Driver suspended for cancelling RydePET trip after learning passenger has sick dog
It was a RydePET trip, but the driver cancelled it after learning that the passenger had a dog with her.
Ryde has since suspended the driver, a spokesman from the ride-hailing company told Stomp.
Stomper Khim said she booked a RydePET ride to a vet near her home on June 8 as her dog, Princess, had vomited throughout the night before. Khim was especially worried because Princess is 11 years old.
"Almost immediately, this driver accepted my booking," she recounted.
"Seeing he's Malay, I took the initiative to inform him in advance that I had a dog in a bag and was going to the vet.
"Look at his reply and the reason for his cancellation!!! It is a RYPEPET I booked and if he doesn't even take pets, why the hell does he even have RydePET service in the first place?"
Khim, who felt that the driver was "heartless", said: "I complained to Ryde and stated that he should be removed from the service, but all I got was some template reply!"
With no satisfactory resolution, Khim contacted Stomp in July and shared screenshots of her correspondence with two Ryde customer service agents.
Both gave similar replies and offered Khim a $5 voucher, but neither addressed her request to have the driver removed from the RydePET service.
"This is really annoying," the Stomper added. "I'm sure pet owners will empathise with me!"
In response to a Stomp query, a Ryde spokesman said: "We take all feedback seriously and are aware of the incident that occurred on June 8.
"Following a thorough and impartial investigation, we confirmed that the driver involved breached our Driver Community Guidelines, specifically the Trip Acceptance and Cancellation Policy that covers professionalism and respect on our platform.
"To uphold our standards and protect our community, the driver has been suspended from Ryde."
The spokesman said Ryde has also reached out to Khim to better understand her experience and provide appropriate support.
He added: "In recognition of her valuable feedback, which helps us enhance our service, we offered a goodwill gesture that she graciously accepted. With this, the matter has been resolved amicably.
"At Ryde, we expect all driver-partners to honour their bookings fully, regardless of trip or pet type. Cancellations based on personal preferences unrelated to safety or regulatory requirements are not permitted.
"We want to assure our customers and community that we remain committed to fostering a trusted, customer-centric, and respectful platform for everyone."
Khim said she was surprised to hear from Ryde via email.
She told Stomp on Aug 12: "To be honest, I didn't even see any email from them until now, so them saying 'we offered a goodwill gesture that she graciously accepted' and 'with this, the matter has been resolved amicably' is not true.
"That being said, they sent me another $10 credit voucher (on top of the previous $5 credit voucher) and informed me that the driver has been temporarily suspended and will undergo mandatory re-training.
"I'm not trying to fish any freebies from Ryde but as a pet parent, I really hope that Singapore will be more pet-friendly in the near future, with public transport allowing pets in carriers, and private-hire drivers having more compassion towards pets that need to be rushed to hospitals or clinics or any emergency cases."
Khim said she hopes her experience can raise awareness, adding: "Thank you so much to Stomp for helping me to follow up with Ryde. If Stomp hadn't checked with them, my case would have been swiped under the carpet."
