Test Rides: TabCab vs Ola Cabs
With black-and-yellows always threatening to strike for another fare hike, and Merus almost invisible these days, we decided to check out two recently-launched cab services. Our verdict on each:
TABCAB
Contact: 6363 6363, tabcab.in.
Minimum fare: Rs24 for the first kilometre from 5am to 11.59pm, and Rs30 for the first kilometre from midnight to 4.59am.
Rate: Rs17 per kilometre for every subsequent kilometre from 5am to 11.59pm, and Rs21.25 per kilometre for every subsequent kilometre from midnight to 4.59am.
Waiting charges: 50 paise per minute from 5am to 11.59pm, and 62 paise per minute from midnight to 4.59am.
Area of operation: Up to Alibaug.
When you dial the number to book a TabCab, there’s an option to set your preferred language so you don’t have to go through the process each time you call. The first couple of times we called however we were too late and then too early—you need to book your journey no less than 45 minutes ahead and no more than six hours in advance. Despite the fact that the girl on the phone didn’t sound too convinced about Pedder Road being a valid pick-up address (“You need to tell me which suburb you’re calling from,” she insisted), the driver, or “saathi” as TabCab likes to them, showed up well in time, even though he called to ask for directions. The Toyota Etios that drove us to Bandra was clean and comfortable, and filled with entertainment options: we could choose between Hindi and English movies (the former included a selection of recent blockbusters such as Bodyguard and Singham, the latter a fairly dated mix of action films such as Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and The Taking of Pelham 123); talks (videos from TED, Deepak Chopra and Osho); and songs (mostly Bollywood and English pop). We could pick these via the touch-screen on the tablet—which puts the tab in TabCab—fitted onto the back of the front passenger seat. The tablets also feature maps and listings of restaurants, bars and coffee shops but we couldn’t access any of these owing to a lack of an Internet signal throughout our journey. The most impressive part of our ride however was that the driver did not once attend to his ringing phone. Apart from our suspicion that we may have been charged extra waiting time, our experience was good enough to make us want to hire a TabCab again.
OLA CABS
Conact: 3355 3355, olacabs.com.
Minimum fare: Rs100.
Rate: Rs18 per kilometre.
Waiting charges: Rs1 per minute.
Area of operation: Within Maharashtra and up to Goa.
If you require a cab on short notice, Ola Cabs isn’t the service for you. When we first tried to book one, we were told that we needed to call at least three hours in advance. Then, an hour before our cab was due to pick us up from Churchgate, we received a call from Ola informing us that the car allotted to take us to Bandra had “broken down” and would take about five hours to fix. They were unable to get us a replacement, probably because Ola doesn’t have its own fleet but rather sources cabs from different operators. Our second attempt at using an Ola cab, this time to travel from Bandra to Churchgate, was fairly smooth. While the driver reached the pick-up point ahead of time, he omitted to tell us the kilometre reading. He also kept attending phone calls and checking text messages en route. The most annoying part of the journey however was his refusal to give us a bill after we reached our destination. Even with customer-friendly initiatives such as offering to charge rickshaw rates during the recent auto strike, we’re unlikely to call for an Ola cab in the future.
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I’ve had 2 terrible experiences with OLA cabs in Mumbai in the last 4 days. The first time I booked was on Thursday night for a Friday morning drop at 9am. I get a call from their call center at 8.45 saying the call will be half an hour late as there were no cabs in the vicinity. When I asked how that could be the case since I had booked the night before (and got a confirmation sms), they said cabs are only allocated half an hour before the pick up. I obviously cancelled the booking since I would have been late for office. Last night I again booked a cab for this morning 7.30 am for a friend who had to go to the airport. This time just to be sure, I called them again at 7 to confirm the booking and was given all assurances. Then at 7.25 when I called the call center I was again told that the cab would be half an hour late due to non-availability. Then I got a call from them at 7.50 saying that the cab would be half an hour late, which made no sense since it was post the booking time and I had already had a conversation with them at 7.25.
It’s just not worth wasting your time on this cab service!
