I would not book with this company and support this owner because of the way he treats customers and his drivers.
We booked Lakshan from Hikkaduwa taxi service through Whats App based on good reviews. Through our texting Lakshan said he would “most probably” be our driver which was reassuring because his English is good.
However when we arrived he wasn’t our driver and this was not advised in advance.
Our driver had very limited English, which was not ideal but manageable.
Later, when we questioned why Lakshan wasn’t our driver he said that he is the company manager and that he would “never” be the driver.
The major problem came when we sought advice from Lakshan regarding the last leg of our journey, because it was beyond the scope of our drivers English.
This was perceived as a complaint which led to the following:
• He repeatedly and aggressively demanded immediate payment, despite our agreement to pay at the end
• Lakshan threatened to take our passports
• He called our hotel manager, trying to get them to take our passports
• He threatened to call the police
• He was verbally abusive
• He invented a series of increasingly bizarre fantasies; including accusing us of intending to give him fake USD at the airport
• Despite the fact we were due to pay the full amount at the end of the trip, he refused to accept a compromise of 50% payment, with the rest paid at the end.
• We went from having zero contact, to him being agitated, irrational and demanding premature payment. We couldn’t make sense of his behaviour, it seemed nothing short of bullying and harassment.
We checked with the hotel manager who said you don’t pay for the drivers upfront and under no circumstances to give him our passports.
This went on for several hours before we were finally able to find a resolution.
Although we wish our actual driver all the best, it is important for people to be aware of the unacceptable behaviour of Lakshan; as a result I would advise against using Hikkaduwa taxi service.
Make sure you are clear about what you are looking for when you book a driver, even if that means sending a lot of questions.
Make sure the payment arrangements are agreed in advance, so that you have it in writing.