Written and contributed by: Mr Roz Jamil

Dear Sure Boh Singapore Readers,

I wish to share with the readers my utter frustration and disappointment with my recent experience with Starmart Bus Express.

Details:

Singapore to KL – on Sat 14th Jul at 6.30am.

I specifically request for a direct bus to KL as I was planning to do a day trip and to return at 9.00pm from KL

Bus AJX222 was scheduled to depart at 6.30am. The bus did not arrive until 7.00am. The bus was full and we were told that we need to change bus upon arriving JB which is very unusual, normally the same bus from Goldenmile will take passengers direct to KL.

9.20am – We cleared Malaysian immigration and were already behind time. There were 5 of us on the bus, the rest of the other passengers has gone to their respective destination on different buses.

30 mins passed we asked the driver, also the ground staff and were told we are waiting for a group of passengers from Boon Lay which again is not the norm practice.

1 hr passed and all of us are beginning to get agitated. I decided to ring the Singapore office, they told me the same thing but was unable to explain why in the first place we have to wait for the other passengers from other buses to join us. The staff told me he will check and will update me. Unhappy with the situation I decided to ring the Malaysia counterpart. I spoke to Mr. Iswaran, he told me to speak to the staff on duty which I refused as they could not give me any answer other than waiting for another group. Likewise, Mr. Iswaran could not give me an answer. He says he will get in touch with the ground staff and will update me. None of them even have the courtesy to follow up with a returned call.

2 hours past the other group arrived and we finally depart at 11.30am.

4.10pm – We arrived at KL. Myself and Nancy – a Caucasian passenger were both doing a day trip. Nancy bought her returned ticket online and was scheduled to return to Singapore on the 5.00pm bus. Upon arrival I brought Nancy to the ticket office and explained to the staff what had happened; Unfortunately, Nancy could not re-scheduled her departure time other than to buy a new ticket.

11.00pm – I depart KL for Singapore. There were cockroaches, empty bottles on the seat. Obviously, the staff did not even bother to check for trash let alone to clean the bus for the next trip.

My questions to Starmart

1. Why do we have to change bus and combined with another bus passenger? I get it if you are trying to have a full bus but that was not the arrangement before and none of us were told.
2. There were only 5 of us, why couldn’t you put us on a different bus instead of making us wait for 2 hours?
3. We booked the first bus out because we want to get to KL by noon. Everyone have our own plans. Do you think its fair to put us in that situation, disrupting our schedule and plans to your advantage?
4. What happens to passenger like Nancy who booked a returned ticket but could not even re-schedule the return bus when the delay was obviously caused by Starmart. If 10 passengers were like Nancy, having to buy another ticket, is this just Starmart way to get more sales?

I have been travelling on Starmart for a long time and has always been very happy with the service. Some of the staff are really nice and friendly and I’ve come across rude drivers too. Delays by traffic are common and that is what one have to anticipate when travelling by road. But making us wait for 2 hours so you can benefit having a full bus trip is totally unacceptable. We paid for the ticket and not getting a free ride having to put up with all this.

I would strongly encourage more bus operators to provide service to KL city centre. Startmart used to be humble with excellent service but obviously, they have become greedy and if this continues I’m not surprise they will go down the drain eventually.

I’m not sure if this email has reached the correct department for me to voice my frustration. My sincere apologies if this has reach you wrongly. I’m just trying to get my message across so that other will not have to go through the same situation.

Lets see if Starmart will even bother to respond to my email.

Thank you in advance for anyone who will reply to this email.

Bus details
SG – KL – AJB 222 change to AJX 222 at JB
KL – SG – BKS 6

Sincerely,