[Mistakenguy]

Had a really bad time with both Ola and Uber last Friday.

I had a 11:15 PM flight to catch from Bangalore to Hyderabad. Fired up the Uber app at 8 PM near Mysore Road. Got an Ubergo Indica(A) allotted to me and the guy reached my apartment gate and called me up asking me to cancel the booking and book again since his app was misbehaving. I thought of this as a genuine case and did as requested. Rs. 50 was deducted from my account as cancellation charges . On booking again, A was allotted to me. However, the booking went off by itself( possibly due to app issues, I thought).

Booked again, was allotted a Swift Dzire(B). B called up and asked for the drop location. On hearing the word airport, he started crying about how tired he was and was done with this quota of 14 trips a day and asked me to cancel. It was time to book again.

This time, I was allotted another Dzire(C). This booking too vanished after a couple of seconds. By this time, I had almost made up my mind that I was about to miss the flight.

Booked again to get (A) allotted to me again. Walked to the gate to find a different regn number on the car. Chose to ignore this as I was really running out of time. After starting the trip, (A) is shocked to see Airport as the drop location and asks me to cancel and book again. I lose it this time and on realising the futility of starting an argument, asked him to drop me at Hebbal( in the hopes of getting a Vayu Vajra or airport taxi). After lots of rash driving, never wearing the seat belt(in spite of me asking him to), always driving on high beams, I was finally dropped at Hebbal, where I found a KSTDC Airport Taxi guy waiting. Made it just in time for the flight ( at a lower cost than a single trip to the airport).

Landed at Hyderabad around 12:30ish and booked an Ubergo again. Was asked to cancel again because our dear friend wanted only Cash payment.

Since I did not get a different car after trying for long, booked an Ola Prime( no other option was available). Was hoping for a good ride home this time. Found the rear passenger armrest(on the door) damp from the rain and the much advertised Free Wi-Fi not working properly. Was so exhausted that I did not want to even talk about these issues. Finally reached home at 02:00 and crashed. Promptly gave a low rating on the driver with detailed feedback. Not sure if it makes any difference at all.

[RavenAvi]

Ola has claimed that it has helped keep 3,75,090 vehicles off the road in Mumbai since its launch in February 2016, thus helping to bring down CO2 emission levels by 7,05,660 kilograms as well as saving 2,94,024 litres of fuel across the city through it's Ola Share program.

“Shared mobility is the future of transportation in India and Ola Share has enabled citizens to share their rides and pay only a fraction of the actual trip cost while contributing towards reduction in vehicular pollution and congestion in their city,” Raghuvesh Sarup, Head of Categories at Ola, said.

Most importantly, Ola Share has prevented emission of over 48 lakh kilograms of CO2 pan India, that is as much as the weight of 1,200 Indian elephants, he added.

Official Blog Entry

Financial Express

[sairamboko]

https://www.facebook.com/chandanraut...54346190684758

Please read the above post. Ola is innovating in cheating!! Please use a timer app and google maps to calculate the time and distance for very long distance trip.

[ethanhunt123]

Originally Posted by Mistakenguy

Had a really bad time with both Ola and Uber last Friday.

I had a 11:15 PM flight to catch from Bangalore to Hyderabad. Fired up the Uber app at 8 PM near Mysore Road. Got an Ubergo Indica(A) allotted to me and the guy reached my apartment gate and called me up asking me to cancel the booking and book again since his app was misbehaving. I thought of this as a genuine case and did as requested. Rs. 50 was deducted from my account as cancellation charges . On booking again, A was allotted to me. However, the booking went off by itself( possibly due to app issues, I thought).

Booked again, was allotted a Swift Dzire(B). B called up and asked for the drop location. On hearing the word airport, he started crying about how tired he was and was done with this quota of 14 trips a day and asked me to cancel. It was time to book again.

This time, I was allotted another Dzire(C). This booking too vanished after a couple of seconds. By this time, I had almost made up my mind that I was about to miss the flight.

Booked again to get (A) allotted to me again. Walked to the gate to find a different regn number on the car. Chose to ignore this as I was really running out of time. After starting the trip, (A) is shocked to see Airport as the drop location and asks me to cancel and book again. I lose it this time and on realising the futility of starting an argument, asked him to drop me at Hebbal( in the hopes of getting a Vayu Vajra or airport taxi). After lots of rash driving, never wearing the seat belt(in spite of me asking him to), always driving on high beams, I was finally dropped at Hebbal, where I found a KSTDC Airport Taxi guy waiting. Made it just in time for the flight ( at a lower cost than a single trip to the airport).

Landed at Hyderabad around 12:30ish and booked an Ubergo again. Was asked to cancel again because our dear friend wanted only Cash payment.

