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Greyhound

Kansas City to Colby

Greyhound • Accidents • Lost Luggage • Lost Freight • Reckless Drivers • Sleepy Drivers • Scheduling Foul-Ups • False Arrest • Fare Disputes • Abandoned • Stranded • Illegal Smoking • Hostile Employees • Individual Sagas

Susan of Columbus, OH, writes (6/15/01):
The following letter contains a detailed description of the events that transpired on May 4, 2001 on Greyhound bus number 6197, Kansas City, Missouri to Colby, Kansas from 8:15 a.m. to 1:47 p.m. The bus/coach operator was last name Roker.

When I boarded the bus with my children, ages 8, 5, and three, Ms. Roker had a bad attitude from the beginning. She was rough with me verbally when I boarded the bus. I told her I had three tickets, but four people. (I had a free ticket, due to some incorrect information at the time I purchased the ticket.) As I was boarding the bus, I noticed that there were not enough seats for us to sit together, so I asked Ms. Roker what I could do to be allowed to sit with my kids. She told me I needed to take my seat wherever I could find one.

My two older boys were separated from me, and Ms. Roker knew that I was at the back of the bus where I could not easily get to them if there were a problem. Our first stop (I think) was Lawrence, Kansas, and we picked up two passengers and one baby. When the bus stopped, a gentleman got up and asked Ms. Roker if he could have a cigarette. She yelled at him and told him to sit down or he could be excused from the bus. Then we waited 15 minutes or so for her to get back on. We proceeded with the trip, but I do not remember all the towns we stopped in.

At one point she turned on the P.A. system and asked me to get my kids, as they were bothering a passenger, and they were �out of control�. (They were playing with the footrest of the empty seat in front of them.) I told her that I would love to have my children with me, and I wanted that from the beginning, but she wouldn�t let me. I asked her where to put them since all the seats were taken. She pulled the bus over and stopped it on the side of the road. She sat there for a minute then announced that 2 people needed to give up their seat so I could sit near my children. Reluctantly 2 passengers gave up their seats for my children. The bus got going again. This ordeal took about 5 minutes.

At the next stop, when Ms. Roker got off the bus, I asked another passenger if it was just me or if I had been humiliated in front of the entire bus, and she said yes, I had been humiliated. Ms. Roker came back on the bus as we were talking, and heard the conversation, and we began to have a conversation over the P.A. system about what happened that lead the bus to pull over. I told her that I didn�t need to be spoken to and treated like a 12-year old, and if she had a problem she should talk to me alone and not solve it by pulling the bus over and humiliate me in front of the entire bus. Another passenger came to my defense and tried to tell Ms. Roker that she had a bad attitude for a public servant. She also said that she didn�t pay money to be on a bus where passengers were treated this way. Ms. Roker said that it was her job to respond to the complaints of passengers, and that she had to do what she did.

It was very apparent that Ms. Roker was not willing to listen to me, so I told her I wasn�t going to �do this anymore� and sat in my seat. Her reaction to what I said was �What, ride the bus?� I had no reaction to her statement. At the time this conversation happened, most of the passengers on the bus became very agitated about this whole incident. The passengers on the bus were talking back and forth about what had happened and how I had been treated, and they were angry and hungry and tired and needed to stretch their legs, as we had no breaks on this leg of the trip. (Greyhound had no scheduled breaks in the 600 mile stretch of road between Kansas City, Missouri and Salina, Kansas. I don�t understand that, as they have scheduled break stops on all the other legs of this travel.)

At one point one gentleman stood up and told Ms. Roker that his child needed a drink of water. She went absolutely crazy when he asked that!! She told him that he better sit down and quit asking, or be excused from the bus. The anger was rising on the bus, the longer we had to stay there. It was very evident that there was tension on the bus driver that day. Almost every passenger was talking about how rude and unfeeling Ms. Roker had been all day, especially when it came to me and my children. At the next stop, Ms. Roker got off and let some passengers out. This was in Junction City, Kansas. I left my kids on the bus and got off to talk to Ms. Roker alone, to try and fix it away from the other passengers and my kids. Another passenger came with me, and she also wanted to talk to Ms. Roker, as well as be there for me. When we stepped off the bus, I asked if I could talk to Ms. Roker, that I wanted to resolve this issue just the two of us, that it did not involve the entire bus. The other passenger that got off with me started to talk to her as well, but I and she was told by operator Roker that were to get back on the bus immediately.

I asked Ms. Roker for an apology, but she said she doesn�t apologize for doing her job, and I needed to get back on the bus. I started to walk into the bus terminal to speak with a representative, and she told me that if I didn�t get back on the bus, she would leave me there!! From the look in her eyes and from her tone of voice and her behavior all that day I believed she would, so I got back on the bus. She, however, did not get back on the bus. We watched her as she talked on the telephone inside the Greyhound terminal for 5-10 minutes.

Pretty soon a police car from the Junction City Police Department pulled into the parking lot and the officers got out and went in the bus terminal. A few minutes later a second car pulled up, but they left soon after. I commented to the passengers that Ms. Roker called the police on me!! They said, no, maybe they were there for another reason, and to wait and see what happens. A few minutes passed and the officers boarded the bus, followed by Ms. Roker. She pointed me out, out of all the people on the bus. They came and talked to me, and Ms. Roker was talking above them, and she even told them about the man who wanted water for his son!! She was expecting the officers to reprimand him for such a request!! I asked the officers if we could tell them our side of what happened that day. Officer Spencer was the one to do all the speaking, and he reluctantly allowed me to do so. I hadn�t finished recounting the events of the day when he interrupted and told me and the others to sit down, the bus driver was in charge, and I had gotten the passengers all stirred up! He also said that if I didn�t sit down and mind the driver I would be escorted off the bus and Greyhound wouldn�t be responsible for me!

