Dude, where's my Tada? Woman says she had to pay after driver drove wrong passenger to same destination

One woman faced quite a bizarre incident after she booked a trip with ride-hailing platform Tada recently.

Her ride came, a passenger was picked up at her location and dropped off at the correct destination.

Only thing is, she wasn't on the ride, and yet she was charged for that $8.95 fare.

On Wednesday (June 15) morning, Facebook user @LunaMoon, who has requested for AsiaOne to address her as Luna, took to social media to air out her frustrations on the strange incident. 

She said she booked a Tada car ride on Sunday (June 12) at 4.30pm to pick her and her boyfriend up from Hougang Avenue 8 and send them to Sengkang General Hospital.

She told AsiaOne that on that day, she spotted her driver's black Honda Freed car driving past her but thought nothing of it, assuming he was going to make a U-turn further up ahead.

She said she called and messaged the driver who picked up her call but he was inaudible throughout.

"I found it strange when he started the trip without picking me up," she said. 

"However, I thought that it was maybe because he didn't want to pay the fee for picking up passengers late, so I dismissed that thought."

After waiting for what seemed like a long time, Luna decided to call her driver to cancel the trip, only to have him hang up on her.

She then realised that the driver had already picked someone up from her location and drove that passenger to her destination.

The driver responded later that he had picked up and dropped an uncle off, adding that the trip could not be cancelled as he had already dropped the passenger off.

"Even though the amount was not much, I still felt very angry and shocked. Imagine if you are in an emergency situation and that happens, it delays the timing to seek treatment," said Luna who added that she has since contacted Tada. 

She said that Tada told her that although the driver asked for the stranger's name and destination, the uncle brushed the driver off and claimed he booked the ride.

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When contacted by AsiaOne, a Tada spokesperson said that in this situation, it was a case of coincidence where the passenger and the uncle who was picked up were headed to the same destination.

The company said that cases of mistaken identity rarely happen.

"On the driver's end, necessary steps had been taken to verify the destination before moving off. Drivers usually verify destinations as bookings are sometimes made on behalf of other individuals," said the Tada's spokesperson.

The company said that they have since reached out to the passenger as well as the driver to understand the situation and have also refunded the trip fare to the passenger. 

The company said it recommends passengers to report any incidents immediately via the app or alternatively to contact their support hotline at 3129 3686, or write in via email to support@tada.global. 

aishahm@asiaone.com

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