Run away from us or run away from your substandard quality of being which you project as superlative. How many ‘Uber rape’s will it take for our nation and companies to get their act right and deliver to people what they rightfully deserve?
So on the Sunday eve around 4pm, I had booked a Kaali Peeli from Ola, for a friend who wanted to go from Juhu to Oshiwara. Driver was running late but we thought it was not that big a deal considering Mumbai Traffic. When the cab finally arrived outside Novotel, the driver called and before I could even confirm if he has arrived so we could step out, he said in a warning tone ‘Suniye 15 minute mein aa jaiye. Varna baad mein mat bolna.’
I was surprised as to what had prompted this. But since the taxi was already late we rushed out within a minute and could not spot any taxi at the gate and therefore called the driver again. I asked him where exactly he was parked outside Novotel. He replied, ‘Kya dus gate hein kya Novotel ke?’ I obviously found this reply rude and questioned him about the same. He then went on to be abusive and said that he is not coming. I found my friend a rickshaw and she went home. On the way home I thought to myself what if my friend had actually taken that taxi. Fear is what I felt. This is happening in Mumbai. At 4:30pm. In Juhu.
If you are wondering how Ola comes into the picture here then read on. After I reached home, obviously miffed with the driver behavior and having second thoughts about Ola, I called Ola customer care to get first hand clarity. As it turns out one Umesh Singh who was speaking to me was not much different than the driver. He just refused to get a senior on line, and when I raised my voice, and yes I did raise my voice out of anger, frustration and fear, he threatened me to hang up if I didn’t speak softly. He was concerned about my tone of voice but I could sense no concern in his voice for the incident that had transpired. He asked me to give the booking reference number. With regards to that booking I had just one message from Ola and driver details and a reference number in it. I shared that number with Umesh. He said it wasn’t a valid code. How is that even possible? Moreover he repeatedly said that the system had no documentation of a booking from my number post 2nd of January. So accountability is ZERO. There were two. I have messages regarding the same and have taken the cabs too. I told him a message is all I have from you and I can share the driver details with you if you want. To which he kept saying no just share the number that starts with CRN. I have two Kaali Peeli messages in my inbox and both have KRN codes. Does Ola staff not know this? I was trying to report a serious problem here and he made it about the code and didn’t budge a step forward.
So coming to the point, can one trust Ola? If a girl takes a taxi booked via Ola, things go wrong; Ola is just going to wash its hands off citing no booking shown in the system. I, as a customer, have to be retarded to call them and narrate such a scenario without a booking don’t you think. It didn’t cross Umesh’s mind once. Or maybe that’s how Ola trains its staff. Since that call Ola has made no attempt to communicate with me or make things right. Why are they recording those calls if nobody is listening to them and doing something about them?
And I am sick and tired of going soft on these termites on whatever grounds and saying politically correct things. What I really really want to do is to wrap a barbed wire around a baseball bat and beat these guys half dead. Yes that’s how I feel. Being an educated guy from a decent family living in a relatively up market locality in the metro city of Mumbai, that’s what I think. Something has to be wrong right?
Sharing the message screenshot here so you guys can avoid at least this taxi even if you are in two minds about avoiding Ola.