Greyhound Blues

I was going to title this entry "Greyhound Headache," but I realized that it might sound like I was making light of a recent news-worthy situation.

Having said that, my trouble with Greyhound Bus Lines is nothing compared to that horrible incident, but it is turning me into a very unhappy camper.

On August 25, last summer when I was in Toronto, I wanted to take a trip to Niagara Falls with my husband the following day. I looked on the Greyhound website for times and rates and what I found were amazing deals under a discount category! So, I tried to purchase a couple of tickets for the time we wanted, but my credit card number wasn't accepted online for some reason. So, I decided to call in to pay for those tickets instead. At first, the representative gave me the price of a straight date-and-location ticket, but when I inquired about the prices I saw on the Net, she conceded that they existed. However, the operator couldn't give me the lower price I saw online, something about because the deals were so amazing that people were ordering them left, right, and centre, so whatever was available at the time was what they could offer. The price that she did give me was still far cheaper than if I had just bought a ticket based on location and date on their website, as she originally tried to do. In fact, it was so cheap that I asked her THREE times during the phone call if the price she quoted me was really for a round-trip from Toronto to Niagara Falls. She said yes. I even apologized, "I'm really sorry I'm making you repeat this, but I can't believe that it's that cheap for a round trip." And she said, "Yes, ma'am, it is for a round trip."

The next day, we go to the bus depot to pick up our tickets. Apparently, Greyhound ticket holders don't have a booth; they just have a couple of college-looking kids in reflector vests standing by a heating duct with a clipboard in one hand and a walkie-talkie in the other. Anyway, we went to ask about our tickets. I was in for a big surprise. The tickets were priced at what the operator quoted and charged me, but they were only for ONE-FREAKIN'-WAY!

Obviously, D and I missed our Niagara Falls trip because I was on the phone with three different Greyhound people, each whom I've had to call separately because each worked at different locations in the country. About half an hour later, I was absolutely livid because I got nowhere with Greyhound.

In September, once we have returned home, I returned my tickets to Greyhound and I'm still waiting for a refund. I received a letter in October from Greyhound asking me to call them and give them my credit card number, so that they could refund me. Finally, I had a chance to call them today (they are not open when I am not busy, of course) and the operator told me that I would be refunded half the amount I paid. I said to the operator that wasn't good enough. I know it's not her fault and she reminded me that these were non-refundable tickets, but I explained to her that I didn't plan on refunding them in the first place had everything worked out the way I was told it would by a Greyhound representative. So, a comment has been made on my file and will be sent back to the refund analyst for further investigation.

There are two very frustrating issues with this whole fiasco.

One, I was misinformed in the first place. Three times, I asked the very first representative if this price was for a round-trip! One of the operators I spoke to on the phone said that she would put in a comment that there was a miscommunication as a reason for a refund request. I wanted her to change that to misinformation because I heard the lady right the first, second, and third time I asked her about the round-trip fare!

Two, I had spoken to about five people altogether about my situation and none of them is the person who can actually do anything about it. The refund analyst receives second-hand information from Greyhound reps, which I don't think is truly representative of how I perceive the situation.

I think I'm dealing with this diplomatically, but I have to admit that I have to keep my temper in check before I call because I know that the people who answer the calls are not the ones who are at fault.

How should I deal with this? Should I just forget about it and count my blessings that I'm even getting half back on non-refundable tickets? Should I keep fighting for it? I know Snerk dealt with something similarly frustrating with a certain cell phone company. Is there any advice anyone could give me, please?