I have always on a yearly basis religiously taken a trip to Port Elizabeth (from Durban) to spend some time with my sisters. Last year I was unable to do so due to the fact that I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and had to go for treatment. I just recently completed my treatment and decided to go to PE. I have used the SA Roadlink bus service previously and was very satisfied with their service. I heard some story’s about the bad service but I decided that it can’t be that bad and my kids did enjoy the previous trip with SA Roadlink. I booked the ticket with SA Roadlink via their telephone service on the 12th of April 2011.

I am still very emotional about my resent trip starting on the 21st of April at 6:30 leaving on SA Roadling. There was a delay at the Durban Depot and we left Durban at 8:00 instead of scheduled time at 6:30. I was unaware of any problems at his time! Our first stop was in Umkobaba just outside Durban we were asked to take our luggage and move to a different bus We did so and was informed by the hostess that the bus had problems and we will Change busses in Umtata again. This never happened as planned as there was a delay with the bus we were supposed to swop with. We ended up swopping busses in Butterworth the bus we used was send back to Durban with new passengers. We border the new bus and when everyone settled down hostess Informed us that there was a problem with the new bus and they have asked for a mechanic to come to fix it. This bus did not want to start. When the Butterworth mechanic came he did mention that he has never fixed a bus but he will try his best. With the help of a passenger they managed to fix the canbelt and the recharged the busses batteries. Two hours later we were on our way to East London. When we arrived in East London at mid night we were informed by Mrs. Strydom from SA Roadlink that they need to change the pully system of the canbelt because the old one is causing the belt to break all the time. We were told this repair will take approximately 1 and a half hours. Most of the passengers got back on the bus when the Mechanic arrived and went to sleep. I also fell asleep, but woke up 3 hours later. When I woke up I heard no movement of mechanic working on the bus so I got off the bust to investigate on progress. When I walked around the bus there was no Mechanic I was also very surprised to find that all the drivers and SA Roadlink staff was missing. At this stage I got very worried but could not do anything about it so I got back on the bus to sit with my kids aged 12 and 7.

The time was now 3 am and I got very worried as I did not prepaid for any delay and only had half a pack of chips and a bit of water for my kids. All the shops around was closed and there was no SA roadlink staff in sight. When I got back to my seat I looked out the window across the road and saw Mrs. Strydom sitting in her Vehicle so I got of the bus and approached the vehicle to ask her what the hell was going on. She then told me that she did get us all alternative transport and we will all soon be boarding Sprinters. She did kindly offer to go by something to eat for my kids and I told her that my kids are luckily still sleeping. I did not take this offer because as I told her it will not be fare to other passengers if I only get my kid food.

Just after 6am the sprinters came to pick us up and we proceeded to Port Elizabeth. This was also quite the experience for me and my children to take a Taxi as we have never done so before! We arrived in Port Elizabeth at 9:30 very emotional and upset as this trip was a nightmare.

Regards,

Cindy van Vuuren

Cell: 0729157481
Fax: 0866522319

3 Months down the line and im still waiting for my refund.

Good afternoon Mr Barends,

I thank you for your valuable correspondence as we at SA ROADLINK will not be able to improve our service levels if we did not get input from our valued passengers.

Mr Barends it is absolutely appaling to read that you have been sent from pillar to post and still no word regarding your refund. I would like to know who you handed your refund application to. Also if you can let me know where your original tickets are as no refund can be entertained without the original ticket attached.

Mr Barends, I would really appreciate a speedy response regarding this.

Kind regartds

Vanessa

On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 3:49 PM, Qiyaam Barends <[email protected]> wrote:
Bus Reference Number (3214477)

I was suppose to travel with SA roadlink on the 1st of December 2009, however the bus was over booked and couldn’t accommodate more passengers from Uitenhage traveling to Johannesburg. I had to make alternative arrangements to get to Johannesburg as i was supposed to be back at work the following day. i was contacted by Chris from the Port Elizabeth branch and told him what I’m going to do he said its fine and once I’m in Johannesburg I should go the office and ask for Vanessa who would assist me with the refund. On the 3rd of December I went the Johannesburg offices and Vanessa wasn’t there and I submitted my form to one of the consultants. I have contacted Vanessa on numerous occasions and evrytime she says she is going to phone me back, two weeks has gone and I still haven’t received my refund. please ensure that my refund is done A.S.A.P.

Qiyaam