I went to New York City this weekend. It was an in and out trip with my friend Betty Joan. I didn’t tell nearly enough people I would be in town, but there just wasn’t enough time.
I had a great trip, loved catching up with a few friends and drank half the island of Manhattan.
I showed up for my Bolt Bus Sunday afternoon with a beast of a hangover, ready to fall asleep on the bus and praying there wouldn’t be much jostling. Me being me, I showed up 30 minutes early and was paying attention to the flow of the lines.
Now, I know what you are thinking. ”Lexa is kinda high maintenance. I can’t believe she took the bus.” And yes, I am still high maintenance as fuck and fear the unwashed masses but I am trying to grow as a person. Plus, I have been hemorrhaging cash given all the family issues lately.
Now, the corner where you catch the bus in NYC back to DC is completely chaotic. There are other buses, people are getting pushed around, everyone is yelling. I waited and waited for my group to be called and it never came. I finally walked up to the bus driver to inquire what was going on.
This was when I was told my bus was full and even though I had purchased a ticket weeks in advance, I would not be allowed on the bus. The woman than told me I should have been on time (I was), I should have been paying more attention (once again, I was) and I could wait standby for the next bus, though that would likely be full. Also, I was told I should have asked about boarding when I noticed something seemed off. I am sorry, what the hell did she think I was doing?
No apology. No explanation as to how I lost my seat. A completely condescending attitude.
I tweeted up a storm about my experience. I emailed several times with Bolt Bus Customer Service today and I was told:
We do apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, we are unable to refund tickets. We do not have a refund policy.
So, the way I look at it, this is all pretty simple. I paid Bolt Bus for a service they did not provide. They could not explain why my seat was not available or their poor system of getting people on the bus. They are stealing money from me.
I ended up having to spend $160 on an Amtrak ticket to get home.
And sure, they only owe me $26 and there are bigger fish to fry in this world. They can shit all over their customers since their prices are cheap and they will always fill their seats. But, I will do my damnedest to tell anyone who listens that Bolt Bus is a company lacking in proper business practices, has an abhorrent sense of marketing and they happily steal cash from whoever is dumb enough to try to ride their buses. There are plenty of ethical companies out there doing the right thing every damn day. I encourage you to support them.
As for me? Amtrak and a beer from the snack car from now on.
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow.
All i can tell you is I once took Washington Deluxe and had no problems. I’m heading up on Amtrak this weekend.
Never even heard of them- thanks for the tip.
As I tweeted: This is shameful & shitty, among other things. So what if it was “only” $26? It was also a lot of inconvenience & the cost of a train ticket. “We do not have a refund policy”? Um, you’re a company. GET ONE.
How can you just say “We don’t have a policy”? Boggles the mind.
After hearing this I won’t ever use Bolt Bus. If I’m able to come to DC for Maxie’s bday then Amtrak all the way.
I think if you plan, Amtrak is cheaper than $160.
I LIKE THIS COMMENT A LOT.
Also, rach somehow got a deal on amtrak that was like 120 roundtrip, I believe. You should ask her about it… AND COME.
A very, very similar experience with Bolt Bus three years ago (after I’d lugged my ass from Brooklyn all the way back into the city at 9 in the morning with a similar hangover) caused me to make the following rule for travel: traveling in a way that is convenient, that is comfortable to me, and that will ensure I get some degree of customer service is worth $125.
So if it’s not going to save me more than that, I always choose DCA over BWI, the few remaining ok-ish airlines over the “budget” ones, and Amtrak over any form of bus.
(I’ve since applied a variation of the same rule to questions of safety — yes, it’s cheaper for me to drive to Richmond instead of taking the train, but myself and everyone else on I-95 are better off if I never have to risk making that drive in my tiny, impractical car, with my impractical AZ driving skills if there’s any chance of it snowing)
I am usually with you 100%. I only go to BWI if it saves me more than $150, but I thought this was a good choice. Seems I was wrong, very wrong.
I abhor when companies do things like this. How do you NOT have a refund policy? That’s ridiculous & wrong. I’m pissed & this didn’t even happen to me.
Glad Amtrak took care of you.
As am I. Lesson learned.
This sucks. No, you weren’t out a lot of cash for the bus, but that’s a lot of time and aggravation. Also, it’s just massively assholey customer non-service.
I’m with jordanbaker - I always choose DCA over BWI and I like my transport convenient and as low on the relative idiocy/chaos scale as possible.
Well, it was actually $186 if you count the train ticket I was forced to buy. Grrr.
