Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
Lately I've been working in Atlantic City because the money is better than Philly and I need money badly for a retro camper van that I've wanted my whole life. My Mustang is a big gas-guzzler(16-23mpg!!), I like to save money on the commute, and I'd be too tired to drive after working long 8-hr shifts at AC, so I normally avoid driving altogether and instead opt to take mass transit to work. This involves taking a train into center Philly, then either taking a NJ Transit train($7.25 one-way) to AC, or a Greyhound bus($17 round-trip plus casino cash voucher). Ideally I like to take Greyhound, ONLY because the cash voucher that casinos give out normally makes up for the majority of the $17 bus fare, so it's cheapest.
So yeah, I'm trying to make the commute as cheap as possible, right? Personally I prefer the trains over Greyhound...it takes less time to board them, with a train you're ALWAYS guaranteed a seat(whereas with Greyhound, there have been more than a few times that I was TURNED AWAY from a bus because it was full before it even approached my stop!), trains have MUCH BETTER customer service, the train seats are more comfortable & give me more space to spread out & nap. But I can sacrifice comfort if it means saving money, and Greyhound does save me money if I get a cash voucher and cash it in.
But here's why I'm fed up with Greyhound...their service sucks and insteada taking responsibility for it, they just give their customers lousy attitudes! When I was working customer-oriented jobs for HALF the wages they're probably making, I was 10 times nicer than Greyhound employees on my WORST days! They get all defensive and show severe attitude if you ask them a question they don't know the answer to(which occurs waaaaay more times than it should!), and if you get aggravated because of a legitimate concern/problem, they get all hot and bothered and make stupid false accusations(example: "Yo, don't get all angry at me becuz the Greyhound schedule is all wrong." "Who said I was angry at YOU? Can't I be a little angry in general that I have to wait 5hrs til the next bus and I'm not even guaranteed a seat for that?"). INCONSISTENCY is a big problem. I'm constantly told the wrong info about bus stops on the Greyhound phone line, and last night I discovered that the Greyhound schedules they have at each terminal are 60% WRONG. The reps don't know what they're doing and do nothing efficiently but exhibit rudeness. This makes it impossible for a precise, ahead-of-time planner like myself to get on the bus on time.
For example, last week I worked until 3am and had been told on the phone with a Greyhound agent that the "AC-to-Philly" bus's first stop is the AC bus terminal. So I get to the terminal just in time for the 3:30am bus, but am turned away because it is full. Full? When the terminal is supposed to be its first stop? So I wait until 4:40am for the next bus, stand outside in line with only 6 other people or so, and the next bus is FULL also!! Apparently the bus terminal was NOT the first stop back to Philly, but the LAST AC stop after all the casinos! At that point all of us people got angry and complained and the employees didn't even care. I waved my ticket around uselessly and said, "At this rate, every bus for the rest of the day may be filled, and you just admitted that. So what is this return ticket good for, other than wiping butt?" Then they scolded me on my language, so I said sarcastically, "Sorry, but if I wanted to be reprimanded on cursing, I wouldn't have said 'butt,' I woulda said ASS." The rep got mad, so she called the cop on me, which actually was the best part of the night! LOL all the cop did was help me out a lot by telling me the quickest alternate way to get home! And he was young and extremely hot, too!(the only time I will visit that terminal again, will be to check him out! lol) Although the cop gave me good advice on a different bus route, this meant shelling out an extra $12 on top of what I already paid to Greyhound, just to get back to Philly! How rude.
