[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

This bus was being canvassed as a "Volvo".
My Question is Why sell Hino / Cerita tickets as a volvo? When one pays through the nose for a Volvo, why should the customer be cheated? At the very least they can say AC Bus / Air Bus etc. Why use the name Volvo. I

The fact of the matter is that Volvo has the first starter advantage in India and aam aadmi can't differentiate between Volvo, Hino, Isuzu or Mercedes and to him every thing is Volvo. Here Volve simply means an AC luxury bus. Look, I am not at all justifying the deed.
Because here in India an Autorikshaw was a Lambretta till recently and still an LCV is a Tempo, Right?

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

Because here in India an Autorikshaw was a Lambretta till recently and still an LCV is a Yempo, Right?

Never ever heard of an auto being a lambretta till now, knew they were called tuk tuks. Yeah, then general concept of a light load carrier was a tempo (i remember the actual tempos with 3 wheels). Now the Tempo name has been changed to Force. What used to be Tempo Trax/Traveller is now Force. Again we are diverging to the point of names, the real point here is paying for one kind of luxury and getting another one is simply not acceptable.

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by nozzlering

Get to your comfortable seat. Lay back and enjoy the journey. Let a car overtake it. Let other bus overtake it. Let it overtake other vehicles.
I appreciate your stand for getting what you pay for. But your reasoning seems to be totally unreasonable.

I regret to say that Time has no value in india. If the travel operator promises (And keeps up) that the bus would reach Pune @ say 10:00 am, I have no issue, whether he takes me in a bullock-cart or a Rocket. There are unduly delays in travel with private operators. All they care is only about filling the bus and not reaching destination on time. Ride Quality comes second but is important to me.

Volvo is torquey and it is only hope that some time can be made up in transit by driving little fast. The Volvo picks speed faster than Ceritas.

Originally Posted by rajeev k

The fact of the matter is that Volvo has the first starter advantage in India and aam aadmi can't differentiate between Volvo, Hino, Isuzu or Mercedes and to him every thing is Volvo. Here Volve simply means an AC luxury bus. Look, I am not at all justifying the deed.
Because here in India an Autorikshaw was a Lambretta till recently and still an LCV is a Yempo, Right?

the Same Operator gives specifics like Multi axle etc. Is AAm Aadmi so much informed that he knows what a multi axle is. If aam aadmi is naive, why give specifics like Multi axle. Aam aadmi would not care even if B7R came with a 4X4. So when the operator can gives such specifics for the Junta, The operator very well knows what is a certia and what a volvo is.

[carwatcher]

I fully agree with what has been mentioned in the OP.

If the operators and passengers are okay with any bus and if all buses are equal then why use the name of "Volvo" only, why can't they honestly use the actual manufacturer's name and see the number of bookings themselves, but we all know that they won't do that. So this proves beyond any doubt that the Volvo brand names sells more than any other brand.

This thread is classic example of our typical "Chalta Hai" attitude. Even Team-BHP is also not aloof from it.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Never ever heard of an auto being a lambretta till now,

In Delhi and many North Indian cities this usage was very common.
In the website Neeta shows Volvo buses too in their fleet. And in none of their other make buses the word Volvo is written. Some crew calls out Volvo Volvo and that is it.
http://neetabus.in/Gallery

Volvo has become more of a household name for the best in bus services than a specific brand. I see no issue in the same.

Volvo brought a sea change from the common and mediocre AL and TATA buses and here the crew calls the new gen buses Volvo.

[moralfibre]

Neeta travels is one of the most unethical operators on various routes. Their early starter advantage has worked and they are happily milking their cash cow. When it comes to service it is one of the most unreliable operator. It is not uncommon to see a Neeta Volvo stranded on the Mumbai-Pune expressway for various reasons like a broken accelerator cable, non-working AC, engine breakdown, tyre punctures, etc.

I have noticed that their ageing fleet is often put on short routes like Bombay-Pune whereas their top of the line brand new buses are used for long distance hauls. Not an uncommon practice but the last time I travelled in a Neeta Volvo from Bombay to Pune I swore to never return back. The glass was stuck loosely using silicon. Their bus was rattling worse than a Maruti, the tyres were completely bald, the bus was stinking from inside, the AC wasn't working effectively, the wipers were missing. All in all an experience that made me run in the other direction of Neeta Volvo.

I haven't travelled in a Hino but a Mercedes and Volvo cost nearly the same and therefore can substitute each other on a trip. I personally feel that Volvo has a slight edge over Mercedes in terms of quality and comfort. Volvo as a brand in India has been a word of strandard just like all JCBs are earthmovers and all Cadburys are chocolates. All vendors use it to their advantage and continue to leverage the advantages of the brand. Just make sure that you don't see an engine next to the driver. Obviously the Cerita's are a no match to the Volvo and Mercedes segment and it is unethical to pass on a Cerita for the price of a Volvo / Mercedes ticket.

[amtak]

From what I know, Neeta has the largest fleet or Volvo's and Mercedes buses. When you go to the booking counter, they would say that the bus could be a Volvo or Mercedes but that cannot be guaranteed.

Its more to do with Drivers/Cleaners who would try and make a quick buck by calling out all buses as Volvo/Merc. A person in hurry may not look at the badge but number of vacant seats!

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

It IS being done like that, if you want a Volvo/Merc, you are charged a premium, if it is ANY other bus, the rates are different. I know this from personal experience as I have paid over my budget because I wanted the VOLVO/MERC experience.

Yes, I know. And that's where the catch is. The complain here is that many a times when they sell Volvo tickets they try to pack you off in a Merc or a Cerita. The problem is that the operators look at Volvo as a class of vehicles. Much like a Dalda is to vanaspati and a Xerox is to photocopy. To them all the buses beyond a certain make fall under a luxury category and they try to pit them all together. If you see scorpiobharath says even a Volvo and Merc are two separate things and he would not like one to replace another. So what he is proposing is that every vehicle has to have it's own ticket based on the make.