We hired OLA cab noMH 04ES 9245 yesterdayat 2.00pm from Oberoi SplendorJvlr,Andheri East forBombay Hospital Marine lines but to our horror driver Manish Tiwari dropped in MID way after checking at 10 places for correct route.We had to pay Rs 550.00 as he took so many wrong route,one & half hour resulting we missed our appointment with Doctor & lost our valuable time as well as rs 4000.00 for Docotors fees,test charges & Cab charges to & from our place.Why OLA cab is hiring such a driver to spoil their reputation & who will bear our loss
HI,i had booked this cab from airport to dombivili the cab came on time and was all good…however there were three things specific about the cab that made me unhappy for the umpteeth time…
1. Driver information sheet available inside the cab on dashboard was missing
2. the drivers was not mohd shamshuddin, hee was some guy in his early 20′s(this was not the driver that the booking executive gave me booking confirmation)
3. he did not give me bill even after repeated requests
this is not the first time i am observing such kind of things in tabcab…please note point 1 & 2 are very sensitive and i am sensing feeling of insecurity…i cannot trust you guys if i do not know the driver u r saying and the one who is arriving is different….moreover not giving bills is not acceptable…i can infact refuse to pay the amount if bill isnt given to me and i will not be liable to pay…
Thanks.
We hired TabCab from to International airport to miraroad. The driver did not know the place well Meru can dirver was bang on target). The driver was chewing beetle nut.. The worst part was he was driving at a very high speed. He did not look at all like a trained driver. I told him thrice to slow down.Iwas with my family with 1 year old kid. I forgot my jacket in cab and the moment he left we call there call centre number in less than 5 minutes and I was waiting for there call back for 1 week but no one called back. when I call them,I spoke to supervisors name adaesh and he promised me call back in 2 hours but today is the 4th day and no call back received. when I call just know they said they did not found anything. it is next to impossible that driver did not found my stuff it was 1 am in the morning. they are bludy thief. by just taking merus staff you will never become meru .. you idiots…
I would never pay what i paid for such a service. I would suggest anyone to go for Meru cabs. Its well worth the money.
All cab customers must be aware that TAB Cabs is a venture funded and promoted by a nexus of unscrupulous politicians, including people with even murder charges against them. Moreover, they have used unfair union tactics to break down Meru Cabs’ hard built business. Every honest Indian must try to understand what is right, and do what is responsible – Boycott Tab Cabs today.
I prefer to use easy cab every time when I travel for early morning flights. I have drivers mobile no. and he make sure that he reaches 30 min. before I start my journey… Meru cabs never get through for bookings call center is always busy. Tabcab has given the best experience and travel quality too it was very urgent and they provided car in 10 minutes on personal request [of-course cab should be available] driver was polite and with decent behavior.
I would give
Easy cab rating of 3.5 to 4 stars
Tab Cab rating of 4 to 4.5 stars
I recommend Tab Cab and Easy Cab over any other Cab services in mumbai
I have booked the cab for pick-up at 10.00 hrs AM on 22.10.2012
They call at 0956 hrs that the cab shall be delayed by 30.00 min.
i was suppose to attend Puja 12.00 hrs at Dadar – shivaji park
the cab never arrived & above all they delayed me for about 01.00 hrs,
if i have to board the flight i could have definetely missed.
Due to the delay i could not reach in time for the puja.
above all the call centre executives were not professional
shall never book the cab in future.
better to travel with normal taxi
realy very nice services
Had a nghtmarish experience with Tab Cabs recently. Had booked a cab for morning 04:30 AM to go to the Mumbai Domestic Airport from Ghatkopar. I had a 6 AM flight to catch. The lady who took the bookign confirmed that the cab will arrive. She mentioned that I would be receiving an SMS 45 mins prior to pick-up. Morning when I woke up I receive an SMS saying “Due to non-availability of cabs we would not eb able to service your request”.
It was a shocker. I tried callign these idiots and some other lady on the phone is repeating the same lien again and again “Due to non-availability….”. It was raining heavily that day. I almost missed my flight that day thanks to Tab cab.
When I called them to lodge a complaint the lady on the phone assured me that I would be getting a call from one of their departments. But even she couldnt answer one simple question: “If you do not have enough cabs, why the hell do you confirm the booking?”
As expected I never recieved the call that the lady was referring to.
