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How Ola Cabs Turned A Frustrated Customer Into Its Brand Advocate

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Booking a cab with a renowned company, in order to avoid last minute issues is common these days. With the same thought in mind of avoiding last minute issues, Pradeep Chopra, Co-founder & CEO of Digital Vidya booked a cab for his wife and daughter who were going to a birthday party. He made a booking with Ola Cabs, which is a Mumbai based company and is considered to be one of the most popular Indian radio taxi service providers, by 11 AM for 5:15 PM departure.

At 4:50 PM, his wife called her saying that she received a call from Ola Cabs personnels about the cancellation of the cab due to unavailability. At this point when he was about to enter a meeting, he found himself in a situation of searching for more options rather than concentrating on his meeting and work.

While he was trying to find out other options, he received a message from Ola Cabs about the details of the driver of the cab. However, he soon realized after having a word with the driver that since the cab was 40 Kms away from his home, so it would be of no use. After putting a lot of efforts finding for other options, he realized that his 6 year old daughter will be missing the much awaited birthday party of her friend.

When he reached home, he listened to the complete experience of his wife about Ola Cab’s personnels and  decided to leave a detailed review about his bad experience next day.

He dropped a tweet about his experience on services offered by Ola Cabs, which forced the company to respond immediately.

Following was the tweet made by him:

Ola cabs frustrated customer tweet

In response to the tweet, Ola Cabs replied with the following apology immediately and asked for the details of the order:

Ola cab tweet reply to frustrated customer

While sharing his order details, he clearly mentioned that nothing can be done to control the damage now.

Ola cabs frustrated customer tweet response

Ola Cabs mentioned that they will call him the next day and as per this commitment, Pradeep received a call from one of the Senior Customer Relationship Manager at Ola Cabs. The representative from the company listened the whole experience of Pradeep calmly and apologized once again. The representative also mentioned that he listened to the whole conversation which Pradeep’s wife had with Ola Cab’s personnels and without any defense apologized for the incorrect allotment of the cab. The representative assured that they will not let this experience repeat and will do something to make up for their mistake; however, it didn’t affect Pradeep as the party was already missed by his daughter.

After explaining the whole of the situation to the representative of the company he was bit relieved; however, did not change his mind about dropping a detailed review and his bad experience with Ola Cabs.

After the long hectic day and complete narration of his bad experience to the company representative, Pradeep went back home and was pleasantly surprised to know that his daughter was happy with the gift she received from Ola Cabs. It was a cake box and, carried the following message:

Message from ola to frustrated customer

This message touched him and he finally decided to forgive Ola Cabs after seeing the smile on the face of his kid. And obviously he also dropped an idea of leaving a bad and detailed review about the company.

Hence, a frustrated client was successfully turned into a Brand Advocate for Ola Cabs.

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Learning:

  • Immediate acknowledgment of the mistake gives relief to the frustrated client.
  • A genuine apology from the company increases an opportunity of getting a second chance from the dissatisfied client.
  • For winning the trust of a dissatisfied client, understanding of the damage caused is important.
  • Creativity hitting the direct cause help in converting frustrated client into Brand Advocate.

Table of Contents

Avatar of pradeep chopra
Pradeep Chopra
Among the pioneers of Digital Marketing, Pradeep has been part of the Internet Industry since 2000. He has been a serial entrepreneur for the last 22+ years. A graduate of IIT Delhi, Pradeep is one of the most sought-after international speakers on Digital Marketing, Online Education, and Entrepreneurship.

61 thoughts on “How Ola Cabs Turned A Frustrated Customer Into Its Brand Advocate”

  1. Avatar of indrajit goswami
    Indrajit Goswami

    Its really very touchy. I’m personally moved by the gesture shown by Ola Cabs. Business is all about building, repairing and nurturing relationships.

    1. Just use referral code V2RZN9 at the time of sign up and get 200 ola money. on your first ride use APP100 for 100 rs discount. This is a latest offer for a limited period.

  2. Avatar of digital vidya editorial team
    Digital Vidya Editorial Team

    Indrajit: Glad that you liked this real story. Yes, great job done by Ola Cabs here. Hope others get inspired by it and win trust of their customers!

  3. Wow, this is a great example of how a brand can retain it’s unsatisfied customer. Kudos to Ola Cabs Team.
    Others should learn from them. Sharing this story as well.

  4. Extremly Bad experience with OLA Cabs

    This is very unfortunate and disappointing experience with OLA cabs.

    1) Incident:1

    Booking : CRN12626856

    I called to OLA executive at 6:45 and want a cab at 7:30 PM dated: 16- Oct-2014 but he said we have cab available at 7:52 PM so I said ok and booked it.
    Once I received the driver number, I called him to know what time he will come but driver spoke very rude and directly said “he will not come, book other cab as he was at Pimple saudagar “and my place is very far for him and disconnected the call. After trying OLA office number continuously for 30 mins, I got a chance to talk to OLA executive and he said “he can’t do anything, we cant send the cab”.
    I had to meet a person lying on the deathbed and couldn’t meet because of this non adherence to the commitment and the person passed away.

