How OLA is taking us for a ride !

Every business wants money. They can make money decently. But, not by harassing and cheating.

I had high opinion about OLA. I had my own car and did not use OLA much earlier. Now that I am using cabs for the last 15 days and OLA very often, I realise how OLA is taking us for a ride.

Going by longest routes !

I booked an OLA from Forum Mall Koramangala to Nandini Layout. I know the route and the distances. It is 16 KM to my home. At a particular point , I told the driver to take a right diversion towards Majestic Area. Instead , he went ahead to KR Market side. I protested and asked him why he is taking that route. He says the map is indicating the route and he has to follow the same. And that route is 23 km. It is obvious that OLA uses Google Maps and it shows multiple paths for the same destination, each with distance and expected time of arrival at destination. OLA drivers are shown the quickest route which is often longer. I may not be in hurry to reach my destination. Why shall I pay 50% more ? Even now, while I am riding a cab, it showed default of 13 km where as slower road is 12 Km. The driver wanted 13 km route. I wanted 12 km route and forced him to take the route.

It is very clear that either OLA has not trained drivers to tell the passengers of the options - quicker route or cheaper route. As quicker route is beneficial for OLA and drivers, we are taken for a ride.

Imagine thousands of rides every day and an average they are taking those extra 1-10 km from each person. It is pure cheating!

If they do not want to cheat, they shall ask user to select the route or opt either for Quicker route or Cheaper route .

Assigning a cab which is already dropping some one else!

I hate this concept. I understand that they are optimising the system. But, what about us? Just now, I booked a prime cab. It said in 1 min the cab will arrive. And after one minute, it said the cab is in the process of dropping a customer and still was showing 1 min. And the cab came after 10 min. 

I do not have option to go for another cab, unless I cancel this and book another. Then I need to pay cancellation charges!

Is this not taking us for a ride ?

Cancellations

Once I did not give destination and booked a cab. It was confirmed and driver called to ask the destination. He said OK and said he is coming in 3 min. As he did not reach in 3 min, I called the driver. He says, he has a flat tire and asked me to cancel. If I cancel, I will be levied the cancellation charges ! I asked him to cancel or I will wait . Then he cancelled. It is obvious that he did not want to come towards the destination. If the flat tire story was true, he should have called me and informed, instead of waiting for me to call in frustration !

In another case I gave a destination and the system showed 3 min and the driver was 1 KM away from me. And the driver called and told me that there is heavy traffic and may take 15 more min and asked me to cancel. I asked him to cancel. And he did. After booking another cab, I went the same way and there was not much traffic that would take 15 min for 1 km !!

Playing religious music

I believe in God, but not too religious. I respect all religions . But, I strongly believe that we shall not trouble others with our religious bent. The other day, a driver was playing all religious songs for 45 min drive. I hated those, yet, I thought it would be rude to tell him to stop playing those songs. I took out my laptop and started working so that my mind gets diverted!

Airconditioning

Many drivers feel that Air Conditioning is not required. I asked one driver to switch on AC. After sometime, I noticed it was hot. When asked, he says, it is too cold for him!!  Many times they switch off AC thinking that they can save some fuel and some money at our inconvenience.

If I am with OLA, I would focus on sensitising drivers

1. Tell them how to greet the passengers and be polite.
2. Tell them options of quicker route / cheaper route
3. Ask for the choice of radio station or music, if any
4. No talking on Phone ( particularly with their close friends and using all the slang)
5. No burping or chewing bubble gum loudly with all that noise !!
6. Many do not switch on AC. By default they may switch on AC and ask them if they want to switch off
7. Never ask a passenger to cancel as you have a problem. May be Ola shall have a facility to transfer !

OLA is good, but, they need to understand what is happening in ground level and handle things in a better than taking us granted.

Latest update:

When I asked the driver to take the route I want, he protested saying that OLA penalises him Rs 30 if he does not follow the route indicated by OLA. It Confirms that OLA intentionally makes them take longer route !! I said I don't care and asking them to take the route I like, even if it is the slowest route due to heavy traffic ! Let OLA talk to me before penalising the driver.