Gautrain
Reviews and Complaints

I am really disappointed that I was charged R240.00 for R36.00 trip from Centurion to Midrand using my Capitec bank card then I was told I did not tap my card correctly when I left Centurion which is very impossible. really disappointed is the services and I do request for a refund regarding the matter.

my contact number is [protected] Tebogo Phalane email is tebogo. [protected]@gmail.com

I'm so frustrated I want my R240 back. Took a train from park station to Sandton this morning Trai was probably babalazed it made incorrect stop announcements, worst part charger me an abnormal fee, when I try find out y was asked y did I use my bank card... Like y say we can when you know you going to scam us. Been on the website stuck by I'm not a robbot. Before I lose it please give me back my money already you've caused me stress as if I owe you.

On 1/5/23 I used Gautrain to travel from Sandton City to Centurion. On arrival at Sandton City I used one of their machines to find out how much money I had on my Gautrain card (as I do not use it regularly) and wanted to know if I had enough money on the card to pay for the R62 trip fare. I had R300, so I proceeded to the entrance gate to go down to catch the train. To my surprise the entrance gate denied me access, stating that my card was invalid. I went to the sales kiosk and asked why I could not get through the entrance gate and was abruptly advised that my card was "time expired" and as a consequence, I forfeited my money. I was shocked, that Gautrian could "invalid" a travel card and take what ever money existed on that card as thier own. Firstly , I don't regard this as a "forfeiture of my money", and the more appropriate term would be "the theft of my money". It is not my problem that Gautrian gets involved with travel card suppliers that utilize a card that "packs up" after a time period and then use that as an excuse to "steal customer's money" which they term as "forfeiture". Gautrain' as a consequence of getting involved with such "useless cards" need to deal more appropriately with refunding customers their money rather than using it to take customers money without supplying a service. I subsequently applied for an online refund using Gautrain's system and got a response saying "Final decision - NO refund. Money has been forfeited". That blunt response was very annoying, as if Gautrain are the sole arbiters of dealing with customers complaints in a very dismissive manner and on a "take it or leave it basis". The bottom line is solely due to Gautrain's policies and processes I have had R300 stolen from me. That R300 was not able to be utilized for a fare and at the same time that money is not with me, but with Gautrain and I have been summarily informed by Gautrain that it has been forfeited. That is a disgrace.

I would like to lodge a complaint about the R200 that was taken from my bank card three days after a trip I took. I took a trip from Hatfield Station to Midrand Station on the 27th of April using the same bank card. The trip was meant to cost R65 but today (30 April 2033) R200 was taken from my card for the trip. I believe I have been unfairly charged and I would like to be refunded the amount of R135.

24 April 2023

Description of bus driver: The light skinned bus driver who wears glasses who travels from Rhodesfield station to Glen Marais.

Incident:

1. He always asks people to give him R10 instead of using their Gautrain cards

2. He always picks us up late, as a result of him waiting for some people who pay him R10s to knockoff, which delays our trips

28/11/2022 - My husband presented his Gautrain card to the operator at Gautrain Pretoria Central Station to add some money & buy tickets.  The operator said the card had expired.  The card has an expiry date of 31/12/2023 embossed on it. She couldn't explain that or where the balance of R73 had gone. He had to buy a new card and send an email to Gautrain, as no refunds are done at the stations.

We submitted the claim via their card management system three times and each time it came back with a different reason for the refund being declined, the last being - Your card has insufficient funds.

I then called their Customer Care number and spoke to a very helpful Nothando who told me the reason we haven't been refunded is because the card wasn't used for three years, even though the card at face value shows it only expires on 31/12/2023. She suggested I email Gautrain via their website stating that it was impossible to use the Gautrain as we were locked down for Covid during the time we would have been using it, and so used it at the first available opportunity we could travel. That we reside in Durban and request that the refund will be favourably considered under the circumstances.  I sent the email and received a hard NO. (email at the bottom)

I have seen lots of people complaining about the same thing on Twitter, Hello Peter, Facebook etc and it got me thinking that if they scooped all the money from everyone unable to use the Gautrain during Covid they must have accumulated a lovely little nest egg!  How do you have card that clearly shows you it expires 31/12/2023, but it doesn't?