My 1st and Worst experience with TAB CAB You guys are the most un professional people yet to see you do not value customers time ,,,,,, in spite of my previous booking done you guys did not send me the cab resulting an 2 hour delay in reaching the meeting my meeting ,,,,,,,,,,,I couldn’t even get thru your daam number u guys had no courtesy to even call or msgs or inform me that the cab is not coming for a pick up!!!!!
Today on 23rd When I called your help desk very conveniently I get a respond that we had a technical issue that is why we could not send the vehicle to you,,, I don’t believe it how casual you people can be ???? Although I am very sure you people or your heads are not going to take any action…. disgusting I must say!!!!(A082200091 For reference)
I had a smooth hassle-free experience with Ola Cabs. The cab was on time, i received the text about the driver and got a receipt too at the end of my journey. People should not write off a service based on just one experience, it’s a startup for crying out loud. Also, they are comparatively cheaper as the article rightly points out.
though all service provider say the booking is confirm the cab is send to availability and the distance
all cab operator does that , however prior you book a cab they confirm it only 45 to 30 min prior to pick up time
but thats ok some time cabs are not available and dude you book a cab fo 3 km and you expect that the driver will take your booking, they to need to earn money and tHey to would prefer long distance fair.
we as a customer should understand that not even a rickshaw person or a black and white taxi person would except such journey so how can such big factory accept one.
they then have to take your booking and cancel it at last moment
Thanks for the info! I find Tab Cabs to be great as well!
I tried booking olacab 12 hrs in advance. Just wanted to give try. The choice of vehicle was logan, indica and Dsire. I asked for Dsire but they said they cannot assure me choice of vehicle. I frankly told representative that if I call Tabcab, I will surely get Etios. But Olacab couldnt assure me hence canceled vehicle. I was booking for pretty long route within mumbai almost 35-40 kilometers. Olacab shud have assured me choice of vehicle with 12 hrs. of advance notice. I took Tabcab.
Very disappointing experience with Olacabs last week. Never not get any SMS with the driver info. Cab did not show up. Couldn’t get through to the call centre. When I finally did get through they claimed that cab has been assigned and they gave me the driver’s mobile number and name. Called the driver and he has no clue about the booking. Called Olacabs again and they said there has been a system error. Thought I’d give them another chance and asked for the booking to be rescheduled and pick up location changed. They agreed. It looked like they’d got their act together now – I got the sms. Driver turned up 30 mins late, but he is not the guy mentioned in the sms. Cab not clean. Driver thinks he’s in a car rally all the time when he’s driving. And falls asleep when he’s not driving – I came out of a meeting and couldn’t trace him for 20 minutes. When I finish up for the day, he cannot give me a receipt or a bill and has no clue who he needs to get in touch with to find out, doesn’t know what is Olacabs, nothing. In all this, neither does Olacabs bother to call me or ask for feedback via email. There is no mention of receipt, nothing. Will I use Olacabs again? – NO!
Bhavish and co., it is one thing to raise angel and Series A rounds, give interviews on VCCircle, be a speaker at conferences and put forth ‘cool’ claims like “Our Value Proposition is Not in Creating Marketplace, But Is In Creating Great Experience”.
The reality appears to be something else.
The tabcab service is simply awesome, the mobie tablet for entertainment is also gud, the tab came 20 mins before to prior booking time. Had a gud xperience!
looks like a paid article
@ Raxter – Of all the cab services I”ve used, Easy cab & Mega Cab are the most unreliable, they just might decide to cancel the booking and then one is stranded. Meru in all these years has never cancelled on me once, which is why its my first choice. Of course getting a Meru booking is a different matter altogether
.
That said, a word of caution – Never trust call cabs fully. Always have a backup plan in case they don’t plan to show up.
At the time of making a booking, most Call Cab services will tell you that a confirmation sms along with driver details will be sent 45 minutes prior to pickup time. This means that you will only get to know if the cab will turn up 45 mins prior. This may shrink to 30 mins or 25 mins as I realised much to my chagrin when I missed a early morning flight, thanks to Easy Cab (4343 4343). No apologies proferred ‘But we sent you an sms 45 mins prior only’ when I questioned. Never booking those inefficient idiots again.