May 17, 2024 03:32 PM
2966 Views
Planning a long-awaited road trip this year with a friend, unfortunately, I chose Savaari Car Rentals.
While making the booking, it was several times conveyed to the agency that all the travelers are females, including two kids, so kindly consider this and send a responsible driver who will not cause any inconvenience or distress to the passengers for the entire two-day journey. On assurance from them, I made the advance payment for booking an SUV.
On the day of the trip, not more than 2 hrs had elapsed, and the driver pulled the cab into a garage, his reason, the cab's coolant was leaking and needed to be checked as we would not be able to continue without getting this rectified. The mechanic inspected and found a leak, giving us a timeline of around 1 hour or more in which the cab "may" become functional to carry on our journey(which still was around 6 hours remaining). This check-up also took more than 40 mins. I contacted Savaari, and they said they would look into it - but ended up doing nothing, while we waited for 2 hours. In the meantime, repair work escalated to change the radiator. Bound to reach our destination in the late evening rather than in the afternoon, we continued as all this mismanagement ate into the time we had planned to explore the destination.
Just after less than 40 mins, the driver again stopped to fill up the CNG gas, which took almost 20 mins because of the long line. After filling the gas, he stopped at the side of the station and asked us to pay 1k, as "his digital payment was not working and he required money for gas and the journey". I did, as per the message from Savaari, to cooperate with the driver to pay the remaining amount in parts during the trip.
Hardly out of the station and covering a few meters of distance, the driver stopped the cab saying it overheated again(showing us the sign on the dial), so he will not be able to continue the journey. Distressed by all this ruckus I called Savaari to provide us with another cab to reach our destination(since pre-bookings were done for it too) or at least provide us with an option to get us out of this middle of unfamiliar nowhere. After putting us on hold for quite a while, the response I received from their representative - we will not be able to arrange another cab for you, all we can do is stop the journey here and will not charge you for further kms. I tried to emphasize the issue at hand to the representative to understand our vulnerable condition and help/give some assistance. Regardless of our situation, his stand/solution did not change. While we were engrossed in this, the driver disappeared from our sight, and no fumes were visible from the "overheated car".
So, harassed by the driver and Savaari, with no solution by them even in this vulnerable condition, kids in distress and fussing, we saw no option but to cancel our trip and try to find a way back. Somehow we were able to, with no thanks to unsympathetic Savaari.
This experience serves as a stark warning! Despite Savaari's promises, their policies and actions failed to prioritize the safety and well-being of their passengers, particularly women and children. So, after facing this personal ordeal and traumatic experience with them, I strongly suggest fellow female travelers to avoid Savaari Car Rentals at all costs, opting for safer and more reliable alternatives instead.