I told him that I didn�t want to continue riding this bus, and if I had a choice I wouldn�t, but I had to be in Utah on time, so I would ride the bus the rest of the way. They left the bus and we continued on our way to Salina, Kansas. There were no further problems the rest of the way. When we got to the convenience store in Salina, Ms. Roker asked the people in the back of the bus to bring her their tickets. She meant me and the lady that got off with me in Junction City. She asked no one else for theirs. I told her I would not give her my boarding passes, and she said I told the officers that I would not be boarding the bus again. I told her that I did not say that. She wanted me to stay there and talk to her. I told her my children were hungry, I needed to feed them and she was taking up my break time. She asked me my name and she pulled the previous tickets I had given to board the buses I needed. She placed those tickets in her pocket and it was very clear at that moment that I had been kicked off the bus.

I went in the store to get lunch for the kids. My 8-year old son was hysterical. He screamed and I couldn�t get him settled down. He had been terrorized all day by this woman and he saw the police yell at me, and now he saw her kick us off the bus. She scared him so bad he was hysterical!! I broke down and started to cry. I knew that I would be left there all alone and didn�t know what to do, as my husband was at home working and I was afraid that I would miss the funeral for which I was traveling 1,900 miles. 2 very nice passengers went outside and told Ms. Roker that I had to get back on the bus, as I was traveling 1,900 miles because my 6-month old nephew had just died of SIDS and that was the only reason I was traveling. She reluctantly agreed to let me get back on, but she wanted to talk to me about this alone before we boarded the bus again. I had wanted her to talk to me alone from the beginning!!

When I was ordering food for my kids, she started talking to me while I was talking to the person taking my order. I put up my hand and continued my conversation with the clerk. When I was finished I said to Ms. Roker �I was talking to the clerk. Now I am finished. What do you want?� She told me she needed to talk to me alone by the payphones before I got back on the bus. I got my kids taken care of and went back to talk to her. She still refused to apologize, but did apologize for the misunderstanding that she thought I told the police I wouldn�t be boarding the bus again. She told me that she hated her job, and the only reason she was doing it was because it paid the bills. I told her if she hated her job, she should change what she does. I told her when someone is a public servant like she is that they can�t hate their job, because it shows in the way she treats the people on her bus. She said she understood how I felt about the death in my family, and started naming off people in her family who had passed on, like that should make me somehow feel better. I didn�t feel better.

I asked her how come she called the police, and why she wouldn�t let me work it out before it came to that and that I had asked her several times for such an opportunity, and she said that the reason she called the police was because she heard a terroristic threat against her and the bus. I told her that it wasn�t said. She said she hears voices talking while she is driving and puts it all together. I said that I didn�t know what she was talking about. I told her that I needed a chance to talk, that I listened to her quietly and politely and now she needed to listen to me, but she interrupted every word I said. I told her that I felt she didn�t try to resolve this problem and that I would be contacting her supervisor and telling him about the events of that day, and expecting a full refund on my ticket. I told her that it wasn�t over, that I thought she wasn�t truly trying to fix the situation and I would be calling Greyhound when I got back. Ms. Roker told me that her supervisor already knew, that she called him already, as it was policy to do so whenever she had to call the police.

I finally gave up trying to talk past her interruptions, so I walked away and got back on the bus. When we got on the bus there were no more problems the rest of the way. Ms. Roker got off in Colby, Kansas and the rest of the trip I took on the bus was great. The drivers following Ms. Roker were courteous and friendly and made every effort to make us as comfortable as possible and allowed us 3 or 4 breaks in the following 600 mile stretch of road from Salina, Kansas to Denver, Colorado, and then also from Denver to Salt Lake City, Utah. I called Ms. Roker�s supervisor, Claude Adams, on Tuesday, May 8th. He told me that he knew nothing of what I was describing and that he hadn�t heard from Ms. Roker for a while.

He listened to me tell him what happened that day, and I told him what I required of Ms. Roker and Greyhound. I told him that I would be asking for 2 written apologies, one for myself and one for my 8-year old son. I also told him I would be asking for a full refund on my fare. He told me he would get in touch with her as soon as he could. Friday, May 11th I followed up with Mr. Adams, and he said that he hadn�t contacted her yet, and had given my name and number over to the customer service for any further contact.

At that point it was evident to me that I had been �blown off� by Mr. Adams. I called customer service on May 11th and filed a complaint and told them again of my request. I then called the Corporate Offices on May 17th and spoke with Sharon Jimmerson who told me I would need to send a written copy and my receipts to the Corporate Offices in order for them to investigate and make a conclusion on the matter of a full refund on my fare. This letter is that documentation. This matter is not to be taken lightly. I intend to send a copy of this letter to the Better Business Bureau, your office, and other agencies that may regulate this industry or to help resolve this matter in a timely manner. I am satisfied that this is a very egregious matter and will not let it get shoved under the rug, so to speak. I hope you will feel it necessary to pull the passenger manifest from that day and contact each one personally.

The story I read in this website and a story from a friend of mine lead me to believe that Greyhound makes a practice of hiring lazy, unprofessional people to represent their company. I want them to be held accountable for their actions, and the fact that they do not seem at all interested in getting this problem resolved. They say that they pride themselves on good customer service, but they actually go out of their way to do just the opposite, when they all but call a passenger a liar. I have the phone number for the Riley County police department, if so needed. I will sue Greyhound, regardless of who represents me, and I plan to sue for a VERY large sum of money.

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