    2) Incident:2

    Booking : CRN12627116

    Somehow I managed and reached the destination.
    I already booked for return Cab also but when I tried the driver number, it was either not reachable or didn’t receive by anyone.
    I being a girl was waiting on the road all alone at till 11:45 in the night, and few people who was drunked misbehaved with me.

    Over and above that today morning (17- Oct -14)at 10:30 am I called the OLA customer representative Ms. Jeenat at andheri office, wherin she confirmed me that I will receive a call from their respective team within two hours. I am yet waiting for the same

    Let me brief you that myself being a Customer relationship manager at a brand like Mercedes Benz know that how important a customer is and how a word mouth and social media can spoil the entire reputation of your brand.

    A genuine feedback for OLA team to flourish is to kindly follow your commitments and emotions of your customers.

    1. Guys, if you feel bad about booking a Rs800 cab ride from the likes of ola, meru for a Rs2,000 flight ticket, go for the shared cab ride service provided by ecoshuttle (ecoshuttle.in); Flat Rs349 airport drop from any location of hyderabad

  5. Confirmed CRN 28708690Olacabs

    Hi,

    Thank you for using Olacabs! Your Cab booking is confirmed.

    BOOKING DETAILS
    Booking time 05:12 PM, 14 Jan 2015
    Pickup time 06:34 PM, 14 Jan 2015
    I booked cab for Bangalore railway station from Electronic city,bangalore at 6:30 pm …5-6 times i called driver but finally he picked my call at 6:25 pm and said he is very far so he cant come ..i tried to call customer care but no response…then I tried to book another taxi but due to shortage of time I could not get taxi and I missed my train i.e.Rajdhani exp/2nd A.C./ ..I had to go at any cost to delhi so booked flight …it was really very disgusting to experience third time with OLA Cab…they don’t understand our pain how important and expensive it is..so requesting to others don’t book and get big loss which I experienced. Pathetic Services ..

  6. This is an eye opener for many companies in India. Such mistakes do happen in customer service but the point is how do they handle such cases is that very important. We hardly find any Indian company show such a good gesture towards its customers when such mistakes are occurred.

    I experienced great customer support provided (when buy something online) by the companies located outside India than from companies located in India. I always feel that Indian companies should learn the best customer service practices from their counterparts in the West.

  7. worst experience with ola cab…worst service ..i ll suggest never book ola cabs …cab ll b half n hr late for sure..

  8. Very bad exp.
    Need to catch train, so booked ola cab.
    Cab didn’t arrive on time, could have miss my train.
    Customer care just say wait, we will arrange another cab, driver was busy and blah…
    After so many calls, they shown us their T&C that we are not responsible.
    Others are much better than Ola.
    Shut down your business and go home. Not professional at all.

  9. I have had both good and bad experiences with ola cabs in Baroda in the past 20 Days.
    Bad experiences: Car driver not responding/switched off/car broke down when you call him.
    Good experience: Car arrives on/before time. drivers are courteous. Ola cabs makes up for bad experience with ola credit!!.
    I use ola cab every morning for taking a drop to my company bus stop.book all cabs 5 days in advance.My experience tells me that
    a) Book your cabs well ahead of REACH time (if you have to catch a train or bus or flight).that way in the event the ola cab does not show up, you can plan for contingency.
    b) In the event ola cabs does not show up , blast them full throttle.though their website says they will not take responsibility, they are indirectly responsible for the hassle caused and should be taken to task.
    c) You will get the confirmation message as soon as the designated driver accepts your call/ is assigned your call.ensure you call the driver and confirm your complete address immediatelly so that you know he is coming.dont wait for his call.
    d) Atleast in Baroda , ola cabs charges are very fair and no dispute on that.

  10. This is just a story people r not fools to believe all your bldy marketing techniques. Ola. Cabs is the worst taxi service and it’d not at all safe for women s

  11. Avatar of m sai krishna
    M Sai krishna

    Ola Cabs – Driver doesn’t pick up, missed my flight
    On 31 march 2015 I booked the cab, my pickup time is 5:20AM I waited for the cab at right time and at right place, Before pick up time I dint got driver details but 5:21AM I got a miss call ASAP I called the number he was OLA driver I told him I was waiting at the pick up location and I addressed the location to him, he disconnected the call, I thought driver coming to pickup I waited but he dint and I got a cancellation message but I dint cancelled My flight missed.I complained OLA on 31st march but yet they are not responding.. DON’T BELIEVE OLA CRN71656925 OLA complaint number 1255707

  12. Avatar of pradeep chopra
    Pradeep Chopra

    Hmm… thanks everyone for sharing your experiences about Ola Cabs. Looks like they are not able to manager their customer’s expectations along with the rapid growth they are chasing.