Since I did not get a different car after trying for long, booked an Ola Prime( no other option was available). Was hoping for a good ride home this time. Found the rear passenger armrest(on the door) damp from the rain and the much advertised Free Wi-Fi not working properly. Was so exhausted that I did not want to even talk about these issues. Finally reached home at 02:00 and crashed. Promptly gave a low rating on the driver with detailed feedback. Not sure if it makes any difference at all.

Why do you even try Uber for Airport drop ? Why not Mega with their flat 699 offer ? Uber drivers dont like taking airport trips as it's a fairly long one - they would rather make their 15 trips in a day to make their incentive. Plus Mega 699 is invariably cheaper than all other options.

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by Mistakenguy

Had a really bad time with both Ola and Uber last Friday.

I had a 11:15 PM flight to catch from Bangalore to Hyderabad. Fired up the Uber app at 8 PM near Mysore Road. Got an Ubergo Indica(A) allotted to me and the guy reached my apartment gate and called me up asking me to cancel the booking and book again since his app was misbehaving. I thought of this as a genuine case and did as requested. Rs. 50 was deducted from my account as cancellation charges . On booking again, A was allotted to me. However, the booking went off by itself( possibly due to app issues, I thought).

Booked again, was allotted a Swift Dzire(B). B called up and asked for the drop location. On hearing the word airport, he started crying about how tired he was and was done with this quota of 14 trips a day and asked me to cancel. It was time to book again.

This time, I was allotted another Dzire(C). This booking too vanished after a couple of seconds. By this time, I had almost made up my mind that I was about to miss the flight.

Booked again to get (A) allotted to me again. Walked to the gate to find a different regn number on the car. Chose to ignore this as I was really running out of time. After starting the trip, (A) is shocked to see Airport as the drop location and asks me to cancel and book again. I lose it this time and on realising the futility of starting an argument, asked him to drop me at Hebbal( in the hopes of getting a Vayu Vajra or airport taxi). After lots of rash driving, never wearing the seat belt(in spite of me asking him to), always driving on high beams, I was finally dropped at Hebbal, where I found a KSTDC Airport Taxi guy waiting. Made it just in time for the flight ( at a lower cost than a single trip to the airport).

Landed at Hyderabad around 12:30ish and booked an Ubergo again. Was asked to cancel again because our dear friend wanted only Cash payment.

Since I did not get a different car after trying for long, booked an Ola Prime( no other option was available). Was hoping for a good ride home this time. Found the rear passenger armrest(on the door) damp from the rain and the much advertised Free Wi-Fi not working properly. Was so exhausted that I did not want to even talk about these issues. Finally reached home at 02:00 and crashed. Promptly gave a low rating on the driver with detailed feedback. Not sure if it makes any difference at all.

That's a very bad experience.

However for airport drops I would rather prefer a full fledged radio taxi like Meru (or Megacabs in blr) or even the trustworthy though expensive local taxi wala.

Regarding uber driver refusal, I would put the blame squarely on Uber and Ola for having such policies that give incentive on the number of rides per day, encouraging drivers t have shorter rides and also driving rashly to complete rides quickly.

I think time has come to atleast raise an online petition asking these cab aggregators to change their driver incentive policies.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by Mistakenguy

Had a really bad time with both Ola and Uber last Friday.

Off late Uber drivers are notorious for that. They take the booking, call up and ask the drop location and then find some lame excuse to not come. I've had drivers who call up and say they have a fuel tank leak, or a guy who told last weekend that we did not have diesel to complete trip, and so on. All those cancellations are generally after the location. And everytime, they deduct a cancellation charge from your account, and you need to get back to Uber fighting to get the money back.

The last time a driver told me such a lame reason and asked me to cancel, I said I'll not. Either you come for the trip, or you cancel from your end - which they wouldn't do, since their app gets blocked if they do that. I called another cab on Ola and continued my journey. The booking remained on for some 10 minutes and then got cancelled without a cancellation charge.

Originally Posted by ethanhunt123

Why do you even try Uber for Airport drop ? Why not Mega with their flat 699 offer ? Uber drivers dont like taking airport trips as it's a fairly long one - they would rather make their 15 trips in a day to make their incentive. Plus Mega 699 is invariably cheaper than all other options.

Does Mega really come for that fare? Every time I called them, the driver refused to accept the offer and I ended up paying the regular fares. I stopped using Mega after two such experiences (its a different thing that their Customer care refunded the difference amount by cheque, but its all unwanted headache).

Originally Posted by DCEite

That's a very bad experience.

However for airport drops I would rather prefer a full fledged radio taxi like Meru (or Megacabs in blr) or even the trustworthy though expensive local taxi wala.

