Greyhound SA - unreliable and poor customer service and the most rude drivers

On 22 April I booked a bus for my daughter from George to Belville, departing on 2 May 2022 at 02:45. I paid R695. On 30 April 2022 i was called by Greyhound and informed that they have problems and will not service the route. They informed me that they arranged a place for my daughter on a luxury Eldo bus with a toilet, ticket worth R750. They also said that she will use the Greyhound ticket and that Eldo will pick her up at 02:00 on 2 May in George. No bus arrived. I then called Eldo’s Head Office and was informed that they have no knowledge of my daughter and that they don’t have an Eldo bus on the route. I was told that they don’t have a pick up in George and the only bus they have on the route is a low budget Citiliner and they will ask the driver to stop in George. The Citiliner arrived at 02:40, 40 minutes late. I paid for a luxury bus, not a low budget bus that was 40 minuter later than promised. When the bus arrived i asked a very rude driver if there was place on the bus. He just glared at me and i had to repeat my question twice more. I just got a grumpy yes from him. I then asked if she will have a seat. Same story. I then asked what time the bus will arrive in Bellville. The rude driver said we will see. My daughter got onto the bus but there was no space. Not even to stand because the passage was full of stuff. I asked the driver where must she sit because there was no seats open. He said she will sit in Mossel Bay maybe, then there might be a seat. There was no place for her to even stand. We got off and i tried several times to get hold of Eldo and Greyhound without success. They just don’t answer! No customer care! At 03:30 i booked the cheapest flight to Cape Town for R1815 on Sa Airlink. Booking ***. Flight number 4Z622. I need to be reimbursed for the flight ticket And for my petrol to the airport and back (R60) and my cell phone costs (at least R50). R1925 in total. This is the worst service i have ever experienced. They have put my kid through a lot of trauma. I booked a ticket on a reliable bus (or so I thought) so that she doesn’t have to experience unnecessary stress and can be on time. She is a student and needed to be back at university.

Greyhound, I hope you will sort this out quickly. How can you operate like this? You have just started up again. What is worst, the Greyhound lady that phoned me on Saturday apologized and promised me that everything was sorted and that my kid will be travelling on a luxury Eldo bus. There was no Eldo bus and no seat for her on the Citiliner. Did you really expect her to travel to Bellville, standing, and in an over crowded bus?

On Tuesday 3 May I spoke to Komisani at Greyhound. She promised to escalate this matter. She also said that they made a mistake with the booking on Eldo. On Wednesday 4 May I spoke to Yusuf at Greyhound. Again I was promised that this matter would get attention and Yusuf promised to call me back around 11:00 the same day with feedback. Nothing. Today 5 May there are no available agents at the call centre

Gerhardt Roux

Sent from my iPhone