[Resolved]  Meru Cabs — Charged double the normal fare

Address:

Bangalore, Karnataka

I booked a Meru trip in the evening on 7/4/10 for a 9 AM journey on 8/4/10 from Sarjapur, outer ring-road (near Intel) to Airport in Bangalore. The call centre quoted Rs. 650 as possible charges (approx.) but the driver, Mr Shankar fleeced Rs. 1,120 on the basis that he travelled 75 kms instead of a normal run of 40. When the cab started, he kept explaining that due to city traffic, he would not be able to guarantee that we could reach airport within 2 hours and that I must allow him to take the longer (by 10 kms. but faster) route. After I agreed, he went round and round from one village to another and instead of doing 10 kms. more, actually he did a good 35! Again, all this took a good 2 hours of time which throws into doubt, the very basic infrastructure of the city of Bangalore. It is ridiculous to expect tourists to do 75 kms over a 2 hour span of time instead of the normal 40 kms. Due to the city traffic problem. We could refer this matter to the Municipal authorities (among others). He kept insisting I pay cash instead of credit card ("don't you have cash of Rs. 1,100?"). The car AC was not working fine but the driver said it was ineffective due to the "outside heat" which, is strange. Later, he admitted that the equipment required service and that the filter had to be changed.