written by MartynE on 11/01/2014
My wife and I had pre-booked and paid for a cab with Ola cabs through Make My Trip (MMT) to take us from Mumbai airport to Pune on the 12 November 2013.
After having been travelling for nearly 24 hours we arrived at the meeting point at Mumbai airport at exactly the time booked (06:30). We found no one waiting for us and we searched for several minutes. We were approached by a taxi supervisor who offered to make a phone call for us. We called the number of Ola Cabs that we had been given. We were dismayed to be told that no vehicle was available and that we should make other arrangements. When I objected that we had already paid I was told to phone later when the office was open. Having been travelling for so long I had no choice but to take another taxi at Rs5000.
Later that day telephone calls to Ola Cabs and MMT resulted in promises to call us back.
There then continued until the beginning of January an exchange of telephone calls and E mails with the explanation changing every time.This exchange resulted in both Ola cabs and MMT admitting that the driver was not at the meeting place at the time agreed. These companies refused me a refund because the driver entered the distant car park only 8 minutes after the agreed time and I should have known where he was and have found him!!! I did in fact check the meeting point before we left a total of 25 minutes after the agreed time.
No one has yet explained who told me that no car was available. This is the most important question as it forced me to spend an unnecessary Rs 5000.
In addition this incident was my fault because coming from France I had the audacity not to have an Indian mobile phone!!! a fact that I made very clear at the time of booking.
In short if you use Make My Trip or Ola cabs be prepared to suffer for any of their errors as they will support each other to the detriment of the customer and on no account pay in advance.