Last month, I had a traumatic experience — I tried to book a cab. I was in this unfamiliar city of Rajkot, and who wants to talk to a taxi company in a new place?
So naturally, I thought of the app-based taxi service unicorns, opened my phone, and booked a cab.
And then started the drama. Everything that could go wrong went wrong.
First, it takes forever for a driver to be assigned. Then, the guy refuses to move towards your location. When you call him, all he is interested in is, “Where do you want to go?”
And the moment he finds that the destination isn’t at least 1,000 km away, he cancels.
This was just the trailer. It kept getting worse but let us not belabor the point.
However, this is not how things were. Once upon a time, when these companies were not unicorns yet, their service was amazing. You could predict the pickup and drop time to the last minute.
And then, they met with massive success. They gobbled up the competition and only two players were left.
Then they stopped caring. Why bother, when the unicorn thing is already done?
I have huge respect for the entrepreneurs who built these companies. And I also realize how hard it is to run operations. At that scale, mistakes are unavoidable.
But this is not that — this is apathy. Who gives a damn?
And our unicorn worship continues unabated.
– Rajan