SINGAPORE — A TikTok video by an Australian tourist went viral after she shared her experience of an overnight bus journey from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Singapore, which she said resulted in her being stranded at Woodlands Checkpoint.

In a post last Friday (June 7), TikTok user "bee__tee", who goes by the name "Brenda", said that the bus she had booked with Malaysian operator Billion Stars Express departed the checkpoint in Singapore without warning while she and her travel companion were clearing customs. 

Ms Brenda also shared a series of images showing her booking details, her account of what the bus company had told her over the phone, and exchanges of messages with the booking agent, Easybook.

She had booked the Billion Stars bus on Easybook's website. The bus was supposed to take her from Kuala Lumpur to Lavender MRT Station in Singapore. The trip was to take about six hours.

She ended up having to buy tickets for another bus ride that took her from Woodlands Checkpoint to Queen Street in the Bras Basah district.

Her post has since been viewed more than 443,500 times and received 20,900 likes as of Tuesday afternoon. 

When TODAY called one of Billion Stars' official WhatsApp numbers for comment on Tuesday, an unidentified person would only say: "She missed the bus at the checkpoint."

Easybook declined comment when contacted.

'DRIVER COULDN'T WAIT'

In her post, Ms Brenda said her "horror story" began at around 12.30am on June 6, when the bus was allegedly 45 minutes late to pick her and her companion up at Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur.

While waiting, she called Billion Stars via WhatsApp twice. 

The first time, she was told that the bus was only 10 minutes late and was allegedly laughed at before the person hung up on her. 

The company did not pick up her second call. 

The tourists then boarded the bus to find that a family had occupied the seats that they had selected online.

The bus driver then supposedly told them that it was free seating and there were no assigned seats for this coach service.

The same thing happened to another passenger who boarded after them and who had selected a seat online, Ms Brenda claimed.

There were several stops during the ride but the one that rattled her the most happened when the driver allegedly "shouted" at all passengers to disembark with their passports.

This was right before they reached the immigration checkpoint at Malaysia's side, she wrote.

"We were all so confused, they didn't tell us why or the new bus number either."

In the midst of the confusion, she and her companion exited the checkpoint to a crowd of "hundreds of people" waiting for buses.

They both boarded a different bus from what they had taken before, which was so cramped that people were standing on the bus aisle, she said.

When they reached Woodlands Checkpoint in Singapore at 6am, they were told to take all their belongings with them as they alighted.

Ms Brenda claimed that she took 15 minutes to clear the immigration checkpoint and went to the waiting point for the bus, but could not see it. She asked workers there and they apparently told her that it was the correct waiting point.

She then called Billion Stars again and was told that the bus had left because she "took too long and the driver could not wait".

The person allegedly hung up when she questioned further about how this could happen. 

With the help of a member of the public, she managed to get tickets slightly after 7am to take another bus into Singapore.

Determined to get a refund after being shaken by the experience, Ms Brenda said the booking agent Easybook told her that it may take about 21 business days to check on what had happened and it would get back to her once it has obtained any findings.

'ALWAYS RESEARCH'

In one of the images she posted on TikTok, Ms Brenda showed a collection of bad reviews from passengers who had booked rides with Billion Stars. 

In the description, she wrote that she was holidaying in Singapore and decided to go to Kuala Lumpur to explore. She followed recommendations for overnight buses on TikTok. 

"The ride there was so good with another company, the ride back… never again," she said.

"Anyways, always research these companies before booking," she warned.  

Reacting to her post, several TikTok users wrote that they, too, have had bad experiences with Billion Stars.

Others said that such experiences of buses being late, having selected seats being taken by other passengers, or buses leaving early or even not showing up, had happened to them or can happen.

Some people offered suggestions of other bus companies they preferred to take.

TODAY has reached out to Ms Brenda for comment.