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January 09 Dear Greyhound, Next Year I'm FlyingPeople Behaving Badly #12Dear Greyhound,
I am writing to file a formal complaint regarding an experience I had while trying to get home to Vancouver, BC, from Kelowna, BC, on December 27, 2005. I have travelled with Greyhound all of my life, and have never seen such absolute chaos and disregard for customers as I did that Tuesday, nor have I ever been treated as poorly as your staff treated all of us who were stranded in your depot on that day.
When I purchased my tickets (two round-trip, Vancouver to Kelowna), the ticket agent informed me that arriving twenty minutes before departure would be more than ample time. He informed me that Greyhound is aware of high-volume over the Christmas holiday, and would be running extra busses on high-traffic routes accordingly. Not comfortable with only twenty minutes, my travel companion and I arrived at the Kelowna depot at 10am, for an 11:00 bus. What met us when we arrived was absolute pandemonium. About two hundred people were mingled about inside the terminal, with absolutely no rhyme or reason other than "get as close to a door as possible". Doors leading out to loading bays were not labelled with desitnations. The only Greyhound staff to be seen were two women behind the customer service desk handing out baggage tags, and a couple of young men outside sorting cargo and luggage.
Not panicking too quickly, my boyfriend and I tried to "line up" (I use the term loosely, it was more "stand behind this other guy who's luggage is also tagged Vancouver"). At about 10:45 a bus pulls into Bay #1 and the digital display above the driver says it's destined for Vancouver. No announcement was made by any Greyhound staff informing us whether this was our bus or not. The crush as people tried shoving, pushing, clambering towards the door to Bay #1 -- where we happened to be standing -- was absurd. I watched as a woman entered the depot at 10:40, pushed her way to the front of the room, and boarded this very first bus to arrive. My boyfriend and I stood helpless as we watched two busses come and go, many of the people on them having just arrived at the terminal, like the aforementioned woman. Finally, a little after noon, we found ourselves standing on the platform with about twenty five other people, watching as the second bus was about to pull away. The driver of this second bus told us to stay put, another bus was "just around the corner" and we were guaranteed to get on that one. About half an hour later, a Greyhound finally pulls in -- to Bay #3. (The driver of the previous bus had told us to stay where we were, at bay #1). The crowd of us on the platform let out a jubilant Hooray! as the bus pulled in. Oh, how shortlived was that, though. The driver of this newest bus got off and told us all to calm down, he was headed to Calgary. He then proceeded to bark at us, "Why are all of you on the platform, anyways? You have to be INSIDE the terminal unless you're boarding a bus." We tried to relay the information we had recieved from the driver of the bus that had left; that we had been informed to stay where we were, and that we were expecting this bus to be our bus. He simply repeated again that all passengers must be inside the terminal. When we tried to explain our frustration that the only way to get INSIDE would be to go around the building to the other set of doors (and therefore, to the back of the "line") the driver got angry with us. He kept repeating that "the other driver isn't here (the one who told us to wait there) and that if we didn't move ASAP, he would call the police and have us arrested!
I'd like for you to please make note of the fact here that this is only the SECOND communication we have recieved from any Greyhound employee in the 2+ hours we've been here. The first thing any Greyhound employee told us was to STAND ON THE PLATFORM. The second thing we hear from your staff is GET OFF THE PLATFORM OR I'LL HAVE YOU ARRESTED. What kind of customer service is this?
A baggage handler reluctantly comes out and tries to move the crowd inside back far enough for those of us on the platform to get inside. When, exasperated, we asked her if she was surprised that there were so many people travelling the day after Boxing Day, she replied that, "Yes, it was quite a surprise." May I ask how many years Greyhound has been in business? Haven't you dealt with the Christmas season volume in the past? Did you not pay attention to the number of people travelling TO Kelowna? Did you not think that at some point all of us would be making the return trip FROM Kelowna?
