Service Feedback Case Study: Runbus.in

Runbus.in is one of the most popular Indian portals to book bus tickets online. It gives fast and hassle-free bus booking from one location to the other across India. With its online booking services, one can book the tickets without visiting the counter and get mobile tickets as well as an email of the ticket. This ensures trouble-free and easy access for purchasing of tickets. Today, Runbus is most popular in the northern parts of India and works with the top bus operators in this area. The tickets are also available at very reasonable rates and it provides buses according to one's needs.

Recently I have travelled from Delhi to Nainital. I did not want to travel by train and heard a lot about the Volvo services provided by RunBus. So I went into the Runbus.in and booked tickets to Nainital. The website was good and guided me with the better bus services. One can understand the quality of the services of each bus operator from the rating and the feedback given by other passengers. I chose a bus operator and selected my ticket. What made my experience most adorable was an integration with all the information channels. SMS confirmation, email Confirmation, Calling Facility...everything was there!

When I reached the boarding place, the bus was already there. The staff members were behaving in a decent manner, and everything inside the bus was well-managed to give a clutter-free spaciousness. The driver was very much skilled and professional who drove the bus throughout the journey very efficiently. Each and everything in the bus was as per my expectations and the prices which I paid for the ticket. The bus took halts at appropriate intervals at safe places keeping in view the needs of the passengers. My journey from Delhi to Nainital was finished on a very pleasant note.

On the following day, I got an email from Runbus with the words: “How was your journey?’’ in the subject line. This email contained a very precise link that took me to a very short form which I filled up very easily. As per the tone of the form which I filled, it seemed that my feedback was to be utilized to decide on the rankings of the bus operators who are associated with RunBus.

More than anything else, this feature from Runbus impressed me a lot. They make a very minute scrutiny about each and every aspect of the bus operators so that good operators can be appreciated and the bad ones can be alarmed and depreciated.  These practises inspire the operators to keep their standards high otherwise they will be losing the business from online channels which are very rapidly increasing with every passing day.

I would give Runbus 07/10 for inventing this Feedback System. This is what makes RunBus stand apart from other online ticket booking platforms.

Here is a bunch of suggestions that can endear and popularize Runbus.in more in the times ahead:

1. In our country, still everyone cannot utilise the internet. A large number of people still get the tickets booked by others including their friends and relatives, but as a matter of fact, they travel on those tickets. 
2. Therefore, feedback systems should be initiated at two levels: RunBus Experience Feedback from the person who booked the ticket and Travel experience feedback from the person who travelled on the ticket.
3. While booking the ticket, at least the mobile number of one passenger should be mandatorily taken.
4. On completion of the travel, an email should be sent to the person who booked the ticket, and SMS should be sent who travelled on the ticket.
5. If Runbus.in would really like to improve on their bus services standards, they should set some benchmarks for the bus operators.
6. A periodical quality review should be done in order to maintain the standards of the services.
7. Another way to get correct feedback is by calling up the passengers to their mobile numbers and asking for a feedback by putting a rank in the IVR.
8. They can put in their comments even after the beep of the IVR and hence a detailed feedback can be received by Runbus.in.
9. It has also been rightly said that it is a mixed bag of services and one can get a better or the worst service hugely depending upon his or her luck.

All the above suggestions are the result of my experience and the intuition. I am of the view that if these suggestions are addressed and implemented effectively, RunBus would achieve more phenomenal and exemplary success.