Ride-hailing firm Go-jek is still pretty new around here, and it’s expected that there will be some issues faced by customers right now during the beta phase of the service. One lady has already claimed to have had an extraordinarily rough experience following a Gocar ride last Thursday, when she allegedly encountered a supremely aggressive driver while sending her elderly wheelchair-bound mother to the hospital.
Ang Wuan Suan shared her experience on the Beh Chia Lor Facebook page, recounting how her driver was “rude and unreasonable” with “zero compassion towards the elderly.” The story goes that she had booked a Gocar ride to St. Luke’s Hospital, a community hospital in Bukit Batok dedicated to the elderly sick. Accompanying her was her parents, including her wheelchair-bound mother.
According to Ang, she had already messaged about the wheelchair situation to the driver before he arrived, but when he did, he stopped on the opposite side of the road. Ang noted that the driver seemed reluctant to make the U-turn to where they were, and that he made no motion to help load the wheelchair into the back of his car.
But it was when they arrived at the hospital that the driver went ballistic. Ang says that he started yelling when she requested that he let them alight directly next to the lobby (because of the wheelchair). He apparently wasn’t too happy that the air-conditioner in his car was leaking out due to the longer time it took for Ang’s frail mother to exit the car.
“While waiting for the cars in front to move, he started shouting and screaming, complaining about me not informing him about wheelchair (???), we keeping the door wide open for too long for mom to get in and out of the car, causing the aircon to leak, calling us ‘stupid idiots’ and saying ‘You think your $9 very big?’, screaming ‘GET OUT!’” Ang wrote.
A video of the altercation was recorded, in which the driver can be seen acting quite hostile, hollering at Ang to shut the door. Since the video immediately starts with the agro driver, we can’t know for sure what exactly Ang and her family did to trigger his outburst.
“I only managed to capture his shouting at the end, cos I was helping mum get out of the car. His verbal aggression before that video clip was taken was even more intense.”
Ang mentioned that she has since lodged a complaint with Go-jek but has yet to receive a response. Speaking to Coconuts Singapore, a representative from Go-jek assured that the company is looking into the case.
“Go-jek does not tolerate impolite behavior or any form of discrimination towards riders or driver-partners. Our policies are stated clearly in our driver-partner handbook and emphasized during our onboarding process. We are looking into the case and will ensure appropriate action is taken.”
Editor’s Note: Article updated to include a statement from Go-jek.
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