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Transtar Travel - Solitaire Bus from SG to KL

Singapore, Singapore
1 post
19 helpful votes
Transtar Travel - Solitaire Bus from SG to KL

*** 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!

1 post
31. Re: Transtar Travel - Solitaire Bus from SG to KL

The first thing I saw when I hopped on the bus was a ROACH at my seat the bus is DISGUSTING, every inch was dirt and dust and flecks of unknown matter in every crevice. The driver almost left us at customs and didn't even give us enough time to pick up our things and disembark the bus and drove away. We had to ask him to make a stop again and he replied rudely. The nasi lemak was horrendous but expected. Roaches however, should NOT ever be expected. I would never ever use Transtar again.

Kuala Lumpur...
1 post
3 helpful votes
32. Re: Transtar Travel - Solitaire Bus from SG to KL

Couldn't agree more. I'm writing this from my bus. I've never experienced any worse than this bus in my life.

1 post
33. Re: Transtar Travel - Solitaire Bus from SG to KL

ZERO Stars!!!

Trip:Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.

Unpleasant experience in chronological order.

To begin with, infamous bus AGG555 has a very poor historical record. Google it and you will know.

1) Assigned Bus PC88S was first late for 5 mins and only arrived at 7:50am, while departure was 7:45am. This was not the premium bus which had paid and book for.

2) Bus PA88S then drove towards Tuas Crescent MRT, it then stopped at 3 bus stops and waited. This is along the MRT track. This then contributed to a 30 minute extra time before reaching customs. When quired about the stops and wait. The driver from China then argued defensively and shouted: "you can make complaints if you want to".

3) It took the Bus PC88S 3 hours to travel from Golden Mile to Tuas Customs and PC88S ended its trip at Sultan Abu Bakar Complex (Malaysia Customs & Immigration).

4) The entire bus then had to transfer to an assigned Bus AGG555, an infamous one, a green coloured Transtar, Malaysian registered bus. Bus was dirty and had cockroaches, both adult and young ones.

5) No WiFi, No personal entertainment system. Hardware is there but all are not working. This is despite having paid for a premium ticket.

6) AGG555 left Malaysian customs and 45 minutes later, made a stop for a 15 minutes toilet break which we thought was a redundant stop due to a lunch break stop soon.

7) Another 50 minutes later we made another stop at Yong Peng (U), which we were told to be a 30 minute lunch break. The time we stepped off the bus was 12:31pm. This mean that we would need to return and board the bus at 1:01pm.

8) The bus group then waited at the bus bay located at Yong Peng (U) before 1:00pm. The bus was no where to be seen. 30 minutes past, and not a sight of bus AGG555. Passengers were looking for the bus everywhere at the bus bay but to no avail.

9) We tried calling back Singapore but nobody at Transtar office ever pick up the phone during the 15 minutes of repeated calls.

10) At 1:52pm, the bus arrived. The bus driver claimed that he had to collect bags that were left over on another bus by the passenger last night (something so fishy here even if it is a genuine case, but at our expense?) Bus driver do not seem to be apologetic, not even a tinge of guilt. The bus then left at 2:00pm for Kuala Lumpur. 6 hours from the start of bus ride and we were still only at Yong Peng. This has to be a joke.

11) 3:20pm, yet another toilet break at pandu cermat R&R. Bus AGG555 drove off at 3:31pm.

12) We arrived at Berjaya Times Square at 5:25pm. A total of 9.5 hours umpleasant journey. Almost doubled the average time required.

Trip: Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.

13) Shock and unlucky to be assigned AGG555 again. Bus was late for 20mins from 3pm departure time. Bus departed at 325pm near Berjaya Times Square.

14) The trash and rubbish left behind by passengers that remained in the bus were still at the same spot. This was 3 days apart and no housekeeping was done.

15) The inbound trip experience was bad and it took 9 hours to reach Golden Mile. A return leg.

16) This is my FIRST and LAST Transtar experience for sure.

17) I am not keen in any service recovery even if there is one!!!

