Bangalore cabs, yet another one

Nitin · 11th July 2007, 20:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by skandyhere

w12 has a point here.

of course they decide to speak in kannada only. for, doesn't he desire to deliver his choicest stern remarks/abuses in style? why on earth would someone speak in a language uncomfortable to him when it's primarily a verbal dual and a show of strength?

what most people coming to karnataka (and only karnataka in particular) fail to do is learn the local lingo. that's a prerequisite to anyone going anywhere. no linguistic chauvinism here, but a point in practicality.

I agree with what you said. Having been in B'lore all my life, I have (very frankly) never really had the need to learn Kannada. Its only when I got to the 10+ 2 level, that I actually picked up the language.
I do not expect anyone, even an educated person to speak in a language that he/she is not familiar with. I only mentioned this,since I have seen that to get the support of the public,or to get fellow cabbies together, they use a language that's invariably not understood by the other person involved in the incident.

Its an observation I made. No direct references to anyone, or any language. Its just a tactic that these morons use to their advantage.

Wheeliej · 11th July 2007, 20:07

Well handled Jaggu. It was good that you were in a slightly civilised place like Forum where atleast you could have looked at the security guards for some sort of support in a worst case scenario. Also good that you sent your wife off to complete her errands. These guys get overly aggressive when there is a female around.

benbsb29 · 12th July 2007, 10:08

Rightly said by Wheeliej. Even during the incident i faced, wherein an auto rammed into my car, the very first thing i did was to get my wifey out of the scene. It took her 2 days to recover from the shock of it all. The biggest problem i faced was the same, not knowing Kannada. However, why should that make me a victim? I can speak English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and yet i should suffer? Even cops feigning ignorance of English should be treated as a criminal offence. In my case, i had to use Telugu to settle issues to some extent.

Since then, i have stopped taking the car out as frequently as i used to, and also maintain a database of fellow members contact numbers.

@Geeksrik: My wife too has given up her hopes of driving in Bangalore after seeing the ruckus that exists on the roads here.

@Jaggu : You did well considering the situation, and proceeding to Forum was a good strategical move. Let your contacts remain so. Not worth using it for just about 200 bucks.

Jaggu · 12th July 2007, 19:50

so any good ideas on how to deal with rising issues like these?

Nitin · 12th July 2007, 20:09

Would it be possible to report these incidents in the papers? If we have a journalist amongst us, if we were to come up with a good write-up, and get it published in a couple of papers, wouldn't that help spread the word?
What I'm trying to get to is this-
If there's an awareness among the educated lot of people (in any city), they'd be more prepared for such incidents. Hence, they'd be on their guard and not be taken for a ride by these cabbie goons. I'm sure a huge chunk of people have gone through similar incidents, and they'd have tried to reach out for help. If more & more people are aware of this happening,they'd be able to lend a helping hand.

Bottom line,I feel that if incidents like these are reported in the newspapers,chances are more people read it & take some sort of action.

Can this be done?

Jaggu · 12th July 2007, 20:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nitin

Would it be possible to report these incidents in the papers? If we have a journalist amongst us, if we were to come up with a good write-up, and get it published in a couple of papers, wouldn't that help spread the word?
What I'm trying to get to is this-
If there's an awareness among the educated lot of people (in any city), they'd be more prepared for such incidents. Hence, they'd be on their guard and not be taken for a ride by these cabbie goons. I'm sure a huge chunk of people have gone through similar incidents, and they'd have tried to reach out for help. If more & more people are aware of this happening,they'd be able to lend a helping hand.

Bottom line,I feel that if incidents like these are reported in the newspapers,chances are more people read it & take some sort of action.

Can this be done?

Very good suggestion!

Nitin · 12th July 2007, 20:26

Thanks Jaggu..
I have a feeling doing this will work. As a general trend,most people in India begin to make changes, or atleast move in that direction when they read about things in the newspapers. Once the word spreads, awareness increases.
This way,for example, if I were to get into a situation with the cabbies where I'm not at fault.A passer-by (assuming that its an average-educated person) would more-or-less be able to assess the situation,and hence be of considerable assistance.

benbsb29 · 13th July 2007, 09:56

Ajmat has some good contact with the Bangalore Mirror, which he had mentioned on another thread (Garuda Mall incident). It would be nice if some of these incidents were passed on to that contact.

csateesh · 14th July 2007, 16:32

Hey Jaggu,

Sorry to hear about the incident.... Forum jn is becoming a nightmare...But I should say that you handled it perfectly well,

Regards

Sateesh

appuchan · 18th December 2008, 17:22

After reading about the recent strike by "luxury cab" services in Bangalore I thought I will narrate my experience with cab services in Bangalore last month. I was to catch a 8pm flight and called up some of these cab services at about 11am same day for a trip to airport at about 5pm.

Called Meru Cabs. The call was promptly put on hold by their IVR and apparently my queue was #7. Kept holding the phone for about 10 mins and by then it didnt go past #5. Disconnected the phone. Not so keen to "give business" to somebody who cares a hoot about its prospective customers. I wonder how much business they lose because of this lousy service.