I take Amtrak all the time now after the recent amount of crashes with the chinatown buses. If planned greater than two weeks in advance, I get roundtrip tickets for only 90 dollars. I so love the quiet car.
whoa! i hate that!! i’m so sorry to hear you had such a terrible experience L. keep up the bad online karma so someone gets back to you.
They have not heard the last of me, for sure.
U are such a drunk who wasn’t paying attention. I ride with boltbus quite often nothing of that sort ….u should apologize for been a big llier
You have really contributed some intelligent and thoughtful commentary to this discussion.
While I’m happy to say I’m glad I won’t have to sit next to u smelling your nasty breathe of liquor for 4hour trip
Wow, you came back twice in 4 minutes. You seem angry. I hope you can work through that.
Damn, Sherry! For someone with such a fun, alcohol-derived name you sure sound like a drag. Alas, it’s the Internet, and haters gonna hate.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/photos/images/original/000/152/237/zP10f.gif?1318992465
Did you pay cash? If not, complain with your credit card company ASAP. You were barred from boarding the bus when you showed up on time. Basically a service you did not receive. It’s like when they overbook a flight, they should provide you with some sort of compensation, even if it’s your money back or a free ticket elsewhere.
Yep- it is corporate theft.
I’ve had a similar experience with both Bolt Bus and Megabus (also no refund policy) in the past. I refuse to use either and I actually ended up reporting Megabus to the Better Business Bureau because they effed me not once, twice, but three times!! When they learned of my complaint they refunded three of my trips-gone-wrong. I guess I should give them credit for that, but it took a lot of effort on my part to get a refund.
I plan on filing with the BBB today, actually.
UGH. The part about not having a refund policy is especially inexcusable.
Try the Vamoose bus. I’ve done it twice with no hassles. and their pickup/dropoff spot is better.
Yeah if you charged it you should have recourse.
Grr.
How in the heck do you over sell bus seats? There are only so many seats and so many tickets, it’s just bad business. And no refund policy is just ridiculous. Go get’em!
I hope you charge it back - your credit card should offer you a refund regardless of their policy.
Holy hell. The difference between a $26 ticket and a $160 Amtrak - putting all the inconvenience aside, even - is worthy of publicly calling them out. And the shit about not having a refund policy? FUCK THAT. You’re a *business*, selling to consumers - you better have a refund policy. Assholes.
Duly. Noted.
The Bolt Bus is a hot mess. I took it from the Greenbelt stop last summer and at the Baltimore stop, there wasn’t enough room for all the customers. This lady begged to get on the bus and said she’d sit in the back on the floor. So the driver let her on. And she sat on the floor for the entire trip! This is a person who’d paid for a seat!
This summer was the last straw. The area where you have to wait in NYC to catch the bus back to DC is too much of a clusterfuck. I can’t take it. Why would they even have the stop there? Too many buses. Too many people. Too much chaos.
I’m rolling with Amtrak from now on. Roomy seats, leaves on time, clean bathroom, food car. I’ll rather pay almost three times as much to NOT have to ride the bus. If you book your tickets with Amtrak more than two weeks in advance, it’s $49 each way; no extra fees. Personally, I’d rather pay the extra money to ride the train.
Next time you should come up to Bethesda and take Tripper. Great experience each time I’ve taken them (they even give water to their customers!).
take them to small claims court for the cost of the Amtrak ticket. seriously. in DC it’s a simple process.
I took Tripper before and liked it! Amtrak is so much easier though, and sometimes you can get weekend trips for $160 round trip to NYC.
Agree with @laloca, DC Small Claims will help you get the original $26 plus the additional $160 that ensued from their negligence.
If you really want to escalate the fight, send this post to theconsumerist.com. It’s a blog about protecting customers. They have a huge (national) following and can really stir up the shitstorm against bad companies.
Also, I would really recommend Amtrak. As I write this, I’m in the cafe car of the regional coming back from NYC to DC. It’s relatively cheap, clean, incredibly comfortable and fairly reliable wi-fi. Plus the cafe car serves beer/wine.
All this aside, the best reason for me to ride Amtrak is it is quickest way to travel to NYC. Car/bus is a crapshoot with traffic and you could end up in hell. Plane travel means travel to the airport (30-60min+), early arrival (60-90min) for security, the travel itself (45min), then travel from the airport to the city (45-90min+). You add all that up and it just doesn’t make sense when the train is 3.5 hours and the stations are conveniently in both cities. This math mostly only applies to travel between the NYC-DC corridor. If you book early, then it ends up cheap too.
* consumerist.com
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