    I am sharing this post with them so that they can be present to the experience of their customers and take appropriate actions. Here’s the link for my tweet to them: https://twitter.com/pradeepchopra/status/593999186606952448

  13. Hi Pradeep,

    I am sure by now you would have understood that this was a gimmick by Ola once they realized who you are and how active you are on SM they pulled of this trick to ensure they get the required mileage.

    There is only one aim that OLA is working with GROWTH of user base.Everything else is sacrificed on the altar of this metric.My sincere suggestion is if you want to travel safe please do not book any of these aggregation based cabs.Rely on your local cab wallah with his own cabs.With aggregators the cab is someone else,it is being driven by someone else and in case of any accidents/incidents there is no one that is responsible and you as a customer will end up bearing the brunt of this negligent attitude of these companies.

  14. Hey Just found a cab service in Hyderabad. They seem to have very good feature of allowing customers to compare cab service prices and book it. They seem to have partnered with local cab operators to offer this service and promises to add more brands.

  15. Avatar of pradeep chopra
    Pradeep Chopra

    Thanks Anoop for your response.

    I agree with you that most brands prioritize/customize their response based on the profile of the customer and that’s fine & understandable. However, ignoring other customers is completely No-No. I am not sure about general response of Ola but looking into the comments here, I am getting a sense. Btw, I’d given another feedback to them through the App couple of weeks back and I didn’t get any response :(.

    Hopefully they act to turn around their customer experience before it’s too late.

  16. Avatar of shirish desai
    shirish Desai

    7.5.15 We have Booked OLA Taxi No MH 02 CR 3359 Pickup at 6 pm from WALKESHWAR but Dirver Laluprasad Called us form Palladium Hotel , how to reach Walkeshwar and we called him abt 5/6 times where he reached… he doesn’t know Mumbai’s well known area ‘ Peddar Road , Girgaum Chowpatti , so that he can reach Walkeshwar
    Unfortunately , at last he reached at 6.45 PM after many calls to him . OLA Co. has NOT given him our proper address niether Ola Co. had not taken proper address from us. its very ridiculous .

    And the Driver Laluprasad had no experrience.
    Ola Co. has appointed all NEW Driver at LOW SALARY.

    Shirish Desai

  17. Avatar of pradeep chopra
    Pradeep Chopra

    Shirish: Thanks for sharing your experience with Ola Cabs. While I expect minor issues to be part of this evolution as in any other industry, the number of complaints about Ola Cabs shared here and their unwillingness/inability to revert to their dissatisfied customers is telling us that they are under more pressure to chase growth at the cost of customer satisfaction, which is not a great sign in my view :(.

  18. This article of mine is published. Kindly, Check it out. Its on billing issues with OLA Cabs and need for greater transparency in billing of Taxi Services.

  19. Avatar of pradeep chopra
    Pradeep Chopra

    Hmm… Thanks Akshay for sharing your experience. Hope Ola Cabs looks at these important concerns and do timely resolution.

  20. Just use referral code TVG4F1 at the time of sign up and get 100 ola money. on your first ride use APP100 for 100 rs discount. This is a latest offer for a limited period.

  21. How to Register on OLA Cabs App Use TVG4F1
    Enter Your Email Address in (Email) Field.
    Enter Password in (Password) Field.
    Repeat password in (Repeat password) Field.
    Add your Full Name in ( Full Name ) Field.
    Add Your Mobile Number
    And then ….
    Add TVG4F1 in Referral Code to get Rs 200 / Rs 100 Discount on your First Ride.

  22. This is the worst Cab service that I have come across…I do not recommend anyone to book OLA cabs. Please do not book in OLA cab. They don’t value your time and about your loved once…

    I booked the OLA Cab online one day before and they have not confirm whether the cab is available or not until I called them. The booking is for Secunderabad Station and they sent the cab to Nampally Rly Station….this is all possible with OLA only…When I enquired about this, they said…cabs are not available and make your own arrangements..

    The Worst….The Worst…The Worst..

  23. Bad experience with ola cabs

    I had my wife book a ola a cab to drop my parents off of at the yeshwanthpur railways station on 26th May 2015. My wife recharged the ola money account so that my parents don’t have to pay. (Trip Details:driver Kantha raju S C (8050709007) for CRN85849175. Red Ford fiesta KA 01 AA 8907)

    At the railways station the driver demands money from my parents telling them that ola money did not work. He collects money from them and does not give them a bill. Ola conveniently deducts the same amount from ola money account (Rs 396). I ended up paying twice for the same trip.

