I recently traveled with a friend from Washington, DC to New York City by bus. I purchased a round-trip ticket online and had both QR codes saved on my phone. The Bethesda trip to Union Station (31st Street, NYC) was fine. The driver had poor manners and wasn’t particularly friendly, but the ride itself went smoothly and we arrived on time.The return trip is where things went wrong. My friend and I mistakenly went to 31st Street assuming it was the same location for our return trip. However, when we showed our tickets to the driver, he pointed out that our pick-up location was actually 28 Allen Street. At that point, it was only five minutes before departure and we didn’t have time to the correct location so we explained our situation to the driver at 31st Street and asked if we could board his bus instead. We had valid roundtrip tickets for the same day, same company, same destination and same departure time, the only difference was the pick-up location. The driver said there were empty seats and agreed to take us, but only if we paid him in cash. Since we didn’t have any cash and he had never heard of Zelle or Venmo, I told him my husband would meet us in DC and pay him directly. He agreed. We boarded and everything seemed fine, until we got to one of the regular rest stops. I stepped off the bus briefly to get water, while my friend stayed on board with our bags. That’s when the driver approached her, yelling that she needed to get off the bus, go into the visitor center and withdraw cash from the ATM. She didn’t feel comfortable leaving our luggage unattended, so she called me in distress. I rushed back and confronted the driver. I reminded him that we had already agreed to resolve the payment in DC, and that we had valid tickets, the only issue was the pick-up spot. His reaction was aggressive and completely unnecessary. . Only after realizing we weren’t paying him cash, he suddenly told us our assigned bus was parked nearby the whole time, something he hadn’t mentioned earlier.. He angrily told us to get off his bus and go board the one we were supposed to be on. So in the end, that’s what we did. While we take full responsibility for the confusion about the pick-up location, the way the driver handled the situation was aggressive, manipulative, and unprofessional. He acted in his own interest not the company's or the passengers. We were not trying to cheat or ride for free, we simply misunderstood the pick-up spot and had valid tickets for that time. I hope the company takes this feedback seriously and trains its drivers to handle such situations with professionalism and fairness. Passengers should never be yelled at or pressured for cash in the middle of a trip. Mistakes happen but how employees respond to them is what defines the customer experience.
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Travel through Europe with FlixBus on one of our green buses. With over 100,000 daily connections to around 800 destinations in over 18 European countries you really can explore Europe! FlixBus is a long distance bus operator connecting cities and towns throughout Europe. A strong partner network and an innovative ticketing system have made FlixBus a leading long distance bus company, with a fast growing, extensive European route network. FlixBus offers an alternative to traveling by car, plane or train and guarantees each customer a reliable, comfortable and safe means of transport.
Customer satisfaction has the highest priority at FlixBus. We at FlixBus continually strive for the satisfaction of our customers. We appreciate all the feedback and positive reviews that our passengers have given and would be delighted to welcome you on board on one of our green buses again.See more
