Al million karwa at its worst
Time and again we all have seen taxi drivers put night charge and ask for a big amount of money upfront and even decline to take you to your destination.
If you check public forums you will find a lot of unhappy customers who are taking their business to limousine companies as they are more professional and safe.
This time it has gone out of control and become abusive hence below is my complaint as I wouldn't want anyone else to go through this again.
I took cab no 3494 from recreation Center education city to Marwan street behind shop rite at 14:20 . I had taken the same route in the morning with Karwa taxi and paid 27qar.
The driver was firstly driving very rash, almost collided twice, i had to tell him to drive safely as I’m pregnant.
He took a longer route to my destination and put night charge in the afternoon which is 0 and on arrival when I asked him for the bill he refused to give it to me.
I told him I will pay 30 QAR as inside Doha it doesn’t become more than that and not 54 qar as he was asking for 54.
He refused to unlock the car and started driving, I managed to open the door at which point he started screaming at me he came out and tried to close the door but i got out.
I called the Karwa number as I couldn't reach the al million call center, they told me to call al million. I called the cops as the driver was getting louder and coming closer, they told me they can’t help me and i have to come to police station and file a complaint but i couldn’t go as i didn’t trust the cab driver.
He abused and cursed me and my unborn child, he told me lets go inside the house and discuss at which point I got scared and tried to look for someone on the road as it was clear that he just wanted to get me in a vulnerable position inside the house or car.
I have never been so scared in Doha in the past 8 years here.
I asked him repeatedly to give me the bill and that I would pay him 30 qar but he wanted 54 qar. This isn't fair, I told him it’s not about the money it's about right and wrong, it’s my hard earned money.
I understand that they are trying to make extra money and I always tip the drivers but this level of rudeness and aggressive behavior isn't acceptable.
Finally I managed to get Call Center on the phone, where Tristan was of great help. At that moment I started crying as I was scared and overwhelmed. That’s the time when the driver saw that he might get into trouble and he ran away, however he still continued to curse me and my baby.
I was so shaken with the whole episode and scared to go out of the house in case he is there as my husband was out of town.
I immediately send an email to all million on [email protected] and still awaiting for a investigation report.
I would urge all citizens to take time and voice their grievances as it will help to raise the standard of service we receive.
I am fully aware not all of them are bad and they get paid very less but experiences like this really jolt you. I also know lot of you will be thinking that I should have just paid the money but there are times when you have to take a stand.
Thanks for sharing Malika. I hope the authorities take note.
Mallika , My sister , I support you in every manner but request you to please remove the gentleman's pic & hide the car 's registration plate no. ...... Thu , 26.06.2014 , 09.03 hrs ...
We should not post pics in this way when you have a dispute , everybody has equal honour .... Thu , 26.06.2014 , 09.01 hrs ...
Spider , Don't ever think taking the law in your own hands when in a foreign land .... Thu , 26.06.2014 , 09.00 hrs ...
I think they mostly take advantage of expat females.... i wanna see someone locking a door on me... I can assure you it would be the last time he locks the door on anyone... A person who takes advanatage of a woman.. and especially pregnant woman is a lowly being...
Ladies you need to know how to act in these situations...what you need to do is this:
1. Dont argue.. dont fight... just let the guy know you gonno report this case to authorities... better say you gonno let your husband do that (even if you dont have a husband.. it is irrelevant)... that should straighten the guy up... at least he will act better.. if that does not resolve problem
2. Call customer service.. ,if unable to reach it is ok... call police too... let them know.. even if they dont come to the rescue. If this does not work proceed to step 3.
3. Pay the guy whatever he wants... dont forget to smile... keep it friendly at that point (unless you are one of those who can handle tough situations)... but tell him politely that you are very unhappy and you think it is not right... then go out of the car and take a photo... just like that lady did
4. Write to Karwa an email (dont even bother calling them at that point) marking clearly that this is complaint...
5. Then and only then (give it a couple of hours) call them and ask if they receieve your complaint and started working on it.. better ask for complaint reference number for future communication so that you dotn have to explain things over and over.
6. If no action / results happen in the next 3 days contact Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) and make a complain against Karwa.... it is actually not that hard... the CPA will actually take actions.. they always do...
Hope that helps... and good luck ;-) .. .believe me this will work.. i have handled many situations and u just need to stay qalm.. and cool... and dont show any signs of fear or even emotions.. try to be cold blooded... even if u experience it... just keep ur cool
similar incident with me as wel, but be strenghten sister, i cheating person cursing wouldnt be meaningful, may Allah Bless you and your baby.
Wow, that's shocking! my dad used to work at karwa and he told me some crazy stories.
I hope that scumbag gets what he deserves.
Thanks all, if u complaint verbally they can hide it. But once you write an email and than follow up only thn they will take action. I knw it's lot of time and energy but it is necessary.
In my case they have apologised and the driver is suspended . I don't want to do this to a poor an but he deserves it. Every man should earn his money with respect not cheat.
It is drastic but you gave earned your salary and they need to earn theirs.
It shd never come to abuse
The night charges do not bother me anymore, as it is the normal tariff i am getting all the time. It is the rudeness of the drivers that's is getting into my nerves. One nepalese driver once explained why "all" drivers do not want to switch on the meter as they take a passenger is because they dont have salaries. They do get salaries on their first 2 months, just to get familiar with the places here and from the 3rd month onwards they will be relying on commission. Like in a day, they will have to make 275qr (?) to pay to their offices as rent for the taxi that they are driving. Anything more than that will be for their pockets. So in this case, most of them want to secure first how much they want to make for that particular day, only after that they will start using the meter.
I for once a victim of these rude and arrogant drivers. I was already forced to get down in the middle of the hiway- I was already locked up once. One driver even tried to grab me. My bag was once grabbed.
And for that, i stopped using karwa taxi. In situations like i do not have a choice, I go sor Sydney Taxi, otherwise private taxi.
I have similar issue but not as worst as yours. Thought it was my luck to find an empty cab under the sun in front of hamad hospital, it was al million taxi too the driver was Nepalese. he approached in a respectful way and i smiled in return. while on our way, i noticed that he didn't switched on the meter and i asked him why? he said it's gonna be traffic and it might cost me a lot more that what i used to pay which more or less 60qr from hamad to my house. Since we traveled long enough before i noticed, i agreed with him. He is friendly and talking to much made me enjoy the ride home. but then, when i reached my home and i am giving him 70QR expecting that he will be very happy and thankful coz it will go direct to his pocket and some for fuel maybe with extra of about less than 10Qr, it turned out the other way where he is not accepting it and asking me for 90QR!! I got shocked and explained to him that i used to pay specific amount and it was not my first time.. i used to go there most of the time and never billed out such amount. he didn't let me go out of his car as he also locked me up. I got mad at him and contacted their customer service representative and told him the story. I let the guy talk to the agent and explain to him what happened, unfortunately, they have the same lingo and I don't know what they discussed. Finally, when I talked to the agent after their discussion, he told me that my number is saved and they will call me with the status of the report that i made. I left the money at my seat as he refused to accept it not because he is angry but because he wanted it to be 90QR as what he really wants. Sad to say, I didn't receive any call from them after couple of days, even though, I didn't keep any hatred in my heart against that guy as I want to live peacefully and hating someone doesn't makes any sense at all. There is always a reason behind everything..