    I called their help line (080-33553355) on the same day. They spoke to the driver and assured me that the money will be returned in 48 hrs.

    When the refund did not happen, I called them back on 29th may 2015. This time the help center guy pretended to raise a complaint (complaint number:2304854). You do not get an sms to indicate that a complaint has been raised, which essentially means that it’s probably not.

    My advice ola money is bogus and does work well. Do not use ola money, or you will suffer the same fate.

    I wonder how long ola will keep cheating people

  24. Ola cab is best so please don’t take any action with this company otherwise we will take a strict action

  25. Strange that the author is writing the story as if he’s a third person but good one indeed. Incase anyone wants Rs.100 Free Ola Money, Use the Ola Cab Referral Code: 4NRYT0 (that’s zero) when you sign up. Enjoy!!

  26. Avatar of diptiman prusty
    Diptiman Prusty

    Just wondering , if similar things happen for station/airport drops how are they going to compensate for it? Arrange charter flights? 🙂

  27. Never trust Olacabs. These cheats caused loss of about Rs. 65000/- last Diwali by causing miss of my flight only due to their lack of responsibility. I got no compensation.

  28. Avatar of rajatsharma
    RajatSharma

    Your blog is very nice and your services looks good. I think your services are helpful for all peoples. People can enjoy the safe traveling ….

  29. CRN101952623 – I’m extremely upset with the PEAK pricing policies even on Sunday – I
    attempted to book without peak pricing 1.6x, it gave me an option 1.2x, I
    denied that however the order wouldn’t go further & hence I was
    forced to select 1.2x charges. It was Sunday & 4pm isn’t that peak
    hour.

    Also – why should there be ride time charges
    applicable? Even when you use Kaali-Peeli cabs or Auto rickshaws, there
    are no ride time charges, & then above all this you says we are
    quite cost-effective, we charge on Rs. 11/- per kms but never advertise
    saying – “Not only Rs. 11/- per km but also per ride time charges+ we
    will loot you by 1.2x / 1.6x”

    When someone checks
    estimate fate for a particular location it says X however the actual
    bills comes to x+y+z, I understand the word ESTIMATE is merely an
    indication & not final quote but the fluctuation is expected to be
    little bit when there is NO TRAFFIC & NON PEAK HOURS. Yesterday
    before booking it gave me a Estimated fare as Rs. 335 – 350 which seems
    to be somewhat believable.

    Is it logical that actual
    meter is Rs. 368/-(Rs. 100+ Rs. 258) however after taxes & all
    looting policies it comes to Rs. 513/-?

    Lots of hidden cost, which they never advertize.

    1) Peak Pricing policy

    2) Per min ride charges

    I wish to express my dissat to internet forums & social media as well about OLA’s Looting policy.

  30. Love the Olacabs app. Give it a swirl! Sign up with my referral code Y2M2GZ and earn ₹200 Download the app from: m.ola.bz/rr2kcw

  31. I am scared now to book an Ola cab. What should I do? I have flight this week and I don’t want to miss because of Ola. It’s better not to take risk. I will book some other cab or may be auto.

  32. CRN Nos 104418905 108370446 108370437 108370268 108059721 What you think I did so many bookings ? Nope, these are cancellation and re booking done on their own by OLA for a Drop to Kolkata (Howrah) Station on 5th August and a pick up from New Delhi Station on 6th August. Booking was made for 70 year old parents and had called OLA several times to ensure there are no harassment.
    What OLA DID ?
    1. Confirmed Driver is on way and then cancelled booking last minute
    2. Driver allocated was at a distance of 3 hours
    3. Then they kept booking and cancelling on their own when I called Customer Care for Support. None of the drivers were at a distance less than 2 hours. All these after I had told them the age of my parents and the fact that they had to catch a train.
    4. Parents were about to miss the train, thanks to Kolkata Yellow Cabs they reached last minute.
    5. When I again called to express my grievance, OLA offered to pay me Rs 300 as compensation. AND they said this is a “One off case”. This is not what usually happens
    6. There was a pick up from Delhi Railway Station on 6th Aug and they said the car will be there.
    7. I was sent the Driver’s nos etc and then when I called the driver obviously his phone was switched off. After a relentless try for 30 mins, the driver said he could not come and OLA said “oh we are sorry”

    Unprofessional, Unethical Company run by bunch of Liers who knows nothing about commitment and service. They dont give a damn about a customer. I had refused to take any money and wanted to be connected to Senior Management to whom I can express my grievance. Of course OLA management is not bothered.
    Dear Mr Founders of OLA, Had you been in US, you could have a Million Dollar slammed against you for harassing Senior Citizens. Imagine treating your own parents like this..!! I waited patiently for calls to come and now I will resort to every means possible to spread the word HOW UNRELIABLE YOU ARE. Pathetic Company …! May your company be wiped off Soon.

