'Traumatised for life': Passengers shaken after finding multiple cockroaches in private-hire vehicle

Midway through their journey to work, two passengers were horrified to spot several cockroaches roaming around the private-hire vehicle.

Taking to TikTok on Wednesday (June 19), the passenger, who gave her name only as Tiffany, dubbed the 40-minute Gojek ride from Kembangan to Newton that morning as "nightmarish".

The 26-year-old told AsiaOne that she and her boyfriend spotted at least six cockroaches in the car, three of which she filmed on video.

The 18-second video she uploaded on social media starts with a clip of a roach crawling across the passenger-side door.

Another clip shows a cockroach on the backseat of the car, and the camera pans to reveal another one slinking up the car window.

One of the cockroaches moves across the backseat and the video zooms out to show both passengers balancing on the edge of their seats.

"My boyfriend's butt was hovering [over the seat] and I was sitting on his knees at this point," she wrote in the video, adding that he was "in distress".

The video ends after showing a roach nestled in the crevices of the seat belt buckle.

"Please give us full refund and therapy sessions… we're traumatised for life," Tiffany captioned.

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@tiffzh/video/7382170877024079122[/embed]

'Already done fogging': Driver

She told AsiaOne that they were on an expressway when they first noticed a small cockroach, prompting them to ask the Gojek driver for a piece of tissue paper to catch the bug.

When more roaches appeared, Tiffany's boyfriend raised the issue to the driver.

"The driver didn’t seem too surprised and mentioned that he had 'already done fogging' and suggested that the roaches might be coming from the MRT construction near his home," she recounted.

"Despite the discomfort, we decided to endure the ride since it was a commute to work and we were already en route."

Tiffany added that Gojek has apologised for the situation and offered them a full refund of the fare as well as two $5 vouchers as compensation.

But she feels that the compensation "does not adequately address the negative experience" she and her boyfriend experienced.

She elaborated: "$10 [in vouchers] is way too low for a 40-minute commute with multiple cockroaches. And I expected perhaps for Gojek to do routine checkups for the cleanliness of their partner vehicles, especially the ones that’s had complains about prior."

Netizens were similarly terrified by the sight, with many commenting that they would have immediately exited the car.

"Did the driver not notice?" exclaimed a TikTok user.

Some commenters pointed out that there are likely to be more cockroaches hidden in the nooks and crannies of the vehicle.

"Roaches would generally avoid contact with humans and only come out at night when the car is stationary. For the roach to come out in the day, means the infestation is very bad. There is a whole colony," speculated one netizen.

Gojek says it has spoken to driver and passenger

A Gojek spokesperson told AsiaOne that the platform has investigated the incident and spoken to both the driver-partner and customer involved "to resolve the matter and take the necessary action".

The spokesperson added that the well-being of customers is of utmost concern, and the company is committed to providing a positive experience for all users on their platform.

"A key part of this is creating a safe and enjoyable environment for our customers and ensuring that our driver-partners meet Gojek's high standards of service and conduct, which includes the cleanliness levels of their vehicles.

"We will also continue to work hard to strengthen education outreach for our driver-partners, to ensure they can provide a positive ride-hailing experience to our customers."

ALSO READ: 'Infested with cockroaches': Coach driver allegedly refuses to swap passenger's seat after latter finds bugs crawling about

lim.kewei@asiaone.com