[Resolved]  Redbus — Cheating...Never use redbus

It has been well said , that one must learn from mistakes committed by others ,rather than committing them by own and suffer.
Well,I was unfortunately involved in the latter when I chose to use Redbus.
It was the 23rd March 10 when I decided to travel from Mumbai to Goa for an extended weekend.
I planned to travel on saturday the 27th March.
I have been looking at the Redbus website for some time now and thought why not give it a try.
But before this, I went to a travel agent with whom I regularly book my tickets and got an idea of the fares existing for the 27th February from Mumbai to Goa.He said it would be Rs.450 by Luxury bus.
Then I just checked the prices on Redbus for the same route and day and , it was only 300 bucks!
So I decided to take a good look at the reviews on Red bus.As it is, 90 % of he reviews were of people having bad experiences with Redbus.I thought their circumstances may be different and I should not have a negative approach on their services.
So I decided to give it a try as the amount was also small.
My ordeal started at this point.I checked the website,search was smooth,comparisons ,seat selections even smoother and payment confirmation was the smoothest !!This was on 23rd Feb10
I got a confirmation SMS saying reference number TC3S73279653 , ticket was also generated instantly.
I was happy as it had all the details such as travel agent phone number,seat selection made by me,etc.
On the next day i.e. wednesday 24th afternoon I called up the travel agent Diana Chandni travels to confirm whether my seat was booked with them Via Red bus.
The reply I got from the person was in negative in the most arrogant manner.He said to call on the day of travel and not before.I hung up.
Then I called the helpline 39412345 and got an advise of not to worry and my ticket was confirmed.I trusted them.One thought crossed my mind to cancel the ticket,but I thought I shouldn’t be negative.
On saturday 27th Feb at 10.30 am I called up the travel agent.The departure of the Bus was at 3pm.The travel agent told me he is yet to receive confirmation of my ticket from redbus and advised me to call back at 12 to 12.30 pm. I called them again at 12.30 pm and was shocked by the reply.
I was told that the fare for the day is Rs.600 and I have to pay the difference in the fair if I need to travel.
I told him I have booked well in advance, but the agent from Diana Chandni said it is not his problem.He also informed me that he told this to the red bus guy as well , but he gave the Chandni travels agent a free hand in dealing the way he wanted to, with me!! and it was not problem of Redbus.(Anyways Red Bus had got its money).
So I decided to call the Red Bus helpline at 12.35 pm.The call was received & I explained the problem.
I was told that this should not happen and they would speak to the travel agent and call back in 5 minutes.(That call back was lost in eternity....!!).I never received any call.
Then I tried calling back at 1.15 pm , The call was getting connected but the reply was THIS CALL COULD NOT BE COMPLETED or ALL LINES IN THIS ROUTE ARE BUSY.This happened from 1.15 to 1.45 pm.Then I dialled [protected] a girl picked up the phone.I explained her the issue all over again,she heard and said this is redbus Delhi, you try the Redbus Pune number.
I tried the Pune number and never got through till 2.30pm.
Finally I checked with my original travel agent , he said the rate for the day is Rs.650.
So finally I manged to convince the Diana Chandni travels and agreed to pay the difference in fare as It was last minute and I would have got no refund from Redbus and needed to shell out Rs.650 afresh.
The Bus arrived at 3.30 pm and I was in for more shock as the seat No.11 which was supposed to be a window seat on the left side as it is shown on Redbus site was a non-window on another side and someone had alredy occupied the seat which he refused to vacate.
The guy on the bus gave me a seat right in front and I had no other option but to accept it.
He asked me to get down from the bus If I wouldn’t pay the fare difference.I had to pay up finally as It was my fault to choose redbus as a travel partner and this eas all happening at the last moment.
Reason for giving such as descriptive narration is to make readers aware and avoiding such a harrowing experience.
People,please learn from my mistake and don’t commit it yourself by using redbus as I did !
I am left with nothing but disgust and vow never ever to use Red bus again in my life!!
Naturally, the customer feedback,which I suppose they take after every travel, never ended up in my mailbox as they knew what they would get.
It is best to use your regular travel agent as I spent Rs.550 for the ticket plus around 50 Rs for phone calls to redbus at the last moments before travel and the ticket entirely cost me Rs.600 ,not forgetting the peace of mind which I lost in this ordeal.
Would have been wiser to purchase the ticket from my original travel agent for Rs.450!!!