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Greyhound

Greyhound's parent company, Laidlaw Inc., which recently filed for bankruptcy protection, has been struggling for years to make its operations profitable. Judging from the complaints we've received, a good place to start might be training its staff to deal with customers in a polite and professional manner.

Here are just a few of the hair-raising tales from our collection:

• Abandoned in the Snow
• Stranded and Forgotten
• Sickened by Smoke
• One Very Sleepy Driver
• Rude, Hostile Employees
• A very long ride from Kansas City to Colby, KS
• Missed connections in the Inland Empire
• New York Tribulations
• The Odyssey of Bus 1888
• One Very Mean Security Guard
• The Missing Tuba

A few of the more recent complaints ...

Sean of Harlem, NY December 18, 2007

On Feb 21st, Greyhound luggage workers lost my luggage during a bus switch in Oklahoma City. I boarded a bus from Las Vegas on Feb 20th after attending NBA All Star Weekend. I had over 2,000 dollars of valuable items in my luggage. I returned to NYC angry and frustrated. Greyhound staff members kept giving me runaround answers, so I sued the company at NYC Small Claims Court. The judge never helped my case, plus their attorney, Laura Mazzari, forged fake signatures claiming I cashed a 250 check that I mailed back to them. So I would like to know what can your staff do to help plus can I get others who's going through the same situation file a class action lawsuit against Greyhound?

I'm going through an emotional distress because the bus company never made a effort to find my lost luggage plus I'm seeking at least 5,000 dollars of settlement money. I deserved to be compensated more than 250 dollars. This is a billion dollar bus company who doesn't care about a bus rider's complaints. I already appealed our Nov 8th lawsuit. Mr Leach (the president) has the paperwork knowing our lawsuit in NYC continues.

Georgia of Dawson City, OTHER December 15, 2007

I had a terrible experience with Greyhound two years ago.  I had a ticket purchased well in advance to travel from Montreal Quebec to Whitehorse Yukon. My partner and I checked the schedule online in advance and even phoned to check when our bus was to leave. We received two different answers. We went with the information that was given to us by the employee we talked to who was actually working at the actual bus station we were leaving from. This was not correct information and we ended up waiting several hours for the right bus. We asked repeatedly how many hours the trip was and were consistantly told different times. We asked specifically how long our layover in Edmonton Alberta would be (knowing that there was a chance we would be on a shedule that would have us stuck there for two days) and we were repeatedly assured that we would be in Whitehorse in four days.

When we arrived in Edmonton we were told the next bus was leaving two days later. Now we were stuck in an unfamiliar city and we both needed to get home the next day. I phoned a Yukon based airplane company to see if they had any flights leaving from Edmonton, they didn`t. They did, however, have a plane leaving from Vancouver. They gave us an incredible deal. We were able to convince the one competant employee at the station to change our tickets to Vancouver free of charge. So we took a bus a half a day out of our way and arrived in Vancouver the next morning (on the way enduring a bus driver that continuously spoke over the PA system about nothing at all). When we arrived in Vancouver the next morning we had less than two hours to make it to our plane. Our baggage was missing. The customer service representative continuously walked away from me when I asked him what steps to take or where our bags might be. It was humiliating to have to follow him around the station asking how to get our bags back. We were told that our bags were most likely put on a later bus. When I asked if it was common to have people`s bags travelling on a different bus than them I got no response. Apparently it has never occured to Greyhound that people have to catch planes or even that they might not care to hang around a bus station for hours waiting for their bags when they have been travelling for four days. We ended up leaving Vancouver without our belongings and getting on our plane.

We were reunited with our baggage two weeks later after a lot of phone calls and misinformation about where they ended up. Greyhound also does not have Yukon as a province or territitory option on their website, even though thay have travelled here for many years. This has caused problems for me recently as I was not able to put down the correct mailing address when buying tickets online. I received no help from their customer service line, and in fact one of their representatives was quite rude to me. Unfortunatly Canada is a large, spread out and expensive country to travel in and I cannot afford to fly everywhere. If I could I would not hesitate to never give Greyhound one more dollar as long as I live.

My trip took an extra day and cost me and my friend an extra 500.

Lily of Mcallen, TX December 6, 2007

My mom is finally on a Greyhound bus! My mom was waiting for a Greyhound bus outside a McDonalds in Benson, AZ, and the bus driver failed to stop. She had already been waiting for the bus for over an hour. When she finally saw the bus coming, she grabbed her bag and waited for it to stop. It didn't! It didn't even hit the brakws. I thought the drivers were supposed to make STOPS (literally) and not just swing by. After my sister and I called several Greyhound offices (Wilcox, El Paso, Dallas, Tucson), a bus was sent to pick up my mom in Benson. Even though the customer service reps. were tremendously rude, they still came through and got my mom on the bus four hours later. Let's hope she gets home safe.

