Greyhound,
Enclosed, please find my unused ticket. On Friday, September 12 at 12:30am, I was scheduled to leave Pendleton for Portland. I arrived at the bus stop at 12:20am only to find that the bus stop had been moved. Considering that it was moved to a location out of downtown, more inaccessible for anyone needing to take a bus, ten minutes was not sufficient time to run uphill for 3/4 mile. The bus passed and my attempts to flag down the driver were in vain. I was then stuck more than three hours away from the Portland airport with a flight due to leave in six hours. That is pretty nervewracking position to be sure. Like Greyhound, most airlines do not give any leeway for changes or refunds, unless one purchases the inaffordable, refundable option. Luckily, I do not fly those airlines. More luckily for me, at 2:30 in the morning, I found a person willing to do what I had paid Greyhound to do. I found someone to drive me the three and a half hours to the airport and I made the flight. Then, they promptly turned around to make the drive back at 6:00am. I purchased a $200 gift card as some kind of consolation for their effort, though how can that kind of generous act even be repaid? That was far too huge an expense and stress to deal with simply because the station moved without my being told when I bought the ticket.
Though it's been said numerous times, I just don't know that I can ride this bus anymore. How irrelevant has Greyhound made themselves in the last 15 years? In the 1990s, Greyhound ran a pretty reasonable service. The prices were within a decent budget and it was a relatively comfortable ride to get where I needed to be. I took Greyhound all over the country 45 day passes twice, which don't exist anymore. Certainly, the 30 day passes are so out of this world expensive that I wouldn't even begin to consider that. For the past 7-8 years at least, it has basically been the same price to fly to my destinations as to use Greyhound. Now is no different.
Eastern Oregon is no man's land, where people are stuck other than Greyhound, the only public transportation restricted to only two times per day going either direction. As locked in as we are, still there are other options. Greyhound from La Grande to Portland, booked two months in advance, costs $55 with the basic fare. Yet, we can take a free shuttle to Pendleton, where we can fly to Portland for $57. That is, for $2 more, I can get to my destination in half the time much more comfortably. And let's not even get into how Greyhound tickets are non-refundable unless someone were to purchase the $97.50 refundable fare. If I am unwilling to spend $55, there is little chance I will spend almost twice that to guarantee my money back. I drive an old Ford F-150 that gets 13 miles per gallon. I can still get to Portland and back for the same price Greyhound charges at the advanced fare rate. Maybe that makes sense to Greyhound, but certainly not to me considering the bus is almost completely full of people paying the same or more. Greyhound sets prices and terms that they feel are appropriate I am sure. However, Greyhound is the side receiving the payment, not making it. Until Greyhound comes up with a more user friendly service, with prices that are reasonable, count me out. I will fly where I need to go until I am able to move to town more easily accessed by other public transportation. Too long I have wasted my time thinking Greyhound is a legitimate travel option.
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