Off late, I prefer using KSTDC. KSTDC offers flat rates for Airport drops and pickups. Just search online for KSTDC Airport Taxi - two website come up. Both of them look like scams - just drop in your contact details and the pick-up/drop location. They call you back - generally in 10-15 minutes and confirm the booking. Fares are cheaper in most cases (especially if you stay in southern parts of Bangalore) and the vehicles are generally well kept and drivers are uniformed.

[ashutoshb]

Uber drivers do not get incentives if they cancel the trip themselves, the reason why they ask riders to cancel or make an excuse.

So, the next time you think your Uber driver is making up and excuse, just ask him to cancel or come for the pickup.

Otherwise, you can also make a complaint against him, through the app itself. He will surely be penalised.

[cpbopanna]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

Uber drivers do not get incentives if they cancel the trip themselves, the reason why they ask riders to cancel or make an excuse.

So, the next time you think your Uber driver is making up and excuse, just ask him to cancel or come for the pickup.

Otherwise, you can also make a complaint against him, through the app itself. He will surely be penalised.

If the UBER driver asks for the destination, do not reveal it. The driver gets to see the destination only after 'starting' the trip.
My standard answer is - 'please report for the journey, I shall advise you'!
Of course, speaking to them in the local lingo helps!

[ashutoshb]

^
Yup, they are not allowed to ask for the destination, before you sit in the cab. You can always ask them to reach the pickup point first.

At no point of time, they can refuse taking you to your destination. If they do so, you can file a complaint and they will surely be fined.

If the same complaint comes again against them, they can be blocked, starting from 24 hours to a permanent ban.

[ethanhunt123]

Originally Posted by binaiks

Does Mega really come for that fare? Every time I called them, the driver refused to accept the offer and I ended up paying the regular fares. I stopped using Mega after two such experiences (its a different thing that their Customer care refunded the difference amount by cheque, but its all unwanted headache).

Its applicable for all booking made online or on their app. I have used it more than 15 times over last year or so without issue. No need to discuss with the driver - once you cross the toll just tell him its the 600 offer - the bills comes up to some 715 or something.

[Mistakenguy]

Originally Posted by ethanhunt123

Why do you even try Uber for Airport drop ? Why not Mega with their flat 699 offer ? Uber drivers dont like taking airport trips as it's a fairly long one - they would rather make their 15 trips in a day to make their incentive. Plus Mega 699 is invariably cheaper than all other options.

The reason for using Uber is simple- I get a monthly summary report of all my trips which helps me a lot to claim my expenses. Also, in the past 3 months, I have never had a Uber bill running beyond 720 Rs for the airport trip, nor any cancellation till date.

However, for early morning trips, it is always my trusted travel agency driver who drops me to the airport. Double the cost, but still better than missing the flight( had to once buy a ticket to Chennai at 13k in the last moment, because I missed my flight).

Will definitely try Mega/KSTDC next time and report back.

[Chetan_Rao]

Uber's app insists on a destination before completing booking, but it also says it won't be revealed to the driver until after accepting the booking.

I refuse to reveal my destination if a driver asks me in advance and if he asks me to cancel, I tell him I'm willing to travel so it's up to him to cancel if he wants to. Some get in line, some back out. Not my problem either way.

It's ultimately a business and I'm a consumer, I'm well within my rights to protect my own interests. If Uber/Ola have a flawed incentive structure, the drivers are free to sort it out with them. Why screw a paying customer?

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Uber's app insists on a destination before completing booking, but it also says it won't be revealed to the driver until after accepting the booking.

It does not "insist" on destination to complete the booking. Destination can be entered any time as per your wish. Many a times I have entered destination even after the trip started.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by AkMar

It does not "insist" on destination to complete the booking. Destination can be entered any time as per your wish. Many a times I have entered destination even after the trip started.

I vaguely remember destination being optional in the past (used it myself), but not anymore.

[audioholic]

I heard today that Uber has ditched the Trip based incentives and has introduced a new scheme based on revenue. This is a little wierd. Now as per the driver if they can bill a certain amount in a day, they get some incentive. Something like if the total bill by passengers in his cab crosses Rs. 2500, they get Rs. 6000 as bonus. Totally absurd IMO. In the evening, my driver had barely made trips worth 700.

So the impact will be upside down for customers. Previously, drivers used to hate long trips and those which would take a lot of time. Rather they would love short distance trips and would be extra happy with Pool as their ride count would be higher. Now it's the opposite. They hate pool. After I sat in the car, the driver turned down FOUR other requests giving excuses. I feel sad for these drivers now because it looks like these companies are luring in so many drivers and then one day will dictate their lives by designing schemes as and when the need arises. My driver was telling me he will start driving for Ola from tomorrow. Then I told him, not for long before he will find some annoying rule by Ola which will make them switch back to Uber.

Consider the situation, where these people would have brought expensive cars under EMI. Now if their income falls, they will be suffering. Not sure what the coming years have in store for Ola and Uber.