Citiliner
Reviews and Complaints

I booked a bus to Harare on the 24th of july 2019 from Bosman Pretoria . Firstly the condition of the bus from the seats are nolonger comfortable as in adjusting, the charging ports not working at all, all entertainment systems not working from wifi, tv and radio which made that long distance journey the longest and terrible. I always trust and rely on Citiliner buses everytime they are always on time and the staff members are proffessional but please if you can replace or fix your buses especially the ones that go to Zimbabwe

I'm not happy with the way I was treated in one of the citiliner buses, I was allocated a seat only to find that the seat was given to someone else who boarded the bus before me. And nothing was done about it I was forced to sit where I didn't want to. As someone who uses your services on a regular, I'm highly disappointed at the treatment I received

Very unhappy and will not use Citiliner again, I will stick to what I know.

I had never used the citiliner bus before but I decided to give it a try. In all the three times that I've used this bus it has been late by an hour thirty minutes or more. I understand that due to traffic or road works a bus cannot always keep to the scheduled time but they are very poor at even attempting to keep time. When you meant to be in Pretoria at 05:20, you get to Joburg late and you still have to wait for other buses to come so they can fill one bus going to Pretoria. Other buses manage to keep to the scheduled times and respect their clients time. With Citiliner the most important thing is being late, saving petrol and having no worry about their customers needs.

They need to close down until they know and understand customer service.

A bus can never be two hours late then you still told that you will leave after 10 minutes, the bus is waiting for another one from Cape Town

I've been trying three times since the past weekend to book a Citiliner bus ticket online from Paarl to Pretoria for 2018/11/26 on Citiliner's website. The process including the secure payment takes me to the point where I even put in my credit card's securecode and then it simply reroutes me back to the beginning. I still don't know if I have paid for 3 tickets now (I only need ONE?!) Trying to email on the website also doesn't help since they simply do not reply?! I've tried the contact box as well as the email address which bounced back every time. I'm a poor student and don't want to spend all my cash waiting 10 minutes on a call centre to place a booking. Can somebody PLEASE just reply to me in email and tell me how I can make a simple online booking? Is it so difficult?

Last night (Sunday, 28 October 2018), I boarded a Citiliner bus (Service No: CUJ1636; Issuer reference: TCTKD3DK) from Kokstad Wimpy to Midrand. The bus was supposed to leave Kokstad Wimpy at 19h20, but it only left at 20h00 for no reason provided to us. As we were departing, I asked the second driver (who was not driving at that moment) for an explanation on why we left Kokstad 40 minutes late, and mentioned that my specific choice of this bus, was its marketed arrival time at Midrand (05h30 - the following morning). My choice of this bus was the fact that it arrives early enough for me to get to my work by 08h00. The gentleman just said, "I don't know), and I asked for his name, and he responded that, "he does not have a name". [NB: THERE WAS ANOTHER BUS ON THE SAME ROUTE, BUT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO LEAVE KOKSTAD LATER THAN MINE...BUT IT LEFT KOKSTAD BEFORE MINE]

The driver on the route from Kokstad to Mzumkhulu, stopped somewhere along the road, and it was not because of a fault on the bus - hence, no explanation was provided for the (what I am sure, is an unofficial STOP).

Needless to say, we only arrived at De Hoek Plaza (last Toll Gate to Johannesburg from Montrose) at 5h45 (way past the 5h30 for Midrand!)...at Vosloorus around 6h30 where we were entertained by very slow traffic..only hit Park Station at 7h15!) The other bus had got to Park Station around 4h30 (more than 2 hours before ours).

As if this late arrival was not enough, Citiliner bus driver thought it wiser to transfer us to another bus (Greyhound) for the Jhb-Pretoria leg of the journey, and we left Park Station at 7h34...we crawled on traffic until we arrived at Midrand at 8h58am...

I arrived at my work at 10h05 (2 hours late)...

This service is unacceptable, I wish Citiliner and its whole staff complement can understand that you are not doing us a favour by transporting us, but we are in a contractual arrangement where you deliver for the exact service we paid for.

