PUBLISHED ONOctober 18, 2023 2:28 AMByLim KeweiUnfamiliar with the shopping mall she was in, a woman decided to follow the given directions to the pick-up point for her Grab ride.
Despite doing so, she was charged a waiting fee of $6 after her driver, who was waiting elsewhere, had to drive over to get her, and told her that she had gone to the wrong pick-up point.
The disgruntled passenger took to TikTok on Sunday (Oct 15) to question the additional charges, asking: "Did I just get scammed by Grab?"
TikTok user Callmecarrot_ shared that she had booked a Grab ride at Changi City Point a few days ago and followed the directions provided in the app to the designated pick-up point.
Although the driver had indicated his arrival to the pick-up point on the app, the woman said she was unable to spot him or his car.
Puzzled as to why they could not locate each other, she sent the driver photos of her location and directions to the pick-up point provided in the app, explaining that she had followed the instructions on where to go.
Much to her dismay, the driver was waiting at another pick-up point and only arrived at where she was waiting some 15 minutes later, leading to a $6 waiting fee.
[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@callmecarrot_/video/7289717089147817223[/embed]
The driver also reportedly told the passenger that she was at the wrong pick-up point and was "supposed to be somewhere else".
"I literally followed the direction where Grab asked me to go, and I don't know that place well enough to go and find where's the other pick-up points," she replied.
Checks by AsiaOne on Monday found that the same directions to the pick-up point at the main entrance of One @ Changi City were provided on the Grab app.
Worried that she would be "anyhow charged" for the waiting fee, the woman shared that she transferred the balance in her GrabPay wallet to her bank account during the ride.
This resulted in an outstanding charge of another $6 after her ride ended.
When she contacted customer support to explain her situation, the passenger was reportedly told that she would have to first pay the due amount before they could issue her a refund.
"They claim that if I don't pay, they have no other ways to give me back the $6," she said.
After making payment, however, she received an email from Grab stating: "The waiting fee was valid, and the driver has waited at the correct pick-up point."
"Was I in the wrong?" the passenger asked. "I was literally at the place where Grab asked me to go."
While several netizens pointed out that she had indeed waited at the wrong pick-up point, some also suggested that the directions given on the app might be wrong.
AsiaOne has reached out to the passenger for more information.
Responding to AsiaOne's queries, a Grab spokesperson apologised for the inconvenience caused to both the passenger and driver, and said they have refunded the $6 waiting fee to the passenger.
"We have investigated the matter and found that the in-app directions provided to the passenger were inaccurate. We have since rectified this and are doing quality checks across all venues to minimise the occurrence of such incidents," the spokesperson said on Tuesday.
If passengers spot any inaccuracies in the in-app directions, they can submit their feedback via the feedback form within the app, the spokesperson added.
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