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My poor experience with Ola Cabs: 7 resolution attempts & counting

2nd May 2022, 17:35 by Dev Shah

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).

BHPian v12 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

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.

Here's what BHPian rohitoasis had to say on the matter:

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.

Here's what BHPian EV NXT had to say on the matter:

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.

Here's what BHPian thanixravindran had to say on the matter:

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.

Here's what BHPian FiestaST had to say on the matter:

Hi V12.

I have a similar story to share and my issue isn’t resolved two years later.
I took Ola ride in March 2020 from Hyderabad Airport to home. I paid the driver via Paytm and the driver I believe scammed me by not updating the trip is settled.
Couple of days later when I wanted to take another ride I noticed Ola wants me to pay. I immediately reached out support from the app and received bit like responses just like you did.
Reached out to them on Twitter and it gets funnier. They ask me to pay up and request refund. That sounded counter intuitive to me.
They wanted me to pay one more time just so I can check back in to taste their world class service one more time!? And that’s how they permanently lost me to Uber.
Anyway, let pictures do the talking: