Taiwanese Traveller Stranded In S’pore After Bus Booking To JB Listed Different Pick-Up Points In English & Chinese

After reading one too many Singapore-Malaysia cross-border bus nightmare stories, we’re starting to think twice about taking one ourselves.

Just last month, a Singaporean traveller was stranded at a rest stop in Malaysia at 4am when his overnight coach to Kuala Lumpur allegedly drove off without him during a toilet break.

Now, Taiwanese content creator Xavier Cheng (@xavier.taipei) has shared his own cross-border bus nightmare — and he never even got to board it.

“I got stranded in Singapore!” he wrote in an Instagram post recounting the incident.

Xavier had booked the last bus to Johor Bahru on Klook, but there was one problem: His booking listed different pick-up points in Chinese and English.

A screenshot he shared showed Woodlands MRT station in Chinese, and Marsiling MRT station in English. The booking also showed that the bus was operated by Transtar Cross Border.

Unaware of the discrepancy, Xavier followed the Chinese listing and arrived at Woodlands MRT at around 10.45pm for his bus, which was scheduled to arrive at around 10.57pm.

But 11pm came and went, and there was still no bus.

That's when Xavier contacted Klook's customer service and discovered what had apparently gone wrong.

“So I waited at the Woodlands stop based on the Chinese [information], but their system showed that I had booked [the bus] at Marsiling,” he explained.

The two stops were some distance apart.

“At that point, I panicked. I had absolutely no idea what to do,” he said.

Thankfully, Xavier said Klook's customer service was a huge help.

Screenshots of their correspondence show that Klook tried to contact the bus operator but was unable to reach its dispatch team that late at night.

The Klook rep advised Xavier to stop waiting and arrange alternative transport to Malaysia, such as a cross-border taxi or ride-hailing service, and that the expenses would be covered.

However, as it was already late and Xavier wasn't familiar with how cross-border taxis worked, he asked if he could spend the night in Singapore and head to Malaysia the next morning instead.

The rep agreed and told him to keep his receipts.

In their correspondence, the Klook rep also acknowledged that the voucher had a “translation error” and said a compensation claim for Xavier's hotel costs would be submitted, though the exact reimbursement amount could not be guaranteed.

But finding somewhere to spend the night wasn't cheap.

Xavier said he couldn't find a suitable hotel near Woodlands and had to look farther into the city, where room rates were considerably higher.

He eventually settled on an Oasia hotel, which he described as one of the more moderately priced options he could find.

The damage? Around NT$8,500 (S$340) for the night.

“NT$8,500 is really outrageous,” said Xavier.

He claimed many of the other hotels he found were going for upwards of NT$10,000 (S$400), while options around NT$2,000 (S$80) were mostly hostels.

In another screenshot, the Klook rep reassured Xavier not to worry too much about room rates, saying his “safety and getting some rest is the top priority right now”.

The rep added that Klook would “strongly appeal to the operator” for reimbursement.

Still, Xavier admitted the hefty bill made him nervous.

“I really hope this can be resolved smoothly and that I can successfully get these expenses reimbursed,” he said, adding that he couldn't afford to pay that much for a hotel.

Despite the stressful night, Xavier had nothing but praise for Klook's customer service.

“I'm very grateful to Klook's customer service for their great assistance, which is why I've always loved using your platform,” he wrote in his caption.

“However, I hope this matter can be resolved successfully.”