Singapore
1 post
13 helpful votes
34. Re: Transtar Travel - Solitaire Bus from SG to KL

I’m posting this from AG555 from SIN-KL. First, passengers are asked to wait for the bus 10 minutes before the scheduled pick up time at 10.45pm. The bus only arrives at 11.30pm, leaving people of all ages, some carrying infants standing in rainy weather for 55 minutes with no Transtar attendant in sight informing us of any delay.

6 hours after boarding the bus, the driver makes the first washroom stop. This is when we discover the lower deck has flooded and all bags that were on the floor are wet, including my backpack. My bag has been soaked through and my clothes for this short weekend trip are wet with dodgy bus water(where this water has even come from is what I want to know. Yes it’s a rainy day but that doesn’t explain how the couple of mm deep water has somehow occupied the entire lower deck). My fellow bus passenger highlights this to the driver, who says “oh mm hmm” in acknowledgement, then proceeds to light a cigarette while remaining in the driver seat.

20 minutes later, the driver drives around a bend and water fills my shoe. I shine a torch to investigate and realise that all the trash on the bus floor(satay stick with gristle still stuck on it, various bits of plastic & food wrappers, and a baby roach) has washed up at my feet. I realise this is the same water that has also soaked through my bag and clothes.

All I know now is that I need a shower and a laundromat. Oh and that I’m never, ever taking a Transtar bus again.

1 post
35. Re: Transtar Travel - Solitaire Bus from SG to KL

Lousy Bus Company. To make it worse, bus drivers cant speak proper english to no english at all! Had my worst travel experience ever. Lost my luggage while travelling to KL via Transtar. Driver gave my bag to a wrong group! Better take a different bus line if you dont want to suffer like I do.

Istanbul, Turkiye
1 post
72 helpful votes
36. Re: Transtar Travel - Solitaire Bus from SG to KL

İf i give Star to transtar,So big 1 star

Worst not smile staff

Cleveland, Ohio
1 post
25 helpful votes
37. Re: Transtar Travel - Solitaire Bus from SG to KL

We did a lot of research on traveling from KL to Singapore, decided the Transtar bus would be an easy way to go.

Finding the pick-up point( One Ultima Shopping Center) was a nightmare, our cab driver didn't have a clue (hint it is in the back of the shopping complex)

The bus did not match the pictures, the seats were cracked and broken, WI-Fi did not work, nor did the 3 channels on the entertainment center. The biggest problem was the air conditioning or lack of. it was so hot.

Lunch was good, but you had to ask all the time for water.

we made bathroom stops about every 2 hours,

We were not told about going through customs exiting Malaysia and entering Singapore, we are senior citizens, and little help was offered with our luggage.

There was very little signage at the Golden Mile Complex where we were dropped off, the bus pulled into an alley and unloaded the luggage.

The kicker was, we boarded the bus, drove 25 minutes, stopped at their office in downtown KL for 1 hour, and we realized this office was 10 minutes from our hotel. We could have boarded there

The ride was miserably hot , long and uncomfortable

Kent, United Kingdom
Destination Expert
for Singapore
5,539 posts
31 helpful votes
38. Re: Transtar Travel - Solitaire Bus from SG to KL

" We did a lot of research on traveling from KL to Singapore, decided the Transtar bus would be an easy way to go. "

But you have only just found this thread that has been running for 2 years.

I do sympathize when people have a bad experience especially when on holiday but with the www at your fingertips a lot of things can be avoidable . Not teaching you to suck eggs but this is a great forum to come onto when planning things like this to get the best advice. Apart from the bus journey I hope the rest of your holiday went well.

Singapore, Singapore
4,763 posts
49 helpful votes
39. Re: Transtar Travel - Solitaire Bus from SG to KL

U did your research& ya Transtar was supposed to be a good choice.. Note the phrase "was"..

In my last few posts in past months , i"ve put out a single bus operator as Premium & better in terms of service.. Aeroline..

But the older forum posts has remained so that was when Transtar was still worth it & value for money..

Too many things left unrepaired & just collect money..

I think i've stopped using their buses for approx 9 months or so..

Nowadays prefer to use ordinary buses from WTS Travel , Eltabina &Sri Maju instead..

Cheers

Dirty Scooby

40. Re: Transtar Travel - Solitaire Bus from SG to KL

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