Is there an Ombudsman or someone to take this up with?

Email from Gautrain

Dear

Thank you for your email.

Please note that your Gautrain card has expired due to non-usage in the past 3 years and it will not be refunded.

The last use of this card was [protected]. Kindly see attached card statement.

I was travelling along West road this morning. Around 7:18am I was waiting my turn on the corner of West and Katherine at the four way stop (robot is down). It was my turn to cross the intersection when one of your drivers simply proceeded through without checking whether it was safe to do. He did not follow the rules of a four way stop. I narrowly avoided a collision by swerving into the oncoming lane. This is not the first time that one of your drivers has done this. This is putting innocent drivers lives at risk as well as the lives of your passengers. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Today was the worst day of my life due to Thabo Stikane, one of your unpleasant and disrespectful employees in Midrand. I was listening to voice notes on my phone, so I laughed out loud. When he looked at me in the mirror I got scared and, I apologized for being too loud or maybe I annoyed him. He carried himself in a manner befitting the barbaric and illiterate individual that he is. The first thing he did was yell at me, asking, "What are you apologizing for?" I said, "I'm sorry for laughing," to which he reacted, "In a very arrogant and condescending tone, yelling at me." It is unclear to me if he was attempting to demonstrate a point or humiliating me in front of other people.

Good Day

I would like to complain about the R200 fee charged on my account after travelling from Pretoria to Park Station as the reason being that I used a different card to check in. I am able to identify all the cards used and therefore able to check where the payment was made, meaning Gautrain services would be able to see where I checked in and where I checked out using the generated token numbers. I feel that this is an unnecessary expense to my pocket, and I would like a refund and a proper investigation instead of the answers I have received about using different cards. I have paid when checking in and checking out, I would like to be charged fairly the R69 for the trip I made on that day. The trip was made on the 21st of September.

token no. for check out card: BE75A01F790692366577990FA6B9DF9CCAAB8D9790066EA619E8F028B946A52E

Token no, for check in card: 3948C70A255CF974E6BCB64495AE4C95BB62BE03F96D1B514988E957AF4FF558

Regards

Lizzy

My claim was rejected This is totally unacceptable, when you buy your Gautrain card, nobody tells you when it expire and if you don't use it for 3 years they don't give your money back. "Gautrain cards expire 3 years from the date of last use and any remaining value on the Card is Forfeited."

Card Validity End Date: 2023-12-31

Card balance: R 355.00

According to the Gautrain records the card only expire end of next year. Why don't they want to pay back MY money?

Gautrain bus service drivers who operate the Park Station-JHB CBD route have a horrid penchant of claiming falsely that the middle doors do not work when what appears to be the case, is that, they [drivers] do not wish to open such doors: it cannot be that on all occasions the buses have middle doors that do not work - only one or two buses would be reasonably credible.

The bus driver who drove the bus that left Park Station for the JHB CBD on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, at about 11h30, menacingly claimed the middle door did not work, was in my view, lying. It's simply a case of black people being, as usual, very disrespectful toward black customers. It happens everywhere in this country, the Gautrain is no exception. You should witness the slavish alacrity with which black service folks serve white customers, my word, you would think they were likely to win the Nobel Prize for Customer Service; it's hilarious.

Anyway, the Gautrain Bus Drivers are generally very disrespectful toward customers who stand at the middle door, 'That door does not work', they would claim. Right?

If I had an alternative to the Gautrain in this cartel (oligopolistic) economy, I would take that alternative in a second. I cannot stand bad manners, which the Gautrain bus drivers have in truckloads. Thanks for nothing.

A gau bus on Friday afternoon 12:42 on alandale turning into old Pretorius rd decided to stop in the middle of the road on the curve. Blocking traffic from turning, he/she decided to offload passenger right by the corner preventing traffic from turning and thus being forced to wait for him to finish and move I took a picture of the bus information.

Such behaviour from a reputable brand is unacceptable and must be addressed so as to maintain the brand equity. Kindly take action regarding this matter.

Regards

Tk

Good day,

Had a bad experience today with a driver from sandton station to Revonia.

I stood up before my stop in Rivonia road n the driver just passed the bus stop intentionally, had to risk and drop off on a busy road out of bus stop.

Really disappointed with the service and he was very rude towards me.

