Posted on 26 Oct, 2008 10:00
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=530 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Cabby takes wrong way and yells at us
A STOMPer and her boyfriend had an unpleasant ride when they took a SMART cab on Oct 25, as they claimed the driver was sarcastic and yelled at them. They have subsequently filed a police report as well.
Gigi sent an email to the taxi company, and said:
"on 25.10.2008 at 9.30pm, my boyfriend and I boarded a SMART taxi reg no. ‘7192’ at Pasir Ris Close. The taxi driver is a male Chinese in his late 40’s. After I gave my destination, the driver began the journey. The taxi driver asked if we wish to use TPE and I replied ‘Yes’.
"A few seconds in the taxi, the taxi driver drove us along a route which is unfamiliar to me and later on it dawned on me, he has taken a longer route, a very big U-turn which brought us eventually to where he could have earlier exited from. I shared with the driver that he could have shorten the distance and was appalled by his violent (and perhaps guilty) reaction.
"He raised his voice, said ‘I am sorry’ in a sarcastic manner, commented I should give him road direction all the way till my destination, continued saying things like ‘I will refund you $2 for the longer distance’, ‘I make a decent living’ and was gestulating as he drove. Out of fear, I called Hougang NPC and the police officer heard this driver yelling all the way.
"The taxi driver got more agitated and started scolding us for ‘being arrogant’. Without any explanation, the taxi driver simply told us he was driving us to a police station. This gesture made me even more worried and shocked because we weren’t sure if he is really driving us to a station or taking us elsewhere. In the meantime, the Hougang NPC told me he will call Tampines NPC to keep a look out for us. Eventually we came to Tampines NPC.
"I had taken a recording of his yelling which was played to the police officer at Tampines NPC. The police took down our statement but the taxi driver went off after his particular was jotted. The police told us ‘he doesn’t intend to file a report’ which we felt that he could have given his part of his story if he is genuinely not guilty.
"Under the Taxi Operator Licence (TOL) framework, licencees must comply with a set of Quality of Service standards, of which the three broad areas of taxi companies’ performance monitored are Availability of Taxis via Radiophone Booking, Safety, and Customer Satisfaction.
"I say this taxi driver has seriously put our safety at risk by taking his own action without our consent to drive us to a different destination.
"What if the taxi driver took us to some secluded area or has some hidden agenda? Are drivers given the rights to bring commuters to a different destination? What are the audit steps put in place to ensure that drivers comply to the company Quality policy? What are the actions taken on such irresponsible and dangerous driver?"
Read SMART's response here:
Driver barred from taking company bookings for a month, says SMART
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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=530 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Cabby takes wrong way and yells at us
A STOMPer and her boyfriend had an unpleasant ride when they took a SMART cab on Oct 25, as they claimed the driver was sarcastic and yelled at them. They have subsequently filed a police report as well.
Gigi sent an email to the taxi company, and said:
"on 25.10.2008 at 9.30pm, my boyfriend and I boarded a SMART taxi reg no. ‘7192’ at Pasir Ris Close. The taxi driver is a male Chinese in his late 40’s. After I gave my destination, the driver began the journey. The taxi driver asked if we wish to use TPE and I replied ‘Yes’.
"A few seconds in the taxi, the taxi driver drove us along a route which is unfamiliar to me and later on it dawned on me, he has taken a longer route, a very big U-turn which brought us eventually to where he could have earlier exited from. I shared with the driver that he could have shorten the distance and was appalled by his violent (and perhaps guilty) reaction.
"He raised his voice, said ‘I am sorry’ in a sarcastic manner, commented I should give him road direction all the way till my destination, continued saying things like ‘I will refund you $2 for the longer distance’, ‘I make a decent living’ and was gestulating as he drove. Out of fear, I called Hougang NPC and the police officer heard this driver yelling all the way.
"The taxi driver got more agitated and started scolding us for ‘being arrogant’. Without any explanation, the taxi driver simply told us he was driving us to a police station. This gesture made me even more worried and shocked because we weren’t sure if he is really driving us to a station or taking us elsewhere. In the meantime, the Hougang NPC told me he will call Tampines NPC to keep a look out for us. Eventually we came to Tampines NPC.
"I had taken a recording of his yelling which was played to the police officer at Tampines NPC. The police took down our statement but the taxi driver went off after his particular was jotted. The police told us ‘he doesn’t intend to file a report’ which we felt that he could have given his part of his story if he is genuinely not guilty.
"Under the Taxi Operator Licence (TOL) framework, licencees must comply with a set of Quality of Service standards, of which the three broad areas of taxi companies’ performance monitored are Availability of Taxis via Radiophone Booking, Safety, and Customer Satisfaction.
"I say this taxi driver has seriously put our safety at risk by taking his own action without our consent to drive us to a different destination.
"What if the taxi driver took us to some secluded area or has some hidden agenda? Are drivers given the rights to bring commuters to a different destination? What are the audit steps put in place to ensure that drivers comply to the company Quality policy? What are the actions taken on such irresponsible and dangerous driver?"
Read SMART's response here:
Driver barred from taking company bookings for a month, says SMART
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