Golden Arrow Bus Services [GABS]
Reviews and Complaints

Hi, there I take the lwandle bus from Malibu village to eersterivier at 05:30 and that driver is so rude he literally won't stop at the bus stop where I wait and it's clearly marked, he always look upset and drives like a speed devil I don't mind the driving but you have to be professional in your job, he also stops in the middle of the road for us to get on

Good day

I would like to report your drivers unproffessional rude behavior.
I take this bus every morning but the driver of this morning was not the regular driver of our route.

As I got to the destination I pressed the buzzer which did not work. I then knocked on the drivers glass to get his attention.He ignored me and drove on then after a while turned to me with an angry expression on his face and and screamed at me to press the buzzer if I wanna get off.He responded rudely to say the buzzer work for other people.
Then the other commuters is the bus told him the one I pressed does not work. He then only stopped.

This is unacceptable behavior and I will not rest till this driver get dealt with.I work in customer service and the service he rendered was ubrupt.

Angelica
Angelica.[protected]@mtn.com
[protected]

HI
At the Bellville/Elsies river bus station - Cape town cbd are, right next to the section where you sit and wait on the buss is a big pole that support the bus stop structure, on the ground are deep wholes filled up with pee. We think that people that sleeps in that surrounding area at night use that holes as a toilet. and if the son shines on top of that wee it smells 10 times worse. so much that you cannot sit on the benches while waiting on the bus. People confirmed that they have send emails, calls. I personally asked one of the regulators and inspectors to kindly report it, but there is no joy coming thru from Gab.
Will you PLEASE get the counsil in to empty that holes in the ground and fill it up with cement or concrete. The same at the bus stop next to ours

31 October 2019. I got on the golden arrow bus 4927 at 16:30 via Salt River to Belhar. When I got on the bus it was full not a place for any other person to stand in the bus. I stood on the edge of the stairs. Being sick with the flu and having my monthly period I could not stand and sat on the stairs due to feeling dizziness and was scared that I was going to faint. Driver stopped the bus shouted at me telling me he is not going to drive if I sit. I have to Stand on the stairs. The people in the bus started shouting at me due to the driver not wanting to drive. I was traumatized and felt like leaving the bus. I stood and luckily made it out alive. I pay full price for my ticket and never get a seat to sit. All busses are full that I take and do not have a problem. But today the driver did not take into consideration my circumstances. When I left the bus he humiliated me further by telling me I should read the rules and that I'm stupid. I wish for this case to be investigated and would like the driver to apologise for his behavior and never to treat anyone of the passengers in the future the way I was treated today. Thank you.

Good Day

I would like to bring this to your attention that today, I embarked on a bus with the following details: Driver 87619, Bus: 4913, Route BMD5 and the driver was so rude and driving recklessly all the way from Delft until we got to Cape Town station.
Some of the things he was doing on the road were crossing over the pavement corners and the bus bumps up and down, stopping the bus few meters away from the bus stop, leaving passengers behind and dropping off passengers few bus stops away from where they intended to disembark claiming that they did not ring the bell when they have actually rang the bell but the sound is so not loud and they are even standing by the door ready to disembark but he will pass the bus stop and drop them off in the next one. He was also taking harsh brakes on the N2, you can check the onboard video clips if your camera system is still work.

This is a new driver for this route I understand but the attitude and the bad driving behaviour is just too much to apprehend, We will appreciate if you to look into this issue or better send drivers who respect paying passengers and other motorists on the road so that at the end of the day we all get to our destination safely. Our regular driver never give us so much frustrations. I am afraid, situations like this if not properly handled by the management could lead to disastrous consequences.

