I had a horrible thing happen to me recently and needed to leave an area to be safe. I turned to Greyhound because I thought I'd be safe with them. I have never been more wrong in my life.
It all started by me being hit on by security at my original boarding station. I was just trying to give him a key and he kept grabbing my arm and saying I had to come back to see him. I finally jerked my arm loose and told him that I would never come back and he just made sure if it. And in the future he should learn not to touch or grab a woman it was a blatant abuse of his position. Little did I know then that was the least of what would happen on this nightmare of a trip. Let me back up to say that I'm 51 and have a hip replacement and have had back surgery and my knee on my other leg has been swollen and extremely painful. I also have asthma and have had some issues with my heart recently.
The last thing I needed after what I've been through already was to be screamed at and threatened along the journey. And by the very staff that's supposed to be keeping me safe until I reach my destination. At least that's what we are paying for isn't it?
Also I need to point out Greyhounds zero tolerance policy about aggressive behavior. You're told you will be removed from bus or station and possibly go to jail if you violate said policy. But they don't follow the policy themselves. After my initial problem at the start which should've been a major violation, I got to station after station and was horrified more and more with each stop. The staff, if actually visible that is, goes out of their way to insult you and ignore you. God forbid they do what they're paid to do. Help us the customer!
I thought being groped was bad but when I got to Atlanta it got so much worse. First the station is swarming with people trying to sell you something legal or not. And the staff nowhere to be found. I witnessed so many drug deals right under security nose I started to wonder if they were blind. But then at 9:15 when we're supposed to get on our bus people start to line up. Little did we know we would stay in that line for 5 hrs. What was supposed to be an hour and a half layover turned into a marathon of misery. If we asked what was going on, if we were actually lucky enough to find someone we got snapped at how are we supposed to know? I'm sorry why do you work here if you can't look up a bus schedule or see why a bus is late? Now remember I told you about my hip and back and knee well after standing in an line for 5 hrs I was in tears. An employee walks by and calls me a name I'm probably glad I didn't hear and when asked why we weren't leaving he snaps how am I supposed to know. Turns out our bus driver didn't want to work that day. And the employees knew this before our departure time of 9:15. But didn't bother to call another driver in until 11:30 pm. And how did we find out? The new bus driver was more than happy to inform us. He also informed us that he had let them know at 3pm that day he was available to work. After that the driver proceeded to inform us that his supervisor instructed him not to let certain people board his bus that were on a certain connection bus. He then told them that what they did wasn't his problem and the hotels in the area were booked so don't bother asking for a room on Greyhound. Although worried about his attitude I had to get on the bus or be stranded so reluctantly I got on. And by now I'm 4 hrs behind on my schedule. Next stop Charlotte NC. Where the staff was confrontational and extremely insulting. We were all confused because of the length of time we had stayed in Atlanta and the staff in Charlotte could care less. It was more than obvious they wanted us out of their hair! We were yelled at and talked to like we were low class trash that they just wanted gone. They boarded us quickly and if we asked a question they yelled over us to announce that what we had to say didn't matter just follow directions and get on our busses. I got on my bus and a security guard followed me on. A lady in the middle of the bus that didn't speak very good English tried to ask a question. The man yelled at her and told her to be quiet. She tried again to politely ask and he yelled louder. He then reminded her of the zero tolerance policy and told her if she said another word he would remove her from the bus. You could see the fear on her face but her question must have been important to her cause she went to speak again but before she could utter a word he screamed that he was serious and she was about to walk or better yet she could go get on a train. He then snapped oh no that's right they shut down this am so she better shut up! With tears in her eyes she looked away and then the guard went on to tell us some luggage had been removed from the bus cause they didn't have tags. Instead of letting people check he then got off the bus and the driver got on and the pieces of luggage sat in the parking lot as we drove away! We get to Raleigh Nc and encounter yet another rude and elusive staff. See a pettern here if you work for Greyhound I think your trained to avoid customers they do it so well. We get into the next bus because the one we had been on had no air conditioning. Next stop Richmond Va.
Well I thought Atlanta was bad. I had no idea what was in store. We're are ordered to get off their bus and told they had no idea what we were supposed to do other than sut and wait. A lot of people lined up at the ticket counter I had a seat I figured I'd let them get yelled at and humiliated and possibly learn something from one of them as they walked away disappointed. They stood in line for almost an hour and only got someone because a security guard went and found someone for them to talk to. It looked as if he was dragging the person to their post. I sat and listened as people were ridiculed and made fun of. But ultimately we're told to just have a seat and when they knew something they would let us know. I at this point had had enough. I went to that security guard and asked him if it were always like this. He said in the past few months it's only gotten worse. I asked him to find the supervisor of the terminal I wanted to speak to them. He dropped his head and got a sad look. He said yes ma'am but I'll tell you now they probably won't come. I said pls go ask I have to at least try. 20 mins later he came back his head low and informed me he had been cussed out for even approaching and asking.