I was concerned about what MIGHT happen to my mom if she DIDN'T get picked up.

Louise of Carbondale, IL November 26, 2007

My son got on Greyhound to come home because his mother is sick.  He got to St. Louis, MO and waited 6 hours to transfer to the bus to Carbondale, IL.  To make sure he got the right bus, he asked managers and sales clerks.  Two told him the wrong bus and the others told him another bus.  Now after 3 days the wrong bus took my son to Tulsa, OK.  All he has is the clothes on his back, no money, and is very cold.  What is a mother to do?  We are poor people and barely gathered the money to send him for his ticket hom.

I am in great pain over this.  I've been up for three days and will stay up until I get my son home.  I think that the company should find my son in Tulsa and buy the ticket for him to get home.

Celeste of Hamden, CT October 16, 2007

Greyhound lost 2 suitcases and never apologized. They rarely answer the phone and give the run around when I call to inquire about my luggage. I filed a tracer, and the incompetent worker didn't have a lost baggage form so I had to call to get one mailed. I sent in all the original receipts, and they sent a letter with no email or phone number saying they don't have all the info they need. I had all the originals; they are trying to not reimburse me for the luggage. I will file a small claim. but Greyhound owes me at least 2,000 for lost items.

Felix of Columbia Falls, MT August 30, 2007

My husband was riding the bus from seattle to lafyette La. when he got into califonia he had a seizure and was taken off the bus. he called home at 9:30 the morning of the 29th of aug. but was never heard from again. you people have no knowlegde of where he is or where he got taken off the bus. nothing at all. that is stupid. you would think that the driver would call this in and report it. but nobody knows anything. i dont know if hes ok where he is, nothing.

Vanessa of Austin, TX July 11, 2007

My husband was traveling from Austin, Tx. to Russeville, Arkansas for a new job. We did arrive at the station at the time the bus was suppose to leave but, it arrived a short while before we did. After we got the tickets the announcer said it was the last call for the bus my husband was riding on and seeing how we had gotten there late we made a mad dash for the door to get loaded on.

One of the drivers told us that we were being told to stand in line behind the exit doors not to get on the bus. We tried to explain to him that the announcer had just told us the bus was leaving but we were rudely told to go back inside. We then sat in horror/anger as we watched our bus pull off and drive away. My husband heading to Dallas, TX for a transfer was then told there was another bus heading the same way and hurry up and get on by a very rude driver.

My husband is diabetic and has to have frequent bathroom breaks, so at one of the rest stops along his journey he told the driver he was going to the rest room at the terminal because there was a line for the one on the bus,and, came out to find the bus gone. Stranded in the middle of nowhere, with no luggage and his cell phone charger on the bus.

Raised my husband blood pressure and made him late for his new job had to stay overnight in a vacant termainal with no luggage,money in wallet with bags, and cellphone charger on bus.

Shanta of Crockett, TX July 10, 2007

STRANDED AND NO DRIVER!!!!!!!!!!! We arrived in Jackson, MS at 10:00 P.M. on July 9, 2007 We were supposed to leave there at 10:45 but the driver didn't show up. Nobody told us what was going on. Instead they just stood and watched us standing in front of the bus waiting. They let us get onto the bus and left it running so that we could rest and get some air.

All of a sudden, I say around 11:30 someone came and told us that the driver was coming at 4:45 that morning. Well, still no driver showed at that time. We left out of Jackson,MS at 10:30 that morning. The employees act like they didn't know what was going on. Instead of them coming to us letting us know something, we had to go to them. They didn't have the heart to come apologize for their BAD service or anything.

I say Greyhound sucks and don't take the bus unless you have to.

Michael of Hannacroix, NY April 15, 2007

The bus cleaners helped themselves to over 300 from my wallet, which had fallen onto my seat when disembarking in order for the bus to be serviced. When I protested to staff and driver, police were summoned and told I was drunk.
Much later that day (almost midnight on the 7th), was I bumped from an overbooked bus. The foul-mouthed and abusive baggage handlers refused to remove our luggage
I've been wearing the same clothes for 7 days in a row now; and cannot even afford to replace any, since Greyhound was responsible for relieving me of over 375 back in Flagstaff.

Mike of Cordova, TN April 7, 2007

I had a remote control airplane shipped Greyhound Express. Even though I was given a tracking number, no one can seem to tell me where or when my package will arrive. I called both the send and receiving stations and was met with indifference and I found out their philosophy is "it gets here when it gets here". Trying to call 800 numbers was of no use either. Missing airplane worth 400 dollars.

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