Good Day
Yesterday 15.10.2019 I took the 15H00 bus from Cape Town terminus to Retreat Station, getting off in Wynberg. I have been travelling this route for 22 years. Yesterday I got into the bus with a R100 note to be be told abruptly by the drive is this most vulgar way that he does not have change as he just started. I then suggested to him that its okay I can get the change from him later as there were numerous amount of people getting in with cash. He then then said "JUST GET OUT OF THE BUS AND TAKE THE NEXT ONE" bare in mind I get to work at 6am to leave work early so that I can miss the traffic. I then turned around to the side of the bus, scrated my bag out andd found a R20 note. I then turned went to the driver (by then he would have had change) and he shouted at me, "just get out of the way, why did you not give the change in the first place" then he went on speaking to the passenger about me reffereing to me as a third person.. How rude and obnoxious can one be. I told him to stop shouting at me and speaking to be in such a rude manner. I told him I will report him. Never the less, he drove that bus so crazy, the old lady which sat next to me eventually said to me.. This driver is not a very nice person, he is very rude all the time and he drives like a manic. Please could you assist me.

Dear Sir / Madam

I am writing this email with the soar heart of the treatment that I had to endure at the hands of one of your drivers this afternoon (2019/07/18) @ 16H15. I am a GABS commuter from Cape Town everyday taking a Route 1/ Makhaza bus from Cape Town. As I was to board bus 4938 from Cape Town, I was shouted and sweared at by the bus driver accusing me of not standing in the queue. I was travelling with a colleague from work but delayed because I had to go to Golden Acre clicks. On my arrival, the driver's approach towards me was very aggressive and arrogant as he did not even give me an opportunity to state my side. Altercation ensued and the next minute I was called "jou p***s" " hey fu….. k" by the bus driver. I also responded back as I was angry.

What I want to raise is the inappropriate conduct / behaviour of this bus driver towards me. This is a clear demonstration that he has no regard for customers and law unto himself. His unethical conduct and arrogant behaviour has been happening with other clients as well for a while and never anticipated that such treatment could happen to me. I strongly believe that this cannot continue unabated. This bus driver is ill disciplined to the core and must be dealt with accordingly. While we were arguing in Cape Town bus terminus, he clearly gave me instructions that I can go and report him to the bus inspectors he does not care. This is a clear demonstration that he is ill disciplined and that he is not afraid of them or whoever is in charge there.

When I arrived in Khayelitsha / Makhaya and about to disembark/ jump out of the bus, he literally closed the door in my face as a clear demonstration that he was again provoking me. Thereafter he laughed and re-opened the bus door. I kept my cool and didn't say anything.

I am therefore reporting this traumatic experience for your attention and further handling. I hope that this bus driver will be dealt with according to the internal processes and be taught to respect the clients. I am deeply hurt and disturbed by what I have experienced and I could have done anything to him.

Please kindly respond at your earliest convenience and provide feedback and progress on measures taken against this particular driver that is so ill disciplined. I have never felt so humiliated and insulted like this before.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Sincerely,

LT George
Deputy Director : Rural Enterprise & Industrial Development Branch (REID)
Cape Winelands & Overberg Districts
Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development
[protected] / [protected]

Good Morning,

On the 15 July 2019 round about 16:35 the Rocklands bus came and refused to stand in the yellow lane . We walked towards the bus and he opened the doors for us knowing there was another bus in the yellow lane.As I got into the bus he closed the door on my foot and there was another guy that got in an same incident happened including his back pack.My foot and leg is swollen and in pain.The bus number is 4112 (Golden Arrow Bus Services). The incident happened in Montague Drive and Chain Avenue ( On the side of PPC ) that bus stop. Im not happy about the service or the way the driver the responded / reacted (Attitude)

Hope this matter will be resolved

Regards
Edwina Arendse

I travel travel from Elsiesriver to Montague Gardens, I get on the bus at 28th Avenue every morning, this morning however when I scanned my card it read invalid. I was rudely informed by the lady driver (did not take the bus number - it was the Netreg - Killarney Gardens bus - I know they call the driver Noma) to get off her bus as I was wasting her time when I explained my ticked was fine yesterday morning. I did not have the money to pay an extra R10 to board the bus.
Why would my ticket be valid from Owen rd - Montague Gardens One day and the next day not?
Why was there no notification anywhere informing passengers that Golden Arrow is changing the route so that we would have to pay more?
What Route do I now have to buy in order for my card to be valid?
The driver's behavior was unacceptable regarding the manner she handled the whole situation, she literally thew me a paying customer out of the bus with words and attitude.