I was walking around the station. The restaurant in the terminal had barricaded the door shut with wet floor signs so nobody could enter. At this point I had not eaten for almost a day and a half. The vending machines were so expensive. A small bag of chips that would cost. 50 cent we're $2 and a 20oz soda was $3. Same with water. And most machines were empty. The bathrooms were absolutely disgusting. Toilets had been pulled from the floor. There was no toilet paper in any stall. The bathrooms smelled of piss very bad. I went out the front door and immediately was approached by a drug dealer asking if I needed anything to which I smiled and said no thank you and tried to walk away. He wasn't happy with my answer and went to grab my arm. A young man I had been traveling with stepped up and started speaking to me and called me his aunt and then the guy walked away. I thanked him but told him I had it under control. To which he informed me the guy had pulled out a switchblade behind his back and that's why he interfered. So I immediately went back inside and sat down with my luggage. We all tried for 2 hours to find someone to tell us anything. But we were all unsuccessful. An hour later a very nasty woman came out and spoke very loudly and said alright you people listen the hell up!
She then began to tell us our bus driver wasn't coming and she had no idea what we were gonna do cause they had cancelled an our trip. Um excuse me how do you cancel a trip I'm still undertaking when I've yet to get close to my destination? Now may be a good time to mention I'm a affiliate of Homeland Security. I do prison transport and fire watch /security for certain businesses. I took out my badge and walked up to the woman yelling at us. I demanded to speak to someone of authority immediately or I was calling the law. She went to a room for a minute then came back out and made an announcement that a bus driver was coming and would be taking us to Baltimore but would take another 45 min to arrive. I was supposed to have left Richmond at noon it was now 3 pm and we were being td we had to wait longer. My transfer bus was supposed to leave Baltimore at 7:35 I didn't see how I was going to make it. But realized getting away from the Richmond terminal was of the utmost importance. At 4:15 we finally left Richmond and I breathed a slight breath of relief only to not be in immediate danger anymore for awhile. After all I was heading for Baltimore. After hitting traffic and all we arrived in Baltimore at 8:35. The terminal was clean I will admit but I was not out of trouble and I had no idea what to expect.
As I approached the ticket counter the woman was nowhere to be found. I stood there for 30 minutes before I attained the security guard attention. I asked him to pls get the person that was supposed to be working the ticket counter. After another 30 mins a very unhappy woman approached me and said yeah what do you want. Wow just wow. I informed her what was going on and she laughed in my face and said your bus left. I kept my cool even though I wanted to do something else and said excuse me but when is the next bus going in that direction. She laughed and said tomorrow at 11:30. I then said so I need to stay in the terminal all night or will you provide a room for me. This isn't my doing and I was exhausted. I'd been up for over 24 hrs. She laughed and said no we won't and you won't be able to stay here all night because we close between 2 am and 6 am. I then asked to speak to the manager. At this point I wished I had my gun and badge but realized it was probably for the better. I went and sat down and prepared to wait. Then to my surprise a young African American woman around 30 came in screaming! And I mean screaming. Remember zero tolerance policy. Well she told the security guy your gonna need a seat team if I don't get what I want. She then went to ticket counter and yelled about how she just spent over $500 for tickets and they didn't even have a seat on the bus for her. The security guard went to ask her to quiet down and she told him to shut up he didn't work for Greyhound and if he was smart he wouldn't get involved. He moved away! The manager came out to talk to this woman and walked outside with her. In the next 45 minutes that woman and her party we're told that because the driver in Richmond allowed people on the bus who had no right on the bus there wasn't room for her and her party. I was being blamed. Me and the other innocent people that had trusted Greyhound to deliver us safely to our destination. I was just astonished. And completely devastated. But what's worse a few minutes later the woman and her party we're out on another bus heading to her destination. I had been calm courteous and respectful and gotten laughed at and humiliated. And blamed for their problems cause I got on the bus I was told to get on. And someone who had broken every rule was put on another bus to where she needed to go. I had had enough. I then approached the manager and she tried to wave me off. I spoke louder and told her not this time. Your about to throw me out on the streets with 3 suitcases to fend for myself for 4 hours and it's not happening. She laughed at me and said oh yeah we close what are you going to do. I said if I have to I'll tie myself to your uncomfortable $#*! benches. I have a bad hip a bad back and I also have heart issues. I can't sleep I haven't eaten and your restaurant that's supposed to be open 24 hrs a day is closed. I refuse to be abused any longer and I want a full refund of my ticket. I've also asked for a room at a hotel only to be told you don't do that anymore since the pandemic. I then showed her my homeland security id and told her to please call the authorities. All of a sudden her attitude changed. She wasn't going to help me anymore than not making me leave the terminal for 4 hrs but at this point I would take it. The next morning I got a new ticket dated for that day to go the rest of the way on my trip. The person that was picking me up told me to get off at the stop before my original stop so that I could end this horror trip once and for all and finally breathe a breath of relief. I will never in my life recommend or travel with Greyhound again. If you're smart neither would you. And I am demanding a full refund