On the 9th August, 2012, I had the misfortune of traveling by KPN Travels, (PNR H269605172.) from Chennai to Hyderabad. Scheduled departure time was 06.30 pm from Koyambedu in Chennai & expected to reach Hyderabad around 7.30 the next morning. Neither of these happened.
The following were the string of discomforts & misbehavior of the staff, which we passengers had to face.
The bus was delayed by one hour at the ’Departure Point’.
One of the staff at the KPN office in Koyembedu, Chennai, literally man-handled me and pushed me out of their office, when I went in to ask them why there was an undue delay, without prior information. His name is Suresh, dark, slim guy in his late twenties or early thirties. I thought that we passengers were indirectly responsible for their staff salary and he dares to man-handle us ?
Drinking water was not provided, no plug point for mobile / laptop charging / no pillows.
Since the bus was empty, I took the liberty of picking up an extra blanket, from the nearby vacant berth - This resulted in the bus conductor, abusing me, as though it was as crime - and I had to compromise with him.
Around 3.30 am, the bus came to a halt and we were stranded in the middle of some remote place, for one hour - again we were not informed, of what was happening.
Now, the second bus seemed to be all fine - but not for long. Around 6.30 in the morning, the AC pump failed and for the next 4 hours, we were struggling, since there was no ventilation or airflow.
Finally, we reached Hyderabad, with a delay of over three hours.
Now comes the icing on the cake - The bus can not enter the city, therefore, we will not be dropped as scheduled earlier and we had re-plan our travel back home.
Many years ago, I had once travelled from Ongole to Chennai in a lorry, but believe me, that journey was far better and more peaceful than travelling in KPN. Well done KPN - "Keep this up and we will keep you out of business".
So guys, KPN is bullshit, but we luckily have many other options, especially Indian Railways, with their new system in place, tatkal booking is now a good option.