Then last night! I'm told on the phone that if I take the AC casino bus to Sands, that I'd get a $14 cash voucher. Nope! Not until I arrive, do I find out that all I get is a $20 nonrefundable slot machine card. That doesn't help me, when I don't gamble and I wanted cash, or at the very least a credit towards food! So when my club closed an hr early at 2am(it was dead), I used the extra hour to try the slot machines so at least I could get SOMETHING outta the voucher. It took almost an hr before me or the casino managers could figure out how my disfunctional card would get working! By that time, I'd missed the 3:00am bus back to Philly by about 8minutes, but figured it'd be ok because I would just take the 3:50am bus. I even spent a long time navigating through the "mouse maze" from Sands to Bally's, which I've concluded is usually the first casino stop on the way home, so that I'd beat the crowd and most likely get a seat. When I get there, I'm told by the very cocky, very arrogant security guy that there IS no 3:50am bus and the next one wouldn't come until 8 or 8:30am!!! >:( I ended up walking half a mile or so to the NJ Transit train station and taking one of the more reliable, more comfortable trains back...but still got home an hour later than if the 3:50am bus had existed like it was said on the schedule!
So basically I took an uncomfortable, inconvenient bus just for the sake of saving money...but instead, I ended up paying $17 round-trip bus fare(didn't even get to use the return-trip) + $7.25 train fare - $1 won at slot machines = $23.25 for my round-trip to work last night, plus all the aggravation, stress, and wandering around aimlessly for hours. When I coulda paid $15 for round-trip using just train. Essentially I paid $8.25 to be inconvenienced! I shoulda also paid an extra $6 for a cab to take me to the train station, because it's risky for a young girl with cash on her to walk around AC at 4:30am, but I was so angry that I lost money for all this "fun," that I just walked there and didn't care. Besides, I needed to be outside so that I could call my friends and curse/vent about the bus situation, without possibly worrying about getting yelled at by security for my language. It's at the point where I'm ready to boycott Greyhound altogether...is it really worth all this hassle, even if it DOES save me like $10 over train fare on days that everything runs like clockwork? And on most days, it costs me more than saves me! Sorry if I'm writing on and on...but this is a very angering situation! The last place I'd like to be at 4am with tons of cash on me, is wandering deliriously around casinos, contemplating an alternate way to get home! >:( Waiting around all night has been one of my biggest pet peeves for a while now.
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
I would just drive, but that's me.
I have a 70 round-trip mile commute and drive a sorta gaz guzzler (Infiniti g35x) and it's one of the luxuries of having a car....freedom to come and go as you please.
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
I know all about Greyhound, a few months ago I was traveling every weekend by it. I leavred the trick of arrving extra extra early, and making sure I was by the right door, and one of the first there. I watched one too many "cute" girls glide on past after just arriving and filling up the bus. Screw that, I was there first and I am getting on!
The main prob with Greyhound is that just recently they cut the amount of buses nearly in half. And then messed with the schedule, twice. So, less buses, weird changing schedules and obnoxious drivers that could care less, and you have Greyhound.
I take Amtrak EVERYWHERE else.
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
I have ridden Greyhound and Jefferson lines ONLY when I did not have transportation to small towns I work in. You're only looking at less than a tank of gas for several round trips. Convenience wise why would you not just drive?
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
The reason I do not drive is because I do not trust myself to drive the 2hr trip home after a late-night, long exhausting work shift. On Friday and Saturday nights, I work 10pm-6am and am constantly moving around, so the last thing I'd feel like doing is driving home 80.6 miles one-way afterwards. I drove a few times home from work as an "experiment" to see if I could do it, and both times I felt myself start to nod off. In my opinion, knowingly driving tired is almost as bad as driving drunk...both are potential accidents waiting to happen. When my dad was younger, he fell asleep at the wheel twice, and during one time he completely totalled his car while driving my mom home...this was before they were married, so let's just say that my grandparents weren't too happy with him for a while for endangering their daughter's life!!!
