Intercity Xpress - Poor travel experience

I want to report the POOR BAD travel experience I endured through Intercity Xpress on 07/07/2024. I booked the ticket through Busbud from Johannesburg Midrand Big Bird to Pietermaritzburg; the departure time was 11h25 at Midrand and the arrival time was estimated to be 18:20 in PMB.
The bus was extremely delayed for the departure time. It was so sad to see other passengers using the Intercape bus, their buses arriving and leaving us there not even knowing if our bus was coming or not coming.
At 12h35 I decided to google the Intercity Xpress Head Office telephone number and inquire about my trip if the bus was still coming. A female answered the phone, when she heard that it was a passenger complaining about a delayed bus, she said "hold on" twice pretending to be checking for me, then the next thing I knew she hung up the call. I called again the same number, and now it was on the answering machine. The answering machine gave me a WhatsApp number which I sent a WhatsApp message, the WhatsApp message was responded to hours later, which was not helpful for someone who needed immediate answers.

Then an Eagle-Liner bus arrived about 1 hour 45 minutes later, with registration number LV 30 ZW GP, the bus driver came out and said we must jump in as our Intercity Xpress bus was waiting for us in Park Station. Okay, we climbed in, barely 15 minutes away from the pickup spot in Midrand Big Bird, the Eagle-Liner bus LV 30 ZW GP broke down just by the Allendale Offramp next to Mall of Africa. Another 1-hour delay waiting for another bus.

As if it was not enough, another bus came and we went to Park Station, when we got to Park Station, we were moved to another bus, and as we went onto this other bus, we were told "Sorry please bear with us, we are going to the Depot to get the actual but to travel with you to KNZ"

By now time was about 14h00 when we were supposed to have left Johannesburg at 11h25.
We choose travel times that are suitable and preferable to us as passengers for many different reasons, I had to arrive in Pietermaritzburg at 20h30 when I expected to have arrived at 18h30 at least. The delay was not my fault, I felt disrespected and inconvenienced. It is winter now and it gets dark very early in the evenings, arriving this late in a town or drop-off spot where there is no visible security is risky. I felt my safety was tampered with and was put in a vulnerable position unnecessarily. If Intercity Xpress cares for its passengers, it has to change its ways and how it operates. It was clear that everything was about them and not us as customers.

This was the worst travel experience I have ever experienced the worst and most disrespectful part is that when all these delays happen, no one from the Intercity Xpress bus company is communicating to us to let us know what is happening and the cause of the delay. I sat for over an hour at the Midrand pickup spot not knowing if the bus had changed times and left early or what, I had to make means on my own to reach out to them, only to be met with rude and careless employees who hang up on me.

I will never recommend any of my family members, colleagues, and friends to travel or use any of Intercity Xpress and Eagle-Liner bus services.

I am meant to be traveling between Pietermaritzburg and Johannesburg for the next 3 years as I am here in Pietermaritzburg for studies. I will NEVER book Intercity and Eagle-Liner ever again.
They are careless because they do not even weigh the kgs of our luggage.

There are so many wrongs and hurts you experience with Intercity Xpress than joys.
I traveled with them twice and I have had my fair share of their carelessness and poor travel experience.