A Singapore man who booked a late-night taxi for a stranger ended up paying the S$55.18 fare himself after she alighted without settling.
Stomper SL told Stomp he was outside East Coast Lagoon Food Village at about 2am on 15 September when a woman in her 20s or 30s, alone and with wet hair, said she had lost her phone and needed a ride home. He was waiting for his own Grab and booked her a ComfortDelGro taxi on his app.
She first asked for Block 133 Yishun Street 11, then changed it to Block 124. She told him to select cash and said she would go upstairs for money to pay the driver. On his way home he watched the app, then the taxi driver called to say she had got out and not come back.
The driver advised reporting it. SL paid via the app with his debit card instead. He said he had not filed a formal report but noted in-vehicle cameras might identify her if he did. Mothership and Stomp both carry the same account.
For drivers, the case is a reminder that the booker on the app is treated as the paying customer when cash is promised and never paid.