In December 2018, a Greyhound bus traveling from San Francisco to Los Angeles burst into flames. This happened on the highway 580 interchange in Oakland, and occurred within forty minutes of the bus leaving the depot. The passengers and the driver safely disembarked, shaken, but in good health. All eastbound freeway lanes were closed till the blaze was resolved.
But did the passengers get a personal resolution? I’m talking about refunds. The cost of a return economy extra ticket from San Francisco to Los Angeles is around $120, including taxes and fees. That might not be a lot to some of the cities residents, but San Francisco famously has a huge income inequality problem. These passengers have just had their plans disrupted, their lives threatened, and their mental health challenged. You’d think the least the bus company could do would be to reimburse them for the money they paid for a journey they didn't get to take — through no fault of their own.
That seems logical, but apparently not to Greyhound. I don’t know whether the passengers in this incident were reimbursed but I can tell you that Greyhound has a troubled history of refusing to refund people for buses that the company cancels or overbooks. Even if there’s a fire on it.
In October 2018, Erica M. (last name redacted for privacy reasons) was traveling from Atlanta to New York on a Greyhound bus with her two toddlers. Forty minutes into their trip, the bus engine blew out, and the bus filled with smoke. Erica and her kids, along with all the other passengers disembarked, and waited three hours on the side of the highway for the recovery bus to arrive. This bus returned them to Atlanta, where they were shuffled onto another “recovery bus” which drove them to Virginia. Here, they waited over seven hours for a transfer ticket to New York — their original destination, and were given a $7 food voucher. Later, Erica contacted Greyhound for a refund, but was refused a full refund as she had taken the trip to New York. She paid $185 for the trip, and they offered her $50. Four months later, she not received the cheque.
There are many stories like this. Take John T., who in November 2018 was traveling home from Baltimore to his family for Thanksgiving. He booked his Greyhound bus ticket one week in advance. The bus to his home town in rural Maryland only ran twice a day, and he wanted to make sure he had a seat —- he couldn't miss his mother’s cooking! He booked online, on Greyhound’s website. His ticket said his bus would be with a third party — a bus carrier that Greyhound contracted with. But — and this is important — he paid Greyhound, booked on Greyhound, and had a ticket issued by Greyhound.
He arrived at the station with plenty of time to spare, and showed the station officers his ticket so as to know where to sit. When the bus arrived, John and the other people waiting in line were informed it was overbooked. “There's nothing we can do,” the driver informed the waiting passengers. To pick who would get the coveted seats, he wrote the passengers names on a scrap of paper, and had John and the others draw straws. John got the short straw. ‘But what can I do?” he asked the driver, who shrugged, and told him he could “probably” get on the later bus. “Can I get a refund?” he asked. “You’ll have to contact Greyhound.” The bus left.
John went to the Greyhound counter to complain, and they informed him it wasn't their problem — the bus wasn't their company. To get a refund, they gave him a paper form and told him to mail it in. “There’s no way we can give it to you on the spot,” they said. John rang Greyhound’s help line to challenge this. He was informed they could refund him over the phone—- but only if he had booked with Greyhound. “But I did!” he replied. Nope — because they contacted his ride with a third party that didn't count. “You need to call the third party,” they told him. John called the contracted carrier, a small regional business. They apologized. “Greyhound overbooks us all the time,” they said. “We don’t have a say in it.” But they also wouldn't — or couldn't — refund his money. “You bought this on Greyhound.com, and sent the funds to them,” they explained. “We don’t have your card details or anything like that on file — for security. So the only person who can do that is them.” By now, TK was angry, frustrated, and worried about how he’d get home. He rented a car from Hertz, and drove to his mother's house. Instead of $70-ish to get there, his trip ended up being around $450.
I reached out to Greyhound’s media officer for clarification. “Whenever a schedule is overbooked, customers can either reschedule their trip for the next bus available or they can request a refund,” communications officer Crystal Booker said. “When there is a different carrier involved, they can reschedule their trip, however, to receive a refund, customers must contact that carrier. The only exception to this rule is when VLP (Valley Transit) or COP (Capital Colonial) is the carrier.” When I pressed the point home — how insane that was — she declined to elaborate. Apparently, if there’s a cancellation, in some cases (though not clarified which ones) she said that other accommodations are offered by the station, depending on the amount of time the customer will spend waiting for another schedule. Accommodations can range anywhere from food vouchers to lodging arrangements.
Last year, retired librarian Vivian Pisano boarded a Greyhound from Arcata, California to Oakland, California. The bus shortly broke down due to a radiator problem. It pulled into a little town, Myers, so the passengers would not have to wait on the highway. She was informed that the next bus that could pick them up would be there in around seven hours — plus another six hours or so on the road, getting her to Oakland for around midnight. Instead, she took a local bus back to Arcata, spent a night in a hotel, and boarded a fresh bus the next day.
“This was a very unfortunate and inconvenient experience for me,” she told Christopher Elliott of Elliott Advocacy. “As a result, I had the unanticipated expenses of an overnight stay plus transportation costs the next day.” Pisano wants the cost of her ticket and her extra hotel night refunded. Greyhound did not respond to her request.
Pisano reached out to Elliott Advocacy for help. “Greyhound should have sent a replacement bus for you and the other passengers promptly. Making you wait 10 hours isn’t reasonable,” he wrote on his website. “I would have also made my own arrangements for a hotel after this Greyhound bus delay and found another way to get to Oakland, which you did.” Elliot took a look at Greyhound contract and drew issue with one clause in particular, where it explicitly says it’s not responsible for failing to maintain its buses.“In other words, the radiator problem [Pisano] experienced was preventable by Greyhound, but the company says it isn’t liable. In other sectors of the travel industry, that wouldn’t fly,” he said. “[But] its contract promises to make “alternate arrangements” which may include covering your hotel for a night.” Pisano was refunded in full after he interceded on her behalf.
There are more and more horror stories — from being sold a ticket on a bus that didn't exist to stolen property and more. It comes as no surprise then that they have an F rating by the Better Business Bureau.
So, what can you do if this happens? Well, there’s a Greyhound Bus Help Twitter account, but they have such a volume of inquiries that they don't respond to every case (they didn't with John). They also have a phone number to call for customer support — (214) 849-8966 or 800 531-5332 (for Spanish speakers) — which I’m putting here in full as it can be hard to find.
There’s an email: custserv@greyhound.com (but many report they don't respond) and Elliot lists a number of alternative contacts on his website, including Greyhound senior executives such as VP Todd Koch (todd.koch@greyhound.com) and COO Bill Blankenship (bill.blankenship@greyhound.com). Your rights, for most cases, are limited, restricted to what the customer service rep that day might offer.You can also file a complaint with the Department of Transportation here.
What can help is making sure you always pay with your credit card, which will likely refund you if you dispute the charge. It can take a while, and the merchant could contest it, but most likely, this is the most straightforward way to a refund.
But this behavior is hurting Greyhound's bottom line. Their unaudited earning results for April - September 2018 indicated that customers are turning to competitors like Megabus instead. Their operating profit was £10.2 million against £23.5 million a year ago, and their earnings, before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization were £23.7 million against £40.1 million a year ago (they're a UK company, so I've left this in British pounds). In March 2019, the company reported a 0.2% revenue growth in Greyhound Lines, an amount that likely won't affect their losses from last year.
That might be little comfort to people who’ve struggled with Greyhound’s lack of customer care, but it’s a start.