It's now about 12:30, and my boyfriend and I have been standing in the Kelowna depot for two and a half hours. There is still nary a Greyhound employee to be seen, and the crowd is starting to get restless. My boyfriend and I watch in horror as an elderly woman approaches the Customer Service counter, simply trying to ask What's going on? When can we get out of here? In response to this little old lady's questions, the gal behind the counter begins to close the gate!! Let me repeat that: An elderly customer asks for assistance, and has the door slammed in her face, literally. We overhear the woman behind the counter as she closes the gate, telling this old woman that she has no information with regard to scheduling. Apparently, Greyhound has outsourced the planning and scheduling of travel and information to a third party. When asked, "Who has the info?", the response comes back that he is TOO AFRAID TO COME INSIDE AND FACE US. I'm sorry, but that is a completely unacceptable response. Too afraid to face us? Seriously, at some point you must think that I am just making this stuff up. And believe me, I wish I was.
 Fast forward about half an hour. It's now just after one o'clock. If you're still keeping track, I've been standing in your depot now for three hours. Fed up with no one giving us any answers, we pull out a cell phone and call your 1-800 number. It doesn't say much for your customer service when your customers have to call a call centre to get information while standing INSIDE one of your facilites. And, wouldn't you believe it.... the assistance we recieved from your telephone agent was, "Hang tight".A buzz starts spreading around the depot as other people decide to call your 1-800 number also, hoping desperately for someone to please tell them something. Shortly after, about 1:30pm, our Mystery Information Man appears with a handful of pieces of paper with numbers written on them. Still offering us zero information, he begins handing these numbers to people closest to the door. Again, a mad scramble ensues as people push and shove, trying desperately to grab a number. Keep in mind that we don't know why we want these numbers -- we assume that they are for priority boarding on the next bus, but, no one had told us as such. For all we know, we're taking numbers to volunteer to stay the night and leave tomorrow. As the crowd of people pushes, trying to grab a number, the Mystery Info Man gets irritated. He starts barking, "Who are you? How do I know you've been here since ten? I don't believe any of you, anyways." And despite the crowd trying to work together, (Yes, that gentleman over there was in line behind me at 10:30... yeah, she's travelling with that guy over there...) the man with the numbers eventually just hands them out as he sees fit, not at all listening to us trying to point him in the right direction. And once again, people who had been waiting since early morning got tossed aside, as the 'cheaters of the system', if you will, snatched up the remaining numbers.
My boyfriend and I were "lucky", in that we recieved numbers and managed to board the next bus that arrived. Finally, at ten to two in the afternoon, nearly FOUR hours after arriving, and three hours past our scheduled departure time, we were on a bus and headed home. I don't even want to think how long the rest of the people there had to wait.
My issue is not with the delay. I appreciate that the holidays bring extra people, extra baggage, and unforseen delays. I get that. I can't fault you for that. My issue is with the complete lack of preparation, the lack of organization, and the lack of communication and information. Had you had even ONE staff member on hand to offer information, you would not be reading this complaint letter today. There were two hundred of us standing in that tiny depot, and all we wanted -- the ONLY thing we were looking for -- is an apology, an explanation, a small amount of compassion in the form of, "Sorry, passengers, this is what's happening, this is what we're doing to fix the situation, we appreciate your patience." Instead, we recieved one threat of arrest, and one "I don't believe any of you, anyways".
I expect that a refund on two, one-way tickets from Kelowna to Vancouver is not out of the question as a means to remedy this situation. As I mentioned already, I have taken the Greyhound all my life, and have only known it to be inexpensive, reliable, and courteous. However, after this experience over the holidays, I have been forced to seriously re-examine my opinion of Greyhound. Without a full refund on those two tickets, Greyhound will not even be a consideration next time I make my travel arrangements, and I will take my business elsewhere. I have attached scans of my passenger receipt for reference. The total amount of the refund I am requesting is CDN $133.75.
Please contact me at your earliest convenience at <...> with your proposed solution to this matter.
Regards,
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