Trip duration: 15 feb through 21 feb 2020 (7d/6n)
Following are the concerns we already raised with the travel agent during the trip although they did not take any prompt action to resolve the same.
1. The driver had no clear knowledge about the plan. Example: on day 4 we were supposed to go for periyar wildlife sanctuary tour in the morning while the driver was thinking that we are going to kovalam that too when we had a long conversations last night to finalize the messed plan.
2. The driver had no knowledge about the roads and the places to be visited. Example: throughout the trip the driver was religiously following the google map until the last destination place. The driver still got lost at least 2-3 times almost on each day which ultimately increased the travel time and he failed to reach on time to covet he planned itinerary on 4 days out of 7 days.
3. The driver was driving dangerously at times. Example: on day 4 the driver was almost hitting another vehicle on the road 3 times.
4. The driver was driving slow particularly on highways when the road was almost clear. Example: on most of the days starting day 4 the driver was driving at 60 km/hr or below speed on clear highways with speed limit of 80 km/hr. Even when we were getting delayed on our plan he was showing no intention to minimize the delay, rather his actions resulted in further delays. These attempts from the driver looked deliberate as most of the times while returning back to hotel (After all sightseeing) the driver was driving absolutely fine and reached much before than whatever was expected.
5. The driver showed complete unprofessional attitude. Example: when we requested to drive at appropriate speed and also not to take any calls while driving, the driver responded quite rudely and did not stop taking calls while driving.
6. The driver never gave appropriate recommendations and guidance to ensure we get the best of the experience for the places which are totally new to us. During driving he did not guide us at all due to which we were just moving from once place to another without gaining any knowledge about the state of kerala.
7. The driver deliberately attempted to ruin our sightseeing. Example: on day 6 the driver took us to a wrong location for the sightseeing – he never mentioned that he does not know the place due to which we ended up loosing 15-20 minutes extra on already delayed plan. On the same day, when we wanted to visit sunset point in kanyakumari, the driver took us to uncommon sunset point where the parking was free.
8. The driver was not available immediately for pickup in most of the places. Example: on day 1 when we reached kochi airport we had to wait for the driver for about 15-20 minutes even when we had shared the flight details and expected arrival time with the driver well in advance. On day 4 after our sanctuary tour, we had to wait for 10 minutes for driver to come (Please note that we had to cover 6.5 hours of driving distance after that to reach kovalam and we were already starting late due to mess by the driver on previous day). The reason for the delay was that the driver was parking the car away from the places to save on parking charges.
9. The driver was least bothered about our priorities to enjoy the trip. Example: on day day 5 when we started for kanyakumari and wanted to reach there before 4 pm as one of the main attraction was closing at 4 pm (The driver told us that it will be closed at 3 pm when we started the day however when we inquired we got to know that it will open till 4 pm). Since we were on a tight schedule we decided to skip our lunch to save on time the driver was concerned about his lunch. We were ready to accommodate everything while the driver was only thinking about his priorities.
10. Agency representatives and the suppliers mislead us throughout the trip starting from day 3. Example: when we requested that our driver be changed, the supplier and agency representatives kept buying time and pushing us to manage for today we will do something next day and only changed the driver on very last day.
11. Travel agency representatives did not manage the concerns professionally. Instead of taking the right corrective action against the supplier they kept on calling us and explaining what their suppliers are not able to do. Almost on every day starting from day 3 they kept bothering us during the day as well as late night ensuring that we neither enjoy our day nor get peaceful sleep at night. Even after all this hassle the issue was never resolved until very last day. The travel agency had enough time to respond and ensure that our rest of the trip is not spoiled however they took no effort in pushing their terms on supplier and rather kept on pushing the supplier’s unreasonable terms on us.
12. The supplier (Vehicle owner) lied to us on day 5 that he cannot change vehicle or driver on the day we were supposed to go to kanyakumari since they have already got the tamil nadu permit on the car we were using, however when we actually went to kanyakumari, the driver took the permit on the way only. When we told the driver about what his owner told us last night, he mentioned that the permit cannot be acquired in advance and has to be taken from rto check-post while crossing the same.
In summary, the driver had no clarity about plan, the places to be visited as well as he was not familiar with the roads. The driver used rude language upon giving him instructions. The driver drove quite dangerously risking our life and took calls while driving even after we requested not to take calls multiple times. The travel agent took no effort to replace the driver on time albeit many valid concerns.
Expect compensation from the travel agency to cover for the full trip expense.