[DCEite]

Originally Posted by alpha1

No one talks on the phone while driving - at least hundreds of rides on Ola and Uber (and Meru and others older generation "radio taxis" too) has confirmed this. I am sure there is a basic training these guys receive and the biggest blunder they could create is to talk on phone while driving, getting negative reviews from the customer.

Most of the guys never even glance at their phones while the journey is on. Yes they do check it regularly - at red lights etc - because the phone network connectivity in India is so poor that sometimes it disconnects (which sometimes "ends the journey" on the system).

But I have never seen any of these driver getting distracted by the phone.

I have seen. Many many times, with Ola, Uber and Meru. Both in Delhi and Mumbai.

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by alpha1

No one talks on the phone while driving - at least hundreds of rides on Ola and Uber (and Meru and others older generation "radio taxis" too) has confirmed this. I am sure there is a basic training these guys receive and the biggest blunder they could create is to talk on phone while driving, getting negative reviews from the customer.

But I have never seen any of these driver getting distracted by the phone.

On the contrary, I have seen lots of these guys glued to their phones. I have had to cut in and ask an Ola driver to focus on driving - as he was too connected with his personal call. I have also had a crash at crawling speeds in an Uber cab, as the driver was too focused on ending my trip and getting the trip details while crawling into the airport.

Originally Posted by fordday

Little off topic here -

When in those cab aggregator taxis, who is supposed to pay the toll while coming from Bangalore Airport to city?

Earlier this month, I took an Ola and the driver asked me to pay the Rs 120 toll fees. While on a Uber, the driver himself paid it.

Fordday.

Check your Uber billing, my billing invoice included the airport toll cost.

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Ola charges state tax for rides within Delhi?

Received this mail from Ola after writing to them asking for the justification for charging me state tax.

[heavenlybull]

Originally Posted by DCEite

I have seen. Many many times, with Ola, Uber and Meru. Both in Delhi and Mumbai.

Yep, only last week my sister-in-law had to stop her Ola cab midway and gave the driver a piece of her mind for talking on the phone while driving. These drivers are like any other cab drivers, not to mention all cabs have non-working rear seat belts.

[sdrindani]

This is regarding toll/parking charges, specifically in the case of Ola Cabs. Recently, at Mumbai airport (T2), I booked an Ola Mini, and I got a free upgrade to Prime. That pleased me, but I was not pleased when the driver called and said that I would have to pay Rs. 110 parking charges, unless I walk up to some point (it was not clear how much I would have to walk, and till where). I said that he does not have to park, just pick me up from the BEST bus stop. But he maintained that I would have to pay parking charges. So I cancelled it. After actually reaching the public road, I again booked an Ola cab (no upgrade this time). The driver told me he is nearby, and actually passed me without stopping, but all the while insisted that I would have to pay Rs. 110 parking charges. So I cancelled that as well and took an autorickshaw.

Another experience was on last Saturday in Bangalore. I booked an Ola the previous night and used it to go to the airport. There was no warning, but when I got the bill on the phone, it included Rs. 80 parking charges. There was no halt, no parking, just a drop at the airport. So why parking charges. I have written to Ola Support about this, let us see what they have to say. I plan to complain about the Mumbai experience as well.

Does anyone understand if this is a fair practice?

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by sdrindani

Does anyone understand if this is a fair practice?

The reason is 2 fold. Airport levies charges for pickup and drop on all yellow plate vehicles, irrespective if you park or not. Mumbai they charge some 110 bucks.

The phones used by Ola/uber drivers don't have precise GPS in them which results in the server detecting the car passing the geo-fence set up for pick up area.

Same thing happens at tolls, but in case of toll, you pass through them , hence slightly easier to resolve than the airport. Uber includes all charges in your bill and you only have to pay what's printed on the bill. Not sure of ola as I haven't used one for trips that crossed toll or airport drop/ pick up.

If you pick up uber near Mumbai airport, this charge might get automatically added, but usually it is refunded promptly on writing them an email.

[greenhorn]

Can someone help me understand what this uber support dude is trying to communicate?

Hi
I was asked to pay rs 22 in cash for omr toll . Usually I am not charged this, but the driver insisted that the toll needs to be paid over and above my bill.
Please let me know if this is correct, else please refund the toll amount.
Thanks

Thanks for letting me know about this situation with the tolls. I can totally understand your frustration here. I know that having to stop and pay a toll reduces the cash-free and seamless experience that you expect when you request an Uber. I'm happy to make this right for you.

Since tolls are automatically charged in our system, I have gone ahead and checked your trip that you had paid for toll at booth and it is not included in your receipt it is apart from your billing but as per estmate you no need to worrie about you were charged fairly because your fare was Rs.206.00 and plus your toll amount is Rs.22.00 which is not incuded during billing time because you had paid toll one time only.So total amount including toll is INR 228.00 that is fairly charged to you.
I’ve provided a fare breakdown below for you to review:

Base Fare ₹ 40.00
Distance ₹ 140.40
Time ₹ 37.50
OMR Toll (12:00 AM - 11:59 PM) ₹ 22.00
Surge x1.0 ₹ 0.00
Rounding Down (₹ 0.35)
Est Fare Total ₹ 239.55
(Actual Fare) ₹ 206.00

If you have any other questions regarding this experience, just let me know. I'm here to help.

Safety and accountability is built into the Uber experience, before, during and after a ride. Read more.

