[v12]

I usually do not like to post grievances online but I guess Ola Customer Support has taken it too far now.

I have had a lot of good and not so good experience with Customer Support across various services - Internet Services Providers, Banks, Consumer Stores etc. But the Ola Customer Support takes the cake.

I have been using Ola since a couple of years now and till date have never faced any issues whatsoever. However things changed at the start of the year and that was now my last Ola drive. I'd rather use a regular Autorickshaw than Ola cabs.

I had booked an Ola cab from Mumbai to Thane in January this year. Post completion of the ride, the payment was promptly made to the driver (through GPay). A few weeks later when I checked my Ola app, it showed me that I need to clear my pending dues (of my last ride). I tried reaching out to Ola Customer Support through their app - and believe it or not, they don't have a section where you can select a query for payment made and not acknowledged. They do not even have a Hotline number that works at any time of the day. I finally sent them an email to their customer support on 4-Mar with evidence showing the ride details and the payment being made. And the response I receive from them is to raise a grievance via the app (where there is no option). I drop an email back mentioning there is no option to select for the query I have.

And here is the rest of the story :

On March 5, I received an email from Manisha "Please note that the amount will not reflect in your account after 72 hours."

I checked in Mar 9 and the message still showed on the app.

On March 13 I received an email from Anjali "We tried reaching you on your mobile number *******## on 12-03-2022 at around 12:45 PM but we couldn't get through." - but I never got any call from Ola.

On Mar 17 I receive an email from Himanshu to provide more details which were already provided earlier.

On Mar 18 I receive an email from Dorothy that you are unable to provide a refund - BUT I NEVER ASKED FOR A REFUND.

On March 19 I received an email from Santhosh "Please note that the amount will not reflect in your account after 72 hours."

On March 20 I received an email from Mohan "Please note that the amount will not reflect in your account after 72 hours."

On March 23 I received an email from Lalith "Please note that the amount will not reflect in your account after 72 hours."

At this rate, I am sure each and every employee from the Ola Customer Support will be reaching out to me with a 72 hours turn-around-time.

It's 28-Mar today and there is no resolution on the issue. I mean, how hard is it for an Ola Customer Support to review the evidence that I have attached and resolve the query. The email has been through 7 executives now without a proper resolution.

Seriously, this kind of a support is ridiculous. Reminds me of the joke, how many OLA Customer Support executives people does it take to resolve one simple query??

Answer, probably their entire Customer Service department.

Have any of you faced such a situation with Ola Customer Support? Please do share your experiences.

[s4ch]

This is an absolute joke by Ola.

I don't think it's the customer care persons fault but probably a company wide problem where low level reps are unable to make decisions and/or are limited by the CRM to send only prefixed and pre-worded responses. Please try tweeting about your issue to Ola's CEO and tag Ola too, I have found that unfortunately this is very often the only way to get things done.

PS. Suggest to remove your mobile number from one of the messages.

[v12]

Originally Posted by s4ch

This is an absolute joke by Ola.

I don't think it's the customer care persons fault but probably a company wide problem where low level reps are unable to make decisions and/or are limited by the CRM to send only prefixed and pre-worded responses. Please try tweeting about your issue to Ola's CEO and tag Ola too, I have found that unfortunately this is very often the only way to get things done.

PS. Suggest to remove your mobile number from one of the messages.

First of all many thanks for pointing out the mobile number - I have edited it out now.

I agree it may not be the fault of the customer care rep - but after a certain point, it does get frustrating. I had also requested for this issue to be escalated to some senior executive who could take a decision - but still kept getting the same response. I am not on Twitter, but will try out that option.

[Dry Ice]

I guess it’s the same bot behind the scenes which is recommending “resolution” to the agents, which they are simply clicking through. Maybe this is a case it hasn’t encountered in the past and is clubbing it under “payment” issues. Which could explain the plethora of “72 hour” mails. Or it could all be coming from a bot itself and no human has seen your email yet. Who knows!

More and more companies these days are obfuscating or doing away with email/phone support and channeling all the queries/concerns through these bots in trying to “optimise” their support function.

Have you tried raising this on Twitter yet?

