Burlington Trailways Bus Line

Last evening I attempted to get tickets for a bus ride from Cedar Rapids to Chicago via
on the first leg of my trip to Washington, D.C. because Amtrak does not have a ticket office here.
After initiating the purchase online @GREYHOUND.COM that clearly has a link for purchase (WEB ONLY FARE), and coming to near completion, the site says that the ticket cannot be purchased and provided an 800 number to call.
Upon calling (800−231−2222), I was finally instructed (language /​accent barrier) by the representative that the purchase indeed was not available online and that I needed to call a different 800# to complete my transaction. After attempting to get an explanation as to why the online purchase — as shown on their site was unavailable — the representative just kept explaining that I needed to call another number, book my trip with a representative and pay an additional (nominal) fee.
The number (319−753−2864) turned out to be Trailways — not Greyhound — and after listening to the prompts (press 1 for ?, 2 for ?), making my selection, I was left to be believe that their offices were closed; as the prompts led nowhere. So I visited their website and attempted to purchase the ticket (after agreeing to the convenience fee for online purchases) and was again told that I’d have to purchase the ticket with a representative.
So today I call Trailways and speak with a representative who:
* tells me that the purchase cannot be made via the WWW and must be done at the terminal counter;
* could not explain (1) why they have it available as an online purchase, when it is not (GREYHOUND: UNDERSTANDABLY, as he does not work for them); (2) why I’m being charged a processing fee when I initially chose to buy online (asked this ?? JUST out of curiosity).
I decided to rent a car and make the drive to Chicago and offered three people to join me as they were in line at the ticket booth. Not only did we enjoy the road trip, but we stopped for a meal and arrived in Chicago faster, cheaper and far more content.
Question (s):
* Why did it take over 3 hours total to try and book a bus ride?
* Websites + company representatives are supposed to be customer friendly and knowledgeable of their company’s wares; did I miss something here?
* Are CS representatives really this stupid — across the board?
* Anyone out there wondering why PLANES, TRAINS + AUTOMOBILES have long since taken away the bus riding experience?
Hope the rest of my trip via AMTRAK is uneventful!!!

BEWARE! Worst customer service I have ever encountered!
This is the letter I wrote to one of the Burlington Trailways managers regarding an incident we had today. In order to receive a refund for a ticket, you must write a letter (Below) explaining yourself and mail it to them. Hopefully they will refund you, although the customer service rep I spoke with said nothing is guaranteed. Sounds pretty illegitimate to me. Needless to say, we will not be using this line ever again.
Read about my experience here:
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Hi Josh,
Just wanted to clarify what happened. We were running behind and luckily the bus was too. We arrived 2 minutes before the bus did at 7:05 or so. My boyfriend didnt have the ticket in hand but began looking for it in his bag. The driver said «I’m running behind and now you’re making me late.» It is definitely not OUR fault that the bus wasn’t on time. He didnt give my boyfriend 1 minute to find his ticket or show him his email confirmation on his phone. He got on the bus and drove away! A couple of bystanders even offered money to pay for a new ticket, but he had already driven off.
A few months ago, he had lost his ticket and the driver was nice enough to look him up him in the system.
I find it unacceptable that he was treated this way. He missed his school day. I had to buy 2 more bus tickets and had to connect through Madison to get him back to Dubuque same day. We use Burlington Trailways on a regular basis and unfortunately we probably won’t do so in the future.
Because we were unable to use the ticket and I had to purchase 2 new ones, I would like a refund. I will send a copy of this to address below.
Since you are the training manager, I hope you use future opportunities to train your employees on proper customer service practices.
Amanda

Horrible service. I am never riding this bus again.
My luggage was lost during the trip due to the company’s mistake. I talked to 4 different people and it has been 3 days since the trip. No one has told me about how this matter is going to be taken care of, nor did any of the service representatives took responsibility for it or even apologized. Their system is very disorganized and service is below professional. I got my tickets through Greyhound. Both Burlington Trailway & Greyhound are unsafe and unprofessional. This was my first time trying out this bus company. I always used to take Megabus. I am very very very disappointed and regret wasting my time/​energy/​money. I suggest taking Megabus if you need alternative transportation.

Burlington Trailways offers really good deals between Chicago, the Quad Cities, and Iowa City. Versus Megabus or Greyhound, the experience is about the same, though sometimes the busses will be older than Megabus’s and the wifi doesn’t always work. There is always grease on the windows and the seats sometimes have the smell of the last person to sit there. The bathroom is usually clean though –at least when the bus departs.
Sometimes the bus driver puts in a movie, which is really annoying. I’ve been on busses that played music too. For this reason, bring good earphones.
Watch out of creepy bus drivers. I’ve seen them make some unsettling comments to pretty girls. Once a bus driver got on the loud speaker so everybody could hear him flirting and I guess laugh at his wit and admire his game. Weirdo.
So yeah, expect an adventure.

Bus had wi-​fi, but only one or two outlets on the entire bus (I stumbled across one by accident.) The seats are about as spacious as an average coach bus (so felt smaller to me than on a Megabus, and were a bit tight.) You’ll also stop about every hour for a stop where a few people get on, and some get off. Davenport’s probably the busiest. I think we were ultimately 45 minutes to an hour late getting into Chicago (from Omaha).
However, I rank it so low because of the bus driver’s treatment of other people. A person accidentally boarded the bus, thinking it was the Greyhound (they were foreign exchange students boarding in Iowa City, and the Greyhound runs about a half-​hour behind the Trailways bus.) They had a valid ticket for the Greyhound, but not the Trailways bus. I think there was a bit of a language barrier, but ultimately the bus driver swore to them, saying «Get off my f****** bus.» There was some slamming of luggage doors by him, and just gave me the wrong vibe.
I don’t care if they’re your customers or not. Realize they have a language barrier, and try to explain it as best as you can. I know it may be frustrating, but they’re more than likely not trying to defraud you; they just need a bit of direction.
I’m sticking to the Megabus (or Greyhound Express, if they ever launch it out of Omaha.)

Versus Greyhound, it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other. The prices are more or less the same. Sometimes Burlington buses have Wi-​Fi, but on average they’re dirtier than Greyhound buses. Burlington drivers seem less bitter than Greyhound drivers, but Burlington doesn’t have a frequent hobo reward program.
Make your decision based on when the buses run. There really isn’t any other difference, as far as I can tell.

OK — This is a bus line that is based out of Burlington, IA but travels to and from tons of towns through the midwest. The parent company is Trailways Transportation System (
) and then there are separate companies for different areas of the country. Burlington Trailways is the system I use to get to and from the Quad Cities and Chicago. I’ve also taken it from Ottawa, IL to Chicago.
So, the buses are all new and clean. My last driver was this older, grey-​haired southern gentleman who was super nice but also booked it on the highway. The tickets are like $ 20-​$ 30 one way and you can book online or by phone. So back to the bus, last time I took it to Chicago on a Sunday night, it was not crowded at all, there was a movie playing on the 5 or so movie screens, and the temperature was great in the bus.
I want to spread the word on this bus system b/​c it is such a nice option to have. Cheaper and more reliable than Amtrak and Greyhound, and from what I’ve heard, a more relaxing experience than Mega Bus. I was pleasantly surprised.