This was posted 4 years 10 months 29 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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$8 off Your Next Ride @ Ola

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8AUS

Another mysterious offer from Ola. Just checked my account and was trying to use them for a very short trip, then this code appears automatically.
Let me know if you find one on your device as well.
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Ola Australia
Ola Australia

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  • +4

    I've never successfully had a ride with Ola, with 5+ attempts. They either:

    • Time out searching, even though there are cars around (I'm in inner city Melbourne)
    • The driver cancels, then I still get charged
    • Tell me there are no cars, then have the driver calling me 10 minutes later asking where I am

    Initially, I signed up in Sydney a year ago before catching a flight to Melbourne and found out that the credit only exists in Sydney on my arrival. For weeks I had reminders telling me to use the credit. After asking to convert it to Melbourne, they told me they couldn't, so I told them to delete my account and they quite rudely told me I would never be able to use their service again. I still was able to sign up a week after they deleted my account, but I guess in the end they were right…

  • +4

    I've recently had a bad experience with Ola, so I thought I should warn everyone to be cautious when requesting a ride with a discount code (make sure to take a screenshot with the fare estimate and keep it until your invoice comes through). The estimated fare I was given was ~$8, so I requested the ride, took it, then when the invoice came through I was charged $26.

    No worries, I thought, will just send a quick email to the support team and hopefully they can fix things up. The response I get back was that I didn't put in a coupon code so they won't discount the ride, finished with step-by-step instructions on how to apply a coupon code and a message that the ticket has been closed. I open a new ticket explaining that this is a bug in the app, and get a copy/paste of the previous response (including closing the ticket). I patiently try and contact them one more time, only to receive an identical response. I try and reach out to them on facebook, letting them know what has been happening and that I will initiate a chargeback if they don't resolve my issue. Their response? An explanation of how surge pricing works.

    After spending days trying to communicate with their support team I raised a chargeback with AMEX and had it ruled in my favour within a few hours.

    • Yep had same prob

    • +1

      Paying with PayPal should avoid all of this by lodging a dispute on the payment. Keep screenshots, and put the admin in Ola's hands. If they don't follow it up, PayPal will provide refund with evidence. I've found using PayPal to be an excellent way of avoiding paying for bad food with Domino's too. You can also ask for partial refunds if they only messed up part of the order. Life's too short to deal with the bureaucracy of refunds when they're clearly warranted.

  • My experience with Ola has been that the ride always costs significantly more than the displayed estimate (even without any change in route or significant traffic), but the airport codes are good value compared to taxis.

  • -1

    Sounds like Uber.

  • +1

    Just to balance out all the negatives, I have only had good experiences with Ola. Codes work for me and are within a dollar or two (depending on traffic) of the predicted price. Olapick / oladrop are the ones I've been using a lot as I fly twice a week and they result in a trip half the price of a taxi, or about $9 less than a standard trip.

    • Me the same. The only reason I keep on posting Ola is that I never had any issue with them and they keep sending me great deals.

  • +1

    Another issue I found with OLA in Sydney is it shows multiple cars close by with 1 min wait time then when you book the car comes from across town and takes 10-15 mins

    • That happened to me, I booked one but it sent the request to the car that was furthest away… :face_palm:
      Can't complain though, it was a free ride due to the referral credit :^)

    • This happens to me and my wife all the time recently. It's very annoying.

      • Hint: those little car icons right near you aren't really drivers. It's just there to get you to press the book button.

    • This happens to me almost every time I book Ola! Always give myself 10-15mins before booking now.

      • Yes, this is a good tip. I had to end up going with Uber last week when the initial car screen was totally off.

  • Was told by a friend that Ola driver often stall customer until customer has to cancel and they would get $10 cancellation fees anyway. I noticed mine recently too when i booked an Ola, pick up time says 10 mins and it didn't move at all & even went round other direction for a bit before coming to pick me up (i had to ring and ask how long it's gonna be).

    The $8 off the ride works however just bear in mind you still will be paying $1 Levy fees even if the ride is less $8 or less. Just make sure to give yourself a little more time before calling Ola so you don't have to cancel on them and still ended up paying the fees.

  • At Melbourne Airport late evening. Ola uses extremely narrow surge pricing - within a few minutes the price would jump up and down by 100%. The first two drivers cancelled the ride within a minute of accepting it. Then the app couldn't find a driver. Then eventually found a third driver and I decided to call immediately to sort of establish a stronger connection and hopefully avoid a cancellation. Eventually I got to my destination. The (nice) third driver was of the opinion that many drivers regard a trip of less than 20km from the airport as "too short".

  • While I've found Ola flakey, af in terms of their app bailing and faking cars pretending to be nearby, I have had a few good experiences, too.

    This deal has worked for me twice, no coupon needed applying, and the coupon came up on the screen before I hit order. Last time I was given an excellent car, and the lady also drove UberPlus, which are a nicer standard. The first car I got was mildly rank.

  • Any new promo codes? I used to get $8 off, now I get 30% off max.

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