Penang Hill Upper Station

Went there during Agong’s birthday. Bought 4 tickets around 1030 and were told that we were batch 31 and that we would need to wait for 3 hours to board the funicular. Kinda expected it so we went somewhere else to kill the time. Fast forward to 3 hours later, we got back just in time as they were calling for batch 30 to gather in the boarding area. We stood there, waiting patiently for our turn thinking it wasn’t gonna take long. 30 mins passed but the line wasn’t moving, batch 30 was still at the boarding area. My patience was running thin so I approached the guard there and asked if she knw how much longer do we need to wait. She replied and I quote “lambat lagi, 27 28 pun tengah tunggu lagi” she then gestured me to look at the right side, the true boarding area....it was crowded, and according to the guard they were batch 27 28 and 29....I was a lil upset I went to the counter to ask if it’s true that I would need to wait for another 3 hours to board the funicular. If that’s the case, could I get a refund? What the receptionist said in the next triggered me. Arrogantly, She said “didn’t we inform you that you have to wait for at least 3 hours for the funicular service?!” She kept saying it when I tried to reasoning with her, telling her that I did wait for 3 hours for the funicular. She then directed me to the staff whom sold me the tickets. The staff basically said the same thing, told me that the boarding time printed on the ticket stated “estimated”, so there was no guarantee that I could board the funicular on time. I then proceed to ask him if it’s because the funicular was malfunctioning that caused the delay, he said he didn’t know.

I don’t mind waiting tbh since it’s holiday. What upsets me the most is that no announcement was made for the delay. All of the staff there just let the tourists to stand there like a fool, waiting for nothing. None of them took any effort to inform the tourist about the delay and would blame the tourist for not knowing it.

Should they not think for the tourists that we have our schedule of the day planned and that the announcement could allow us to make adjustment to our schedule?