[msdivy]

Ola incident reported on FB:

A very strange thing happened today. I had booked a Ola cab for my husband. When I was speaking to him he was quite nice. But when he saw that it was my husband who boarded the cab and not me he said he won't go and physically pushed my husband out of the cab..Where do I report this.Already reported to Ola ..but I feel this guy may be dangerous to women. On request from others his name is Vajra cab no KA51C8839 it's a silver Indica

The OP said it happened at 8PM and she has reported to both Ola & HAL Police Station.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Rumours... rumours... rumours.

Just rumour? heard from a wife who got it from a driver that there may be some doubt about the future of Ola. Anything in it? Sometimes the people who 'ought to know' can be the least reliable sources.

We have certainly found the Ola service, for cabs and autos, has diminished in the last few weeks. Now much harder to get a vehicle.

Another thing...

I never thought I would sympathise with the Chennai auto driver! But the lowest cost Ola cabs are almost as cheap as the auto fares, and I find myself hoping that it does not put the autos out of business.

Have been helping out an auto driver during a period of sickness (His help to us during the flood was of the magnitude that one could never repay) and hoping that, now he is able to do some driving again, Ola would help him in getting regular income again.

[narayan]

With Uber selling out to Didi in China, there is definitely some substance to all this talk that a consolidation is imminent in this market in Asia.

Didi had been propping up Uber competitors in various markets until now ( including Ola and Grab ). Now with Uber and Didi joining hands in China, I am not sure if there was a back door agreement for Didi to stop backing the Uber competitors so that they are cornered into a funding crunch and eventually sell out to Uber.


Uber is heading for an IPO soon - hence buying out competition is EXTREMELY POSITIVE NEWS for existing investors looking to exit.

To top it, various state/central agencies in India are making it tougher for these aggregators to operate. If there is one company that can fend off these regulatory overtures successfully through lobbying - its Uber.

I won't be surprised if Ola exits very soon or atleast comes to some kind of an agreement with Uber

[greenhorn]

Uber needs to enforce some discipline into its drivers in bangalore. While I have not faced any shenanigans in chennai, in bangalore, My sister had multiple drivers asking her to cancel after finding out she needed a drop to the airport. To add insult to injury, uber blocked her profile after all the cancellations, and she could not make any bookings. She eventually installed ola and caught a cab.

Quite a crappy way to treat customers

[cpbopanna]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Uber needs to enforce some discipline into its drivers in bangalore. While I have not faced any shenanigans in chennai, in bangalore, My sister had multiple drivers asking her to cancel after finding out she needed a drop to the airport. To add insult to injury, uber blocked her profile after all the cancellations, and she could not make any bookings. She eventually installed ola and caught a cab.

Quite a crappy way to treat customers

The solution is not the inform the destination until the passenger is in the car. The driver has no means to know the destination until he starts the journey.

[ajmat]

My daughter and friends avoid taking OLA taxi's alone. The drivers keep trying to stop and making them end trip and restart the trip in order to log more trips.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by cpbopanna

The solution is not the inform the destination until the passenger is in the car. The driver has no means to know the destination until he starts the journey.

Its not that easy. They then start making the excuse of "Low on gas". Now invariably you don't feel like continuing with the trip if the driver is so unwilling from the start. These guys are not understanding that they will be back with their old yellow and black cabs image if they continue to do so. Customers have made Uber and Ola a success only because of the hassle free experience.

In Delhi I have come across this as the most common excuse. The other thing I have noticed is that they don't call you these days after receiving your booking. So I usually call them up to ask if he even going to show up. It is here when they ask you about the drop off point and advise you to cancel if it does not suit them.

[harishpr]

I have had good experience in bangalore most times. Uber is marginally better than ola. I used both for last 2 years. As a courtesy measure, I always call the driver upfront and tell him the destination and seek confirmation whether he is willing to honor. Most often they confirm.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Uber needs to enforce some discipline into its drivers in bangalore. ....

Quite a crappy way to treat customers

Originally Posted by ajmat

The drivers keep trying to stop and making them end trip and restart the trip in order to log more trips.

I think it's high time Ola and Uber stop giving incentives based on number of trips. They are unreliable for airport runs, we've gone back to using Meru for airport trips as they confirm your booking and you get the peace of mind.

Alternatively, we use Ola till Shantinagar and catch a KIA service from there. If my dad is coming home at a convenient time, I pick him up at the nearest bus stop. This is, however inconvenient on some international flights.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Its not that easy. They then start making the excuse of "Low on gas". .....
It is here when they ask you about the drop off point and advise you to cancel if it does not suit them.

This is totally unacceptable.

OTOH, I want to be a little sensitive here. I think the company should introduce a feature where the driver can set his preferred route (only once a day) so that he can go home and also make a trip enroute.

[avdhesh15]

Uber has a new way of "removing" the surge pricing: LINK.

I faced this earlier this week when I saw the airport drop fare at Rs 932 as compared to the Rs 180 I normally pay. Got an Ola instead at normal prices.

