"Kicked" Around by a Singapore Cabby

As an executive recruiter aka headhunter, I interview my candidates out of my office in the busy Singapore business district when it is inconvenient for them to come to my office. I make it a point to meet all my candidates personally to do a proper assessment and to understand them better.

It was fine afternoon that day. The candidate requested to meet her near the Central Library which was a couple of kilometers away.

At our office building driveway, a few cabs were waiting for passengers. I approached a cab, tapped on the window gently to check if it was available. The taxi driver beckoned me in and so I did. I told him my destination.

The next few moments shocked me completely!

"I got a call confirmation," the cabby announced to me.

I was both surprised and confused. So? What should I do next? I was invited to board the cab and the moment I boarded it, it had a call confirmation to go and pick someone else! Was that a joke or what?

"So, what does this mean?" I enquired, trying not to sound irritated.

"I got a call confirmation," he reiterated and stayed put, refusing to drive on.

As I was rushing to meet my precious candidate, I got out of the cab. I got the presence of mind to open my file and recorded the cab's license number.

Honk! Honk! Honk! I looked up and saw the cabby gesturing to me as if to ask me to board his taxi again. I shook my head and walked to the nearby taxi stand.

This episode clearly demonstrated the abject service level of the Singapore taxi service. Despite the current economy slowdown and the greatly reduced passenger number, some taxi drivers still do not treasure the taxi-using customers. They do not feel for the customers and plainly take the customers for granted, which is clearly evident in this incident. I appreciate that the cabby had wanted to earn the extra S$1 or so call charge. If that was the case, then he should focus on waiting for the call confirmation and not ask the passenger to board his cab. It appeared that for S$1 or so more, he was willing to risk his company's image and upset the customers.

The general impression of the Singapore taxi service is unfavorable. To be fair, not all Singapore taxi drivers behave this way. Still, it is important for taxi companies to ensure that all their taxi drivers are well-trained in customer service and to educate them that the passengers are the primary means to serve their end. They should not "kick" the customer like a football."