Next I called Easy Cabs. They promptly picked up the phone and asked me to be on hold so that they can check for availability of cab on their "system". Waited a few minutes and then they came back and said "extremely sorry, our system is not showing any availability of cabs, could you please call about one hour before the proposed trip?!!". I said "forget it, I cannot take a last minute risk for my travel" and disconnected. I am sure they are also losing business due to whatever "system" they use to make reservations.

Then I called up Celcabs. These guys proved to be much better. They promptly booked a cab (Indigo at Rs14 per km) and even went to the extend of asking where are we going (they apparently have service in many cities in India and they could book them from here), and when we will return from the trip so that they can arrange cabs for pickup while returning to Bangalore! I liked that quite a lot. In fact, they even offered the same thing for my trip to railway station last week. I think others should learn from these guys about how to conduct business when overall demand is dull.

I sure will call them again and recommend them to my friends. The only issue is they use a "slightly cheaper" Indigo/Indica instead of Logan by other cab services. But then its cheaper by Rs 1 per km as well.

Jaggu · 18th December 2008, 17:43

One of my lady relative had used Meru for airport drop, first the cab shows up 45 mts late (early morn), then the car conks off just before new airport turn off. The driver didnt do anything to help and just asked her to find a ride to the airport on her own, poor thing stranded on the road with heavy bags tried slowing down vehicles. After 20 mts she succeeded and got a ride from a good samaritan who was also going to the airport.

Luckily she was smart enough to keep an hour buffer when she booked for the cab and could reach airport just in time.

Meru is thumbs down!

appuchan · 18th December 2008, 17:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaggu

One of my lady relative had used Meru for airport drop, first the cab shows up 45 mts late (early morn), then the car conks off just before new airport turn off. The driver didnt do anything to help and just asked her to find a ride to the airport on her own, poor thing stranded on the road with heavy bags tried slowing down vehicles. After 20 mts she succeeded and got a ride from a good samaritan who was also going to the airport.

Luckily she was smart enough to keep an hour buffer when she booked for the cab and could reach airport just in time.

Meru is thumbs down!

Thats pathetic. I wonder what the so called "GPS tracking" is used by them for! Is it meant to track where the drivers are taking their cabs instead of helping out customers to find some nearby cabs to help in such situation? I am sure being near the airport there will be many empty cabs roaming around. If they cant properly use the existing technology, then there is no point in having it. They can very well use the old radio thingy seen in the omni cabs.

I have also seen that many of these guys dont switch on A/c by default. We have to ask them to do so or in some cases they will ask if we really need it!

anujmishra · 18th December 2008, 18:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by appuchan

Then I called up Celcabs.

Could you provide me number of celcabs?

I am reaching Bangalore on Saturday night from Thai Airways flight around 11:15 PM. Since, all these Meru and Easy cab are on strike, I am little susceptible to board on some unauthorized cabs and I just hate bus.

Night also poses great risk as all of these cabs (Meru & Easy) drives in breakneck speek till Yelhanka. I need to remind them frequently that I am not in hurry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by appuchan

I have also seen that many of these guys dont switch on A/c by default. We have to ask them to do so or in some cases they will ask if we really need it!

This is quite common and they do not switch on AC on its own. But I never leave them I always ask for AC even if it is not required.

appuchan · 18th December 2008, 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by anujmishra

Could you provide me number of celcabs?

I am reaching Bangalore on Saturday night from Thai Airways flight around 11:15 PM. Since, all these Meru and Easy cab are on strike, I am little susceptible to board on some unauthorized cabs and I just hate bus.

Night also poses great risk as all of these cabs (Meru & Easy) drives in breakneck speek till Yelhanka. I need to remind them frequently that I am not in hurry.

The strike has been withdrawn from today. They should be available easily from airport now.

HappyWheels · 18th December 2008, 19:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by anujmishra

Quote:

Originally Posted by appuchan

Then I called up Celcabs

Could you provide me number of celcabs? ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by appuchan

The strike has been withdrawn from today. They should be available easily from airport now.

Regardless of that, it would be good to know the number of a good service provider. Appuchan, please do share the number.