Thank you for the reply. The way I understood your response is that the fare was 228, out of which i was charged 206 as I had already paid toll in cash.

My understanding, and as you have also mentioned in your mail, tolls should be charged automatically, yet the driver insisted on me paying in cash separately.

This as you mentioned, reduces the seamless cash free experience uber usually provides. Does this mean that tolls are to be paid separately in cash from now on?

Thanks for reaching out! I’m so sorry to hear about the confusion here. I can see how this was a frustrating experience. No worries, though! I’m happy to make it right.

Well as per my mail it doesn't mean that you had pay toll at booth or centers.Sometimes GPS are tricky and they doesn't recognize the toll which you had paid at center only and but in this trip It appears the error was with the GPS which can be tricky sometimes, particularly in big cities like ours.and you can always get estimate of your fare because generally recommend our riders to input their location and destination to make a fare estimation before the trip. Please note that highway tolls and airport fees are charged automatically and are included in the fare estimate.

Fare estimates are calculated as ranges to accommodate for the variety of factors that can impact the time and distance of your trip. We try to be as transparent as possible in our pricing. You can always see the estimated range for a trip by tapping “Fare Quote” in the app or by visiting your city's rates page.

If you ever notice that a fare is outside of the estimated range, let us know and we’ll be happy to review.

Safety and accountability is built into the Uber experience, before, during and after a ride. Read more.

At this point, talking to this dude seemed like talking to a flawed text mining bot/AI which was just aggregating random text together without bothering to see if they made sense or if my question was really answered . Can anyone understand what this guy is saying ? Btw, I have travelled the route using uber before and after multiple times, and was not asked by any of the drivers to pay toll in cash.

[deehunk]

I booked an Ola cab for airport drop on April 8th, I was travelling to USA and had to take the flight to Honking at 1.30pm midnight. Since it was a festival day, many drivers cancelled the booking and I had to beg these drivers to come for pickup. Then Ola arranged some driver, he did not that I was going to Airport. He came to my place as promised, when he realized that I was going to Airport he started cribbing about Ola. Things were fine till we reached Goraguntepalya, from here he tried to trick me that vehicle had a problem and he cannot continue further. He stopped after the signal and said that I look for another cab. I tried to find a cab then but it was getting late and I could not find a cab. I crossed over to the other side of the road and was waiting for a bus or auto. Ola people then called me and apologized for not finding an alternate taxi, interestingly the driver was not found at the spot. The vehicle GPS was ON but driver was found on the way to Yeshwanthpur.

[aravind.anand]

I had a weird issue with Ola, where I booked a cab, the cab guy never attended my call, and thus din't turn up. So I booked yet another cab and proceeded. Later upon reaching, I got a 2 messages - someone had taken the first cab I had booked and used my Ola money - thank God I had just INR 61 this time. So I paid this cab in cash and left.

What would have happened if I had some 500 as Ola money and someone else takes my cab

[Mortis]

That's great atleast they are making an effort to follow the rules

[YashD]

Was having a conversation with a Ola driver today, he said a new company is coming up "Tigre"? Anyone heard about the same?
He said the instead of using tiger the company uses "Tigre" as there brand name, googled also but didn't find anything like that!

[ajmat]

Last sunday, I took a Meru cab - Got a tired Logan with 500k km on the clock and a driver who was even more tired. It was like riding on a jelly. Car was past its life.

[freedom]

I have used UBER 4 times in the past 2-3 months. All trips were during non peak hours 11 AM to 4 PM.
Last Saturday, it was a brand new Dzire and a super sensible sedate driver!

For all practical reasons for any distance over 10 km, Uber actually costs less than an Auto!! You get to travel in a nice AC car, you don;t hve to worry about tampered meters and not have to pay a penny over the fare.
The biggest benefit is you are not at the mercy of Autowallas.

Technology is a great leveler. Its about time that auto drivers reduce their per/km charge and improve their service. Else they will become redundant.

[speedmiester]

Two bad experiences with Ola today.

I booked the first cab for my parents, the driver called back and I gave him the directions. Instead of picking us up, this cabbie just started the trip and switched off his phone. I complained to Ola, they said they will look into it and asked me to book another cab.

I made the second booking, this cab driver came to our place, but again started the trip before my parents boarded. Later I got a call from my parents about the rash driving and unnecessary routes taken to increase the distance. Also he did not drop them off at the place they requested. This is from a driver who is rated at 4.7, don't know how he received such high rating.

In the meantime, I receive another bill from the first cab driver who was driving around for 40mins and 5kms without us in the cab. My ola money account was debited with Rs.114/-

Heights of incompetence and sheer negligence. I gave the ola customer care a piece of my mind.

Lack of stringent training, verification and tightening regulations are showing in the quality of service offered.
I am done with ola or any other app based cab service.

I rather drive myself or stick to my neighborhood cab operator.

[TD_GHY]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

In the meantime, I receive another bill from the first cab driver who was driving around for 40mins and 5kms without us in the cab. My ola money account was debited with Rs.114/-

That is why I always pay by cash whenever I have to take an Ola or Uber even if it means I may have to pay 5-6 extra owing to non availability of change. This has been cited many times over forums and Facebook that Ola drivers will first ask you if you would be paying by cash or Ola money. If you say by Ola money, they'll just start the trip without you and go to a place they wanted to go. For example - some place to have lunch (at your expense).