A few weeks back, I had to travel to Chennai for a day along with the family. Considering the fact that it takes more time from my home to airport, in Bangalore, than from Bangalore to Chennai (1.5 hours vs. 45 minutes!) and also taking into consideration our year old daughter (Samyukta, for the uninitiated), we took the train. First class AC, at that.
Digression: you must travel First class AC sometime – most people don’t opt for it considering the cost, but as a flight substitute, this is a fabulous option!
So, we traveled to Chennai and took another train back home. The state of Bangalore’s central railway station’s cab service is, well…non-existent. The cabs are from another era and the charges they quote (fare meter, what is that?) is from the era prior to that. So, I booked a Meru, a day in advance, from the railway station, to my home. Usually, there is major fracas between organized cab services like Meru/EasyCabs and the pathetic humans who man railway station cabs, so the Meru cab waits outside the railway station. Not a problem, since a Meru is worth walking up to, outside the station.
I had booked a Meru at the station based on the scheduled arrival of the train. The train, that day was more than 45 minutes behind schedule. I came to know this about 3 hours in advance as I scanned one of the passing stations.
Now, I had two things to worry about – I need to cancel the already-booked Meru cab. And I needed a new one at the new arrival time. I tried calling Meru’s number – no luck. The signal was spotty and the calls did not go through. Then I tried Meru’s website on my Samsung Galaxy S2. Surprisingly, the mobile optimized site loaded fast! I canceled the earlier booking and booked another one, all from the same site. It was a beautifully designed, mobile optimized site and got things done really efficiently!
Kudos to the agency that made the site. It serves the purpose wonderfully well.
Wait, there’s more.
This morning, my dad had to reach the railway station at 5:30am. I had booked a Meru yesterday morning (online) and promptly got the confirmation on email and text message. The cab details landed via sms at 4:40am, as usual and we waited for the cab to arrive. At 4:55am, I got worried and called the cab driver’s number from the text message. He did not pick the call despite repeated attempts. I called up Meru’s contact center and they assured me that the driver is on his way to our place.
Then, the driver picked up another call from me and actually said he hasn’t got any message to be in my place this morning and that he is in another location, quite away from my area!!
Now, I’m sure I’m not the first person to be ditched by a radio taxi service in India, but this is a first for me. I use Meru almost 4-5 times a month, for my Mumbai and Delhi flights and they have always worked wonderfully well for me.
Except today.
I was mighty annoyed, but also had my dad to drop. I drove him myself to the railway station and we did manage to catch up some good dad-son talk. I did manage to see empty, delightfully beautiful early-morning Bangalore and had tea at a quaint little tea stall somewhere, in some area.
But Meru? How are they responsible for the goof-up? Are they responsible at all?
So, for the first time in my life, I checked Meru’s terms and conditions and there it was, as expected.
The Customer agrees and acknowledges that the use of the services offered by Meru is at the sole risk of the Customer and that Meru disclaims all representations and warranties of any kind, whether express or implied as to condition, suitability, quality, merchantability and fitness for any purposes are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Without prejudice to the above, Meru makes no representation or warranty that:
- the service will meet your requirements;
- the service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free
Meru shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage, howsoever caused or suffered by the Customer arising out of the use of taxi service offered by Meru or due to the failure of Meru to provide services to the Customer for any reason whatsoever including but not limited to the Customer’s non-compliance with the services’ recorded voice instructions, malfunction, partial or total failure of any network terminal, data processing system, computer tele-transmission or telecommunications system or other circumstances whether or not beyond the control of Meru or any person or any organization involved in the above mentioned systems.
Without prejudice to the above, Meru shall not be liable for any direct or indirect loss or damage which may be suffered by the Customer as a result of any failure by Meru to provide a taxi to the Customer within any stipulated time even if Meru has agreed to so provide the taxi or even if the Customer has advised Meru of the possibility that any such loss or damage would result if the taxi is not provided at all or within the stipulated time.
Legalese. Jargon. Utter nonsense.
Notice the “other circumstances whether or not beyond the control of Meru or any person or any organization involved in the above mentioned systems” part. I know it is standard jargon, but don’t you think they could at least own up responsibility when something goes wrong under their direct control? After all, they should be held liable for something.
My dad took a train, but imagine the plight of someone taking an international flight! Or someone who needs to be in another city (forget the mode of transport – train or flight), for something that is utterly urgent and necessary.
Meru’s business is not making cabs available or plying people from point A to point B. Meru’s business is solely in arriving when the customer wants it and has booked so.
And when they don’t arrive, what happens? As I found out today – nothing. Life moves on and more people continue to trust Meru.
I have chatted on twitter about Meru Vs. EasyCabs sometime back and have always defended Meru since they have been very prompt with me. It is a different thing that my use of Meru is usually restricted to wee hours (early morning or late night), so I’d assume that those time zones are relatively easier to manage, than peak hour bookings or during-the-day bookings that may get delayed due to many factors, including the most important one – traffic snarls.
I’d perhaps avoid using Meru till another cab agency (EasyCabs) fails to arrive, but my trust on Meru is lost. They failed to deliver the one and only service they offer – to arrive when asked for. And it is massively sad that there’s nothing one can do about it, but to rue and move on with no impact on Meru whatsoever.
That’s not quite how things should be, since we are all held accountable for so many things in life – why shouldn’t a commercial business like Meru take ownership and offer something in return for failed service? If restaurants like Mast Kalandar (vastly different business, I agree – but see it from a service delivery point of view alone) can be customer-centric, why can’t a radio taxi service?
I believe anything they add in the terms and conditions that explains how they take responsibility for non-delivery could be highlighted as a phenomenal USP and could help them win over new customers from every other competitor. Right now, this is what they offer under a ‘Why use Meru Cabs‘ link prominently displayed in their website.
‘At Meru Cabs, we strive deliver on our core promise of ‘unshakable reliability’ by devising systems, processes or technologies that will set a reliable interface for our customers.’
And then the page lists 9 reasons that are completely operational and pointless to the ‘unshakable reliability’ promise. It’s time Meru understood that this unshakable reliability doesn’t happen through systems, processes or technologies – they are means to an end and customers are least bothered about them. The ‘end’ is just being there when asked for. A simple note on what happens if they don’t will go a long way in explaining what that ‘unshakable reliability’ means.