The horrible bus experience to Adlabs Imagica - AVOID it if you can!

I was rather happy when I saw that there was a bus service from Mumbai, Pune and Thane to Adlabs Imagica prominently displayed on their website. Slick infographics and the name of Neeta bus as service provider convinced me that it could be a good idea to try it out rather than drive on a potentially rainy day.

Our Neeta bus, what's 'Sreeji' then?

The bus from Pune to Adlabs Imagica was to start opposite Le Meridian hotel near Pune railway station at 7.45 and we reached there diligently at 7.30. However, when even at 7.50am I saw no signs of the bus, I decided to call up Neeta Bus and ask.

'We are waiting for the bus to Adlabs Imagica opposite Le Meridian.'

'So?'

'The bus was supposed to start at 7.45 but it's still not there.'

'Just wait, the bus will come.'

'How long?'

'I don't know. Just sit there and wait.'

Sit where? There are no seats.

'Just sit on the road then.'

Very surprised I hung up and waited for the bus. In a while we met a few more people waiting for buses and a few more getting into old and dilapidated ST styled buses. And that's when I saw our bus too - not a typical Neeta Volvo that I had expected but a rather run down and tired looking local-like bus. It didn't even have Neeta written anywhere on it, but seemed to belong to another bus provider - Shreeji.

But this can't be true! Certainly Adlabs Imagica can't provide a bus service like this! It was already 8am, and I didn't want to pick a fight right then so decided to board the bus, feeling actually quite cheated already. However, this was just the beginning of the ordeal. 8am soon turned into 8.30am as we kept waiting for passengers to turn up and asking any questions only resulted in the staff giving rude answers.

We started moving but kept stopping over and over again. At Aundh we stopped again and this time for half and hour. It was already past 9am and clearly we would not reach Imagica by 10.30am as the website proudly promoted. This was, however, immaterial to the staff in the bus and the bus refused to budge.

We had a TV too :)

More fun was in store as we finally did hit the highway. Every window of the bus rattled and hinges creaked in need for oil and repair. In despair we could see every single vehicle overtaking out bus. The driver, however, was much more keen on constant spitting and keeping the speed of the bus way below the 80 km/ hr limit.

We stopped for snacks, and bus continued to ride at turtle speed even after that. Sitting on the front seat, my body rattled and my heart sank. Having paid for full day at the theme park, clearly the bus was meant to cut it down to a few hours less.

Thankfully the highway was practically empty, but despite that we reached Adlabs Imagica only past 11am. Needless to mention everyone in the bus was pissed and complained. To their credit the staff at Adlabs Imagica responded positively when we complained but wanted us to sort it out with Neeta Travels directly. We were already late in reaching and more discussions on an already botched trip was the last thing on our mind.

The return trip was no better when the bus stopped for a long time on the highway with none of us having a clue as to what went wrong! It was already 10.15pm and we were still stuck on the highway far far away from Pune. After waiting for half an hour more we decided to go and see if something could be sorted out. The bus was stopped by an RTO officer as our bus didn't have all its papers in place. The driver wouldn't pay the fine and we were all waiting for the owner of the bus to arrive and sort it out.

Stuck at the Expressway toll-gate

It was then that a young girl walked up crying and begged the RTO officer to let out bus as her grandmother had expired in town and she really had to go. I was shocked and felt immediately guilty as she was the same girl who had gotten us late in the morning and I almost publicly scolded her. I wanted to apologise to her for my behaviour but never got a chance. We all walked back to the bus with a heavy heart and after an unnecessary 45 minutes break we started once again towards Pune.

The best thing about the trip back home was the ever-so-reliable Uber cab which we took after getting off the bus. In fact it was a relief to get off the 'khatara' (as we had already started calling it) and using something I trust much more. It was only around midnight that we reached home. The kids were hungry but too tired to eat and quickly slept, while the rest of us changed plans for the next morning and to just use it for relaxing.

Many of us who would hear this might say, 'Chill man, it's India. What else do you expect?'

Well, I expect more, especially when there are already excellent bus services between Pune and Mumbai. I also expect more when it's a brand like Adlabs Imagica which certainly has an image to live upto and can't quite behave like an 'imli-churan' brand. Oh wait, maybe even 'imli-churan' brands have better customer service. I guess you do get a drift of what I am trying to convey :)

I can't just bash a service without giving constructive feedback for improvement. So here are these:

Short-term
1. Don't say the buses reach at 10.30. It's a while lie. Say it will reach at 11.30am to noon.
2. Don't say Neeta Travels when the Sreeji travels buses take you there. Just say Sreeji travels. We will keep our expectations nil.
3. Please start on time.
4. Please do not wait for customers forever. A five minute wait is fine, but 30 minutes is unacceptable.

Long-term
1. Either dump Neeta Travels or make sure they run quality buses, and not the ones which deserve to be discontinued. Your reputation is at stake guys!
2. Have your branding on the buses - remember that the Adlabs Imagica experience starts right from the time a customer boards the bus.

Though the return trip was highly disappointing, our time at the Theme park at Adlabs Imagica was wonderful. All of us loved it, despite an age gap of almost 60 years and I would actually love to go back once again - certainly not in a bus though!

Help me spread the word so that things change and improve :)

We booked a bus from Pune for Adlabs Imagica and this is what happened 😡😡😡 https://t.co/WG4fc94U0r #bus #Pune pic.twitter.com/dbB0w4Cyos

— Siddhartha Joshi (@sid_travel) June 12, 2016