77-year-old passenger charged $3 waiting fee after struggling to find Grab car: 'Isn't it ridiculous?'

A 77-year-old man was surprised when he was charged $3 for being more than three minutes late after struggling to find the Grab car he had booked.

Stomper Tan told Stomp that he had booked a ride home to Woodlands after visiting a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinic in Yishun on Tuesday (Oct 24) at about 8.30pm.

After he had booked the ride, he said the app indicated the driver would be arriving in about three minutes.

Tan said due to his age and limited mobility, he took about five minutes to locate the Grab driver.

He added that he was also not familiar with the area and where the pick-up point was.

"Making payment at the end of the journey, I was surprised that I had to pay a $3 waiting charge," he said.

His total fare ended up being $21.40, instead of $18.40.

"Who is to monitor and confirm that the driver did actually wait for three minutes?" He asked.

"How likely was it that the driver was at the spot the moment I confirmed the booking, otherwise how could he have waited three minutes while I was going around looking for him?

"Isn't it ridiculous to allow only three minutes for passengers to try to locate the Grab car in the dark of night?"

"I remember those days when drivers would call my mobile to say they had arrived.

"This one didn't call.

"I felt like I was caught in a 'Gotcha!' situation."

Tired and feeling unwell, Tan said he had 'no energy' to argue with the driver.

He then contacted Grab on Facebook Messenger the next day and said the exchange was 'equally ridiculous'.

In a screenshot shared by the Stomper, the Grab representative told him the waiting time fee is valid.

When he tried to reason with them, he was advised: "Please place a booking only when you're already at the pick-up point in the future to avoid a similar fee."

Grab cut the waiting time from five to three minutes last July.

The ride-hailing company said the change was introduced to help drivers reduce fuel wastage caused by idling engines while waiting.

Tan told Stomp he wanted to share his experience after reading a report on how another Grab passenger was charged an extra $2 for a child booster seat, even though he was travelling alone.