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by v12

The email has been through 7 executives now without a proper resolution.

I think only one or two of the seven executives are real people. The rest could just be names associated with bots answering your mails based on a set of keywords.

[adisan]

Originally Posted by v12

I had booked an Ola cab from Mumbai to Thane in January this year. Post completion of the ride, the payment was promptly made to the driver (through GPay).

Was the ride booked with payment as Cash option?

[v12]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

I guess it’s the same bot behind the scenes which is recommending “resolution” to the agents, which they are simply clicking through. Maybe this is a case it hasn’t encountered in the past and is clubbing it under “payment” issues. Which could explain the plethora of “72 hour” mails. Or it could all be coming from a bot itself and no human has seen your email yet. Who knows!

More and more companies these days are obfuscating or doing away with email/phone support and channeling all the queries/concerns through these bots in trying to “optimise” their support function.

Have you tried raising this on Twitter yet?

Originally Posted by dailydriver

I think only one or two of the seven executives are real people. The rest could just be names associated with bots answering your mails based on a set of keywords.

Originally Posted by adisan

Was the ride booked with payment as Cash option?

I too believe that the 72 hours emails were standard bot messages - but looking at the signatures I thought they were actual messages by some executive.

I don't remember exactly, but the option I had selected was Gpay.

[thanixravindran]

Originally Posted by v12

I don't remember exactly, but the option I had selected was Gpay.

Is it possible that you have the option selected as Card but inadvertently paid to the driver to his Gpay? Did he asked you to pay by Cash during the trip and you transferred the money to him at the end? Earlier Ola used to show in the app how much to be paid to driver as well to the driver in his mobile how much to be collected from customer in Cash. For card payments/Ola money, it will show as 0. For cash, it will show as Completed and Paid once driver accepts the cash and closes the transaction. I have not recently used Ola after Pandemic, so not sure how the app UI has changed.

Anyhow, what Ola should have done is verify this with the driver (-partner as they call it) with your Gpay proof (hope the Gpay mobile number of the driver you paid and registered with Ola remains same) and set your status to Paid and close it. It is too much for software driven tech companies to do it

[adisan]

Originally Posted by v12

I don't remember exactly, but the option I had selected was Gpay.

Cash is the only option where the rider has to pay the driver. With any other option the payment has to be made to Ola, hence the app is showing the amount as due.

[rohitoasis]

How timely is this post. Just last Friday did i use Ola app after a period of few years.

It was 5 in the morning and i was not the most attentive after three days of travel.
The new UI was confusing to me. I assumed i had selected the cash option and promptly paid the driver in cash after completing the journey.

After freshening up, i sat with the mobile to see a mail about Ola post paid pop in my mailbox. Apparently i had selected ola post paid option to pay up the amount. So basically i ended up paying twice for the journey. I was fuming and tried looking up options for raising a ticket. Three mails down and still i have no idea if they have seen my communication at all. Just 15 minutes back, i paid up the dues of Ola post paid as well and promptly logged off Ola never to use it again.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by rohitoasis

So basically i ended up paying twice for the journey

Originally Posted by v12

I mean, how hard is it for an Ola Customer Support to review the evidence that I have attached and resolve the query

Makes me think if this is it another kind of trick played by Ola drivers?

[v12]

Originally Posted by thanixravindran

Is it possible that you have the option selected as Card but inadvertently paid to the driver to his Gpay? Did he asked you to pay by Cash during the trip and you transferred the money to him at the end? Earlier Ola used to show in the app how much to be paid to driver as well to the driver in his mobile how much to be collected from customer in Cash. For card payments/Ola money, it will show as 0. For cash, it will show as Completed and Paid once driver accepts the cash and closes the transaction. I have not recently used Ola after Pandemic, so not sure how the app UI has changed.

Anyhow, what Ola should have done is verify this with the driver (-partner as they call it) with your Gpay proof (hope the Gpay mobile number of the driver you paid and registered with Ola remains same) and set your status to Paid and close it. It is too much for software driven tech companies to do it

Ok, i just remembered - i had selected the option as Cash to be paid at the end of the trip. The fare was 429 and i had handed a 500 rupee note to the driver, but since he didn't have change, he asked to pay via Gpay. The Gpay details of the driver matched with his name on Ola.

