Jan 02, 2013 09:08 AM
23329 Views
I'm very glad I booked my trip from Chennai to Bangalore with Olivea travels through an online bargain site, so I didn't pay full price. As it was, the amount I paid was very overpriced for the product Olivea travels is delivering. Their website and office are a glittering show of cheerful, comfortable passengers who are enjoying gourmet food, watching blockbuster hits on crystal clear TVs, surfing the net, and sitting in pristine luxury-sized seats with a beautiful airline-esque stewardess waiting on their every need.
I was under the impression that as the office has just opened in Bangalore that it was a brand new service and everything would be in top-notch condition and resemble what was offered on the website.
NOT AT ALL.
The bus we traveled in was OLD. It was dirty, unkempt, tattered, stained, frayed, smelly, dingy and generally disgusting. The arm rests to both our seats were broken, either up, or down, and would not budge. The WiFi as advertised did not exist, and according to the steward had been discontinued since one month ago (but I'm guessing his employers have just told him to say that as I doubt they have ever had it) Either way they need to take that off their list of amenities if they don't plan to provide it!
Toilet was broken in pieces and unusable. No water! The remote controls are kept in a make-shift cup holder that is jammed between the seats, and their cords are too short to be useful, so from long years of use and abuse they are falling apart and most likely an electrical hazard. My companion's remote cord just came off completely from the seat. The headphone jacks on both our seats were broken. We finally got the remotes working and switched on the TV but couldn't hear anything.
The program selection was pathetic too. It was a bunch of ripped copies of old movies no one wants to watch.
The ''gourmet'' food served included greasy upma, 2 unappetizing idli and some strange looking chutney. I choked down a few spoonfuls of the upma (usually my favorite food) and didn't even taste the rest. They also gave a small fruit cup and a frozen yogurt which was the best thing served. They provide water, newspaper, blanket and pillow.
The seat is very spacious and comfortable, and we slept soundly the whole trip. There was nothing else to do!
I felt so sorry for the very sweet boy who was the "steward" on our bus. Despite the bus literally falling apart at the seams and all the customers constantly complaining to him he kept a positive demeanor and did his best to make us all happy the entire trip. This company should be reported for human rights violation for putting their employees in such a horrible position!!! If you do travel Olivea please be extra kind to the service people and remember they are being used by Olivea as shields from customer anger at their dishonesty and cheating!!! (Especially as many people have noted that the office hardly responds to calls or emails so clearly they are not interested in customer service!!!)
Better yet, save your money and take a volvo or train for the best value/comfort ratio.
