Here is my latest review on Sep 2011:
https://mouthshut.com/review/KPN-Travels-India-Ltd-Bangalore-review-qsoosluqnn
This is my review in 2007:
It’s always my pleasure traveling in KPN buses & I always like the way they organise things. It’s more than a year that I am using KPN services very often(whenever I don’t get my train ticket).
But my last trip to Karaikkal(from Bangalore on August 24, 2007) was really hectic. I was informed that I would get my bus at 8.15pm at Bommanahalli, but it took 8.45 pm for the bus to come & the bus started at 9.00pm. I expected this, as it always happen with KPN travels(Bus start timings are always 1-2 hours late than mentioned).
They stopped the bus(after 1-1.5hrs of journey) for dinner. They mentioned that we would reach Karaikal by 6.30am in the morning. But morning when we got up at 6.30am, we were at Trichy. We reached karaikal at 11.00am. Actually, the reason the driver mentioned was due to poor weather. Fine, we can understand that. But the truth is not only that. Poor weather was one reason, but integrating KPN parcel services with passenger bus services was the main reason. I remember that the bus sopped in many KPN offices in different places like Kumbakonam, Tanjore, Hosur & in many other places whose name I don’t know. In most of those stops, the bus stopped for more than twenty minutes & about 30 minutes in few other stops.These stoppings are for KPN parcel services. This is real hectic!
We travelled in the bus from 11pm first day to 11 am next day without any stop for coffee-tea/ urinary. They mentioned that they would stop only if asked. The KPN offices where the bus stopped, generally don’t have proper rest-room(bathroom/toilet) facilities. This is another problem, the passengers faced.
Also the same video DVD was played twice i.e., the video was played till midnight unnecessarily because they repeated the film "Padaiyappa" twice & that too with high volume. Even though no passenger raised this issue, I could see atleast 5-6 passengers mentioning that it was disturbing their sleep very much.
During my return journey also, there were some stoppings in KPN offices for a long time. But it was not very hectic as my journey to Karaikal.
KPN, in their website, mention that they value customer’s time & comfort. But my Kariakal trip proved that it’s not so! I never expected such a travel in KPN.
These issues can be solved by doing the following:
1) Don’t club KPN parcel services with KPN passenger(bus) services. It gives a feel that the management wastes customer’s time for their financial benefits.
2) Create proper rest-room facilities at KPN offices.
3) Avoid playing audio/video DVD/CD after 11.00pm.
4) Try to maintain proper bus timings with a tolerance of+/- 15 minutes.
5) Try to give a break of 10 minutes in some good recreational hotels/motels after a journey of say 6-7 hours.
I hope this mail would help the management take proper steps to avoid giving such bad experiences to custome