Stomper frustrated after driving Shariot van with cracked windscreen, even gets hit with $80 fuel penalty
A man was left frustrated after renting a van through car-sharing platform Shariot, only to discover a cracked windscreen that worsened during his drive.
He was also penalised $80 for mistakenly refuelling with the wrong grade of petrol.
Stomper Chin Yuan told Stomp that he had booked a Honda-N microvan from Shariot at Punggol Field on July 26, from 1pm to 6pm.
"When I started the rental, I noticed the windscreen already had a crack," he said. "It got worse as I drove, so I contacted customer service.
"But all I got was: 'Can you return the vehicle to the original lot?'
"There was no refund, no replacement vehicle. The experience went downhill from there."
He added that he was "already frustrated" because he had accidentally pumped RON92 petrol instead of the required RON95, and was slapped with an $80 penalty.
The Stomper said that due to issues downloading the app on his own phone, the booking had to be done through his wife's device.
As a result, the terms and conditions were missed, and RON92 was mistakenly pumped instead of the required RON95.
"I wasn't given any form of compensation for the cracked windscreen situation," the Stomper said, adding that Shariot only called him about 24 hours later.
"In fact, they even asked me to help with the insurance claim just because I was the one who discovered it.
"I don't understand why a customer should help a company make an insurance claim.
"Why was the van only sent for repairs a day later? It's a safety issue.
"And shouldn't they be inspecting the vehicle in between rentals?"
In screenshots shared with Stomp, a Shariot customer service representative confirmed that the crack had been reported to the relevant team for further action, but maintained that the $80 penalty for using the wrong fuel was valid.
"While we acknowledge the inconvenience caused by the windscreen condition, it is separate from the fuel violation," the message read.
"Unfortunately, we are unable to waive the penalty for using the wrong grade of fuel as hirers are expected to follow the correct refueling guidelines stated clearly in the app and on our platforms."
In response to a Stomp query, a Shariot spokesperson said: "We appreciate your concern, however, please understand that we are only able to liaise directly with the affected customer regarding their booking due to privacy and data protection policies.
"Should the customer wish to clarify or raise any concerns, they are welcome to contact us directly via our official support channels, and we'll be more than happy to assist them."
