INTERCAPE'S APPALLING TREATMENT!!!

Yesterday I bought a one-way Intercape ticket from Potchefstroom to Johannesburg, departing at 17:45 same day. But upon my arrival at the station (Jenny's), at 17:28, the bus had just left, we missed it by seconds. I called the call centre to establish if indeed it was my bus and they confirmed it was. Then they told me they were going to call operations and would call me back in a few moments. While I waited, the bus driver called to admit that it was his fault that he left before departure time and that he was sorry. He asked me to walk to any nearby Greyhound or Eldo Coach bus and hand the driver my phone so he could negotiate for the driver to take me and drop me wherever his intercape bus was waiting for me on route to Joburg. I told him there were no buses around. He said he was gonna call call centre and aks them to make a plan for me. Call centre called only to apologise and tell me to find alternative means of transport to Joburg or wait for the next bus at 8 AM the next day. I told them I had no alternative transport and I couldn't sleep over in Potch because I had to be at work 08 o'clock the next day. Then they said they could put me through to their supervisor, one George Pinathi, who spoke very rudely to me and even refused to take responsibility. He blamed me for arriving at the station at 17:28 for a bus that was meant to depart at 17:45 instead of arriving 30 minutes before departure time. I told him that the 30-minute-before-departure issue didn't cancel the fact that the bus was not supposed to depart before stipulated departure time, otherwise, why do they even have departure time as 17:45 in the first place, if they're not gonna stick to it? I told him the 30/minute-before-departure-arrival thing is really for admin, loading of luggage and boarding, not departure; that if I had arrived after departure time, I wouldn't blame them since I would have been the one at fault. Even if the drivers feel like they want to leave earlier, they should only do so after first verifying that all passengers on their list are all on board. But he insisted I either sleep over in Potch or find alternative means of getting to Joburg, like taking a taxi. I told him I am visually impaired and that would be dangerous for me. When he didn't seem to care, I asked him if he was aware of the harm this whole issue could cause to Intercape's image and reputation, he changed his tone, got off of his high horse and started talking to me like I mattered. He apologized and told me he was gonna put me through to his senior who probably could assist. He put me through to one Pieter, at Intercape head offices in Pretoria. Pieter wasn't helpful either. He told me exactly everything George Pinathi told me and I responded to him the same way I did to George. Then he put me back to call centre, call centre put me through to one another among them, from pillar to post, everyone refusing to take responsibility except to apologise. Eventually I agreed to take the next bus. This morning a certain Mmatshepo from Intercape Cape Town called when I had just boarded the bus. She called to apologise. I asked if a mere apology was all that Intercape could offer, and she said yes. I asked her what about my guest house and meals costs and metered taxi costs I incurred in Potch last night thanks to Intercape. And she had no answer except repeated apologies. As if that was not enough, this morning as I boarded the bus to Joburg, the bus driver treated me like I was invisible: anything he wanted to know about me and my trip, he asked from the person I was with instead of asking from me... "where is he going? Is there someone to pick him up at Park Station? Can he walk himself to the seat or does he need help?" I had to call him to order. I told him the fact that I'm blind doesn't mean I am hard of hearing or stupid; that he should not inquire about me from someone else when I am standing there in front of him. Intercape must train their drivers on how to interact with people with disabilities because what their driver did to me this morning is more than offencive! SIES!!!

Julius Mazibuko