  33. Hi,
    This incident that i just read made me change the whole perception about Ola …Thank you so much for the posting and also a request to keep posting things like this which will help people have a positive aspect on the Co. and also customers will know more about the company.Thank you..

  34. Avatar of abhay sabastin
    abhay sabastin

    Services have became better now and even earned free first ride worth INR 700 with code Q5R4YY. It’s really amazing.

  35. Since two days I have booked OLA cab and they have also confirmed my booking but at the time of my journey they are not sending any driver and just replying that we couldn’t find any driver nearby your area. due to this my whole planning of going to my desired place is becoming fail, time is also wasted , even worst drivers are in OLA cabs they are literally denying to come and cancelling without asking to costumer.

    Since two days I am facing problem by OLA Cab by two of the following drivers:-
    01) Driver RAKESH MORI 9925705551 GJ06-AV-1613
    02) VISHNU VASAVA 9904477019 GJ-06 AV 3088

    I am getting confirmation by ola and driver is denying to come.

  36. Avatar of saurabh agrawal
    Saurabh Agrawal

    Dear Sir / Madam,

    It was pathetic experience while using the OLA Ride. The reasons are-

    – As we were with Luggage we requested driver to come to us (all the taxis were picking passenger from our place only ), while he asked to come on his way to catch Taxi by crossing the road and coming out of station even though he took U turn. Only conclusion was that he has earned Rs. 30-40 extra by doing this and doesn’t care of customers pain.

    – You may see that he has taken the longest possible route to come to home i.e. around 48 KMs while normal route is 35 KM’s (Ref: Ola old Invoice No. CRN145017756 , also as per google map).

    – Estimated time to reach home from Delhi Railway Station to Home is 67 mins, however occasionally it may take more as festive Diwali rush extra, but today estimated time was 67 mins only as per google map but driver took roughly 110 mins.

    .

    From the above you may understand that driver doesn’t have any value of customer comfort, money & time which I believe is out of principle for company like Ola.

    In complete trip we realize that driver wanted to make his money and that was only motive

  37. I have booked cab on 22nd Nov. 2015 with CRN No. 150952717. Pick up from Paldi to Ahmedabad Airport. Time is properly selected 12:15 AM (night time).

    Surprice on 23rd Nov. 2015 I got call at 12:30 PM from driver that he is waiting for me. So I told him that time is night time not noon time.

    Driver disconnect phone call and within 5 min I got SMS that my cab booking is cancel. So I have called their customer care and explain everything.

    That madam told me that she had changed time and booked with new booking and CRN No. is 151100180.

    I asked about coupon code SHOPOLA which was applied by me. She told me that it is remain same and I will get discount of Rs. 150 from ride.

    Bill was Rs. 181, so I asked driver that why Rs. 150 was not deducted. Then driver told me that it is not his concern. He wants Rs. 181 in any case. As there was issue of Re. 1. So I have paid it Rs. 190.

    Immediately I called customer care. As usual careless customer care executive told me that there is NO COUPON for this ride. I asked him about SHOPOLA. He said that was cancelled with CRN No. 150952717 and our female staff forgot to informed you.

    OLA CAB IS REALLY A CHEATER CAB SERVICES.

  38. ont load OLA money they deduct it without any reason.
    check the following for details.

    I had a ride from Howrah railway station to my residence – distance 14.1 Km. amount shown in driver’s mobile was Rs 257.
    I paid 257 to the driver. additionally Rs 68 was deducted from Ola money as per the mail from Ola quoted
    here under.

    “Ola Kathiravan,
    Thank you for chossing in. We apologize for the
    inconvenience caused to you.
    This is in regard to the booking CRN 155388445
    We see that the payment for the mentioned booking was not
    complete. The total invoice comes to Rs.325/-, request you
    to kindly make the payment of remaining 68/-.

    We would like to update you that the difference amount shall
    be debited from the account.

    Kindly recharge your Ola money account for the same so that
    we can debit the same.
    We regret any inconvenience caused.
    Please use our self-serve option for any help or support by
    using the below mentioned link.
    https://help.olacabs.com/support#!/home

    Regards,
    Deepika K
    Customer Support
    Olacabs”

    After so many email communications to Ola, (All records with me), on 6th I got the following mail from OLA
    On Sun, 12/6/15, Ola Support email wrote:

    Subject: Re: Re: Ola Money deducted and cash paid too :CRN 155388445
    To: [email protected]
    Date: Sunday, December 6, 2015, 11:21 PM

    Ola Kathiravan,

    Thank you for writing in.

    We do understand your concern.
    We will be glad to help you.

