Where Is My Taxi?!

This is the email I sent to Comfort and Citicab last night after my bad taxi experience last night. Aiyoh, can die.

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Hello. I wish to make a complaint about the extremely poor level of service
I received on the evening of Tuesday 31 July.

At about 1130pm, I called 65521111 to book a taxi for a pick up along the
main road outside Blk XX Tiong Bahru Road. A Citicab taxi, 9759, was
confirmed a few minutes later. About ten minutes, this taxi appeared and
drove past my pick up location. Expecting the driver to make turn back, I
continued to wait. However, there was no sign of the taxi. At about 1145pm,
I called 65521111 to ask if the taxi was on its way back. The operator
apologised and proceeded to book a second taxi for me. A Comfort taxi, 2412,
was confirmed. A little less than 10 minutes later, I received a phone call
with a recorded message that said my taxi had arrived at the pick up
location. Standing at the main road in front of the block, it was clear that
the taxi was nowhere in sight. I waited a few more minutes for the taxi to
arrive. While many other empty taxis drove by, my confirmed taxi did not
appear. I then called 6552111 for the third time and told the operator off.
The operator apologised and I promptly refused to have a third taxi booked.
I eventually flagged a taxi on the street and took that home.

Firstly, I cannot understand why the first taxi, Citicab 9759, did not come
back around to the pick up location. The lighted signage for the block is
very clear and it is very unlikely that the driver did not know where the
pick up point was. At the same time, he/she did not attempt to contact me
through booking operator. This is simple lack of courtesy and bad faith on
the part of the taxi driver. If I can wait for a confirmed booking when
there were many empty taxis going past, I expect the taxi driver to try to
ensure that his part of the obligation.

Secondly, I cannot understand why I received a recorded message indicating
the arrival of the second taxi, Comfort 2412, when it was obviously did not
happen. As the message was automated, I believe that it must be activated by
the taxi driver or booking operator. If the taxi was nearby (not in sight
but apparently nearby since I received the recorded message), why was there
no attempt to contact me?

By time of my third call to the booking hotline, I was upset. I could not
understand how a simple booking can go so wrong. The taxi drivers in the
confirmed bookings were not sincere enough to follow through on their
obligations. Were they lost? Were they unclear on what to do if they could
not meet their passenger? I am not the type of person who would flag a
passing taxi when one has been confirmed in my name. I too have obligations
as a fare-paying passenger. Further, could the booking operator not have
made some difference to the situation? It seems that operators only book
taxis and apologise if anything goes wrong.

What is worse is the amount of time I spent waiting in futility. It took
more than half an hour to get a taxi. I could have been home in that time if
I had been a 'nasty Singaporean' and simply flagged a passing taxi while
waiting for a booking to show up. Already the taxi service in Singapore
receives many brickbats, and this unpleasant event cements the need to
improve the low service standards among Comfort and Citicab taxis.

Thank you

Gurmit Singh
9XXXXXXX

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Should I go to my MP about this? I mean it is a serious problem we have here in lalaland. Almost everyone I know has a complaint about taxis and/or taxi drivers. Are they as serious as the dengue mosquito? Should we not take some sort of action to improve the situation? Aiyoh, can die.

If you want to complain, send your emails of torment and rage to feedback@cdgtaxi.com.sg