Originally Posted by adisan

Cash is the only option where the rider has to pay the driver. With any other option the payment has to be made to Ola, hence the app is showing the amount as due.

Thanks Adisan, this could be the issue then. But then, how will the customer know if he is paying the driver or to Ola?

Originally Posted by rohitoasis

How timely is this post. Just last Friday did i use Ola app after a period of few years.

It was 5 in the morning and i was not the most attentive after three days of travel.
The new UI was confusing to me. I assumed i had selected the cash option and promptly paid the driver in cash after completing the journey.

After freshening up, i sat with the mobile to see a mail about Ola post paid pop in my mailbox. Apparently i had selected ola post paid option to pay up the amount. So basically i ended up paying twice for the journey. I was fuming and tried looking up options for raising a ticket. Three mails down and still i have no idea if they have seen my communication at all. Just 15 minutes back, i paid up the dues of Ola post paid as well and promptly logged off Ola never to use it again.

Same here bro, am never ever going to use Ola again.

Originally Posted by aargee

Makes me think if this is it another kind of trick played by Ola drivers?

Very true, i did check online and see a lot of people complaining that even though they made a payment - it still shows as overdue.

[adisan]

Originally Posted by v12

Ok, i just remembered - i had selected the option as Cash to be paid at the end of the trip. The fare was 429 and i had handed a 500 rupee note to the driver, but since he didn't have change, he asked to pay via Gpay. The Gpay details of the driver matched with his name on Ola.

If this is the case, then OLA app should not show any amount due from you for that trip.

But then, how will the customer know if he is paying the driver or to Ola?

If the payment is made through the "Pay" option in the OLA app, then OLA is being paid and the driver will get his share subsequently. If the payment is made to the driver's number (like you did), it is directly to the driver.

How to know whom to pay?

• If Cash is selected as the payment option for a ride when booking, then the driver has to be paid directly. It could be through hard cash, or through wallets or UPI as you have stated above.
• If any other method of payment chosen while booking, no payment has to be done as soon as the trip ends. The amount for the trip will show as dues in the OLA app, and the user can pay the amount using any of various options. And BTW, OLA offers OLA Postpaid, where the cumulative dues can be settled after 15 days or so, without any extra charges.

[EV NXT]

Ola Customer Support executives select responses to customer complaints from the various options in a drop down menu. They are not allowed to think up a response.

That is why you get responses that are repeated.

Nothing new.

The reason for this is 3 fold - (1) Ola / Uber do not want their executives to draft their own response - you can imagine the quality of English you would have to handle and (2) Ola / Uber believe that all complaints can be categorized into the options mentioned in their internal drop down menu. (3) Varying responses by customer support executives could land Ola in trouble.

So if you’re stuck outside of those options, you have to keep repeating your complaint, IGNORING the response from the customer support executive AND ask for an escalation to the higher up’s.

If you’re patient enough till this complaint lying open catches the eye of the higher up’s you could get a resolution.

Best of luck.

[thanixravindran]

Originally Posted by v12

Ok, i just remembered - i had selected the option as Cash to be paid at the end of the trip. The fare was 429 and i had handed a 500 rupee note to the driver, but since he didn't have change, he asked to pay via Gpay. The Gpay details of the driver matched with his name on Ola.

Ok, This means the driver simply has not updated the Cash as collected and scammed you. When the driver reaches the destination, he will complete the trip. You will see the trip as complete in the status. When the cash is paid, he has to mark it as Paid and then the status will change to Paid (in Green color) for you. If it is card payment, it is automatic as Ola will change it in software.

I experienced this more than 5 years ago in Bangalore Railway station with Ola. I completed the trip, paid in cash but status is only Completed and not as Paid. I waited for 10 minutes and then called the driver (I was lucky as I called him earlier) and asked him to update the payment status. He told that there is a network problem and I told I will call Ola support since I have to take another cab. He updated and immediately trip status becomes Paid.

So you may try reaching out the driver as you have the number and check the possibility of him updating the trip status to Paid. Or check whether you can escalate it through Social media channels.