11th July 2007, 20:07	#62
Wheeliej BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 284 Thanked: 47 Times	Well handled Jaggu. It was good that you were in a slightly civilised place like Forum where atleast you could have looked at the security guards for some sort of support in a worst case scenario. Also good that you sent your wife off to complete her errands. These guys get overly aggressive when there is a female around.
	() Thanks

12th July 2007, 10:08	#63
benbsb29 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brisbane Posts: 9,968 Thanked: 13,223 Times View My Garage	Rightly said by Wheeliej. Even during the incident i faced, wherein an auto rammed into my car, the very first thing i did was to get my wifey out of the scene. It took her 2 days to recover from the shock of it all. The biggest problem i faced was the same, not knowing Kannada. However, why should that make me a victim? I can speak English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and yet i should suffer? Even cops feigning ignorance of English should be treated as a criminal offence. In my case, i had to use Telugu to settle issues to some extent. Since then, i have stopped taking the car out as frequently as i used to, and also maintain a database of fellow members contact numbers. @Geeksrik: My wife too has given up her hopes of driving in Bangalore after seeing the ruckus that exists on the roads here. @Jaggu : You did well considering the situation, and proceeding to Forum was a good strategical move. Let your contacts remain so. Not worth using it for just about 200 bucks.
	() Thanks

12th July 2007, 19:50	#64
Jaggu Team-BHP Support Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 20,215 Thanked: 15,907 Times	so any good ideas on how to deal with rising issues like these?
	() Thanks

12th July 2007, 20:09	#65
Nitin Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 3,294 Thanked: 20 Times View My Garage	Would it be possible to report these incidents in the papers? If we have a journalist amongst us, if we were to come up with a good write-up, and get it published in a couple of papers, wouldn't that help spread the word? What I'm trying to get to is this- If there's an awareness among the educated lot of people (in any city), they'd be more prepared for such incidents. Hence, they'd be on their guard and not be taken for a ride by these cabbie goons. I'm sure a huge chunk of people have gone through similar incidents, and they'd have tried to reach out for help. If more & more people are aware of this happening,they'd be able to lend a helping hand. Bottom line,I feel that if incidents like these are reported in the newspapers,chances are more people read it & take some sort of action. Can this be done?
	() Thanks

12th July 2007, 20:26	#67
Nitin Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 3,294 Thanked: 20 Times View My Garage	Thanks Jaggu.. I have a feeling doing this will work. As a general trend,most people in India begin to make changes, or atleast move in that direction when they read about things in the newspapers. Once the word spreads, awareness increases. This way,for example, if I were to get into a situation with the cabbies where I'm not at fault.A passer-by (assuming that its an average-educated person) would more-or-less be able to assess the situation,and hence be of considerable assistance.
	() Thanks

13th July 2007, 09:56	#68
benbsb29 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brisbane Posts: 9,968 Thanked: 13,223 Times View My Garage	Ajmat has some good contact with the Bangalore Mirror, which he had mentioned on another thread (Garuda Mall incident). It would be nice if some of these incidents were passed on to that contact.
	() Thanks

14th July 2007, 16:32	#69
csateesh BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 551 Thanked: 168 Times View My Garage	Hey Jaggu, Sorry to hear about the incident.... Forum jn is becoming a nightmare...But I should say that you handled it perfectly well, Regards Sateesh
	() Thanks

18th December 2008, 17:22	#70
appuchan BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Bangy Posts: 642 Thanked: 27 Times	Experience with luxury cab services After reading about the recent strike by "luxury cab" services in Bangalore I thought I will narrate my experience with cab services in Bangalore last month. I was to catch a 8pm flight and called up some of these cab services at about 11am same day for a trip to airport at about 5pm. Called Meru Cabs. The call was promptly put on hold by their IVR and apparently my queue was #7. Kept holding the phone for about 10 mins and by then it didnt go past #5. Disconnected the phone. Not so keen to "give business" to somebody who cares a hoot about its prospective customers. I wonder how much business they lose because of this lousy service. Next I called Easy Cabs. They promptly picked up the phone and asked me to be on hold so that they can check for availability of cab on their "system". Waited a few minutes and then they came back and said "extremely sorry, our system is not showing any availability of cabs, could you please call about one hour before the proposed trip?!!". I said "forget it, I cannot take a last minute risk for my travel" and disconnected. I am sure they are also losing business due to whatever "system" they use to make reservations. Then I called up Celcabs. These guys proved to be much better. They promptly booked a cab (Indigo at Rs14 per km) and even went to the extend of asking where are we going (they apparently have service in many cities in India and they could book them from here), and when we will return from the trip so that they can arrange cabs for pickup while returning to Bangalore! I liked that quite a lot. In fact, they even offered the same thing for my trip to railway station last week. I think others should learn from these guys about how to conduct business when overall demand is dull. I sure will call them again and recommend them to my friends. The only issue is they use a "slightly cheaper" Indigo/Indica instead of Logan by other cab services. But then its cheaper by Rs 1 per km as well. Last edited by appuchan : 18th December 2008 at 17:25.
	() Thanks

18th December 2008, 17:43	#71
Jaggu Team-BHP Support Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 20,215 Thanked: 15,907 Times	One of my lady relative had used Meru for airport drop, first the cab shows up 45 mts late (early morn), then the car conks off just before new airport turn off. The driver didnt do anything to help and just asked her to find a ride to the airport on her own, poor thing stranded on the road with heavy bags tried slowing down vehicles. After 20 mts she succeeded and got a ride from a good samaritan who was also going to the airport. Luckily she was smart enough to keep an hour buffer when she booked for the cab and could reach airport just in time. Meru is thumbs down!
	() Thanks