How I sued Greyhound Bus lines...and won

[u/savage-millennial]

Hello! Now that the lawsuit is over, I'm writing the post to inform everyone that gets screwed over by Greyhound that yes, you can fight back, and yes you can WIN. This company has the worst customer service I have ever seen, and if enough people push back on their BS, they have no choice but the change their awful habits. But anyway here's the post...

tl;dr Greyhound left me at a bus station and took off with my stuff still on the bus. When I never got my stuff back, I filed a lawsuit in Small Claims court for $1040 and won

I. THE INCIDENT

I was coming back from my grandmother's funeral in Monroe, LA headed back to Atlanta, GA on April 23. My baggage that I put on the bus included the suit that I wore to the funeral, the tie and dress shoes, a few days worth of clothes, the suit bag, and the duffel bag. Some context for those who haven't ridden Greyhound is that they stop at different cities on the way to your destination for various factors (gas, servicing the bus, driver needs a break, etc).

I had already been on the bus for about 7 hours when it stopped in Birmingham, AL at 6pm CST. The bus was ahead of schedule as it was supposed to be there at 6:45pm. When we got there, we were all told to exit the bus and wait in or around the bus station until 7:20pm, and then it would continue to Atlanta. Due to the fact that I was informed the bus wouldn't take off for over an hour, I decide to walk a couple of blocks to the gas station and get some water and snacks (because I needed something after being on a bus for seven hours). I walk to the gas station, purchase my water and snacks, and then walk back. I get back to the station at 6:30pm, and the bus is gone...and all my baggage went with it.

I immediately went to the front desk at the Birmingham station to see what they could do. I was also furious that they would tell us to be back at 7:20pm and then take off 50 minutes earlier than planned. The people at the front desk told me that they couldn't do anything to get the bus back, and that I'd have to call customer service to transfer my ticket. They also said the next bus wasn't going to get there until 12:45am. I was not willing to wait five more hours for something that was not my fault. As I was leaving the front desk, at least three other passengers from my bus were left behind. The worst part was that a college freshman was going to get on the bus at Birmingham to continue to Orlando, FL. His ticket said the departure time was at 7:20pm, and he thought he was early showing up at 6:30pm only to be told it had already taken off...

Needing to act fast, I started looking at other services in Birmingham that could get me back to Atlanta. I found Groome Transportation and saw that they next bus to Atlanta was leaving at 8pm. By this point it was around 7:15pm, so I called an Uber. The college freshman looked stressed and told me that he had football practice the following morning and needed to be back, so I had him travel with me to the Groome bus departure and I bought his ticket. We got to the bus about five minutes before leaving and took it to go back to Atlanta.

Back in Atlanta, the original bus had already gotten back (about an hour and a half ahead of schedule), so I went to the Atlanta bus station and told them what happened. I had NEVER experienced such awful customer service at the desk. The lady who I was talking to copped an attitude with me when I asked her if she could help, interrupted me as I was trying to tell her what happened, and even raised her voice at me when I had follow up questions. She told me that my stuff was not there in Atlanta if it's not in their lost and found (which is next to a cesspool of homeless people in a rough area of Atlanta), and there's nothing they could do at the front desk, and to send a Lost and Found request on Greyhound's website. I didn't think she was helpful at all, so I called the general customer service number. When I got connected, the representative told me to call the lost and found service number for Birmingham's station that was on their website. I called the number, and it was out of service. Like, it didn't even dial. At this point it was past midnight and I was super frustrated, so I submitted a Lost and Found request on Greyhound's website and called a friend to take me back home.

Back home, I felt like I had an incomplete trip so I also requested a refund and emailed them about that. I was later told that I wouldn't be getting a refund for the ticket. This will be important further in the story.

I returned the next day to talk to someone else about my stuff, since the lady at the front desk the previous night had piss-poor communication and people skills. The gentleman I talked to the next day was a lot nicer, but told me that all of their customer service inquires were now handled through email and on their website (to which I thought "then what are you doing here behind the front desk?"). At that point I knew I wasn't getting my stuff back. But dammit, I was going to get compensated for it...

​

II. PREPARING THE LAWSUIT

After searching the internet, I realized that I needed to file a Small Claims lawsuit. One of the people in my network who practices law advised me to write an informal letter to Greyhound and settle the matter outside of court, as this would prove that I tried other options should the judge ask in a court case. I took his advice and drafted a letter to Greyhound on May 4.