    This e-mail is in regard to your
    booking CRN 155388445, where the driver has unfortunately
    covered a longer route for the ride. We shall educate the
    drivers on this, and ensure that such bad experience never
    happens.
    We apologize for the inconvenience caused to you. We know that when a situation
    like this arises, it hampers the relationship between us.
    Team Ola regrets what happened and is working on everything
    possible to ensure situations like these are minimized.

    We have recalculated the ride details as per the Google maps and as a gesture of our
    regret we have waived off the pending amount.

    We are looking forward to serving you better
    service on your next ride with us.

    Please use our self-serve
    option for any help or support by using the below mentioned
    link.
    https://help.olacabs.com/support#!/home

    Regards,
    Subhashree
    Swain
    Customer
    Support
    Olacabs.

    They say the additional charges are weived but will not refund it to my OLA money.

    For all my further mails I get this reply
    Ola Kathiravan,
    Thank you for writing in.
    We understand your concern and apologize for the inconvenience caused to you.
    We know that when a situation like this arises, it hampers the relationship between us. Team Ola regrets what happened and is working on everything possible to ensure situations like these are minimized.

    We are looking forward to serving you better on your next ride with us.
    Please use our self-serve option for any help or support by using the below mentioned link.
    https://help.olacabs.com/support#!/home

    Regards,
    Harish Nelson
    Customer Support
    Olacabs

    Decide yourself

  39. Avatar of your cab manager
    Your Cab Manager

    Extremely good work OLA CAB. All taxi business must teach this thing from you. Awesome! I really appreciate your efforts. Keep going!

  40. Don’t trust on Ola cab because of low service provider and un-honest driver

    On 24th DEC‚ I booked a ola cab from OTP . I called to driver please come on gate 1 but he replied that come on gate 2. I called to him two times to come on gate 1 but he did not come then I cancelled the cab and again booked. But company provided the same driver then again I called him but he replied same thing. Now I decided to gate no. 2 when I called him again then he replied the same thing that he is opposite to gate 2 but he was not there while he was starting on the street.

    As I sited on the cab he started mobile to count money but he did not started cab now this way he lost my 15 mins.

    Now journey started‚ he was driving very slow within 30 mins he derived ,only approx 12 km. Now time was 7:15 PM‚ he suggested to take auto I took auto and within 15 mins I was in central. For auto driver I paid 200 and for OLA cab I paid 400 but when I got ola invoice then total money was 335 with 63 mins in which 33 mins as waiting charge. One more thing i said to take 300 rupees but he stared to fight and over the hand on me, Many people who was moving on the road were watching,. Due to slow driving I missed my train due to e-ticket and train is departed so non refundable Money. Now there was no option in front of me I purchased general ticket 390 rupees of another train and completed the journey in general compartment continue 17 hours with a lot of physical and mildly tension.

    I never forget this event in my whole life.
    I posted on social media but OLA cab is saying that i apology and penalized our driver.
    it is very easy to sorry and apology but he can not understand by pain and loss.

  41. Worst Experience with ola for third time. Hereafter decided not to travel ola lesson learnt don’t believe app based taci service. I was fooled by the advertisement. Yesterday I was near to airport with some luggage at 2:30 pm and mean while I don’t have internet in ma mobile so I asked my friend to book a cab and he has done the booking and shared the driver number then cab came with in next” 5 mins”. At the end of travel got a bill of 950rs for 18 -20 KM. I am aware when it peak time its 3 time charge already I paid like these when I was travelling 9 pm at evening. But its afternoon time 2:30 pm but i was charged three times the charge. When I called customer care poor reply stating there is no tamil person please try calling Bangalore call center tried none were attending the call. Point is I got the cab within 5 mins then how is demand created. I never had such experience when I was using NTL OR fast track. Driver is saying you ask your friend how he booked. when I was asking he missed to read the through their peak charge concept. If its peak hour I can agree but its afternoon time 2 30 pm to 3. Don’t waste your money by going with offers and APP. Its third time I paid three time the charge that to non-peak hour time. At the End with Ola, their customer care, their drivers, their offers, I began to realise that they are bringing out offers that are for CHEATING customers. Lot of their offers are just meant to attract customers and the 50% off offers are often fraud.

    1. Dinesh: I can relate to your experience about surge pricing. It’s being used by both Uber and Ola. And yes, when you end up paying multiple times of price you would have expected, it’s a really sad experience. Hopefully they pay attention to their customer experience vs using this technique to maximize the fare value.

