A 52-year-old man suffering a heart attack booked a Gojek ride to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, but the driver refused to send him to the A&E directly, insisting on going to the drop-off point that the man had booked by mistake.

The hospital's A&E is located at Tower B, while the customer had booked his destination on the Gojek app as Tower A, 450 metres, or a two-minute drive away.

Despite his protests, the man was eventually dropped off at Tower A in the early hours of the morning on Sep. 2 (Saturday).

Thankfully, he managed to find his way to the A&E on foot and was able to undergo heart surgery in time.

After the incident, Gojek said they have contacted the customer and driver to resolve the issue, and advised users to call "the relevant authorities" for cases of life-threatening illnesses or emergency.

Booked Gojek after second heart attack

The customer, surnamed Chew, told Mothership that he previously had a heart attack, a year ago.

On Sep. 2, at about 3am, he had a recurrence, experiencing symptoms such as chest pain and breathing difficulties.

After recognising what was happening, Chew booked a Gojek ride from his home in Bukit Panjang to Ng Teng Fong Hospital, at about 4am.

He did not realise that he had booked the wrong location — the hospital's Tower A — until the driver insisted on dropping him off there.

Driver insisted booking was for Tower A

Before reaching the hospital, Chew instructed the driver to send him to the A&E at Tower B.

However, the driver continued towards Tower A, following the GPS navigation instructions.

Chew repeated his request, and indicated that the driver could make a U-turn to get there.

The two then had a heated exchange, where the driver insisted that Chew had set the drop-off point as Tower A, while Chew emphasised that he had a heart attack and needed to get to the A&E.

Chew said he offered to pay the driver in cash to bring him there, but the man did not accept.

Limped over to A&E, transferred to NUH for surgery

Chew claimed that the driver raised his voice and insisted that he get off the car at Tower A.

So Chew got out and limped the rest of the way to Tower B, where he was transferred to NUH by ambulance.

There, he underwent angioplasty and was subsequently given one month of medical leave.

Driver should have known better: Chew

Chew noted that Tower A was "totally dark" when he was dropped off, and asserted that the driver should have known better than to stop there.

Chew also questioned why he did not have the empathy to change his route for Chew to get medical assistance.

"With someone in pain like that...how much does it cost you to make that U-turn?" Chew said.

Chew added that he himself used to work as a private-hire driver during the pandemic, for about one and a half to two years.

"I wouldn't treat my customers this way," he emphasised.

Additionally, he said he was "very stressed" while making his way to the A&E on foot, as he did not know if he would survive the journey.

Tipped driver the S$18 fare

Nonetheless, after the operation, Chew tipped him the S$18 fare on the app, thinking he had not paid for the trip yet.

Despite feeling "great disappointment" towards the driver, Chew stated, "I don't want to owe him anything."

Mothership later understood from Chew that payment had already been made via his linked PayLah account at the end of the trip, so he had essentially double-paid.

However, Chew confirmed on Sep. 6 that Gojek has refunded him for the full trip fare, including the additional S$18 payment that he made on the app.

Gojek statement

In response to Mothership's queries, Gojek said it has been in touch with both the customer and driver to resolve the issue.

"We were very sorry to learn of the customer’s condition and wish them a smooth recovery," the spokesperson added.

Additionally, Gojek's spokesperson provided some comments on the usage of ride-hailing services for emergencies.

"We want all our users to have a safe and positive experience, however in cases of life-threatening illness or emergency, users are strongly advised to call the relevant authorities," the spokesperson concluded.

Top image from Google Street View / courtesy of Chew.