May 29, 2015 08:09 PM
31994 Views
I had to travel suddenly from Navi Mumbai to Goa in Feb 2015 for a friend's marriage. Since I did not get train tickets, I booked online on the paulo travel's website.
The bus was supposed to leave Dadar at 2.30PM and reach Kharghar at 4.30PM. I reached at 4PM near Kharghar bridge. I called the contact number and they informed that the bus will reach Kharghar by 5PM. Till 6PM no sign of the bus. After the third call, the person says the bus broke down and has not yet left Dadar. I was like WTF! At 8PM, I was told the bus has broken down and they are arranging another bus. After more than 40 calls to the Paulo's office about the bus, they turn off their phone at 10.30PM. I now start getting restless. 12.30AM and still no sign of the bus and I get the feeling that the bus will not come. I try to hitch a ride in other buses to Goa, but 2 buses told me they were full.
Then finally at 1.30AM the bus comes. Arguing with the driver and conductor was useless. Came to know from other passengers that they too went through the same ordeal of waiting at Dadar and worse part is, this bus would now be going via Kolhapur/Pune to Goa. Again shocked! At 2AM, the bus stops for refueling at Panvel and the driver picks up a fight with a truck driver. More time lost. Then it moves after 30 mins. At 4AM bus breaks down at a ghat near Kolhapur. All people are pissed off. They call in their mechanic at this hour and he arrives somehow. At 5.30AM bus moves but cannot change gears beyond the 1st. We slowly make our way to the Pune office of Paulo travels at 7.30AM hoping that another bus would be there to take us to Goa. But no! We had to wait till 9AM till our broken scrap bus was repaired. After breaking down again twice, I finally reached Panaji at 6PM. So thats like over 27 hours of torture by Paulo. The most tortured were the elderly and infants during this insane long journey. But we were thankful to the driver and conductor who did more than they needed to, to get us safely to Goa in Paulo's tin can.
Never again in my life will I travel by Paulo travels and I advice fellow passengers also not to opt for Paulo's. I prefer to get crushed in the general compartment of Konkan Kanya/Mandovi Exp.