Gypsy_girlchild, your explanation about Greyhound's changing schedules and bus cuts make a lot of sense; that explains why they were turning away people that night. During one of the times on the night that me and the group of people waited and were turned away from 2 busses in a row, we'd been promised a second bus if the first bus was filled up. But then we found out later that this was simply a lie, or an inconsistency, or an honest mistake, or something like that. Looking at my past experiences, it hasn't even taken a full week of riding Greyhound to realize that maybe I should just do myself the favor and rely on the train from now on. It is normally cheaper than Greyhound and avoids all of the hassles, and even on the few days that Greyhound gives out worthwhile cash vouchers and actually works efficiently, I'd only be saving $10-15 per work shift over taking the train. The extra time/stress that I'd save by taking the train, would leave me more rested for work and that'd be worth a lot more than $10-15!
It sucks that Greyhound has all the bus cuts, inconsistencies, and contradictions though, because otherwise the casino bus would be a good deal...looks like they're losing out on yet another good investment of a customer!
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
Part of the problem is the drive on the Atlantic City Expressway is dark, straight and through the country. There isn't a damn thing to keep you awake. My ex-boyfriend drove me once and had to keep the window open to stay awake. I always fall asleep. It's a driver's nightmare, that road! If you take the train or NJ Transit bus the driver/conductor will wake you because Philly's the last stop. It's safe and relaxing because it's only Casino workers on there with you at night/dawn.
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
Yes, I agree, the AC Expressway IS boring and a safety hazard when you're tired! That's why I don't like to drive to work(and gas costs too much, too; although I'm not too concerned about that, because I always put gas expenses on my Shell credit card). I think the train is more comfortable than Greyhound, especially when you have to sit next to weirdos!
Speaking of...one time last week when I was riding the Greyhound bus, some older Asian dude sat next to me. While I was napping on the bus, he put his leg on my thigh! I woke up and saw this, and said in a very unfriendly voice "EXCUSE ME" and he immediately removed his hand and kinda grunted. A few minutes later, I looked over and saw him looking with squinted eyes, like he was pretending to be asleep but watching me or something! EEEEEK!!! I deal with enough guys trying to touch me at strip clubs, and that is bad enough but at least I'm being paid to deal with it all, but the last thing I want to deal with at 5am on the bus is some guy doing that! Even at my club in AC, the bouncers/managers act like drill sergeants in the couch room, walking around shouting "HANDS TO YOUR SIDE!" even if the guys put their hands on my legs or hips! Haha I love it! (We need more drill sergeants, or "couchroom Nazis," in Philly! I like them!)
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
^^What a creep! I had a bad exp. in my trip across canada by greyhound.
This guy starts ranting and raving crazily under his breath about how I need to
"grow a brainwave.." wtf?
I was just reading my book, geez...
I agree, bad service (stalled for 6 hours!) and weirdos riding the bus with you. I've had wayy better experiences on planes.
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
I used to take Greyhound all the time, and as far as I know, they'll almost always bring in another bus if the first one's full. I've never seen it happen otherwise, but obviously it did with you. It would be worth finding out what their official policy is. Because if you buy a ticket for a certain time (which you can do now- it used to be your return was 'whenever', but now you can specify), OR if you have a monthly pass, they can't refuse you.
Or buy your tickets in advance, with specific travel times. Greyhound can be gay, but there are ways to make them behave! Also if you're a student, get an ISIC card. 25% off!
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
Scarlett, what you are saying about them bringing in a second bus is EXACTLY what we were told would happen if the first bus was full. One of the guys in our little group of "left-outs" was told this by one of the employees. But when the bus pulled up and was completely full, the same employee who'd promised the second bus was nowhere to be found...and the guy in our group even ran around the terminal trying to locate him! The bus driver acted ignorant to it and cocked an attitude, going "Don't be all mad. I'm one of the most honest people you'll ever meet." NOT TRUE!! My experience with guys is, it's always the not-so-nice guys who try to boast that they're "kind and sensitive guys" or "honest" or whatever, that's how they try to pull one over on you! So of course we didn't believe him, and I guess our continuing frowns just made the driver even more pissed at us. When our little group of "left-behinds" marched up to the customer service desk to complain, they told us that our group "didn't have enough people" to require them to get a second bus. Yet a minute later, they complained that our group was being "too loud" with our complaints, funny how we're a big enough group to annoy them, but not big enough to get the very thing that woulda shut us up?
