The letter I've written to British newspapers describes the complaint:
I returned to the UK in late August from an American trip to find that Greyhound were starting a £1 bus run from London to Portsmouth. I'd normally be in favour of news coverage of cheaper public transport. If only it wasn't Greyhound.
Greyhound managed to lose my suitcase in while I was in the USA. They manage it with many other people too through a ridiculous luggage procedure of removing selected luggage to make way for baggage they think is more urgent. Greyhound believes that it's satisfactory for passengers luggage to arrive a day or two after they do. Or not at all, judging by the time wasting form filling leading to no result, apart from the notification of 90 days taken to search for it, and the insincere email messages ignoring questions while repeating sentences word for word of false sympathy.
It's easy to find complaints of this nature about Greyhound on the Internet and complaints about the rudeness of staff. I experienced this between Cleveland and Dallas when I was told by the drivers not to check my suitcase because they were taking care of it, and for safety reasons. At some stops there were uniformed officers to enforce this. When I arrived at Dallas minus suitcase the Customer Services representative walked away from me when I tried to report this to him, then he directed me to the baggage control office which was closed. When I found the Baggage Control Manager he told me I should have checked my suitcase during the trip! Finally another member of staff told me that he didn't travel with Greyhound because of their attitude towards luggage.
Some people think the luggage is stolen. Difficult to prove but difficult to disprove too.
I find it amazing that Greyhound can get away with this performance in the USA where many people are being sued for far less. Mayb it's because they have a monopoly and their clientele are the poorer sections of American society. One woman on the Internet complained about having no clothes because she couldn't afford to buy any, after Greyhound had lost hers.
They've persisted with their luggage procedure since 1997 when I travelled with them for the last time before last month and they did the same thing. That led to a showdown with the Greyhound Manager in El Paso Texas when he tried to recite company rules to me. My luggage was retreived then but now I think it's gone for good.
I'm concerned about similar things happening in Britain if they get the upper hand here.
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