Cabby fired after dropping off woman with two kids in Toa Payoh instead of Yishun, because he wanted to go home
A taxi driver has been fired by ComfortDelgro after he allegedly dropped off a pregnant woman and her two children in Toa Payoh instead of Yishun because he “wanted to go home”.
Facebook user Zdhnray Mohammad took to social media to share about his pregnant wife’s experience with the cabby on Aug 21.
That day, at around 10pm, his wife and children called for a ride via ComfortDelgro's ride hailing app, to travel from Marsiling to Yishun.
When the driver, Lim Chye Beng, arrived at the pick-up location, he told the passengers to wait for him in the car while he smoked. The wait was more than five minutes, Zdhnray wrote in his post.
As it was a metered-fare trip, Zdhnray's wife told Lim her preferred route was to travel via the BKE and SLE to Mandai.
Lim then suggested travelling via the CTE, but Zdhnray's wife did not agree to this.
During the trip, she sensed something was amiss when Lim headed towards the PIE instead of the SLE.
When she asked Lim why he was driving towards Toa Payoh when her destination was in Yishun, he allegedly got "defensive" and "lied" that "in front there is Mandai".
Later, Lim asked the wife how much it usually cost her to travel from Marsiling to Yishun. When she replied $20, he allegedly got angsty and said: “Like that I drop you off at Toa Payoh. You go take another cab, I don’t want to drive you! I wanna go back home, I stay at Toa Payoh. You are wasting my time and petrol”.
According to Zdhnray, his wife started getting panic attacks and called him.
Zdhnray said he spoke to Lim on the phone and asked him to send his wife and kids to Yishun, but he refused.
His family members eventually alighted in Toa Payoh at around 10:30pm.
Zdhnray said his wife has been traumatised by the experience.
In response to Mothership.sg's query, Ms Tammy Tan, ComfortDelgro's group chief branding and communications officer, said the hiring agreement with Lim has been terminated "with immediate effect".
"Our cabbies are expected to be professional by taking the right or preferred routes and completing every trip that they take. In this instance, the behaviour of the cabby was completely unacceptable," Ms Tan said, adding that the company has reached out to Zdhnray and his wife to render them assistance.
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