Ouch, one of the worst experiences I've had in my 60 plus years of life. I purchased a ticket online the day before and made sure I was waiting for the bus an hour and half before the scheduled departure time in Casa Grande, Az. The lady working there came outside where I was waiting (Me being the only one waiting) and told me the bus was going to be 40 minutes late. Like she said, it was 40 minutes late, but when it got there the driver said sorry it's full. Well if it's full, what can you do for me and how did you sell me a ticket on a bus for a seat unavailable? She stated I could get on the 5:45 that afternoon but I would not reach my destination in CA until after 7 PM the next day and would have a 12 plus hour lay over in Pheonix. So I opted to just leave the next day, oops, sorry, no seats available. I hope there will be one available for the date she sold me a ticket for, a 48 hour delay.
As a side note when she told me I could catch the 5:45 she stated she couldn't print me up a ticket for that bus. I called customer service and asked what would they do to make me a happy customer and the agent said all he could do is forward my complaint. He also said that the agent at the station would print me up another ticket for the 5:45 that day. So I went back to the station and asked her to print me a ticket, she said she couldn't do it because it wasn't a regular scheduled trip. So in other words she would throw me on a bus as a non scheduled passenger and I'd have to barter and beg to get to my destination in California.
So here is a point of view; I purchased a ticket for a given day, for the sum of 160 dollars. Greyhound agreed to take me from Casa Grande to Turlock, CA with a specified pickup time and arrival time in CA, for my money, which I paid. Doesn't this seem like a contract for a service? I kept my end of the contract, Greyhound didn't. Because I'm taking a bus the most that happens is I get a refund or in my case go back 48 hours latter and try again. Why is it that airlines are require to compensate customers for unavailable seats on flights if they're over-booked or have long delays and a bus nothing? Is it because people who take a bus is low life and not worth protecting from this customer abuse? I don't know what we that choose to ride a bus can do, but it sounds like some legislation for bus passenger rights needs to be addressed. At least one of our class action law suit attorneys should take a look at this. In my opinion, and I'm not a lawyer, Greyhound is breaking contracts at-will with no avenue for protection of the passenger.
Thanks for reading, I'm sorry for such a long rant, Greyhound made me do it. read more