ONE of the reasons behind the success of e-hailing cab services was the convenience. There was none of the hassle of trying to flag down a red and white cab, only to be turned away as the driver did not fancy the destination or the hassle of having to haggle on fares.
That led to the rise of companies such as Uber and Grab which quite happily filled that void. But it seems now that e-hailing drivers are also displaying the same traits that have pushed the red and white cab to the brink of extinction.
This was most certainly the experience of X (formerly Twitter) user Ceddy (@CeddyOrNot) who complained of being ditched by a couple of Grab drivers presumably because of the unfancied destination – Shah Alam. He was fine with the first cancellation as it was the driver who initiated the cancellation.
Reached KLIA, had 1st Grab driver cancelling my ride immediately, I suspected dah it’s because of my destination (Shah Alam), but all good because HE cancelled terus.
Booked second driver, this one pula sidaikan I, I saw his car stopped here for about 10 minutes so I called him… pic.twitter.com/sCvPIoEEgo
— Ceddy (@CeddyOrNot) June 27, 2024
However, the second attempt was met with non-response though the app showed the ride to be in the vicinity, forcing the poster to cancel and make a third booking.
The poster though was quick to qualify his comments by highlighting the third driver was more than happy to accept his fare.
The grouse obviously resonated with a lot of netizens with the post on X having generated 1.7 million views at time of writing.
The poster has also made a TikTok video which was posted on the Grab site which did not go down well, especially a netizen’s comment that furiously flamed the poor attitude of such drivers, implying that this was the root cause of their demographic’s economic struggles.
Unfortunately, it seems that some drivers are completely unperturbed by the compliant, saying it made little difference.
This is a sample of the comments attached to the X post. One said these e-hailing drivers were now carbon copy of their red- and white cabbie predecessors.
One observed that such attitude was due to supply and demand.
With one sharing less than pleasant experiences of being fleeced where the fare is accepted and charged but the passenger is left stranded.
Another shared an episode where the e-hailing driver even refused a more-than-hefty fare, highlighting how these drivers are becoming increasingly picky.
Another said he could not understand why drivers accept a fare when they have no intention of fulfilling the booking.
A few implored Grab to fix the situation, especially for rides to and from KLIA.
A part-time Grab driver pointed out there was a function on the app which drivers can specify the destinations they wish to avoid. He did not understand why they did not utilise it.
While another Grab driver made the effort to apologise on behalf of errant drivers.
However, one netizen helpfully shared that there was an option for passengers to cancel due to the driver being uncontactable.
While the apps may provide options for passengers to cancel or for drivers to specify destinations they wish to avoid, the number of comments reflect this “no-show” to be a real issue among users.
The e-hailing industry has provided many people with a decent source of income. It is imperative during this economically-challenging times to preserve this instead of letting a few bad apples spoil the cart.
Existing Grab drivers must bear in mind in these fluid times, another app or e-hailing competitor could bring about another paradigm shift.
Just like how the old cabbies found their source of income greatly affected by e-hailing services, those same services could be consigned to dustbin of history if another organisation is able to provide a better service.
Not taking heed of customer feedback as the one above is the first sign of impending failure. – July 3, 2024
Main image credit: Lano Lan/Shutterstock
