Greyhound Bus Co
Lost Baggage, Dirty and Uncomfortable, Rude Employees, Lying

This was a trip from Missoula, MT to Sweetwater, TX about a month ago. I got to the station 3 hours early so I could check my suitcase and walk around for a while since, as anyone knows, most of Greyhound's depots are too small with too little seating. Before getting on the bus I noticed my suitcase wasn't on the cart that the driver was using; I brought this up and talked to the counterperson, and she looked and it wasn't anywhere. Turns out it had got put on the *wrong* bus going west to Spokane rather than east going to the first transfer in Billings; apparently, someone who wasn't even supposed to be touching the bags put it on the wrong cart — the unhelpful lady said "Oh, he was just trying to help." So she tells me she'll alert Spokane and will priority ship it going east and that it would reach Sweetwater either before me or when I got there (though I found both of those scenarios implausible). Oh, but before we could get there we were treated extremely rudely by the employees at the Billings depot — they act like you're inconveniencing them by asking questions (these are usually the kinds of people who have cruddy social lives and are unpleasant at home); and then at the Denver depot, with disgusting bathrooms with thick feces caked in the commodes, we were 2 hours late leaving because some dippy dispatcher didn't bother to relay a driver's morning call that he was sick, and insteado f leveling with us and keeping us up on the situation, just kept lying and said the bus would be there "any minute" with a smug smile that indicated he just loved seeing us angry. Then at a 1-hour layover in Amarillo, half of the depot was tarped off due to "remodeling" and the frigging bathrooms were locked even though the depot was open and there was a ticket person behind the counter. And the departing bus was unnecessarily crowded because a lot of people missed their connections because of the 2-hour delay in Denver, so they had to get on this bus which made it even more crowded. Then upon getting to Sweetwater 2.5 hours late with the depot closed (it's a small town), I laid down outside until they opened up at 8a, and wouldn't you know — no suitcase! It's June 25th now, and I haven't seen my suitcase since May 31st, and even though the helpful employee at the Sweetwater depot helped me file a claim, I've been checking back with the lost-baggage department by phone, and they're of absolutely no help! For one thing, the call center is outsourced to India or somewhere and you can't understand half what they're saying; and then they talk like a machine and don't *listen* to you. I told the people I used to do a call-center job and I know they have a comment section to write relevant details, and I keep telling them this must have something to do with the incompetent lady at the Missoula depot screwing up my suitcase *before* I'd even gotten on the bus. But all they do is keep saying I'll have to wait 30 days while they have a "trace" on the bag and are looking for it. There is only one Sweetwater depot in the entire United States; I looked. So how can my suitcase which clearly had a destination tag of Sweetwater *still* not make it there. And, of course, the maximum dollar amount they'll reimburse you for a lost bag is a lousy $250 even though I had at least $650 worth of stuff in the bag, including an extra pair of eyeglasses and a portable DVD player. And since I was moving (this was not a vacation where I just took some of my belongings), almost *all* of my belongings were in that suitcase. I've had to shell out money for clothes and socks and underwear and toilet items just to get by on an everyday basis, and Greyhound *just does not care*! I'm going to start calling their baggage phone number 3 times a day everyday until I get some results:.

Most of the drivers are rude and surly and act like they're so much better than their passengers. If they're such hot shots, though, what are they doing driving a frigging *bus* for a living!? The seats are majorly uncomfortable, the legroom is dismal especially when someone in front of you reclines their seat back? And you also get some real rude and noisy passengers, who, like the drivers, act like they're so cool; they usually sit in the back but you can hear them all the way in the front and they disturb everybody, and a lot of the time the drivers won't do anything about it'. Also grating is people throwing all their crap on the seat next to them when the bus is filling up so no one will sit by them|. At the reststops you get scum passengers trying to bum cigs and money from you, who I have no problem telling them to go to and leave me alone..

Greyhound cares absolutely nothing about their customers! They know most of them are low-income and view them as vermin. They certainly want your money but they don't want to lift an extra finger to make sure you get your money's worth by offering basic reliable service with courtesy. What's really ironic is that Dallas is headquarters for Greyhound and yet Dallas is one of the worst, unsafest depots there is located in a bad part of downtown where the homelesss and panhandlers frequent. And instead of the lone security guard keeping an eye on the place to keep the customers safe, Greyhound has him taking people from their line out to the buses. I heard from someone that the night before the city cops came in and arrested 4 people and a stabbing happened right inside the depot, too! Again, Greyhound has no concern for the safety and convenience of their customers. An airline or Amtrak would get absolutely hammered if they treated their travelers like this; so why does Greyhound get away with it? If rich people rode Greyhound, you can bet there'd be congressional hearings and investigations by the BBB and CPA.

For all those like me who've very bad experiences with Greyhound, the best way to get back at them is to *never* do business with them again. I'm set to go to Salt Lake City next month, and I've already purchased an advance ticket with the airline and it cost about the same amount as a Greyhound ticket. Book ahead with Amtrak and you'll get a decent price, too. Heck, even posting a rideshare ad at Craig's List is a good alternative. Greyhound has been losing customers for a while and is continuing to do so. I talked to one decent Greyhound employee who said some company rep was going to all of the depots trying to see what they can do get more business, and he suggested the execs ride their own crummy buses from coast to coast and see if they'd ever take Greyhound if they were everyday citizens. So do the smart thing, people, and plan ahead and fly or take the train. It's just not worth giving this terrible company so much as a single dollar more of your hard-earned money, especially since Greyhound does very little earn it.

They're reprehensible, they know this, and they don't give a hoot just as long as they continue to get that money. I'd question how these company execs can have this on their consciences when the obvious answer is that they don't have consciences in the first place — or scruples or principles or deceny or morality. Simple. As. That

Company: Greyhound Bus Co
Country: USA

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