Hello,
I purchased a Greyhound ticket for my mother who has a cognitive disability and is new to the States from Gainesville, Florida to Fort Lauderdale airport. The ticket is attached.
We had challenges, among others, finding the initial pick-up because there was no signage. Once we found the pick-up spot, the bus was delayed. Two bus drivers arrived within minutes of each other. One bus was heading to Orlando and after scanning my mother's ticket, directed us to the other bus that arrived. I specifically informed the driver, per the instructions from the Greyhound Website, that my mother was traveling alone to Ft. Lauderdale airport and that she would need assistance navigating any stops or transitions. I must add that this is the second time my mother has taken the Greyhound on her own and I followed these same steps. Her trip was successful at that time. Nonetheless, the driver assured us that she was on the correct bus, headed to Lake City first then to Orlando, and then to Fort Lauderdale Airport.
The Bus ticket listed the same bus number for the bus that would carry my mother to Lake City and then to Orlando. When purchasing the ticket, I made sure this was the case because I wanted to avoid as much confusion as possible for my mother. My mother called me to let me know when she arrived in Lake City. After hanging up with me, she was informed by the bus driver to get off of the bus for a break. My mother stayed on the bus also believing this stop was for those NOT headed to Orlando. She was not informed what next steps she was supposed to take despite the driver assuring her accommodations relevant to her cognitive disability would be met.
When I called my mother, having tracked that her bus was supposed to be on the way to Fort Lauderdale Airport, my mother stated she was in ATLANTA! No one checked her ticket. No one thought it strange that everyone got off the bus except her. No one called me as her emergency contact. NOTHING. Then when I called Greyhound, I was told that she would receive a complimentary ticket to get on the next bus to Fort Lauderdale from Atlanta. I called the airport to confirm that we could change her flight first and made sure to ask the Greyhound representative if the next time that I called, would the new representative see that my mother was supposed to get a complimentary ticket. When I called back the new representative was completely disregarding, condescending, and had no concern whatsoever for the fact that my mother has a cognitive disability. Her words verbatim were "it is not the drivers' responsibility. We have too many passengers and your mother should have paid attention". Then when the representative went to look for the complimentary ticket in the system, according to what she said she was doing, she came back to the phone asking me to validate why my mother should receive a complimentary ticket. The representative said that there was only one ticket available that would get my mother to the airport in time. Then, she hung up the phone!
I am beyond frustrated that I then had to call the Greyhound station back in Atlanta who said that one ticket was no longer available and we paid over $100 AGAIN for another ticket that is not going to the Ft. Lauderdale airport at all.
The absolute negligence of the assistance requested before my mother even got on the bus is ludicrous. Moreover, the representative that I spoke with before she hung up the phone was highly unprofessional and unfit to perform her duties. I would like to file a complaint and if possible also pursue legal ramifications for this atrocity and lack of cultural and disability sensitivity.
Claimed loss: $316.72
Desired outcome: A refund in the amount of $157.97 for what was supposed to be a complimentary ticket.