You say that I should buy my tickets in advance with specific travel times? Well I wanted to do that over the phone, but was told even by the clueless reps that just because I bought a ticket, that a seat would not be guaranteed. That's why they always tell me to report to the terminal at least 1 hr ahead of departure time, to beat the crowd and secure a seat. HOWEVER I was at the terminal WAY MORE than an hour ahead of time(I got there at 3:25am, missed a seat on the 3:30am bus but then waited til 4:45am for the next bus), and there weren't many other people waiting for the same bus at the terminal; the problem was, the bus got filled up BEFORE IT EVEN REACHED THE TERMINAL, hence making waiting there an hr ahead of time ESSENTIALLY USELESS.
Thank you for the idea though! I AM going to check Greyhound's policies, because I DO believe that they violated a few of them on more than one occasion! The only good thing about missing the bus is, the tickets are good for up to 4 days so I was able to use the return trip ticket the next time I had to go home from work...but why would I even want to use the return ticket after being treated so badly by Greyhound? Isn't that asking for trouble/unnecessary stress by taking my chances again? I'm going to make a big formal complaint to one of the higher up managers and maybe even threaten them with going to the Better Business Bureau. I've snitched out around 3 companies to the BBB before, and it worked wonders, and I can always do it again with Greyhound and get them in a lot of trouble.
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
I wont step foot near them ever again. I bussed it from Long Beach, CA to NYC.... 3 days of hell. And the service SUCKED.
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
Bah, this is why I play LOUD music when I drive :P
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
I took Greyhound all the time between Houston and Austin, and Texas public transport sucks ass! I never had a problem Seriously, rent a car or take train...it will save you stress....
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
I hate grey hound! One time my mother and I got stuck in Wilmington, DE and it was a nightmare, never again. How much better are the AC clubs then philly ones? I hear they are dirty..not to change the subject.
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
Wow.... I wonder if its universal... anyone in Australia had a problem with Greyhound here in this country? I can't speak from first hand experience as I fly virgin blue everywhere (I'm part of the Velocity rewards program).
I say take the train as well. Use the bus as a back-up option.
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
Quote:
Originally Posted by scarlett_vancouver
I used to take Greyhound all the time, and as far as I know, they'll almost always bring in another bus if the first one's full.
I've been riding Greyhound for six years from one place to the next and I have NEVER seen them bring another bus..Even for Thanksgiving they weren't prepared, and this is when people buy ahead, they like to stay cheap so they give out as little service as possible, it's not worth the price.
I've had to wait for buses that never came because they were already full or drivers that got lost on the way and it took hours. It's worse with the new schedules where buses are 8-9 hours in between and if one is full you are screwed because chances are the next one will be also.
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
Buses suck...
Full of smelly, ignorant people, horrible seats, no room to stretch your legs, long waits in dirty terminals packed full of smelly ignorant people--you can't get up and walk around, there's very few people worth talking to. Quick stops for long lines in fast food restaurants. They take FOREVER to get anywhere...
Trains are by far the best, if you have the time--comfortable seats, you can get up and walk around whenever you want--you can even go get a fucking drink, lol!
Planes, they are OK, but lots of waiting, especially with all the godawful security (though I suppose it's better than being crashed into big office buildings by terrorists)--fast trips, but long waits for luggage, transport to and from airports, sometimes you get long waits in strange terminals with uncomfortable seats if it's not a 'nonstop' flight.
I wish to hell one of you cool SWers were on my last bus ride, one of the worst I have ever had. Since it was to a far better situation than the one I was in, and my mind was steeled with resolve, I let all the annoying factors slide right by, with a little effort--but there was only one person I wound up talking to (ironically enough, an ex-stripper in a station during a transfer stop).
