I don’t know where to begin.
Chandan is a fine driver, but either had issues with the GPS or plain clueless when it came to asking for directions. I knew we were in trouble when he asked people on the road the way to Gorakhpur. Suggestion #1: make sure your drivers either know the route already or have them review it before embarking(if there’s time, I know last minute requests might make this difficult) in case the GPS doesn’t work.
This I could deal with. What I am about to say and what I said to the representative who called me is going to sound harsh. I received a call telling me that there was extra kilometers on the ride. The person I spoke with repeated this much to my confusion, until I asked what was desired of me.as in "What do you want?" The statement about excess kilometers was repeated. "Fine, but what do you want?! Do you want money?" This does not convey the rising volume of my voice.
Why, yes. Yes, they would like more money to pay for the lost mileage. Now I got mad. As I explained, starting low and finishing loud; "I’m tired, and when I’m tired, I get cranky. And when I get cranky(and events like this transpire), I get angry." I was mean, I was angry, but never in my life has anyone had the temerity to shake me down like this. I paid 4500rs for the trip+ 1000rs as a tip to Chandan because he drove well, and it was a long trip for both of us and he’d have to back to Patna, I assume. I also paid 1000rs for gas. In other words, I paid$100 US in equivalent value. I thought the only cost would be 4500 rupees for a one-way trip to Gorakhpur. I paid twice that(admittedly, a thousand was voluntary); and this person on the phone wanted, what, another one thousand three hundred rupees(I’m not a hundred percent sure; I was succumbing to a white hot rage)?
I went nuclear. On what planet, in what universe, is a client forced to pay for a vendor’s mistakes? I’m writing fairly civilly right now I was not civil nor kind to the fellow on the phone and I am having a difficult time feeling bad about it. That is to say, I wish I could feel bad that I went after him, but I don’t. How dare anyone attempt to extort funds from another because of errors on the extortionist’s part? I’ve been in the service industries and in support for most of my working life. When I’ve known myself to be wrong(more times than I’d like to admit), I own it. If I suspect something I’m going to do is wrong, I talk it over with others or most likely, I just don’t do it.
I’m no genius, but I know that if a client or a guest has been inconvenienced or their request(for food, travel, a room, or any service, including prompt delivery at a destination) has been delayed, I am absolutely NOT GOING TO TRY AND CHARGE THEM FOR MY MISTAKES!(Yes, I am shouting.)
Suggestion #2: If a ride has taken longer than you proposed, that is absolutely not the customer’s fault. Do not charge more than the agreed upon sum(particularly when the customer paid 1000 more for petrol, something NOT(sorry, I can’t format the text, apparently.) covered in the terms that I can find).
Suggestion #3: Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to add to a customer’s misery. Calling someone up and being unclear or wheedling or both is morally, ethically, dishonest. Moreover, it results in responses like this.
I have a blog, I have a pretty decent presence on Facebook and have followers in India and Nepal and around the world. This February, my sister and two good friends of mine were considering splitting a ride to Bodhgaya from Kathmandu. If One Way Cab was honest or reliable, I would have recommended they travel to Birgunj and arrange a pick-up in Rauxal. That’s so not going to happen.
One Way Cab touts itself as being a fair alternative to the practice of charging for round trips even when passengers are only going one-way. I’ll recommend people stick with the old model; I already paid a round-trip amount(more, actually) and no, One Way Cab, your practice of trying to shake me down isn’t just unfair, it’s unethical.