Woman vomits in private hire car, argues with driver over $150 cleaning fee
A video of a woman refusing to compensate a private hire driver after reportedly vomiting in his car has gone viral, sparking debate over what's a fair cleaning fee.
TikTok user @thuyuan1, who said the driver was their neighbour, shared the clip on Oct 29 with the subtitle: "Lady vomited in car, refused to compensate yet scolded vulgarity".
It has since garnered more than 23,000 views, 420 reactions and 150 comments at press time.
The four-minute clip begins with the woman in a heated argument with the driver. A man, who appears to be her husband, offers $30 as compensation, but the driver refuses. "You vomited in my car, cannot be $30," he says in Mandarin.
The woman, visibly agitated, shuts the car door and tries to pull her husband away.
"You cannot leave," the driver is overheard saying. "I live here," she counters.
She then demands to know which platform he drives for. When the driver doesn't respond and says she needs to pay at least $150, she threatens to call the police. "Go ahead and call," says the driver.
The expletive-laden encounter ends with the woman on her phone, making an emergency call.
'$150 too much?'
While most commenters agreed the driver deserved compensation, many debated whether his request was excessive.
"$150 a bit too much," said a netizen.
Some also said he should have filed a claim with the platform instead of asking for a fee directly from the passenger.
An online check shows that Grab and Gojek allow their drivers to claim up to a maximum of $120 from a passenger who vomits in their vehicle, while Tada allows up to $70. From the comments made by the original poster, the driver drives for Tada.
Others, however, sided with the driver, saying that car cleaning typically costs between $120 and $180, excluding lost income from downtime.
"The money is not too much. Cos foregone earnings," said a netizen.
"$150 clean and next few hours cannot do business," said another.
Netizens slam woman's attitude
Several commenters criticised the woman's behaviour.
"Got money drink and happy hour, what is $150. People lost all the time go wash, even he can claim, he wasted all his time lah," said one.
One user suggested stronger protection for drivers: "Police should protect all the grab drivers if such incident happen. This woman is wrong."
According to the original poster, the vomit was all over the seat, mat and side door. As it was raining heavily that night, no car washes were open. The driver ended up cleaning the car himself, spending three hours doing so, said thuyuan1.
In response to Stomp's queries, a Tada spokesperson said the company is aware of the incident and is reviewing the case.
It has contacted both the driver and rider to investigate. "As part of our standard procedure, the driver's account has been temporarily put on hold while we review the details," the spokesman said.
She added that in cases where a rider accidentally dirties the vehicle - for instance, by vomiting - drivers are advised to submit photos of the mess before cleaning, along with a professional cleaning receipt.
Once verified, Tada will contact the rider about the cleaning fee and place their account temporarily on hold until the issue is resolved.
If the rider fails to pay after two reminders, "we will provide the driver with a one-time goodwill payout of up to 50% of the cleaning fee (capped at S$70)", she said, adding that the company works "to ensure a fair and transparent resolution for everyone involved".
Stomp has reached out to thuyuan1 for comments.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a response from Tada.
