I really haven’t seen anything as bad as Megabus’s customer service.
Megabus cancelled my trip again and again without advance warning. Customer service hotline wasted me hours of time and didn’t solve my problem.
I had purchased all my megabus tickets in advance before I started my journey.
August 27:
Megabus sent me an email, saying that my trip from Houston to New Orleans on August 28th has been cancelled. It’s strange because I don’t have that trip. This email neither mentioned anything about Atlanta-New Orleans service, nor gave me a travel warning website link. It didn’t even suggest me that I should check their website or facebook page. Since I don’t have the trip that megabus said have been cancelled, I ignored the message.
“Valued Megabus Customer,
Please be advised that your trip scheduled to depart on 28 August 2012 from Houston, TX, Clay St and Travis St(HOU) to New Orleans, LA, Bienville Ave b/t N Peter St and N Front St(NOL) at 17:15 has been cancelled due to the forecasted impact of Hurricane Isaac. Please contact us at 1-877-462-6342 or at [email protected] to reschedule your trip or request a refund.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but the safety of our customers and operators is always our first priority.
Sincerely,
The megabus.com Team”
August 27-29:
Toronto-Washington DC-Charlotte-Atlanta
August 29:
I rode megabus from Charlotte to Atlanta for a connecting megabus coach from Atlanta to New Orleans on the same night. I was told by the megabus employee at the platform that there will be no bus service until Saturday(August 31). She also told me that I should stay at the nearby Westin hotel and call megabus to ask for reimbursement of the accommodation cost.
I don’t have a working cellphone in the US. I walked around at night in Atlanta with my luggage and finally found a bar that has free wi-fi signal. I stood outside the bar and called megabus at 1-877-462-6342 and was told that I should call a customer service specialist at 908-282-7420 and they get off at 11pm.
I tried to call 908-282-7420. However, I always got the same recorded message to ask me to continue to hold. I stood outside the bar and tried for almost 2 hours without luck.
I didn’t go to Westin which is expensive, I checked in the cheapest hotel nearby and continued to call 908-282-7420 for a few more hours. Even after middle night I still got the same message from the other end. I wondered if they actually have a “specialist” in the office.
August 30:
I went to bed for 1 hour and woke up at 6am, tried to call 908-282-7420 again. Finally I reached a real person Christina after 7:30am. She told me that megabus will not reimburse me for the hotel cost. She did however put me on the earliest bus from Atlanta to New Orleans departing at noon on August 31.
Then I booked one more night at the hotel since I’ve got another megabus ticket for tomorrow.
In the evening, I got an email from megabus saying that the trip at noon on August 31 has also been cancelled.
I called 1-877-462-6342 again. A nice guy from megabus this time. I was told the earliest bus from Atlanta to New Orleans will be depart at 11:59pm on September 1 and arrive at sometime after 8am on September 2. However that means I would miss my bus to Houston from New Orleans at 7:45am on September 2. He suggested me to call a customer service specialist at 908-282-7420.
I called 908-282-7420. This time I was told megabus will not repay me the hotel bill but I may submit my request by email and they will respond in 7 days. She did however refund me the bus fare.
August 31:
I bought a place ticket and left Atlanta.
My total loss:
Air ticket: $371
New Orleans Hotel Prepayment: around $32
2-night Atlanta hotel cost: $311.12
I’m asking megabus to at least reimburse me for the 2-night hotel cost in Atlanta($311.12) because megabus cancelled my trip again and again and failed to notify me in advance about the trip cancellations.