Beware of Harassment by the so called ‘Service’ Providers

I am relating my not so pleasant experience with a ‘Service provider’ so that readers can be vigilant against machinations of such organizations to convert customers as exclusively dependent on them . It appears that many of these so called ‘Service’ providers irrespective of their line of business, would like to venture into the business of money wallets. They provide this ‘service’ unsolicited and without consulting customers, as borne out from my experience. 

 I have been using the services of Ola cab ride sharing company for some time now purely for the purpose of local transportation which one presumes is their primary business. My sons have used the Ola money wallets to which they put money. The fare gets cut from it as and when they travel. I have never used this option.

 I have always paid in cash to the driver and have had nothing to do with ‘Ola money’. Most drivers also prefer to be paid in cash as they perhaps experience delay in getting the money from the company.When I visited Ernakulam in the second week of December 2019, I used Ola to travel to the railway station. The driver asked me over phone before picking me up as to whether I would pay cash. I immediately said “Yes” as I have always been paying cash. 

 On reaching the station I paid the driver the fare of Rs151/ . Later I saw a message from Ola informing that the money has been paid from Ola money wallet. I replied to them immediately as follows:  

" Hi 
I always pay cash and do not use Ola money. For my last ride from Ernakulam medical centre to Ernakulam South railway station, I have paid the driver cash. This is for your information.  
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android " 

However, I once again received a message urging to pay the bill of Rs 151/ that has been paid from Ola money. As this was received to my Gmail account registered with the company, I replied to them on Gmail stating

"I have send this message given below from my Yahoo Mail. The driver has made it clear in the beginning of journey that he is interested only in cash transactions. I also have never used Ola money and I have never put money in this account. So I paid him the money at the end of trip.please reverse your claim. I am not interested to use Ola services if you insist that I use Ola money mode of payment." 

  I did not receive a reply to this mail. Instead for the next two months my mobile phone was bombarded with messages urging to make payment immediately to avoid legal consequences. This is followed by recorded telephone calls with the same message. As these calls are not interactive, I am unable to speak to them. The messages come from all over India - Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mumbai, Vishakapatanam, Ahemedabad, you name it. If you make return calls to these numbers, it doesn’t connect. Perhaps, based on complaints from users,  the word “scam” is mentioned against some of these numbers,. My phone had to be reinstalled as its performance was seriously affected by the flooding of these unnecessary messages. 

  The aim of the “service” provider is obvious. They would like to bully and harass the customer into payment. I however do not have any intention of making double payment. They claim to give me a wallet as ‘service’ that I never solicited. If they have incorrectly made a second payment of their own volition to the driver, it is very easy for them to deduct the amount from him as they have regular dealings with the person. 

Instead the company is choosing to harass customers! There is no way I am going to make two payments for the same travel. As for legal action, it is I who would have to sue this organization for undue harassment! The only thing gained from this exercise is that I have uninstalled the app of this company from my mobile telephone, promising myself never to have anything to do with such insensitive and boorish ‘service providers.