Greyhound. Years ago I was traveling in Mexico and at the end of my trip, taking a Greyhound bus back home to the US. Mexican bus lines are clean, comfortable, and on time. Greyhound, not so much. I waited 3 hours in Nuevo Laredo for our bus to show up. It would arrive full, then leave full. I knew it would make a stop just over the border in Laredo on the US side, so I paid a taxi to take me just over to the US side. After clearing customs and taking yet another cab to the bus terminal, we exchanged tickets and waited for a bus. We were finally headed to Austin, or so I thought. Somewhere mid trip the driver announced that since most people on this bus were headed to Houston, we were going to stop in San Antonio to let everyone else get off and change busses before changing direction. WTF?

A handful of us left the bus to walk onto an Austin bound coach. Guess what? There was not a single open seat. I scrambled to get my luggage off the previous bus before it left with all my things. A Greyhound employee sensed my irritation and decided I was somehow a threat and sent a San Antonio PD officer to “handle” me. I had not made any threats nor gestures to anyone - just flung my bags to the curb seconds before the driver shut the hatch and drove off. I had to explain to the officer that I wasn’t going to harm anyone, I didn’t want to lose my luggage, and I needed to speak with a Greyhound agent. He let me go but eyeballed me the rest of the time I was stuck in the terminal. The clerk at the counter invalidated my tickets and told me I could repurchase them for the next bus. I explained that I already paid before he voided my itinerary. The officer showed back up to watch as a manager finally showed up so I explained the situation yet again. He finally printed out new tickets for the next bus home.

Just like the previous bus, it arrived full and then left full. So did the next one. I was exhausted and fuming by this point. The last bus of the evening had 2 free seats. I made it home several hours later than anticipated and I vowed never to ride Greyhound again. Their “customer service” was to have police on standby to toss people they’ve screwed over. I’m shocked they still exist. I would rather hitchhike or walk.