Good evening Cel Cabs. Manjunath / Padmanabh / Ravi / Sunita here.Hi(whoever), this is Abha here. My number is 988……. I wanted a cab tomorrow from_ Nagar to Residency Rd at 9.15am.
Hold on a moment Ma’am. Ok Ma’am. It’s confirmed. The driver will call you before coming. You know the charges etc? Yes. Will you try and send Indica. And most importantly I NEED a driver who either understands English or Hindi at least as few words strung together, if not complete sentences. They never understand thedirections I am giving.
Ok Ma’am. I am putting a note in your profile.Thank you.(Wow! That was quick and painless!)
This whole conversation takes about 1minute(Rs.2.40 if I call from my cell and free if I call from my office line.;)Next day morning I get a sms at around 8am with Vehicle No., the ETA(expected time of arrival) and the drivers cell number. Very professional. So I am happily getting ready, so that I can leave on time when the cab arrives. 0845a.m. I get a call from the driver. Madam Cel Cabs.
Haan bhaiyya, boliye.
Madam, _ Circle, (something to the effect of where from that point in Kannada)
Bhaiyya, Straiiighttaaa down_ Rd directionally banni. then…(some broken Kannda that we tried to learn. Note only Banni is Kannada! Hehe!) Ok Madam.(Warning bells! The moment they say ok before you complete the sentence, you are doomed) Rightaa sida Apollo Pharmacy(thank god for forcing people to have names in kannada also!) Tarkaari marketta hai. Take leftaa before tarkari marketta. Marketta ke pehle. BEFORE marketta. Dead endaa, leftaaa again. 2nd bldg on leftaa. Blue colour building.
He reaches Apollo Pharmacy and cannot find my ghar for another 25mins when it is exactly 500mtrs away. I call the call centre and fire them. Ma’am we have sent the cab. Aaaaaarrrrggghhhhhh! I know you have sent the cab! Do YOU understand English? I keep telling you to send someone who understands Hindi or English EVERY time and you still manage to send me a guy who can hardly make out what I am saying. Now I am telling YOU the directions, please explain it to him. Ok Ma’am.
He finally reaches in next 2 mins! By then my throat is killing me and I can feel my BP shooting up. Breathe deeply, Abha. Relaxxxx.
Bangalore with its abysmal public transport and tyrant auto guys has come up with this breed of Call Taxis that as the name suggests are available on call. Once you use their service, they have your address details etc in records. Just give them your number and they will reconfirm the details, check if the cab is available and confirm the same to you. All drivers have cell phones and are contactable at any point of time.
Cel Cabs inspite of above mentioned trouble every once in a while is one of the better ones that we have used. Spot Taxi used to be great, but the day professionals started managing their work flow, it just went down the drains. They tend to be shady at times in terms of charges etc also.
Ideally you need to call them at least a couple of hours in advance, especially during peak morning and evening hours. There have been times that in evening they haven’t been able to provide cab at an hours notice.
They charge Rs.75 for first 6kms(which is the minimum) and then Rs.10/km. The waiting charges are around Rs.20 for half an hour. Most of the cabs have meters which show charges and kilometers traveled. In case there is no meter, you need to take the readings at start and end point and pay accordingly.
If you are traveling with luggage, one piece is complimentary and then every piece is charged at Rs.20 extra. It’s anyway better to reconfirm charges the first time around.
Their airport service is very efficient. If you take a drop to the airport, they will ask you about your return flight details and check if you would want a pick up on your way back too. You will get a call on that day to reconfirm the pick up. They also provide cabs for outstation trip whose charges I am not very sure of. They CAN delay horrible at times. So if you dont get a sms call an hour prior your departure time, start pestering them. At laest you can make alternate arrangements worst case scenario!My experience in last few months with Cel Cab guys has been TERRIBLE! They would come late almost everyday! Calling 2 hours in advance also, they would ALWAYS say that cabs are not available.
One day inspite of booking the cab PREVIOUS night, they non-chalantly sent a sms in the morning saying cab wont arrive. And when I hollered at them, the only question they asked was do you need evening cab or should we cancel that also. Thats how rude and callous they have become.Frankly, I will not suggest anyone this service anymore unless you are doing a airport trip which they are still ok with.Now I am using City Safari, which at least now provided me cab within 10mins of the call. Their charges are the same as Cel cabs after Cel Cbas has hiked their price. Most of City Safari driver seem to understand Hindi or English. City Saafari still doesn’t have fancy number recognitions features, so you need to give your complete details everytime, but once given they function efficiently. Their minimum charge is Rs.120/10kms with one and half time charge after 10pm.They are available on 25539999
Knowledge of local lingo will be an added advantage!;)