Greyhound ditched reader Austin at a Philadelphia rest stop on the way from Chicago to New York. During the previous stops, the driver clearly announced that the bus was about to depart. This apparently wasn’t necessary in Philadelphia, even though Greyhound ordered off all the passengers so the bus could be cleaned and refueled. After thirty minutes, Austin quickly dashed into the bathroom. When he returned, the bus had disappeared with his bag. Now, Greyhound’s executive office is refusing to talk to Austin, or provide any compensation for his missing bag.

Austin writes:

Below are several e-mails I’ve sent to Greyhound in an attempt to be reimbursed for my carry-on luggage that was missing after Greyhound ditched me in Pennsylvania. We were on our way to NYC from Chicago (ew, I know) and the woman said we were pulling into Philadelphia so they could clean and refuel the bus and it wouldn’t take long. After waiting for a half hour, I decided to go to the restroom. I came out several minutes later and the bus was gone! There were speakers in the bathroom, so I know there was no announcement or anything. They just left me.

The worst part is that when the bus driver told us to get off of the bus, she said we’d be coming back onto the same bus, so we could leave our belongings. Unfortunately, that was the last time I ever saw my bag again.

They put me on the next bus, and when I arrived at Port Authority, I went directly to the manager and they took me around to all of the holding areas for luggage, lost luggage, etc. They then told me that it was gone and that was that. After looking on the website, I read that Greyhound will not reimburse customers for lost carry-on luggage, but I decided this was a special case.

As I had already dealt with Greyhound managers and what not for hours at the Port Authority, I decided to call Greyhound CEO, Dave Leach’s office to resolve the issue. His assistant, Liz, gave me her e-mail address so I could send her my letter, and she quickly forwarded me onto executive customer service. A woman named “Ms. Walker” called and left me a voice mail, and we played phone tag for a couple of weeks. While I work during the day and may not be able to take calls, it perturbs me that she couldn’t do the same, being as that IS her job. Once I came to the conclusion that Ms. Walker and I probably wouldn’t get in touch, I sent Liz another e-mail, to which she decided to begin ignoring me altogether.

I know that the BBB complaint will be pretty useless, but I’m banking on the idea that small claims court will see it my way (read: Greyhound won’t show up to court and I’ll win by default). Maybe?

We’re not surprised that Greyhound’s executive customer support staff can’t return calls or emails. Nothing escapes Greyhound’s ruin.

Small claims court is worth a shot. Since you’ll need to deliver papers, try serving a driver, preferably one about to leave on a cross-country route.

(Photo: Tom in NYC)

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