On 23July moring, i called comfort hotline to book a cab. a cab of car plate no: 3545 came to pick me up at about 9.40am at Blk 338 Tampines St 33. Destination: Toa Payoh Hdb Hub taxi stand/drop off point. cab driver was a chinese guy either in his 30s-50s. middle-aged guy.
thru the journey, i felt a little uncomfortable as i felt that d driver was looking at me thru d mirror. nevertheless, i just look out of d window to ignore.
during d journey, i received a call from 1 of my colleagues, saying that he has reached d destination for our appt. well d taxi driver could have overheard d conversation, and probably he was aware that i was in a hurry, such that he drove really fast, going for d fastest lane 1, occasionally switching to lane 2.
the horror happened when the cab reached TPY Hdb hub at about 10.07am, i looked at the taxi fare metre, it was $12.xx (with additional surcharge of $2.30, as d cab booking fee, displayed on d smaller fare metre just beside d main fare metre).
As i was in a hurry, i took out either $13 (one $10 note, one $2note, and one $1 gold coin) or $15 (one $10 note, two $2note, and one $1 gold coin). I wasnt very sure as i was in a hurry.
as i am running late for my appt, (I felt even more urgent to rush for my appt as there were 8 adults all waiting for me to arrive, (Ive proof to show that i really have an appt at 10am), all of the 8 people reached early at 9am+), so i told the driver that i left d $$ "there" (on d usual place to contain d cab fare) and i left d cab running to attend my appt.
to my surprise, the cab driver ran after me, but he stopped running and stood there, shouting at d top of his voice: "Hey how can u run off like this?! You have not paid your cab fare!!"
Cab driver went on yelling to repeat the same sentence a few times! i was so shocked! As i turned and ran towards this driver, though it was obvious that i did not attempt to ran further away from him, but the fact was that i was running towards him, he still continued screaming the same sentence in a seemingly insane/uncontrollable manner. but i was running towards him to find out what has happened! but how come he was still shouting away? (was it a bid to shame me publicly since he could not stop yelling?)
As I arrived right in front of him, I saw that he had my earlier given cab fare in his hands. He told me that it is $15! I took out a $10 note from my wallet, i took the $3 from him, and gave him the additional $10 note. so in total, i paid him $20 (two $10 note) for a $15 cab fare! i told him to keep the change. but he still yelled at me, saying how can i run away just like that?
I have an acquintance who happened to hear the yelling, he laughed at me and sarcastically asked me why am i running like that...
it is a shaming and demoralising situation. As a passenger who given paid extra $5 to the driver, he still yelled at me!
in d first place, even if i really made a mistake to give him $13 for a $15 worth of cab fare (a shortfall mere of S$2), is there a need to run after me and yell at me at the top of his voice shouting : "how can you ran away?! you have not paid the cab fare!!"
Throughout the whole situation, despite his offensive screaming, i remained quiet - i.e. i did not shout back at him, as i was pretty taken aback!
i would rather that he ran and stop in front of me, to settle things amicably and in a normal acceptable speaking tone, than a threatening/shaming/embarrassing loud voice. it was so loud that i doubt level 3 also can hear it!
The shouting took place within the air conditioned premises of toa payoh hdb hub level 1, the portion where there are alot of floor plan flat models/type of floor tiles. It was a peak hour where there are many ppl - i.e. 30ppl at least?
Is this the way consumers deserve? I am sure that if the context is in a restaurant, as in if this driver were a waiter, and if his manager witnessed the screaming, this employee would have been fired on the spot!
No consumer deserved such yelling treatment! Moreover it was not a deliberate action on my part. I ve not done anything to provoke it to react in such an irrational manner. moreover i m a young lady in my late 20s and is this the way a guy should behave?
This incident has greatly affected me for the past few days. I m feeling fearful, angry, deeply embarrassed/feeling shameful by the incident, and i broke down in tears at certain point of d day.. I dont own a car, heavily relying on taxi to bring me around, i really feel v uncomfortable now even though i m a paying consumer.
You shouldn't have to feel upset at all. It is obvious that this moron driver feels so despicable about himself that he needs to be an idiot in order to feel good about his pathetic life. Instead, you should take back the power into your hands and lodge a feedback to LTA through their online feedback form to put on record this ruffian's behaviour. As you mentioned, the 'manager' ought to be informed and in the case of these drivers, it is LTA (NOT the cab company). It is when each of us plays our part that the cummulative effect can be felt - by lodging the complaint, you can ensure that no other person suffers at the hands of this driver like you did.
