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Meru Cabs | "Rely on us" - Really?

Meru cabs - a radio taxi service operating in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore says "Rely On Us". The Meru brand in their own words is "a symbol of our commitment to unshakeable reliability- the heart of our promise to our customers". Further, they claim that "It is this promise of reliability that drives us at Meru Cabs to endeavor to provide the most efficient services every time to our customers" (see Meru's Philosophy)

Really? For me, Meru is a perfect example of big brand, brag commitments but bad experience - totally bad and unreliable experience!

I booked a Meru cab for 21.30 PM last night (reference no. 323 08/11/2009). I wanted to go to the railway station, a 25 km ride from my home, to catch a train at 22.45 PM. At 21.00 I got a text message saying that a cab has been allotted. At 21.25 when I got no call from the driver, I tried calling him but his phone was unreachable. I called the call center and I was told that Meru's system already shows I was "picked up". When I told him I was still at home, he said that the cab is on the way and he will ask the driver to give me a call. At 21.39, when I got no call I called them again and I was told by a person that the driver is "not traceable" and that a new cab was being sent to pick me and it will reach me in "couple of minutes".

When nothing happened in "couple of minutes" and it was already getting late, I finally got the call from the driver who told me he will be there in another 15 mins and that he was told to go pick me up just then. Meanwhile, I really wanted to understand Meru's liability if someone misses a train, flight or an important meeting due to a late cab. I called their call center and asked for the information department, after I asked the agent about liability, did not understand. He put me on hold. After the hold time, someone else picked up the call, and this person did not know I was in hold and was seeking information. As I could figure out, the person I had spoke to earlier had just vanished very impolitely. So much already for "Relying on Meru". I asked the agent to put me in touch with his manager and he did reluctantly.

Finally, I spoke to Gargi - the manager, Gargi told me that they have 'technical problems' in their end. I did not want to waste my time and I asked her if she worked for Meru or for a call center. She said she works for Meru and she does really cares about Meru and it's customers. By this time it was already 21.55 and I still had to go 25 kms to catch my train. I walked down from my apartment to look for another mode of transport, by now giving up most of the hopes of catching the train. When I was down, I finally saw a Meru cab driving towards me. I was still talking to Gargi and she did not have answers about "reliability" , "time guarantee" and "liability". When I asked her if Meru was liable if I missed the train and subsequently an important appointment - she said I could call the call center and give them "feedback". She also said that I will get a call from Meru in 24-hrs explaining the whole "screw up" (update: it's been 48-hrs and there has been no call and I don't see any call too in the future). I asked her if there was a reference number for the complaint, she said there was no need for it and I will surely get the call.

On my way I told the cab driver my story, he had so many complaints against the call center. He said there was a "huge problem" with Meru's operations center and most of the drivers were very unhappy with Meru. He was also suggesting that I use Easy Cabs or CEL cabs as they were much more reliable. So much for employee engagement. I finally reached the station 4 mins before the departure and ran all the way to board my train. I could make it only because of the driver's creativity, skill and reckless driving.

When I called my wife and narrated my experience, she told me her horror story with Meru. She had to take a train at 6.00 AM in the morning. We are 7 months pregnant and she wanted a comfortable journey to the railway station. She "relied on Meru". The cab was late, the driver was rash and reckless and she had to run with her luggage to make it to the train. She vowed she will never call Meru again. She had told all her friends about her bad experience with Meru and almost unanimously everyone seemed to agree as they had their own bad experiences to narrate.

Before writing this blog, I googled "Meru" to see if the crowd shared similar experiences. Not surprisingly, I found so many blogs and reviews (see Mouth Shut's reviews), all narrating horror stories about Meru's reliability. Not sure why it is hard for Mr. Neeraj Gupta and his team along with India value fund - their investors, to see the brewing customer anger against Meru and its false promises. In my opinion, Meru will close shop in less than 2-yrs if they don't clean up their act! (I am no Oracle to predict, but I can see this from my CEL cabs experience).

Will I rely on Meru again? Are you kidding me! Neeraj are you listening?

If you have had bad experiences with Meru, please post your comments.

6 comments | Posted in » big brands bad experience