Date of the incident :30 March 2022

Time : we've left the station at 8:43

Good Morning

I'm really disappointed and upset by the treatment I received from one of your security guards, at Gautrain Park Station this morning. I'm a loyal customer that uses the train everyday to commute to work, I was using the train this morning, at Gautrain Park Station, incident time 10:48 am, just when I was about to board the train, will all the security that never had a problem with me from gate entrance, the escalators, to the turnstiles. There was this one of your securities with aggression, that decided to mess up my morning.

It was just when I was about to board the train in a minute, before the train leaves, he then decides to harrass me and take away my sealed food that I had to drink when I start my shift before work with medication, and he could see everything was sealed, the straw etc. and unused.

I was assigned by my Doctor to eat that type of food, since I'm on medication and cant have hard or solid food, I have a gum and dental operation/ inflammation and I spent a lot of money for that smoothie he took from me, without lack of reasoning even though I tried to explain to him, the reason why I have it, there is in no away I was gonna drink it in the train I've been using the train for years and I understand the rules.

the security guy when I was entering a train that was about to depart in a minute decided to take away my smoothie , what saddens me I tried to explain to him that I'm on Medication, he was just interested on getting rid of it.

I cant take solid food for a month, my dentist assigned me that type of food, before taking my morning medication, now I'm just infuriated and extremely offended as I have to drink my medication but your security without lack of reasoning or listening to me just took away my food, away from me even though I told him , I'm on medication.

Please get back to me, I would appreciate the feedback.

Regards

Thato [protected]

Good day

This morning at 06:45 I took the Gautrain bus from Montecasino to Sandton (bus plate number JS11WF GP). The driver accepted two passengers without them having sufficient funds in their cards. This is not acceptable. The driver should not accept any passengers with cards that do not have enough money loaded on their cards. I have never ever been accepted on any bus if I dont have sufficient amount to pay for my trip. Please address with the driver. Thank you

Most shocking incident! Observed a Gautrain bus travelling up Glenhove Road, Joburg, at 23 July 09h18. The bus was traveling at speed and the driver decided to overtake a vehicle over a white line despite oncoming traffic. At those speeds cars will be completely crushed!
Considering that the bus had travelers inside is even more shocking. The bus drivers arrogance and sheer recklessness even with customers inside very clearly describes a person who most certainly should not be in that position .
I reported it to Gautrain immediately with the bus number and reg and have received zero response to date.
At this point in time I am not sure which party is more at fault, the bus driver for his actions, or Gautrain for their lack of actions in protecting the public and their very own travelers.
Gautrain buses are driving around like they are race cars and very little respect and control seem to be in place. It needs to be dealt with.

I am a resident of the newly developed area (Greenlee estates). There are bus stops opposite to our vicinity but No Gautrain bus stops have as yet been erected at those bus stops. We were told by the Management of Gautrain that bus stops will be erected as soon as it is approved which is indefinite. We have since been experiencing mistreatment by some of the Gautrain minibus drivers by amongst others not stopping for us or urged to wait for them at unsafe place and the matter had on repeated occasions reported to their management without any success. It became apparent that the bus operators derive their courage to mistreat customers from the Management whom we entrusted our confidence to I am regular user of Gatrain from Marlboro to Johannesburg on daily basis, however becomes a challenge when I have to use a shuttle to commute home or visa versa.

This is one of a series of complaints that I will be posting throughout social media.I'm extremely upset. Ive just missed my flight because of false and misleading information on your website. Your Websiye and you gate at Sandton Station clearly state that the gate opens at 4:35 but instead you open at 5:10.

If you had communicated Clear then your Gautrain would not have been an option. Your service and communication is atrocious to say the least . i'm extremely upset.

I waited for a train to arrive for about an hour and when it arrived the driver just waited few minutes and drove away while I was trying to help a women to get inside the train with her bags.I had to wait for another becuase I was trying to a be good citizen please talk to your drivers to check first before they leave.

About 4 weeks ago a Gautrain Midrand station bus driver deliberately drove into my wife's car Yzg644Gp i20. No one has contacted me or my wife to give us update or resolve my complaints. I come to Gautrain Midrand station offices regularly and no feedback or progress on my matter except to say it relates to a third party and third party will contact me.