After accepting a job to pick up a passenger, a part-time TADA driver sent them a message to say he had to drop off someone else first, and would get to them shortly. Eight minutes later, the passenger replied, “F*ck you”, and immediately cancelled the ride. The driver was shocked by the “rude passenger”, and reported the incident to TADA, he told Mothership. The passenger had wanted a ride from Jurong Port Road to a condo in Hillview, said the driver, who wished to be known as K. When K took the job sometime past 5pm on Dec. 12, he was still engaged with another passenger who was heading to 116 Ho Ching Road — about an eight-minute drive away from the pick-up location along Jurong Port Road. He explained that as a private-hire vehicle (PHV) driver, his practice in such a situation was to immediately inform the passenger waiting that he was dropping someone else off nearby first and would be arriving shortly. “This courtesy message was sent at 5:23pm. I would say that it was sent a minute upon accepting the job,” K said. He added that it was raining heavily at the time, and he had had to stop almost every traffic light, creating some delay. Right after dropping off his existing passenger, he made his way to pick up the second one. At 5:31pm, he was about five minutes away when he received the “f*ck you” reply. The language of the message was so unexpected that K felt speechless. It was the first time he had experienced something like this. He also found the response unjust, saying that the weather and traffic was beyond his control. In response to Mothership’s queries, TADA’s public relations and communications team shared that the company is aware of the incident and takes situations like this seriously. “At TADA, respectful communication between drivers and riders is important to creating a safe and positive experience for everyone on our platform,” they added, emphasising that TADA does not condone the use of inappropriate language. If similar behaviour occurs again, the team said appropriate action will be taken in line with TADA’s guidelines, which may include disabling the rider’s account. Top images from the driver and MVL Chain/X
