So yes! Remember when I talked about my holiday? Well it’s finally booked, here’s my final itinerary:-
A few changes were made from the original itinerary, largely due to problems (more on that later), and advice from readers. The two main changes are the following.
- Less Time In Richmond – A day and a bit is apparently enough, because there’s nothing much there.
- Less Time in Toronto – On the 15th, I’m doing a night bus between New York and Toronto. Primarily because it’s the best option. I know that a lot of people suggested I spent a day or two at Niagara falls, but I couldn’t. The reason is solely down to one company.
Greyhound Buses
Oh my days, I’ve never known a difficult to use website. Nothing is made obvious, as I’m pretty sure it’s organised like this to make the company a lot of money (more on that later).
Here’s a real life example. On the 7th of June I wanted to go from Richmond, Virginia to Washington DC. I placed the details on the website, as you can see here:-
Upon clicking on search schedules, notice the date that’s searched for:-
So all of a sudden, I’m now getting a bus on the day before. Not exactly helpful is it? Why is there no seemingly point to say “Sorry, we can’t do Tuesday, here’s Monday instead!”. I don’t want a bus on the Monday, I want a bus on the Tuesday!
I know Dan will probably take the piss out of me for it (because I did when he did something similar a few months ago), but it caught me out. Foolish, or should the website have done more? I’m pretty sure I won’t be the only person to “fall” for this.
Either way, after Greyhound got my money (which they’ll probably keep, as the refund enquiry process takes 14 days), I went to megabus.com. Sure enough, it worked out easier, cheaper and friendlier than Greyhound. Admittedly they don’t go to Niagara, but I’ll live.
In conclusion – Greyhound, I’ll never use your services again. Your website seems like it’s out to trick me (which it did), and problems don’t seem easy to fix.