I'm guessing the issue for us would be that route will be fixed to the cab driver and no dropping folks etc away from the route will be allowed.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

OTOH, I want to be a little sensitive here. I think the company should introduce a feature where the driver can set his preferred route (only once a day) so that he can go home and also make a trip enroute.

Trust me sensitive doesn't work in India. No one appreciates a good working model. Its like that age old saying that appreciate the hen that is laying golden eggs. In India we go ahead and cull the hen expecting to extract all the eggs at once. These taxi drivers should be grateful to these online service providers for enabling them to make a obscene amount of money and in a relatively respectable manner without having to jostle out at stands for passengers, worrying where the next passenger will come from, haggling for prices and what not. I, after a decade of studying and slogging, do not make the kind of money that some of these chaps are making.

But as usual the greed sets in. So they want to loot the very company that has given them all these benefits by trying to pump up the number of trips taken etc etc.

[FrozeninTime]

I had terrible experience with ola in Bangalore. The drivers are rude to you and ask you to cancel trip if it doesn't suit them. If you don't cancel they call customer care an inform them that passenger wants to cancel. You get this automated call from ola that driver has informed them that I want to cancel trip and ask reply in form of yes or no. This has happened many times with ola and last week I had to cancel ola after many drivers refused to ply to airport and ola themselves booked a cab but I booked cab from uber as it was getting late and I was tried of this game played by Ola drivers. Ola has now put a charge of RS 75 on my account for cancelling the last trip which is unfair and arbitrary.
They did not take in account inconvenience I faced that day. If this nonsense goes on I may force to stop using Ola.

An incident which involved my 60 year old mother occurred in July made me question measures adopted by ola regarding the safety of woman . I had booked a cab for her through her mobile and she is not that well versed with mobile. After two bookings, finally Ola customer care sent me a cab. The driver was informed to drop her at Bangalore airport. The driver then started to roam through some sort of rural route and my mother panicked as he was constantly talking in his mobile phone while driving. She asked him to stop which he didnt oblige. She was about to jump from her car when she saw Police barricade and police constable saw my mother and stop the car. He blasted that driver and with help Police she reached airport safely. I had called customer care and informed and so far they are least bothered to inform us what action they have taken against cab.

Below is the message I received when I first complained to them.
"We understand your concern that the driver's behavior was not good for the booking CRN xxxxxxx8. We apolothis is the meassage I recieved from Ola for complaint
xxxxxxxxx (Ola Cabs)
xxxx, 11:01 PM IST

Hi xxxxxxx,

Thank you for contacting Ola.
gize for the inconvenience that caused you.

I am initiating a follow up with the driver partner involved. I have marked Offence against driver and action has been taken as per Ola policy and procedure.

We are committed to provide an on time, high quality and safe ride experience to you. I appreciate you bringing this instance to my notice. Your feedback helps us constantly improve our service and advance towards our journey of providing successful rides to a billion Indians.

You are a valuable customer and I appreciate your business with us. If I can help you with anything else with regards to this trip, I will be happy to do so.

"Thank you,
xxxxxxxxxx
Ola Support

Get quick help with all your queries: help.olacabs.com

People say Delhi is unsafe for women but after this incident no city is safe for women as this incident occurred in broad daylight in a city considered safer than Delhi.

[hserus]

Not applicable in your mother's case but tweeting about your issue with #olacabs gets a prompt response. Previous cases -

1. Old broken down Indica with both orvms missing

2. Cabbie wanting me to stop the trip when just outside Bangalore airport with Ola money and then trying to make me rebook my trip from there on the highway

[Gansan]

In recent weeks, I have noticed when I book Ola, an unmarked cab turns up; once I booked uber upon arriving at Tambaram station, the driver said he was already in the waiting area outside. When I went there I saw an Ola painted cab from a distance and did not bother to go near. But it turned out that indeed was my Uber cab!

During my last trip, I booked Uber and the cab was unmarked, but turned out the driver (like most most drivers nowadays) had both Ola and Uber apps and drives according to his convenience.

So far I have not faced any problems with either Ola or Uber. I find Uber generally better and cheaper, so i always try them first. Ola is a bit more expensive, but more cabs are available. I always pay by wallet for both, and so far no problems.

From my home to Tambaram Railway station autos will demand Rs 150.00 flat. Same distance costs Rs 75 - 85 by Uber and around Rs 110.00 by Ola. Mostly I arrive at Tambaram around 7.15 AM, and get an SUV even though I book a mini!

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

I think it's high time Ola and Uber stop giving incentives based on number of trips.

Uber seem to have started it, but seems to be a phased system. after going through some three cancellations for a tambaram - chennai central trip, i got a guy who was happy to go. Turns out that he was not running on a trip based incentive, but a revenue based one. After talking to a couple of more uber drivers, it seems newer uber drivers are being assigned a revenue based target for incentives, while the older ones still continue with the trip based ones. The guy I met was happy with the revenue based target, as he preferred a few long trips rather than hunting around for a bunch of shorter trips.