Long wait for taxis tires Abu Dhabi residents

Abu Dhabi: Residents complain that Al Ghazal Transport's taxi service is inefficient and that waiting time is at times more than 30 minutes.

Tania Haddad, a long-time resident, said she has had many issues with the company. "I don't drive, so I rely on public transport," she said. "Every time I call, it either does not have any cars available, or the waiting time is over half an hour."

She said she called the service last week and was told the taxi would come in 20 minutes. "I then got a call to say the car was waiting for me. When I went outside, it was nowhere to be seen. I waited another 15 minutes and no one bothered to follow up my call."

Nael Al Fakih, Sales and Marketing Manager at the Al Ghazal Transport Company, said the company serves Abu Dhabi, including all hotels.

Book in advance

"For our Limousine and Express services, we have over 200 cars per shift per day, and there are two shifts every day," he said. "So at any given time, we have over 400 taxis on duty. Sometimes it gets so busy that we don't have any cars available. We urge our guests to book two hours in advance, or one day before if they can."

Dana Gassan is another resident who faced a problem with the taxi service. "I once asked for a car, but it was 15 minutes late," she said. "When I called to check where it was, they said it was already waiting for me, but it wasn't. I called them back to cancel and the person didn't even try to say sorry for the inconvenience."

Tom Daniels ordered a Al Ghazal taxi last week during the busy evening hours, and was told it would take 20 minutes. "I waited for over half an hour, and I was running late for an appointment, so I just ended up finding a regular city taxi. No one from Al Ghazal even followed up with me."

Al Fakih said the company tries its best to serve its customers. "We always try to send our cars on time, but sometimes the traffic gets bad in Abu Dhabi, so it can take longer. Abu Dhabi is booming, and we can't always know how long it will take for sure. But we are trying really hard.

"We are very sorry for any inconveniences. But Abu Dhabi has become really busy. If people have any complaints, they should feel free to contact us."