The Mumbai rider’s punny Twitter thread about driver’s solo trip is going viral. (Representational image) The Mumbai rider’s punny Twitter thread about driver’s solo trip is going viral. (Representational image)

App-based cab booking services have been a great boon to daily commuters who no longer have to worry about being turned down by errant taxi drivers. However, the system has its drawbacks and a Mumbai resident found it out the hard way. Preshit Deorukhkar booked a cab through the Uber app but suddenly found out that the driver started the ride without even picking him. Apparently, it was the driver’s first day with Uber. And, it turned out to start on a disastrous note.

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As soon as Deorukhkar realised the gaffe by the Uber driver, he quickly took to Twitter to raise the concern with Uber support and mentioned that the driver’s phone was unreachable.

@UberINSupport Hi, your 1-trip driver has started the trip without arriving at the location. His phone isn’t reachable. What do I do? pic.twitter.com/L6tRT95gmI — Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018

However, the curious Mumbai man decided to see if the driver reached to pick him after a detour and continued to track the journey online. What happened next left him quite baffled as the driver took a joy-ride around the city at the rider’s expense.

Now he is just aimlessly roaming around on the Link road. pic.twitter.com/ZcsY5pcQK6 — Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018

Amused by the bizarre incident, Deorukhkar took a sarcastic route to take a jibe at the driver. He also brought to the attention of Uber that the driver had no proper name on the app and only went by ‘P’.

@UberINSupport Also, how is “P” an acceptable driver name by your standards? pic.twitter.com/ku8N3Ts7tT — Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018

The customer continued to post screenshots of the journey using funny captions and quirky comments. He also tried to give the incident a thrilling twist, wondering if there was something fishy about the driver’s antics. “Pickup was in Malad West. Driver has now reached the edge of north Mumbai. I’m assuming he has to dump something in the khaadi,” he wrote.

Pickup was in Malad West. Driver has now reached the edge of north Mumbai. I’m assuming he has to dump something in the khaadi. pic.twitter.com/pG3QmAo6lg — Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018

Looks like he is going to medicate. Must’ve been a tiring day so far. 😂 pic.twitter.com/6dO8ziyqd6 — Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018 https://images.indianexpress.com/2020/08/1x1.png

As the driver continued to go on with his “ghost” rider, Deorukhkar’s Twitter thread got more interesting. At one point, the rider wrote, “Or he is dumping a dead body sealed in the car deep in the mangroves, me thinks.”

Or he is dumping a dead body sealed in the car deep in the mangroves, me thinks. pic.twitter.com/SBokjKaLkK — Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018

He is taking the longer, less scenic route back the city now. pic.twitter.com/uW1RogD6gL — Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018

“P” has now stopped at Vailankani church. I hope he’s going to confess his sins. pic.twitter.com/sEY546CzB9 — Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018

I guess we are headed back to the mangroves now. pic.twitter.com/ni3QnxBYkA — Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018

The “story” then went on to become murkier and was nothing less than a mystery movie. “There’s got to be some major stash buried here, right? Gold? Drugs? Arms and ammunition?” the rider tweeted.

He’s stopped here for some reason. What role are the cops playing in this story 🤔 pic.twitter.com/pgNdG5vXVn — Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018

Oh crap! Looks like he’s on to me. Trip cancelled. pic.twitter.com/7cEtYyOoEi — Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018

And after all the Mumbai “sightseeing”, the driver ‘cancelled’ the ride, but with a bill of Rs 857.43.

Taking cognisance of Deorukhkar’s complaint, Uber promised to refund his money but did not apologise for the driver’s error.

Here’s Uber’s response about the case. Driver goes for a joyride, tries to dupe the rider, wastes rider’s time, and all he gets is a “note” on his profile All I got was this response from their internal support system. Note the lack of “sorry” or “apologies” in the response

🙄 pic.twitter.com/EcUxOTOgsM — Preshit Deorukhkar (@preshit) July 19, 2018

The thread garnered a lot of attention online and while some used it to raise similar concerns, others found the customer’s live narrative thoroughly entertaining and said it could be a great movie. Sample these:

The exact same thing had happened to me couple of weeks ago! My driver’s rating was 1. Apparently this happens a lot in #Bengaluru but now it has started in Mumbai — RISHITA DAS (@rishitaa) July 22, 2018

Same had happened with me. It is high time that Uber should bring in some way where driver is not allowed to start trip until passenger is on board.https://t.co/WZKE8l2Wtq — Sudheendra Baliga (@baligasudhi) July 21, 2018

Amazing sense of humour buddy, on point I must say. — Rohan Sharma (@IAIMPictures) July 20, 2018

This thread might works as plot for a movie.😂😂😂😂😂 — Lalit (@Wohi_Ladka) July 19, 2018

Take a bow, you master story teller. Pure entertainment. — Shayon 🤾🏽‍♂️ (@shayonpal) July 19, 2018

I can’t believe you had the patience to actually watch his every move! I think he thought you’d actually pay, so he went on with the ride 🤣 — Wonder Womaniya 😎 (@thezohashaikh) July 19, 2018

Probably he was an avenger 😂..going to save the world.. — allwyn hosamani (@allwynnewton) July 20, 2018

You should have let him come to you. I would have been interested in meeting this P. Looks like character from spy movies like Austin powers — Karan Singh (@firstkaransingh) July 20, 2018

He surely is a superman ? Look at the time taken by him to cover such a huge distance with so much of traffic on link road. Must have lifted his cab on his strong arms and flied all around — Adi (@bakvvaas) July 19, 2018

No songs in between ? — Sagar (@sagar3678) July 21, 2018

After this one heck of a story, all we need to do is move forward 😝 #moveforward pic.twitter.com/NC0tDsSr4v — Yogish (@iamyogishh) July 20, 2018

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