I didnt have the time to sit back and argue upon this.
First of all there are four big concerns with this trip,
The driver changes the original route and stops to refuel the vehicle. Why am I paying for the waiting and detour?
The driver forgets that I have to go to the departure terminal and goes to the arrival terminal. He then turns around and you know what a long distance it is to go all the way round to the departure terminal. Another couple of KMs charged unnecessarily on me.
I had enough balance on my PAYTM account and yet the bill was issued as cash due. I called and asked for getting it charged on my PAYTM wallet but they said due to a technical error, it issued a cash bill.
I did apply BIG50 in my booking and I am certain about that. Yet, the booking didn’t give me the 50% discount that was promised. Effectively, out of the 1300 you charged me, I am supposed to be getting a 50% discount plus a 100 cashback into my wallet. So, you have overcharged me Rs 750 plus the unwanted detours that took place.
When I later emailed them, their customer support completely chooses to ignore what I had complained about the billing and replied that they have warned the driver. Period! Nothing about the other concerns I mentioned.
Technical errors – fine. Aren’t there human souls who can correct it? Basically at the end of the day I am a first time user and I linked my PayTM wallet. Isn’t that enough to ensure the discount commitments are honoured? Suppose the system issues a bill of a million rupees, will Meru just offer its apology and say that the customer has to pay? Ridiculous.
A customer is in a rush to board a train or a flight and hence can’t stay long to argue. So just falter on your commitments and extort. Is this the trick of trade?