  42. Didn’t expect form Olacabs- Here is what happened today with me. On 2nd April, at 7.20 p.m. I booked the Cab with CRN Number 211125342 for 4.20 a.m. I received a confirmation message that It has been booked. Then at 4.10 a.m. I received a message that we could not find a cab nearby and try after few minutes. I tried after few minutes where It was mentioned that Cab( request no. OSN22773571) is available and it will take 2 minutes to reach. The Cab was suppose to reach at 4.52 a.m. But it reached at 5.30 a.m. Which was late by 40 minutes. As a professional I tried another option in between but each time I called OLA driver, he misguided me and he told that he shall reach in 5 mnts. Had he been honest to share the actual time he will take, I would have definitely tried another option. Because of this worst service I missed my Flight Indigo with PNR number OBTVT. Now I am waiting in Airport and I have to take another ticket for evening at 7.40 p.m. with PNR number KYITPW. I didn’t get refund of my previous ticket and had to buy a new ticket of rupees 9,040 and also had to wait unnecessary for more than 12 hours. I need compensation for all this unnecessary sufferings. Let me know if any documents is required from my end. I have all the documents available including booking status, Both Flight tickets etc. If I don’t get resolution in a day or 2 I have to take this to the legal forms.

  43. I had booked a cab from these idiots and the driver was not sure of reaching on time so asked me to cancel and then immediately told me that would be comming and I shouldn’t worry about the cancellation and after 30 mins of wait time he rejected and then i was left with no cabs nearby. Thanks to Uber which came for resuce and helped me out. CRN213218757

  44. This a rare event from Ola Cab’s side. I and my friends waited for their cab for like 20 mins and they cancelled it without any reason. However, after that, we did not experience any such thing. The Ola cabs have improved their services.

  45. Ola’s price surge will make them lose their customers. I paid Rs. 450 for 3 Kms from Green Park to GK-1. Little sceptic of using Ola the next time I travel. What is a better option for travelling?

  46. Avatar of atul narang
    ATUL NARANG

    In the above case, Ola managed to undo the damage to a great extent, but in my case, it is not possible..
    I don’t have any website and can’t review badly, but I just cannot accept the way I was harassed..

    I had no issue with Ola until today morning, I have been using Ola since last 2 months and it has been a good experience overall until today.

    But, today, I had such terrible experiences with Ola, one after another, I am sure I will not be using Ola in my entire life. Some olamoney I have got in my wallet, I will use it some other way..

    List of today’s ugly and bitter experiences..

    1. 8:10 am — It began with the Ola booking, OSN 61735407 — After booking, I called the driver and he told me that he is at the gas station and I will have to cancel the booking. So, why in the first place his cab was booked?
    Ok fine, bearable till now.

    2. 8.11am — Ola Booking – OSN 61736137– Babu Tanwar, Driver arrived at the pickup point, I boarded the cab, he tapped his touch screen device, my money got deducted and he said, my booking has been cancelled. I said, I did’t get any message of cancellation.

    I called OlaCare, explained the executive about it and then she told the driver to drop me at the destination. After a while, he picked up another passenger and he had to go to Rohini and I had to go to Faridabad. Totally opposite routes. So,

    I called up OlaCare again explained her the situation, she told me that she could not see any booking, I was baffled, why there is no booking when nobody cancelled it. Driver asked me to deboard his cab and I had no choice.

    After deboarding the cab, I called the OlaCare again and asked how and why my booking was cancelled? She checked and said, my booking was not cancelled, but completed.
    How could my booking got completed while I was still at my pickup point and it was completed instantly..

    All this consumed a lot of time.. and I got late.

    Executive apologized and said I will be refunded and all, but that’s not the point.

    I was in confusion, whether I should go or drop my plan, but later I decided to go anyway.

    3. 9:29am – Ola Booking – OSN61824011 – Manjeet Singh..Now PAY ATTENTION WITH EXTREME FOCUS..
    What happened was beyond my expectation..
    – I called the driver and explained him the very straight and clear route to my destination. I told him to come via IGNOU road and take a turn from Bikaner. After waiting for a while, I saw in my mobile, it showed, ‘Your cab has arrived’ and timer started.
    – I saw, there was no cab anywhere around my vicinity and called up the driver again and he said, forget about the ‘Cab has arrived’. He went in some wrong direction and is coming.
    – I kept waiting outside, after a while I called him up again.. I asked, bhaiya kahan pahunche? Brother, where have you reached? He said very rudely, ‘aa raha hun na’. I am coming. I said, I am only asking, ‘have you found the right way?’ He said, why are you getting impatient? I said, because you have made me stand here, cab is showing it has arrived and I am unnecessarily waiting for the cab. I said, Jaldi aa.. come quickly, he said, TERE BAAP KA NAUKAR NAHI HUN’..
    – It is intolerable to hear this thing from third class drivers of your company.. First, I got late because of Ola and your driver was wasting my time and I was standing at the pick up point and when inquired, he talked to me like that.
    – That statement of your driver resulted into very ugly verbal spat between him and me. I want Ola to check the call recordings what happened.
    – That driver was representing Ola and I hold Ola responsible for such experience..
    – I cannot tolerate this..

