KPN dupes again

This has almost become a daily happening to passengers on KPN Travels. Although KPN's motto says Keep People's Needs, that is probably which they would never do even in their dreams.

I had booked tickets for yesterday's travel on an A/c volvo bus from Bangalore to Coimbatore ( 11:30 pm ). The troubles started off from Bommanahalli, Bangalore itself. The bus which was scheduled to leave at 11:30 pm, started off sedately at 12:10 am.

At around 2:00 am the driver and the cleaner jolted the passengers off their deep slumber announcing that the vehicle has broken down. As a result everybody was asked to get onto another bus which was a Non-A/c semi-sleeper bus. The Volvo A/c bus is a 34 seater and the semi-sleeper is a 30 seater. Now that left 4 people in the lurch of which I was a victim. On being questioned, the driver gave me the cleaner's seat with a nonchalance. With no other option at 2:00 am in the night, I had to bear the pain. But the driver said that we would be reimbursed for the inconvenience once we reach coimbatore.

Throughout the travel I was juggling between the seat and the bus floor unable to sleep. And by the time the bus slowly reached Coimbatore at 9:00 am in the morning, I was bleary eyed, totally tired and frustrated.

All the passengers got down at the KPN office in coimbatore and demanded a compensation. The staff displayed a callous attitude. And finally after 20 minutes of haggling and fight, the staff promised areimbursement of Rs.100/- which was the difference between the cost of Volvo A/c bus and Non-A/c semi sleeper.

But the staff as well as the GM failed to understand the point of contention. We were not fighting the excess money. Rather our point was the inconvenience and pain caused by the indifferent attitude. Hence we demanded a full refund as a penalty and compensation for the grievance.

Even though we took up the matter with the B3 police station, we failed to reach any conclusion. The KPN manager was adamant that only Rs.100/- (the difference in the ticket amount) can be reimbursed.

So finally we decided not to accept the refund and promised the KPN manager that we will approach the consumer court. Now I am looking into ways of approaching the consumer court regarding this issue. Will keep this post updated about the proceedings in this matter.

It is high time that we consumers woke up and teach these guys a few things about consumer oriented services. The consumer experience will improve only if service providers understand that consumers will no longer suffer silently. This begs the consumer to stand up united against such perpetrators of atrocity.

Based on my experiences with consumer court, I will also post about how to get your problems redressed from this forum.

Arise, Awake and Stop not till the goal is reached !