My father was driving his taxi on National Day when he accepted a $9 cash #JustGrab booking from the #Grab application. It was from a user by the moniker EirfanWilliams from Blk 34 Marine Crescent to Blk 13 Merpati Road. The passenger was a young man in his 20s or early 30s at most, with tanned brown skin – likely to be Malay judging from his looks.
When my father reached the destination, the passenger just hopped out of the taxi without paying. My father thinking it was a mistake, honked at him to stop, wound down the window and told him that it was a cash and not #GrabPay booking and requested he pay the fare. He told my father that he had no cash on him and fidgeted with his mobile phone, telling my father that he was getting a friend to pass him cash.
As my father’s taxi was in the middle of at a bus stop, he told the passenger that he had to move the taxi a little in order not to obstruct traffic. When my father proceeded to move the vehicle, the passenger quickly ran off – obviously with no intention of paying in the first place.
My father contacted Grab support, who told him that they will contact the passenger to pay the fare. It has been 4 days now and yet there is no news from Grab, even after my father has called in to check again.
I managed to CSI out the culprit on Facebook given that his online moniker was rather unique – EirfanWilliams. The URL to his account is https://www.facebook.com/tommy.lavidalocaa. I showed my father the photos and he identified this fare cheat through the multiple photos shown on his Facebook profile. I made very sure to ask my father repeatedly if this is the guy, and his answer was positive.
I contacted him and asked him to call Grab to pay my father back the money, and he came up with the saddest excuse ever:
“I help this one guy using my grab as he told me he has no data to booked a grab and i really dont know that he didnt pay for the taxi fair..Its not my fault for not paying so i hope u understand..And im really sorry about that”
First of all, he has admitted that he was the one who booked the taxi. Secondly, my father has already identified him through the photos. I personally find that his excuse is laughable – no person in his right mind who has no data will ask another person to book a taxi for him – ever heard of hailing from the street?
Some of you may ask why doesn’t my father report this to the police? The adminstrative process is a nightmare and a time waster. Every minute my father is off the roads is an earning opportunity gone –
Honestly, neither my father nor I is hardup for the return of the $9, but fare cheats like EirfanWilliams need to be exposed and prevented from doing the same to others. To add insult to injury – not only did my father waste his time to pick up this fare cheat, he has to pay $0.90 to Grab for the booking commision. Grab has not made any legitimate attempt to help my father, nor made any offer to return him the $9, or even the $0.90 commision.
Taxi drivers, Grab and Uber drivers – please beware of this fare cheat when you receive a cash booking.
UPDATE (13-Aug 1:14PM): A Grab representative has contacted me directly to look into this case. I have given him my father’s account details to resolve this issue.
Source : FB post Jordan Lee