*** I would give ZERO stars if I could. Disgusting interiors and terrible customer service from the company. This is a review of my own experience in order to help other travelers make a choice on buses from SG to KL and back. ***
We selected the SOLITAIRE bus from SG to KL, swayed by some positive online reviews and pictures of the amazing lush interiors.
We could not have been more wrong with our choice.
The bus interior, despite some glowing online reviews and pictures, was disgusting. Some seats could not adjust the tilt or elevation. Some of chairs even have the "massage" feature broken. Some screens can't be used. It's a good thing that the bus was so empty that we could change our seats as we pleased. But yet, all the seats were severely lacking in decent maintenance and were filthy and disgusting; we had to brush out the dirt and gunk like peanut shells, and even had to wipe down the seats, armrests, controls, and screens with a wet wipe. Paint, plastic, and even the faux leather were chipping or cracked. There is a cubby hole meant for your bags, but it's filled with used tissue papers and garbage from another time. Probably from last year. The windows were smeared with the greasy Brylcreem of some old uncle, and the curtains had a rancid smell.
Nonetheless, seeing that we were duped and had no other recourse, we braved on from Singapore (at the Golden Mile Complex office) heading towards KL. Everything seemed okay passing the Singapore/Malaysian checkpoint, and once into Johor, we stopped by a gas station to pick up two service staff and our lunch meal.
The service staff were very nice, served us our drinks and lunch which consisted of Nasi Lemak from Killiney Kopitiam. Unfortunately, instead of some basic Nasi Lemak we would hope to at least get, this Nasi Lemak was far from our expectations. It was served with some lackluster Lemak rice, some anchovies and peanuts, a meager amount of sambal balacan, and... chicken nuggets.
Reaching KL was okay. The return trip wasn't much better, just that their office had a waiting area and provided air conditioning, coffee, and tea. Otherwise, the bus interior wasn't any better. Food back was a lunchbox of some chicken rice dish that tasted very weird.
Then the horror started. We went past Malaysian customs without a hitch, but going through Singapore customs took an excruciatingly long time. And when we finally got out of the immigration area, we were shockingly dumbfounded to witness the bus reverse out of the bus bay, and then proceeded to leave without us. It was too far away for us to do anything to stop it.
I called Transtar Travel immediately and requested for help, or what I should do. Lady on the line put me on hold for a solid 12 minutes, and when she got back to me, she just asked me to take a taxi back. I asked her if the company was going to reimburse me for the cost, she said no. I then asked her if I should engage my lawyer, then she quickly said "wait ah" and put me on hold for another 5 minutes, and then told me to take the next bus that was on the way. I asked her what time does the bus reach the immigration, she said in about 2 more hours. Which if you add on another hour's wait at the immigration area, that means 3 more hours before we can leave the immigration checkpoint!
We gave up. We had to pay another $2.50/pax (total $5) to take a bus to Jurong East, then from there another $30 for a cab just to get home.
If you're really on a tight budget, and really MUST take this bus, just go last minute and purchase a ticket from the office, and it'll save you 15 or more dollars. Just don't expect the beautiful pictures you see online, and expect to possibly get left behind at the customs. For us, we will never ever take Transtar Travel again!