As a solution to this business transaction (between Citiliner and their passengers), I submit that Citiliner must manage their drivers to be strict on departure and arrival times. This habit of forever being late is highly unacceptable and it is a serious inconvenience to passengers. I, unfortunately, cannot request you to train your drivers on politeness - this ship seems to have sailed a long time ago, e.g. two weeks back, the driver who was driving my bus from Kokstad refused to transport us from Johannesburg to Pretoria because he said he was avoiding traffic. He has a nerve, first he makes us late, and then he keeps his head high complaining about traffic. For your information, all your drivers, give us 15 minutes breaks at these break stations, but they are the ones who always arrive much later than us back in the bus! So, his excuse that passengers took long to return to the bus is very pathetic for such an old man.

Good day

Today at 14:15 a Citiliber bus that was passing through George cut infront of alot of cars due to roadworks.

When we were next to the bus and took a picture he showed a gun sign to his head to us and yelled and said we must [censored] off.

I have a photo and video of this and will go viral. This driver doesnt belong on our roads transporting people!

Bus nr 2738
Date 16th oct on road knysna rd in George at 14:15

15 July 2018 i'm so disappointed, the bus was supposed to arrive at 23:05 and it arrived around 00:30 I was so cold standing outside with two kids ... it took another hour for the bus to depart the driver was so slow and kept on talking instead of working, the seat on the bus my baby was sitting on kept on falling and the driver was rude... I will never travel with Citiliner bus

Good day

I would love to lodge a complain, last week friday 22 june 2018 my son embarked on a journey from queenstown to johannesburg (midrand) bus reference [protected]. The bus left queenstown at 08:0 am in the morning. I was waiting for my son to arrive at 19:30 latest but the bus only arrived at shell ultra midrand at 22:18 pm. No communication was given and this is very unacceptable service regardless what might have happened, co communication apology was given.

Citiliner couch
1st it was at Montrose where we spent almost an hour waiting for a driver, now we waiting at Park station to depart to Pretoria, again waiting for the driver now bordering to an hour waiting still. Totally unhappy with the service now we going to travel by dark and it's not safe at night. We still have to take other transportation when we arrive in Pretoria.
You risking with our lives here. Terrible service never boarding it again.

We were driving 100 km/h on the R40/R527. A Citi-liner bus (DC82ZC GP or something to that extend). The bus came flying past us. The bus is suppose to drive a maximum of 100. It is printed on the back anyway. I would hate that the bus and its occupants become part of the road accident statistics adding more people to the list of death. The R40/R527 have animals (both domestic and otherwise) and people crossing the road regularly. There are a number of villages along the road as well.

Sir/Madam

I know you are inundated with enquiries and complaints and do not wish to add to your load, but after the third fiasco in 3 weeks and no response I would like to put pressure on you to refund me.

I booked a return ticket from Emalahleni to Witbank on 8 Sept for the Monday the 11th. After a call to your centre that evening to cancel the ticket a female centre agent said I will receive 250 credit or the refund.

It has been 3 weeks since this query, agents listened to the phone calls, stating my reference number is my phone number and I am not getting a response.

Although my ticket was cancelled and I have proof of payment, they couldn't even pick it up on the system.

On 22 September I had a booked trip to Johannesburg from Emahleni to Johannesburg, the bus was over two hours late and I eventually had to leave and scramble to make other arrangements to get to my job interview in Johannesburg. Every time I called the centre for an update the bus was merely 20 minutes away in Middelburg.

This morning en route from Johannesburg to Emalahleni the bus was late by 1 hour and 15 minutes and there's a planned stop in Midland to meet up with a mechanic. How long is the going to take me to reach my destination today?

I'm unemployed and use the bus service like the rest of the poor civilians because we can't afford more. Therefore we are supporters of greyhound and Citiliner because we get market related prices here.

I would like the refund of my ticket on 11Sept, which was purchased over the call centre with my card. Id also like a refund for my ticket on the 22nd of September as this most certainly are into my living costs for the month.

On top of all the time lost, I spent over R90 in calls to sort this out and I alternatively had to pay 700 in travel costs to actually make it for the interview, almost 2 hours late and that left a bitter taste in my potential employers mouth as well as mine. I didn't get the job.

