Mobile-based cab services have seen tremendous growth in the last three years as the commuters don’t face problems like overcharge, refused transportation etc. by deviant taxi drivers. However, a resident of Mumbai experienced it differently. On July 19, 2018, when a man named as Preshit Deorukhkar had booked a cab from the Uber app. Soon after booking the cab, Deorukhkar found that the driver began the drive without picking him. Thursday (July 19) was also the first working day of the cab driver with Uber, which turned out to start on a tragic note.The moment Deorukhkar realised the mistake by the Uber cab driver, he quickly raises the issue on the social micro-blogging site- Twitter with Uber authority. In a tweet, Deorukhkar also stated that the phone of the cab driver was unreachable.
@UberINSupport Hi, your 1-trip driver has started the trip without arriving at the location. His phone isn’t reachable. What do I do? pic.twitter.com/L6tRT95gmI
— Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018
Despite tracking the journey online for two minutes, the man finally realised that cab driver was roaming around the city on his expense. Deorukhkar again raised the issue with Uber authority and tweeted that the driver is aimlessly roaming around the Link road.
Now he is just aimlessly roaming around on the Link road. pic.twitter.com/ZcsY5pcQK6
— Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018
The man also brought to the notice of Uber authorities that the cab driver had no proper name on the app and it only says ‘P’.
@UberINSupport Also, how is “P” an acceptable driver name by your standards? pic.twitter.com/ku8N3Ts7tT
— Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018
Deorukhkar continued to upload screenshots of the journey on Twitter using funny comments and captions. He tweeted, “Pickup was in Malad West. The driver has now reached the edge of north Mumbai. I’m assuming he has to dump something in the khaadi.”
Pickup was in Malad West. Driver has now reached the edge of north Mumbai. I’m assuming he has to dump something in the khaadi. pic.twitter.com/pG3QmAo6lg
— Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018
Minutes later, the customer again wrote that he is wondering whether there was any dead body in the car or not. In a tweet, he said, “Or he is dumping a dead body sealed in the car deep in the mangroves, me thinks.”
Or he is dumping a dead body sealed in the car deep in the mangroves, me thinks. pic.twitter.com/SBokjKaLkK
— Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018
After the completion of the journey, the cab driver cancelled the drive but with a payment of Rs 857.43.
Oh crap! Looks like he’s on to me. Trip cancelled. pic.twitter.com/7cEtYyOoEi
— Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018
Ahahahahahahaha!
Rs. 857.43 for this ridiculous @Uber trip. pic.twitter.com/qlzc4hrbKD
— Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018
Responding to Deorukhkar’s complaint, Uber said they will refund the full trip fare which will reflect in the account within next 3-5 days. However, it didn’t apologise for the incident.
Here’s Uber’s response about the case.
Driver goes for a joyride, tries to dupe the rider, wastes rider’s time, and all he gets is a “note” on his profile
All I got was this response from their internal support system. Note the lack of “sorry” or “apologies” in the response
???? pic.twitter.com/EcUxOTOgsM— Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018
Deorukhkar’s tweet accumulated a lot of attention online. Some of them raised concerns over the incident while others entertained themselves.
The exact same thing had happened to me couple of weeks ago!
My driver’s rating was 1. Apparently this happens a lot in #Bengaluru but now it has started in Mumbai
— RISHITA DAS (@rishitaa) July 22, 2018
Same had happened with me. It is high time that Uber should bring in some way where driver is not allowed to start trip until passenger is on board.https://t.co/WZKE8l2Wtq
— Sudheendra Baliga (@baligasudhi) July 21, 2018
Amazing sense of humour buddy, on point I must say.
— Rohan Sharma (@IAIMPictures) July 20, 2018
I can’t believe you had the patience to actually watch his every move! I think he thought you’d actually pay, so he went on with the ride ????
— Wonder Womaniya ???? (@thezohashaikh) July 19, 2018
You should have let him come to you. I would have been interested in meeting this P. Looks like character from spy movies like Austin powers
— Karan Singh (@firstkaransingh) July 20, 2018
He surely is a superman ? Look at the time taken by him to cover such a huge distance with so much of traffic on link road.
Must have lifted his cab on his strong arms and flied all around
— Adi (@bakvvaas) July 19, 2018