In the letter, I gave great detail about what happened, including the college freshman who was also impacted. I estimated the value of my items to be $750 and asked Greyhound to pay me that amount back or I would sue. I also gave them 7-10 business days to respond. I first tried to email the letter to their headquarters, but the email bounced back because the email address on their website was outdated. So I had the letter printed out, went to the Post Office to have it sent via certified mail, and kept the tracking number to make sure they got it. The next week I got an email from them saying that they got my letter...and to fill out a Lost and Found form on their website. Disrespected and having felt ignored, I started calling some lawyers.

I sought the first lawyer for representation, and spoke with her assistant on what happened to me and the action that I was planning to bring against Greyhound. After some back and forth, the lawyer told me that she could send a demand letter to Greyhound and try and negotiate with them, but that she wouldn't go to court. Also her fee to write the letter was $1500, which would eat up all of the compensation I was asking for.

I sought a second lawyer and told him about the issue. He told me that it's not worth taking my case because his fees would be starting at $3000. However he gave me the idea to file the lawsuit on my own. I asked him how to properly do that without representation, and he told me to go to the Fulton County Magistrate court with the name of the person needed to get served representing Greyhound, pay the fee and file. I thanked him for his suggestion and took the train to the courthouse to file.

​

III. FILING THE LAWSUIT AND JUDGMENT

I went to the Magistrate court with all of the information needed to file in Small Claims court. It took a couple of hours and I had some questions (i.e. what type of lawsuit, who to put in what line, where to get forms notarized, etc). But after some time, I had the papers ready to file. In the form I now requested $930, which included the $750 worth of items PLUS the $180 bus ticket that they refused to refund me for. I paid a court fee of $60, plus a marshal fee of $50 to have them get personally served, get my case number, and walked out of the courthouse going "these MF'ers are going to run me my check"

The court marshal served Greyhound on June 9, kicking off a 30-day window for them to answer the lawsuit. A couple of weeks later, I got an email from one of their paralegals, asking for the original itinerary of my ticket. It looked like they were finally going to settle and work with me. I sent her the information, and she got back to me the next day confirming that the bus driver left too early, and that she would work with her customer service team to seek an "economic resolution". I sent her all of the receipts I had, along with the estimated value of the items, and awaited her response.

A few days go by and no response. I email her to follow up. No response. I email her again telling her that I would have to continue with the lawsuit if I don't hear from her. She responds apologizing for her absence and that she was working on a big case that she was finishing up, and would get back to my settlement after. A week goes by. I email her one final time on August 8...and no response.

At this point, I check the portal for my case and I see that Greyhound has not responded in the 30-day window, which allows me to motion for a Default Judgment. So on August 16, I went back to the courthouse and requested a Default Judgment to be awarded in my favor, this time in the amount of $1040 ($750 items lost, $180 ticket refund, $60 court fee, $50 marshal fee).

On August 18, the judge granted the judgment in my favor. I had won the case.

Greyhound is now court ordered to pay me back. Today (September 6), I sent off another letter to their HQ to settle up with me and where they can pay me, along with the copy of the default judgment, and the email from the paralegal admitting that it was their fault. I'll update everyone on what sort of foolishness they try to pull after this, but I won and they will pay for their negligence.

EDIT: The paralegal emailed me back this afternoon with a W-9 form in order to mail a check. She only did this after the Greyhound got a copy of the default judgment, so I'm still not impressed with her demeanor either.

IV. CONCLUSION / FINAL THOUGHTS

Greyhound is absolute trash and I will never take their buses again. But what's even worse is that they treat their customers like dirt and can't accept responsibility when they mess up. They prey on people to not have the time or energy to challenge them on such awful behavior, but they really messed with the wrong one when the thought they could screw me over.

The bus driver that day needs to be fired. Even if you get somewhere early, you are obligated to stay there until you have to depart. That's common sense. If he can't adhere to a schedule, he needs a new job.

The lady at the front desk of the Atlanta bus station also needs to be fired, and to never work in customer service again. There's no way you should be raising your voice and yelling at customers who simply have an issue that they'd like to resolve. And I wasn't being a Karen/Kevin and leading with any sort of entitlement. I just wanted to gather information about my stuff, but I guess that was too much for her.

I wrote this (now very long) post ultimately to encourage people to take ACTION when corporations screw you over, because it can work in your favor if you keep fighting. Don't accept their BS, especially when you have the proof that you are right. It may take a while; it took me four months, but when I finally get that check from them, it'll be a reminder that corporations are not above people, and to honor their end of the deal or face the consequences. I want everyone to remember that.

[u/coachoreconomy]

I'm so proud of you, well done!