I sincerely hope that you feel my pain here in losing so much money, whilst I also struggle to survive as fellow South African, unemployed.

I'm looking forward to your response and the refunds (250 + 125) from Citiliner. At this stage I want to report you at the consumer act ombudsman, but I have faith that we will resolve these issues now after 3+ weeks of calls, complaints and requests.

My reference at the call centre apparently : [protected]

My ID number : [protected]

Warmth,

Katuschka du Pisanie
Contact +[protected]
Follow @miss_katuschka

I travelled via Citiliner from Cape Town to Port Shepstone on 5 May 2017 at 18h30.

The bus was delayed by 2 hours and the driver played extremely loud gospel music all through the night. Occasionally this was interspersed with church of Zion videos which seemed to play on a continuous loop at an unbearably loud volume.

Surely as a paying customer we should be considered and communicated with in a responsible manner.

On the whole this was a nightmare of a trip with loud, drunk passengers causing a disturbance. Myself and the woman I was seated next to were completely ignored.

I understand that this is a reasonably priced transport option but that should not mean that customers should be abused.

Please issue a formal complaint and ask Citiliner to speak to their staff and put their customers first. They should also continually monitor service on these trips to prevent any future problems.

On the 18th of June i caught the 16:45pm Citiliner to Cape town from Durban station. Let me Clarify firstly that when i called the call Centre i was told i would be catching the Greyhound bus and not Citiliner as i had no intentions of catching it, however when i went to go pay for the ticket i discovered it was actually Citiliner and i had been misinformed, i let that go Then! When on the bus while on our way some water was on the passage and we all thought maybe it came from the toilet as it was a lot of water, i then whatsapped my mother who was at home and she decided to call the Citiliner customer service as she was concerned for our health on the bus, i mean the trip is 24hrs. Anyway just before the bus gets to Kokstaad the bus driver comes and addresses us telling us passengers that somebody had called the call centre and complained, we have no business calling the call centre if we have issues with the bus we come to him directly, (at this time i was not aware that my mother had called the call centre and even if i had been aware i was within my rights as a paying customer to have concerns). the bus stops at Kokstaad and as im getting out of the bus i hear the driver telling other passengers that the person who complained is a this person sitting ion seat 13 D and D (those were mine and my 4year old daughters seats), note how he tells other people and makes snide comments while me and my daughter were passing to get off and stretch our legs, fist incident of victimization, the other guys laugh and make other comments, i get back in the bus and my mom notifies me that she was the one who called and i told her that well she was within her rights n mine as we r paying customers. In the mist of the ride i moved seats cause my seats were hot (heater at the back and engine) anyway i move back to my seats(13Cand D) this driver comes screaming that i must move back to the seats that i had moved myself to, i told him i won’t im sitting at my original seats because now people are getting on the bus and will want their seats, he says to me in a rude and demeaning manner, "you busy calling call centres complaining saying your seats are leaking so, therefore move from there, i will move you from there", i told him to then go through my phone and show me that number, he goes silent turns to some guy passengers and proceeds to talk nonsense about me, go on all the way back to the other driver talking smack about me, bear in mind im with my 4year old daughter, so she is watching her mother being verbally abused and disrespected by a driver. i was forced to not give him an attitude and talk back because he had my safety in his hands. I don’t know his name but he has a hoarse voice was driving along with another chubby light skinned driver, the Citiliner leaving Durban for cape town via PE on the 18th of June 16:45pm, i want this driver dealt with, i want this matter rectified, starting with LERATO the call centre agent who felt it necessary to give out my seat number leaving me open for victimization, and since does the driver have a right to victimize a passenger when they have concerns and complaints, did i not pay, do i not deserve the service i paid for, is he now the citiliner owner? i want prompt feedback, this guy kept on walking up n down looking me up and down acting like areal bully and all this knowing im stuck in the bus for 24hrs and there’s nothing i can do, at some point i wanted to get off the bus and rather be stranded somewhere then put up with this type of bullying, if get no feedback from you guys i will take this further, public protector, consumer watch you name it. im sick of men victimizing women, i will name and shame your brand on social media, i will show you flames just like he showed me flames, worst of all i had just buried my dad that day and i had to deal with all that bullying from your driver.

