I've taken Megabus a few times in my life, and every experience I've had with them has been terrible. Buses have been late, employees have been rude, and the bus itself is uncomfortable. But my latest experience with Megabus has me convinced that will never pay Megabus for a Ticket ever again.
My Latest Experience.
As a college student, I get certain periods of the year off for break. That TIME can be spent at school, on vacation, or with family. I chose to spend Easter break with my family a week before it was coming up. Because I had decided so late, the tickets were very expensive.
But there was one source that wasn't: Megabus. It was just $31 for a bus from Washington D.C. to New York! That was a deal too good to pass up on.
The old adage "if it's too good to be true, it probably is" popped into my mind after the events of the day. I arrived at Union Station at 6:40 P.M., which I thought would be perfect for a bus departing at 7 P.M. Instead, there were still people waiting for a 6:30 bus when I arrived. Those buses were gone by 7:15 P.M. and I assumed I'd be on the next one.
Things Get Even Worse.
Instead of allowing the people who had 7 P.M. tickets board at 7:30 P.M., some ticketed passengers scheduled at 7:30 P.M. were allowed on. The man who was managing the situation, Brian, didn't seem to care who as boarding as long as the bus filled up.
That bus left by 7:45 P.M., without many of the people who had bought a ticket for 7 P.M. There was no bus left for me, and no clear indication of when it would come.
Finally, another bus showed up at 8:00 P.M. But, because it needed to be cleaned and people needed to disembark, it wouldn't leave until 8:30 P.M. A 7:00 P.M. bus that left an hour and a half late.
And it wasn't even due to traffic! It was due to poor employee procedures and a blatant disregard for customer service.
On the bus that departed at 8:30 were approximately 30 people, an extremely low number for a bus that looked like it could have seated approximately 100. This was one of the more blatant cases of overbooking I've ever seen, and customers were given no explanation or warning about any of it.
Instead, employees tried to laugh it off and ignore the complaints of customers who simply wanted to understand what was happening.
Future.
Megabus has lost me as a customer forever. It might be cost effective to pay just $31 for a ticket, but I'd rather have the guaranteed knowledge that my flight or train will actually leave on time. I'd rather have the comfort of a train or plane seat and the reduced time that comes with those options. And I'd rather use any other bus service than Megabus after my experience with them that day.
