My brother had booked a trip for our entire family of 9 members to Corbett and Nainital from Mumbai through Glimpse Tours and Travels for 5 days (October 29, 2022, to Nov 3, 2022) excluding travel.
We took a flight from Mumbai to Delhi and from there we were going to drive to Corbett for 2 days and then to Nainital for 3 days. We had requested a 12 seater van so the drive would be comfortable for my old parents and we had 4 kids aged between 8-12 years old. The trouble started from here.
We reached Delhi at around 9 am. The Van driver (Madan Lal) was parked outside the airport (costs 500 rupees) to bring it around in front of the airport so we had to drag all our 9 luggages in a shuttle to where he was parked. The driver was not aware of Delhi roads at all. Instead of enjoying the trip we were sitting in the front and navigating using our phones with Google Maps for 3 hrs. Madan Lal mentioned to us there is nothing to eat around and we have to go to the outskirts of Delhi to get food. We finally stopped at a Dhaba at around 1 pm navigating the whole time. We reached Corbett and stayed there for 2 nights. Everytime we wanted to go anywhere (Listed clearly in our itinerary) Madan Lal used to throw a fit that it's far and there is nothing over there. We had to push him to take us there. It was tiring the whole drive since he would snap at us with an attitude. After 2 nights we left for Nainital.
Madan Lal mentioned he was aware of the area and won't need any Navigation but instead of taking us through the bypass close to our hotel he took us to a hungry mob of cab drivers where we had to spend 5000 rupees to drive us to the hotel since the Van couldn't go (There was a reason behind this and I will get to it later in my post). Unwillingly, we rented the car to drag us and all our luggages to our Hotel while he enjoyed his stay on the bypass roads for 2 roads. Ronak didn't make any arrangements here as well since he was responsible for all this.
One of last days we went to Bhimtal but as always he was arrogant, annoying and unwilling to take us there. This is the most CRITICAL part of my post. On our way back from Bhimtal to Nainital some cops tried to stop him but he took off. We were 7.4 km away from our hotel and the windy roads on those mountains with no railing but straight deep down in the valley. The cops started chasing him and he was honking and taking over cars, buses and trucks and calling his friend to buy a pass immediately of Uttarakhand (It seems you are supposed to buy a 250 rupees pass when you go in Uttarakhand which he didn't that's why he took us to the mob of cab drivers). The Police Jeep chase stopped after 1 km but there were other cops waiting ahead of us and the chase continued. We missed slipping over the edge multiple times while we were being chased. The 2nd Jeep also stopped chasing but he continued his rash driving till we reached the hotel. Our exit out of his vehicle was on the side of the road where our kids and my parents had to walk a km away since he was running away from the cops.
We called Ronak (Owner of Glimpse Tours and Travels) immediately and explained everything to him. He mentioned he will make arrangements for us the next day with another vehicle to take us back to the airport. We even talked with Madan Lal's direct boss. FALSE promises and we were asked to go with him back to the airport the next day but not pay him once we reached Delhi. Nothing changed. We had to pay Madan Lal the full amount and sit and navigate.
I put this entire blame on Ronak who didn't do a single thing after our complaints. If you want to have a safe trip with your family go with the companies who care for your well-being and are not just into making money and listen to you and make changes.
We will never be traveling with Glimpse Tours and Travels ever again.