Driver refused to stop at bus stop of my selection. As at the previous bus stop people are getting off the bus and I start making my way forward to the front of the bus as I'll be getting off at the next bus stop, and as I do so I press the stop button driver sees me in his rear view mirror making my way forward, as we get closer to my stop I realise that he never decreased his speed yet I press the button again and inform him here is a bus stop, his response is that I pressed the button to late and he still refused to stop. Drops me off at a further drop of as I had to make my way back to work with a extra 5min walk.

I am here to inform the golden arrow bus service, that should this matter not be dealt with to my satisfaction, I will then go forth with reporting this to all social media's, news papers and hello petter. And I'll attach the photos I have taken from the driver and the bus

Should you wish to get back to me contact me on [protected] or email shafiq.[protected]@gmail.com or [protected]@debttracker.co.za

I was en route to claremont on bus number ph2034 which departed town centre at 11am on 15 april 2019..A gentleman boarded the bus in spine road and as the bus turned into cedar avenue he started threatening a fellow female passenger if she don''t hand over her belongings he is going to shoot. Scared and weary of his presence and current state of mind i fled to the front of the bus to be seated close to the door should the need to flee the bus for my safety arise.He became aggresive and assulting and reached for my handbag but could not get it free as it was around my waist.He persued to pu on the handbag and in this time the driver opened the door of the bus at a non designated stop for the robber to exit the bus, he however was clinging to my handbag and pulled me out of the bus which resulted in me falling and injuring my left knee...Being in pain he managed to free the bag from my waist and took of with everything..I had to see that i get to hospital was not offered by goden arrow to be taken to private hospital had to sit for 8 hrs and come back the following day to be treated further.I am left limping and was not contacted once by a company representitive to even find out how im doing.A lot has changed for me since this horrific incident and i am utterly disgusted that golden arrow dont give a rats [censored] about its commuters after promising security on off peak buses after robberies on buses escalated

On multiple occasions, one of them being Wed, 20-03-2019 on the 04h45 bus - route OPN4, driver number 86387, bus number 4123, I was on the bus from Mitchells Plain Town Centre travelling to City of Cape Town.
This driver has no respect or consideration for the passengers and drives extremely recklessly. Driving too fast, making emergency stops which results in the passengers falling all over the bus and driving too fast over speed bumps which also results in passengers falling off their seats from the impact of the speed bumps.
This driver is also very verbally rude to the passengers.
We have previously complained about this driver to Mr Jordaan at (021) 374-3400, but nothing has happened.
Some passengers have complaint of physical ailments after driving in this bus but they have no choice.
I look forward to a resolution in this matter.

I would start off this message by saying good day, however that would not be relevant because there is nothing good about it.

I am disgusted by the employees you have hired as managers because I called the Montana depot yesterday wanting assistance with the wrong route that was loaded to the bus card. The route is supposed to be Nyanga - Wynberg and the route that was loaded was Mannenberg - Wynberg. It's a pity that I could not get her name but it was a female and she promised to speak to Nikki to contact the BP garage in Stock Rd to exchange the ticket.

It's appauling that a customer service manager would promise to call the garage to rectify the ticket, and literally 10 mins later I called back and was gobsmacked to discover that the 'managers' have left and gone home. Since when do we lie to customers about doing something and not deliver? Why are we treated like another number instead of valuable customers who are a source of income to the company? If your company is serious about it's business, then it should start attending to the needs of the customers. Why must I feel like I am a charity case when your company has received the money for the ticket?

I guess your slogan is correct in saying, "The bus for us" because you only get assisted if you are a certain someone, nobodies like us are not a priority at all. The number I used to call the Montana Depot yesterday was 0791676121 and hopefully you will have call records of my call at 4h15pm on February 11, 2019.

