Ask locals or book somewhere else
We had a couple of experiences with 12go asia in our recent Vietnam trip and would not recommend this service.
First, you simply do not see all options available, nor necessarily the best options for your trip. So in any case I would recommend to ask locals, e.g., a dedicated receptionist. They will call someone and you pay much less and will probably be guided until you sit in the bus.
However, using this service, which in principle can bring you from A to B, there are problems. The first sign for ultra disrespectful behaviour towards the customers (apart from responses to online receptions; just have a look around) is the unneccessary insurance which is sold if you do not uncheck a, by default checked, box when you order. The second is the handling of receptions and inquiries.
This leads to the final problem I have with this service, which is our experience with a night bus.
When you book such a bus you will get a confirmation and a PDF with coordinates and a time of arrival. You are supposed to be there 60 minutes before departure. Fine. A taxi can bring you there. However, the point is that the bus, as in our case, will probably just not show up. The taxi driver had already kind of an idea that this will go wrong as he didnt know the place. However, checking the ticket he agreed that this has to be the we are supposed to go.
So you are there in the night, at a "bus stop" (a shady place next to the Highway; cockroaches, rats, busses and trucks honking included for free) and wait for >2 hrs before giving up. All the phone numbers of the bus company dont work. Problems getting taxi or hotel at that time in the night are self-explanatory - luckily we found friendly accomodation in our previous hotel.
After the bus company found it appropriate to just reschedule our trip to the next day (surprise: we couldnt just reschedule and our travel plans were messed up a bit) I contacted 12go. After a couple of mails back and forth with always another person on the 12go side, I found that they neither want to follow my demand of a refund, nor really care. So here it is my opinion about 12go. Have fun with the 30€, you can keep them. And all the Vietnam travelers: Just keep away- there are better options.
This review is for Hue to Danang. Nearly every seat was filled, however a quick and comfortable ride overall. Train departed and arrived on time. Food offered for sale by train staff was delicious, nutritious, and well-priced! Staff was friendly, efficient, and worked non-stop in multiple roles. No complaints whatsoever. The only aspect I found perplexing was that I bought tickets online through 12go for 2 persons on the same itinerary when it showed more than half of seats were available, however we were issued tickets for seats several rows apart. We survived :-). Nevertheless, thank you Vietnam Railways for a wonderful service to the community!
Der Zug war pünktlich und die Fahrt komfortabel! Für Traveller der Tipp, wenn möglich Plätze in Fahrtrichtung links auszusuchen, da hat man die schöneren Ausblicke auf das Meer.
I think I paid alot more for my train ticket than should of..The section about insurance is confusing. I didn't need it, but didn't know there was an option to choose, No Insurance. So I ended up paying more for some. Next time I know.
Journey was nice. Good Train experience.
But if you receive seats on the right side of the train, your view isn’t that nice. Sitting on the left side you have an amazing view.
Operator made us wait as early as 1140 for a 1200 schedule. Turns out we were last to be picked up, so we ended up in the front seats (less comfortable than the plush seats at the back, but nice view). However the nice view also allowed observation of the driver, at some point in the journey (at least 30 minutes, between 1PM - 2PM) a friend of his (likely a driver), called (could hear traffic in the background), then continued with SMS messaging. While the driver is skilled, this is still dangerous as there were times he was texting with both hands, and distracted for a few seconds. No hard brakes or near misses but still a dangerous situation which should call for the driver to be reprimanded that safety is more important than his social chatter with his friend. Also, when the limousine van arrived in Hue, we were transferred to another vehicle (a pickup) for the last 1 km (which I don't understand the reason why) which was IMO unnecessary although the delay was just for a few minutes.