I'd say take the train if you don't trust yourself driving--a little extra for comfort is well worth it. You'll be happier and more rested when you get where you're going, and you'll get there when you are supposed to.
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
I agree Djoser, and the train sometimes IS cheaper than Greyhound! Greyhound is only cheaper when it actually works as it's supposed to. The ONLY time I save money by taking Greyhound, is if I can schedule a Greyhound that arrives at a casino in time for my work shift, the casino chooses to give out cash vouchers that day insteada stupid useless slot machine cards, and if the casino bus doesn't fill up before I board. For example, the time last week that I was venting about...the Greyhound round-trip ticket costed me $17, I didn't get shit for money from the voucher, I did win $1 from the slot machines but it was only $1, and then because the schedules were wrong and I didn't want to risk waiting til 8am for a most likely already-filled bus, I had to spend an additional $7.25 on the train home. So that day, I spent $23.25 for a very inconvenient, time-consuming trip(esp the part on the way home, when I was angrily wandering around wondering what I'd do because the bus schedules were all wrong). Add in $6 for the cab ride that I SHOULDA taken from the casino to the train station...it was unsafe for me to walk there late at night with a purse full o' cash, but I was already angry at the extra expenses & aggravation, and I needed to be outside walking so that I could curse and vent on the phone without people hearing me or telling me to shut up. So the trip costed me $23.25, but SHOULDA costed $29.25 if I'd followed safety precautions. Whereas the round-trip train woulda been only $14.50.
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
I've taken Greyhound many times. Sometimes it's okay, but sometimes it's pure hell. Once I had to sit next to this cracked-out looking lady because it was the only seat left on the bus. She had 3 or 4 kids with her, and she was screaming at her kids and her kids were screaming and crying. It was not an enjoyable ride. Eventually, she got to be so bad that the bus driver ended up kicking her off the bus. I've also been hit on by weirdo guys on the bus.
In my experiences, if the first bus is full, they usually do send another bus, but it's still an inconvenience. They shouldn't overbook the buses.
The only advantages to Greyhound are that they are cheap (especially if you buy your ticket 7 or more days in advance) and they are usually on time. I have taken Greyhound several times and it has only been late a few times. When it was late, it was never more than a half hour or so late.
I prefer to take Amtrak whenever I can, even though they are notorious for being late. They often share the same tracks as freight trains, and freight trains have priority over passenger trains. It's fairly common for them to be a couple of hours late. I recently took the train from Milwaukee to Toledo, OH to visit a friend of mine. I was supposed to arrive in Toledo at 10:35 pm and I didn't get there until after 1:00 AM! Still, the people on the train are generally not as crazy as the people on Greyhound, and Amtrak is not that much more expensive than Greyhound. Sometimes it's the same price or even cheaper. Plus the seats on Amtrak are more comfortable and you have a lot more legroom, and you can get up and walk around. They often serve food on the train, and sometimes they play movies on longer trips so that you have something to do to pass the time away.
Re: Greyhound bus = too much aggravation!
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhillyDancer1982
...it was unsafe for me to walk there late at night with a purse full o' cash, but I was already angry at the extra expenses & aggravation, and I needed to be outside walking so that I could curse and vent on the phone without people hearing me or telling me to shut up. So the trip costed me $23.25, but SHOULDA costed $29.25 if I'd followed safety precautions.
You are getting the 'big brother looking after dancers I work with' thing going here...
Are you crazy?? Please don't do this--never mind the purse full of cash! Just being an attractive young woman making noise in a not-so-nice neighborhood is bad enough!!
Go read that awful story in the Lounge, and think about it!
Saving 10$ isn't worth putting your safety on the line...
Quote:
Originally Posted by blondhottie
...I've also been hit on by weirdo guys on the bus.
No way!
LOLOL--sorry, it's just that I can so easily picture this...