BootsnAll Travel Network



Greyhound,The Rabid Dog!!!

An example how capitalism has gone awry in America/Canada.

Once upon a time there was an international bus line giving good service to both countries however the “car culture” combined with good economic times led to financial problems for the once proud Grey Dog.

Somehow, known only to the bankers, the financially unstable Canadian bus company, Laidlaw was able to takeover control of the nearly bankrupt Greyhound, then go into chapter 11 protection.

Then following some really sketchy bookkeeping, Laidlaw emerged from Chapter 11 & sold the whole kitten & caboodle to Britain’s First Choice Group, who specialize in the bulk movement of Sheeple, concentrating on the bottom line & to hell with the customers & their employees!

I am a former bus company, 25+ yrs, owner/operator that has just completed a bus trip from Guatemala City to Peterborough Canada + has ridden on buses long distance buses in over 20 countries in the world.

Without a doubt, that taking into consideration the resources available in these (supposedly first world countries), First Choice’s operation of Greyhound in the US/Canada, is the WORST in the world, followed closely only by Greyhound Australia!

A couple examples, the driver in Nuevo Laredo Mexico, was incapable of speaking English until physically crossing the border into the US, the bus was disgustingly filthy & cosmetically in disrepair. This gave a really bad first impression, especially after a couple days riding the excellent Mexican buses. However as usual first impressions tend to be spot-on.

We were called to the boarding gate in Dallas 1/2 hr prior to the scheduled departure time even though the personnel were fully aware of a breakdown that was to postpone our departure for over 1/2 hr. Consequently we were left standing in line nearly 1 1/2 hrs, no choice as all buses are first come first on & there was more people than seats. This was in the city listed as headquarters, so completely unacceptable.

In 7 departures only the first one in Nuevo Laredo left at the scheduled time or arrived on time.  All passengers were forced to exit the bus at least twice during the night so sleep was out of the question + there were no curtains on the windows.

Missed my connection in Detroit as the bus was 1 1/2 hours late, for no apparent reason. When I asked to complain to management, I was directed to a nice gentleman, a long time & disgruntled employee, who confirmed all my previous views of First Choice + added a couple I wasn’t aware of, including the fact he had heard the complaint section of the greyhound website, merely ended up somewhere in cyber space, with no human ever setting eyes on it.

In conclusion all I can say is, if at a bus terminal you see people standing around wearing puke colored neon green vests, RUN, don’t walk but Run far, far away!!

Also if your child rides a First Student school bus driven by a person in the same puke neon green vest, be afraid very, very afraid!!

Of course you don’t mind giving your hard earned money to a faceless conglomerate that holds you in utter contempt, then by all means, support the British Dog!

Almost forgot to add that bus terminals, like train stations have historically been located downtown so one could just get off & walk to their destination, or at least catch the city bus. However I noticed that the touted new Greyhound terminals are located out in the middle of nowhere, necessitating an expensive taxi ride to get to & away from them. Thus causing more hardship to their customers, who tend to be more in the lower income range. Heads of the company once again showing their contempt & don’t give a damn attitude towards their customers. Hey land is cheaper in the sticks than downtown, making taxes cheaper!



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