That's impractical. You can not start selling tickets by the make of the vehicle. Already we have so many of them here... more will come in. And you may have a distinct taste for Volvo and think thats all that one can ask for. However tomorrow a swadeshi brigade guy may very well turn your argument on its head and say that when I buy a ticket for Tata I want a Tata and not a Cerita or any other.

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Why would they allow you to board a HINO or a whatever then ? Are they not taking you for a literal ride ? Promising you what you paid for and not allowing you to take an equivalent ?

I did not get this? Are you saying that if you bought a Volvo ticket and the bus suffers a break down you will not board a Hino when you have an option but take a refund at the cost that there are no seats available for weeks (my festive season analogy) and will mean you will not reach home for the festivals?

I don't know... may be some like to think that way. But I will rather reach home first for the festivals than sit by the roadside in the night with my family and luggage and get nutty about hair splitting on Volvos and Hinos!

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Nothing is wrong with HINO Buses. If Volvos are sold as volvos and HINOs as HINOs, Its a win win situation for the person who wants to travel by Volvo & HINO. When i pay the money in full for a Volvo, I personally expect B7R, B9R or the upcoming B12R. I dont prefer Ceritas, Hinos etc.

....Agreed - Fatigue is less in Volvo. Ceritas and Hinos cost 20 lacs lesser and should have a ticket price of at least 50/- lesser than B7s & B9s.


Trust me, I got into the next B7R that followed and it overtook that "Cerita Volvo" at the Khandala Ghats.

conclusion:

All I am saying is to promote the Bus as an AC Air Bus and not Volvo. By no means is AC Air bus lower or bad or below standards. Sell Apples as apples and Oranges as oranges.

Bharath why are you getting into operator's operating economics here.
Price what you have quoted between Volvo and Hino is not true. Infact its the opposite. So can the fare be justified?

Since there are many STU's who use a mix brand of buses under a common brand name like Garuda, Shivneri - the ticket fare is rationalised for all this brand and its only we assume that we are paying for Volvo.

IMO, until otherwise the ticket fare is differentiated we have nothing to do as in the case like what STU's do. The best thing is avoid such operators/STU's if you have a chance of boarding a non Volvo bus. In this case its unfortunate that even Merc/Hino is brought into this league.

Now let me put up a question to you.Having promised to you as a Volvo in your ticket and you paid a higher ticket price. Now a battered, 15lks kms run Volvo Mark1 is pulled which rattles heavily like a dhall mill. Also the seat you have choosen is the last row middle seat.Which does not have a semi sleeper but the rest of seats are semi sleeper.
How will you react for this?

Will you enjoy the ride? I dont know.
In this case I will equally blame Volvo for not providing a semi sleeper fully reclining seat in the last, which is basically a design issue for not having a proper seating layout.

[selfdrive]

scopriobharath, do you think this is behaviour that has been imparted to the drivers/ cleaners by Neeta Volvo or its just imbibed by them as a commonly used interchangeable term as against a brand?
To be very honest, I would prefer it if Neeta travels focussed more on safety and reliability of their fleet and then took time to train these people.

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Volvo as a brand in India has been a word of strandard just like all JCBs are earthmovers and all Cadburys are chocolates.

I think you intended to say that all earthmovers are JCBs and all chocolates are Cadburys?

[gauravdgr8]

The same has happened a couple of times in Hyderabad to my friends. Bharathi has put Veera buses in place of Volvo sleeper and poor Hyderabadis have had to travel in sub-standard buses even after paying for Volvo.

This has happened on trips to Chennai/Vishakhapatnam.

[moralfibre]

I think you intended to say that all earthmovers are JCBs and all chocolates are Cadburys?

My bad, yes I meant it the other way round.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

lol.
Jokes apart, most of Shivneri buses are Mercs and they are far better than the Neeta Volvos - and that has nothing to do with the make of the bus - rather Shivneri buses are maintained and driven better; and that has a far better experience.

Most Shivneri buses are Volvos.

[amtak]

Bottomline is MSRTC is more better to use than Neeta? We have the 95% guarantee of getting a Volvo (but again depending upon the route!).

[F50]

Originally Posted by amtak

Bottomline is MSRTC is more better to use than Neeta? We have the 95% guarantee of getting a Volvo (but again depending upon the route!).

MSRTC should be better. Usually all the state owned bus services are good.

What I hate about private players is they'll roam around in the city to pick up passengers until the bus is full. They waste so much of time. I have not seen MSRTC bus lingering in city for passengers.

I was traveling from Bombay to Pune in some private bus service, they wasted so much of time near chembur, vashi etc for passengers. On the return journey, I opted for MSRTC and they didn't waste anytime in/around Pune.

Similarly from UP State Transport too. Half of the bus was empty but he didn't waste time in Agra. Instead, picked up few passengers on highway.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, it been long since I traveled by bus. MSRTC might have started lingering until full.

[scooby05]

This is a little off topic, but, Why do all these operators only stick to the Right most lanes on the Expressway. It is very irritating to overtake them from the left lane, and a risk. Is it that all these bus drivers feel they are doing 100+ so can remain on the right lane? The real irritant comes on the narrow ghat climbs. Shivneri's and Neeta's are both the worst, along with the ST buses and all other operators.
Can we as a Forum not do something about this education, or atleast write to these companies to train their drivers on highway driving and ethics? All in the name of safety. Can anyone from the forum travelling by these public transport not handover some sort of sticker to be stuck on the windscreen facing the driver to remind him of the importance of maintaining the middle lane.