This morning I am going to waste another R40 because of your employee's negligence and travel to the Golden Arrow depot, so that this journey on the card can be changed. Please do not apologise if you are going to respond to this message, I prefer that you change the route to the correct one and refund the R40 please. Thank you very much

My contact number is [protected].

What an inconvenience because this could have been resolved yesterday if the lazy manager actually got Nikki Adams to call the BP garage, its not like she was going to travel on a cart and horse to relay the message. Mandla Ngoma (assistant manager at BP garage) said he needed Nikki's authorisation to change the card. I hope this can be fixed sooner than later because you are a transport company and every minute counts because we have jobs to get to.

Good evening I'm standing from 17:00 today waiting for the bus and still haven't seen one so far kindly advise why so and when will there be one next one is for 18:30 the service delivery sucks kindly resolve soonest please otherwise I'll take my business elsewhere and not use this service again in future

Yours truly
Concerned and frustrated customer

Bus no 2512 retreat to cape 16:30 bus. I have logged a complaint before about the lady that drives this bus, we stand in Claremont bus stop and she passes all the time while there are empty seats or if she stop she only says 5 people must enter, she rude doesn't know how to speak to passengers, when she likes she doesn't stop on bus stop she stops at the robbots just for people not to go in . Today 23/01/2019 she once again passed us in Claremont with empty seats on the bus, nothing is done about her and she's also sure that Nothing will b done to, she exchanges rude and uncalled for comments to passegers, when she also feels like it she would switch off the bus in the road and says it's too full its overheating this she also did yesterday 22/01/2019.. can golden pls do something we don't stay in Claremont we still rush to cash other busses in town and it takes to long for a next bus to come this causes an inconvenience to us as passengers pls help and assist

Like in the previous week, I have this past week every morning morning paid the full price on Golden Arrow (R24 from Parow to Cape Town and afternoons before 16:00, R13). This whole week Golden Arrow did not have Gold Cards available at any of its selling points. This means that Golden Arrow laughs all the way to the bank getting more income, and I like many other commuters are disavantaged because we cannot buy the cheaper fare relating to weekly tickets and monthly tickets. This is really unfair. How long is this situation still going to last?

I know this is not the first time a complaint is written and it clearly shows nothing is being done if another complaint is written about the same issue.

I am a paying customer and I feel this issue should be addressed. I travel the mitchell's plain route (rocklands). I take the after 5 bus everyday. My complaint is as follows.

There is a click of people that waits at the bus stop that time. They do not wait in the line they gather in front which isn't fare as everyone want to get home and safely at that.

They do not care and this bothers me plenty...

Please attend to this matter before I escalate this matter.

I buy my ticket at the BP garage in Montague drive they never had stock of the Gold cards which is why I never received one. Customers were informed on the bus I was travelling the cards are no longer free it will cost R25. This morning (23/10/2018) I went to the BP garage in Montague drive to buy a gold card and was informed they no longer have stock and cannot sell me the old paper ticket. So not only must I pay extra R25 for a Gold card I never received to begin with as there was never stock. I now have to pay cash on the bus costing me triple my allocated budget due to this.

Bus Number: 4056- City Freeway from Nyanga to Cape Town

I pressed the bell to alert driver to stop at the following bus stop, to my surprise the bell was not working. As im moving forward to the front and verbally informed the driver to stop at my bus stop because the bell is not working. He was rude and refused to stop "stating he did not hear the bell"- Question is how will you hear the bell when its not even working to make it worse as a driver not being aware of faulty bells in the bus you driving?!

As I am pleading for him to stop since his still within my bus stop he bluntly passed my bus stop and stopped only at the following stop which inconvenienced me as a passenger, as I had to walk back resulting in being late for work.

Prioritise on repairing bus faulty bells please, ensure your drivers are aware of faulty bells & most importantly teach your drivers on customer centricity.

Moral of the story he had the option of stopping at my desired bus stop there was still enough time to stop but instead he refused and there was no logic in that.
As part of training, teach them problem solving skills as he lack in that area. If he did I wouldnt be writing the complaint.

Address this matter please.