    4. I still decided to book another cab. 9:53am – Ola Booking – OSN 61860635 – Harvinder Singh..
    – I called the driver and asked him where is he. He said, he is near Saket and asked me where I want to go. I said, Faridabad. He said ok. It will take around 10 minutes.
    – I kept waiting for 5 minutes and then, I got a message that my booking has been cancelled.

    Finally..I dropped my plan.. as I got late.. All this Ola cab non-sense consumed a lot of time and I would have reached my destination within 1 and a half hours, the time it took to book and wait for drivers.

    Every time, I called, your executives apologized… Fine, but apologies are almost meaningless..It is so easy to say sorry.

    No doubt, I will not use Ola again in my entire life, though until morning, I was happy with the cab services..I will certainly talk bad about Ola any chance I get to. I will certainly advise people to avoid Ola everywhere possible.

    I WILL FILE A HARASSMENT SUIT ON OLA….
    For sure….
    I cannot tolerate the way I was treated at any cost. No driver, no Ola representative can talk to me like that.
    It does’t matter who that driver was, I booked a cab with Ola and I was treated like that by somebody representing Ola only..
    Ola is entirely responsible for all the driver’s conduct..

    Ola just cannot apologize enough and make up for the damage they have caused me..
    I will advise everybody to stay away from Ola as they don’t check the background of the drivers, they don’t train their drivers enough, but Ola drivers do represent Ola only.
    We book cabs with Ola and have no business with random people around. Any driver who comes for the pickup is basically Ola’s representative as we booked with Ola and that’s why have any business with their third class drivers..

    Above or similar experience will not happen to anybody everyday, as I was also fine with the services for over 2 months, but it can happen..
    I booked today, just like any other day, but experience I had today was unlike any other day..

    Certainly,, not only ola cabs extremely unreliable, but we may have to deal with their third class drivers, who, we otherwise never had to deal with.

    I am extremely unhappy.. and no amount of stupid credits or similar stuff or number of apologies can make up for the bad experience I had today…

    I will leave no chance, even if I have to waste my time doing so, to badmouth about Ola…
    I SIMPLY HATE OLA…
    No other words..

  47. Avatar of raja dasgupta
    Raja Dasgupta

    Today i booked an ola cab,Driver rahul ahmed,car no-wB25F7363,at 4.30PM.we travel about 12km and we pay 243 rupees.its fair is possible or not.pls get reply to me.mobile no-9830121314/9830130081.

  48. Facing worst experience with Ola cabs ,they are on looting spree to their customers. When we book cab it shows 2 mins or so but the cab reaches not before 10 to 30 mins late. And this peak pricing which continues throughout the day.
    Barely 5 to 6 kms from my house on different instances I m charged not less than Rs. 200 to Rs. 300. whether i travel at 9 am,11am,12 noon or 2pm
    First we have to wait for a long time than even if they come we are heavily charged in the name of peak pricing
    If we make any complaints they give standard replies without going thorugh the query we posted. No apt responses.
    It’s high time OLA you mend your ways

  49. It’s really pathetic. Ola automatically cancels the trip and they blame customer saying customer did the cancellation. One day I booked a cab from Ola for airport. One of the cab driver responded and called me and I guided him the route. It took around 10 minutes for the driver to reach my place. However just reached me, he got the cancellation request and he is about to leave. I requested him like anything as I didn’t cancel it. He called the driver care, that lady asked driver not to take me to airport. When I spoke her and requested, she abused me with bad words. She was not ready to accept my request. However the driver was good and he took me to airport otherwise I would have missed my flight. Then I got to know the driver didn’t got the bonus and he got threatened by that lady to remove his vehicle from Ola. It was very pathetic service. I communicated to Ola customer care about this but it was of no use. Since that day I lost trust on Ola when it’s a time bound such as going to railway station or airport. Very pathetic service.

  50. My sister booked ola cab as on 6th June 2016. Had bad and unsafe journey with olacab driver. To complain this tried so many times to customer care first it was showing line busy then didn’t bother to receive calls. Bad services.

    Driver name: Somshakert

    Driver name: So marshaled

  51. Avatar of devinder saini
    Devinder Saini

    Simply thinking about , whether comparative things happen for station/air terminal drops how are they going to adjust for it? Mastermind contract flights? I am Funny thing is that, the reason behind it was no responsibility.

  52. They probably give such service to people who can affect their reputation. You Sir are the CEO of a popular online resource website. We are commoners. Your tweets and FB posts have more value than ours. So we get the short end of the stick and are charged Cancellation Fees in the very similar situation. Amazing no… the duplicity in levels of customer service.

  53. Avatar of ltg let’s go
    LTG Let’s Go

    I dont know about ola cab and other cab service providing companies but LTG Let’s Go Provides best cab service in Hyderabad, Bangalore and more places.

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