I travelled from Ladysmith to Johannesburg by Citiliner on the 28th March 2016. the bus was supposed to depart at 11:55pm. It only arrived in Ladysmiteh an hour and 15minutes later. i received the message to let me know that the bus is running late at 13:25 and i was already in bus!

i climbed into the bus only to be struck by a toilet stench. the passengers were told it was chemical or toilet sanitiser meant to clean the toilet. the toilet was not working. i was supposed to be seated on seat 6A, but i could not because some seats were wet due to an air-con malfunction which led to water dropping onto the seats.

through out the trip, the air con had to be switched on because if it were to be switched off, the toilet stench would overwhelm us.
people in the bus were sneezing, coughing and had watery eyes due to this pollution in the bus.

what an upleasant ride, i had to get off in JHB though i was meant to get off in Midrand. i just could not stand the smell any longer. the next day i could not even go to work because of the flu i had then contracted, the sneezing was just out of my control, my eyes were teary. my eye-gene was could not help the situation. such appalling conditions! it was disgusting to say the least!

To the Ceo

My name is Duwayne Naidoo, I made a booking on the 09/02/16, Citiliner bus for my Fiance, 9.15 pm Durban to Jhb. I book often with Greyhound and feel your service was disgusting. The staff was excellent, but your bus seats did not recline, the toilet was stinking in the bus and the toilet door did not close. There was not curtain for the window she sat at. The passenger behind her kept kicking her from the back. This is not acceptable, I am Loyalty club member as well and have been travelling from Durban to Jhb and vice versa, almost every weekend. I would like a refund. I can be contacted on [protected], [protected]@medscheme.co.za . I have lost Faith in using your services in the future. I wonder if you or someone with authority from your company will even call me, with regard to this complaint. I am going to put my complaint on Hellopeter, Facebook etc etc

I am very sad and disappointed in the service your drivers are giving one named Mafukidze to be precise, who was driving citiliner to Harare on the 17th of December 2014.

My sister was suppose to be on that bus but when the bus arrived he told us that he can take the passenger but with no luggage. I asked how is that possible and he had the guts to tell me that we passengers that board along the way we are a problem because we have luggage, whilst we were in the middle of this conversation a "friend" of his arrives with a bakkie carrying a huge box that looked like a cabinet big enough to fill a whole compartment on the bus and he is not even a passenger travelling on the bus, he packs his goods because it's money he is making into his own pocket.

He tells us to ask pioneer bus that was on the station to take some of our bags which I found very ridiculous and stupid .I asked my sister to rather travel on the pioneer bus instead since they had no space for her luggage.

I went ahead and called the call centre to lay a complaint and cancel the ticket guess what I was told they can't help me. The lady instead gave me a number for someone dealing with drivers, called that number and they also refused to help me.

I want my refund for the ticket since it was your arrogant and very rude driver's fault that made us not use your services. And in future please tell your driver Mafukidze to at have customer services and consider clients first before he decides to make his extra money through the bus .

Ticket reference number: T8DHYOXA

Boarding at Mokopane

Very disappointed

The coach from JHB to DBN supposed to leave at 19h45 from Midrand depot, only arrived in Midrand at 21h00. I made numerous calls to their offices where their call center staff kept cutting off the calls when recieved. No notification sent to commuters & a total lack of service.
Then, the coach collects Midrand commuters, goes to Park station, drops them off, to stand in a line outside in the cold. My Mom (56Yrs), travelling with 2 children below 15yrs, had to take her bags off the 1st coach herself & go stand in the line. No one assisted them. I got word of this & eventually got through to the call centre, spoke to the guys above. The excuse was, after much deliberation, that it was a tech fault. They failed to sms passengers, but were relaxed about it. I held on the call for 47 minutes, till the bus arrived only at 22h18. Then, the entire trip, they played loud gospel music, in defiance of all passengers on the bus. Vinnette the supervisor, should be fired, as she is useless at customer service. I am going to reverse my payment & the next website is The SUN & the Star. I will not allow this company to progress with such a horrible attitide to its consumers.