Bengaluru: Ola customers vent anger on social media

Bengaluru: Cab aggregator Ola is now at the receiving end in the social media. A single complaint by an Ola customer has now led to a torrent of similar grievances. Soon many others narrated about their negative experiences over this cab service.

Said one such complaint: " Ola drivers have almost become criminal-minded, finding ways to manipulate technology. I once booked an Ola for my 80-year-old father. I could see on GPS that the driver was nearby. I called him because he had just stopped the vehicle. He said that his phone was dead, claimed that he did not know where he was and refused to come. Because of this my elderly father had to wait for a long time  and finally took an auto," said Rajalakshmi Nesargi.

Her frustration grew when she received a notification that the driver had run the trip and deducted her Ola money. Incidentally, this was the second time in the same day that she was refused service by an Ola cab driver.

"I booked a mini and got a free upgrade to Prime which has wi-fi and bottled water. Later, I was charged for it and the driver acted as if he was unaware of how that happened. I was with my toddler and could not stay and argue with him so I just paid the increased charge," said Shobha. Unlike most customers who said their complaints to Ola were not resolved, she managed to get a discount for her next ride.

A recurring complaint that was expressed on social media was of drivers not returning calls or giving various excuses to not pick their passengers up, especially when the customers’ destination was the Kempegowda InternationalAirport.

Deccan Chronicle contacted Ola over these issues. A couple of complaint numbers assigned to specific customers’ problems were sent to Ola, on their request, as they prefer to look into complaints on a case-to-case basis.
Despite this information and repeated calls, the queries were left unanswered by them.

Meanwhile, Ola customers in the city continue to remain angry and helpless, due to repeated bad experiences and lack of resolve on the company’s part, making daily commuting difficult.