We took a bus from Denizli to Goreme last August 27, 2023 (Sunday) and our bus left the terminal at 8:45 pm as we were expected to arrive at Goreme at 6:30 am for a total of 10 hours of land travel. They put numbers on our luggage and gave us claim tags once we got off the bus. On our way, past midnight, I was sleeping and the assistant bus Driver Mr. Mahmut Mithat pinched me on my shoulder asking if this was our luggage, he showed me a photo of the luggage from his phone and I said YES! That's our luggage. He doesn't know how to speak English that's why we exchanged conversations via Google translate, He said some of the commuters accidentally took your luggage and it would return to you in 2 days and I told him that they could send the luggage on the next trip going to Goreme because there's an hourly bus schedule trip going to Goreme. He just replied to me, I'll try my best and get back to you tomorrow ASAP. I didn't argue with him because it was useless and I was tired. How is that possible? When we first landed in Turkey, all buses were well organized, They put claim tags on each piece of luggage, and why did Mr Mahmut let the commuter take our luggage without checking the luggage claim tags? I suggested a possible solution for our luggage but I think there's no actions have been taken. He gave me his mobile number and Instagram account to stay in contact.
We arrived in Goreme at 6:30 am and we didn't have any choice but to buy some clothes for the day. I contacted him and asked for any update on our luggage and he replied me it would be here at 12midnight, later on I asked for an update, again he said 6:30 am, and the next update, the bus had a problem and it would arrive the next day at 6:30 am. The big problem is we're leaving Goreme on Tuesday at 8:30 pm, We have a flight going back to Istanbul and our luggage will be here on Wednesday morning.
We just told him to send our luggage back to Istanbul and we'll get it there. Our trip was ruined already, it made us spend more money on our trip! Thanks to KamilKoc! Even the guy assigned at the kamilKoc bus terminal in Goreme told us "I can't do anything about that, try to call customer service".
We arrived back in Istanbul and went to their bus terminal which is 45 minutes away from our hotel and we took a taxi and paid 275lira. The Guy at the counter told us that their office would open at 12 and told him that we were just going to get our luggage, The luggage arrived at 1 in the morning and we were there past 10 am. But still, he didn't allow us and I told him via Google Translate, that we needed to catch our flight unless he wanted to shoulder the rebooking of our ticket. Finally, he allowed us and go upstairs and get our luggage. read more