I heard good reviews about makemytrip.com bus services 2 years back when I heard from a close relative that they do random checks about the listed bus services on their portal, but it came to me as a huge shock when I personally availed their services twice. It seems that whosoever wants to list their buses on makemytrip.com can do so, I am saying this as I learned from my 2 recent worst experiences with them, here I am sharing one of them just to make everyone aware of the reality of such bus services, although I had good experience with hotel bookings at makemytrip.com in the past.
when you aishwaryasingh23 premium Rs 1400 for a Volvo sleeper bus(attached listing from makemytrip.com) you expect a good service and what you get is worst service, first of all, It is always a local bus with AC cages( when I asked them If this is what they call as Volvo service they say It is the normal practice in this business, fleecing customers cannot be a normal practice, there are no standards maintained as to proper timings, fixed route, filled to capacity even walking space between cages will be filled with local passengers, it doesn’t make a sense when you buy a premium seat Rs 1400 and in the bus same seat/sleeper is sold for mere Rs 600-800, you really feel cheated)
It seems they aggregate bus passengers from different bus service portals and fill buses standing mostly at the Red fort/RK Ashram, they won’t leave for destination unless each and every seat is filled.
There is no customer support available for bus service if you want to complain about anything, it will connect to normal MakeMyTrip hotel and flight bookings. If you call the listed bus service they will give 100 excuses as to why things are not the way they should be.
Below is my experience in stages to give you some idea, initially I thought writing a review about the bus service but I believe MakeMyTrip is equally responsible for the sad plight of bus customers in the hands of rogue bus services.
What they offer as good service is really shitty service and state roadways provide 100‰ better services than them, availing their services is opening a box of suffering for yourself.
I would not recommend anyone to use MakeMyTrip bus services ever.
After aishwaryasingh23ing online premium charge of RS 1400 x 3=4200 for Delhi to Jammu Volvo(Heera Himachal holidays) on makemytrip.com for travel with my elderly parents expecting a comfortable journey, instead, I got following:-
They changed boarding point from Rk Ashram to the Lal kila
Changed bus to Ashu travels/Cool cool saying this is the actual bus
Not a Volvo bus, a cheap bus with boxy cabins(cages), claiming Volvo comfort, I could not even lay straight on the sleeper(5feet 10inch frame).
Not left on time(2 hrs extra waiting), filled bus to capacity, even walking area filled with passengers, lot of cartage goods from local vendors loaded by them to save on excise duty etc. and risking passenger lives
Travelled from secluded roads avoiding toll taxes etc.
Dangerous driving, unsafe travel in box cages, where you are waving from one end to another, If a mishap occurs you will be left there to die in less known village roads.
Ill mannered driver and conductors
People smoking in the bus, drunkards were given seats for less
All walking space filled with people sleeping there.
The bus stopped at 11 in the night for dinner at worst quality Dhaba.
I was tired like hell when my journey concluded, my parents felt worst, It took me almost 2-3 days rest to become normal. imagine if you book such a bus to Katra and you need to start your journey further to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi after such a horrible experience.
How can make my trip allow such companies listing on their portal without any strict checks on their services?
It’s like MakeMyTrip is in nexus with such unlawful bus operators fleecing online customers(Volvo service has to be a Volvo bus).
Biggest cheaters most of the bus operator on this route(don’t know about other routes), Volvo service is fake they provide cheap bus with cages for so-called Volvo sleeper comfort, I would call it box of hell and they fleece you when you book through goibibo, MakeMyTrip, redbus or any online travel portal, charge you 1400-1500 for Volvo, when you see actual bus you will find them selling the same ticket@600-800, there you feel cheated, they travel through smaller less known roads during the night avoiding tool tax and driving dangerously putting all passenger lives at risk, I hope this review will help many passengers not to fall in trap of such fake bus services.
I would recommend AC-2 or AC-3 train sleeper bought in tatkal for much better comfort(that’s what I did for my return journey) or If you have an emergency situation don’t book online reach at the bus stand(LAL kila or RK Ashram) and aishwaryasingh23 only if bus promises to start on time and bargain the price too.