Cautionary Tale: I rode with Flixbus and had my life ruined
On Sep 25, 20:30, I boarded on the Flixbus at the Berlin Central Bus Station bound for Zurich Central Bus station. In addition to my checked-in luggage, I had one small waistbag/fannypack that I wore on my body during the journey, which holds all the valuables including passport, wallet with 130 euros in cash, all credit cards etc. When the bus arrived at the destination, I got off to retrieve my suitcase but left my waist bag on my seat. On arriving at the terminal stop Zurich, I walked away from the bus to take the tram nearby. About 500 meters away, I realized I'd left my waist bag on my seat. I returned immediately, the bag was gone.
The bus was already loading new passengers for a new trip since it arrived 2 hours late according to the schedule. I asked the new driver, he didn't speak English and simply did not care. The 2 drivers from Berlin were off duty and went to sleep, he told me. Since this bus arrived in Zurich late, it was already filling up with passengers for the next planned trip to Stuttgart. There were a few passengers on board and I asked them if they saw anything, they told me no.
Since my seat was at the mid-bus entrance by the partition board, it's directly under the surveillance camera. I believe by reviewing the footage we can find out what happened. To this day, my legitimate request has not been answered.
I called the service center of Flixbus in Germany right away and told them the whole incident, believing that in this mostly timely manner the bag can be found easily found without too much trouble. How wrong I was! The simple, automated line designed to pawn off passengers which the guy on the line, in his most indifferent tone, must have repeated a thousand times before goes, and I quote: submit the loss&found form!
My 5 day trip to Zurich was naturally ruined. I made an official police report in Zurich with which I later returned to Germany as a kind of explanation for not having an ID when passing the border control. I specially mentioned the surveillance camera which could be used to discover the whereabouts of my bag.
5 days later I embarked on my return trip with Flixbus. It was a red-eye ride and I had to change midway for a train in Heidelberg. Due to the enormous stress and emotional fatigue endured thanks to the ruined trip, I left my suitcase uncollected when I got off at my stop. I soon realized the mistake minutes after the bus drove off and immediately called Flixbus help center, the only advice they provided was 'to ask someone you know to pick it up for you along the stops the bus will make on this trip'. I do not know anyone in those cities, to which he suggested to submit a loss and found form via their website and wait for the news, cause that's the best they can do, naturally.
I came back to Berlin totally devastated. I'd submitted loss and found requests for both of my lost properties to Flixbus not only once, but three times in total, and each time they came back with the automated message: we're sorry, but we could not find your belonging.
I'd paid a personal visit to their company, and the staff there, clearly underpaid and overworked, said there's nothing they could do. Nothing, not even a word of apology.
The course of my life in Germany flipped 180 after the unfortunate ride with Flixbus. 2 months later, I had to leave the country for good since some documents I had was irreplaceable. I blame myself for the thrift, for having wanted to save 60 euros and made the poor choice, for not having done my homework properly beforehand. The ill reputation of Flixbus as an irresponsible, bloodthirsty company can be revealed a simple google search away, enough to discourage any penny pinchers to think twice before travelling the perilous road with them. read more