A video showing an altercation between an app-based motorcycle taxi driver and her customer in Semarang, Central Java has been circulating on social media today, as the argument got so heated that the driver angrily hurled a plastic bag containing food at the customer.
It appears that the interaction was first shared via a story on Instagram by the customer, whose identity is not known, but has since been reposted on other social media platforms. As seen on a screenshot of the story, the customer complained that the driver, who is affiliated with ride-hailing service Grab, was “rude.” She claimed to have had terrible service on her mobile phone, which meant that the driver was unable to reach her as her food order was processed.
From the post, it seems that the driver had waited for a while for the customer, who was not at the delivery location.
“So [when we saw her] I tried to explain to the lady driver that there was a problem with the network and that working through a system relying on network would certainly stumble on network problems. But the lady couldn’t accept that and was angry at me and my friend,” the customer wrote on her Instagram Story, which was posted along with a photo of the driver.
The driver then allegedly asked her to cancel the order, despite having bought the food, to the customer’s confusion. In another video, the customer can be heard making a remark that might have triggered what happened next.
Gue sih penasaran kenapa ibu drivernya sampai ngamuk begini. Ini level ngamuknya udah sundul langit kayaknya. pic.twitter.com/uQYvZhFDYJ
— #RIPMarieFredriksson (@kembangkertas97) January 13, 2020
“Just eat the food, afterwards please donate the money,” she said, which was followed by the driver throwing a plastic bag containing the food in her direction and then driving away.
The customer then said she would file a report to Grab.
A reply from Twitter user @purno58 to one of the reposted videos shared by user @kembangkertas97 offers an explanation from the other side of the story.
Kronologi sebenarnya pic.twitter.com/fMfat7imoe
— Mi TraGREB (@Purno58) January 14, 2020
It seems that the driver had waited for a long time for the customer and did complain about the wait when they finally met. However, the customer allegedly called her names and even tried to take away the driver’s keys and phone.
“But then after the order was finished, thank goodness she [the driver] filed a report to Grab. For us (drivers) it’s very important to report every time there’s an issue, as it gives us a chance to back our story,” the person providing an alternative explanation wrote.
Grab Indonesia replied to the video shared by @kembangkertas97 and said that the matter was being investigated further. According to a report from Liputan6, the driver was not suspended as the customer was perceived to be at fault.
While this driver in particular might have gone a little overboard with her reaction, it should be noted that there’s a lot of hard work that app-based motorcycle taxi drivers put into their jobs — for relatively low pay.
After all, in the time that she had to wait to complete that one order, the driver might have been able to pick up others. While these apps provide a world of convenience for many customers, let’s not forget that the people providing the services are not without their daily challenges, too.
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