Forgetting our belongings is something that happens to the best of us. When that happens on a private hire ride, however, it takes a little more effort and travelling to retrieve it.
Most drivers are understanding when this happens, and they are usually happy to return it. However, one passenger in Singapore met a driver who is not as helpful as most — she had accidentally left her laptop on her TADA’s driver’s vehicle.
When she contacted the driver, he allegedly asked her for money to “safeguard” her laptop. The passenger subsequently lodged a police report about the incident.
According to the photos shared on the Complaint Singapore Facebook page, the incident happened on Monday (22 May), at about 2pm.
She had booked a ride via TADA from Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ Secondary School to Ai Tong School.
Source: Facebook
In the post, the passenger said she left her laptop in his car when she disembarked.
She then contacted the driver to arrange for her to retrieve it from him. She was shocked when he allegedly asked how much she was willing to pay for him to “safeguard” her laptop.
The passenger instead offered to travel to his location to collect it from him with a token fee of S$10. The OP shared that she needed her laptop for work the next morning.
Apparently, the driver complained that the token fee was “so little”, and gave the passenger his mobile number. He then told her that he will be in touch when he thinks of how much she should pay him.
“That’s blackmailing & holding my laptop ransom!” the passenger wrote.
Source: Facebook
The passenger also claimed that the driver went through her laptop bag and listed the items inside.
When the passenger contacted TADA about the incident, she was simply told to make a police report.
Later, she tried calling the driver on his mobile phone twice, only to have him reportedly ask her for S$100.
“Your laptop is expensive, you should pay me money for safekeeping your laptop,” he allegedly said.
Per the passenger’s post, the driver did not even provide his location for her to pick up her laptop when she did not agree to pay him.
Finally, the driver lowered his demands to S$50 to safeguard her laptop.
If she did not pay, he allegedly said that he will take “his own sweet time” to surrender it to the police with no guarantee that her data will be safe.
Additionally, the passenger expressed disappointment towards TADA for their curt response towards the situation.
In an update to the post, the passenger shared that she had filed a police report after several attempts to get her laptop back from the driver.
Source: Facebook
The police report attached to the post showed that she filed it at 10.30pm the same day.
Responding to queries from MS News, TADA said the passenger had contacted them at 4.30pm on the day of the incident.
The ride-hailing company shared that they had followed up with the driver. The lost item was later safely returned to a police post at 9pm.
TADA added that they had informed the passenger accordingly.
They also highlighted that their drivers are to return lost items to the nearest police post. Alternatively, they can also return them to TADA Station at Midview City or to the passenger directly if convenient or when agreed.
The passenger, who preferred to remain unnamed, told MS News that she managed to retrieve her laptop the following day. However, she felt that TADA could have done more to assist her in this situation.
While they did tell her to go ahead to lodge a police report, the passenger said, “They did nothing to stop their driver from extorting money from me by blackmailing me.”
She added that she is very disappointed in TADA’s service, and said that they were “extremely unprofessional”.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook.
The authorities have investigated and closed the incident with no follow-ups required, MFA said.
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