Review: My Boltbus Experience
I'm feeling pretty ambivalent about this past weekend's Boltbus experience. I think the best way to sum it up is that the buses themselves are quite nice, but the customer service experience is horrible. I had purchased tickets to go to NYC on Friday on the 6:30pm bus and return on Sunday on the 5:30pm bus.
So I arrived fairly early on Friday (5:40pm) because I didn't know what to expect. There is one terminal for Bolt Bus (terminal 21). Because I was almost 50 minutes early, there was no one else around so I just sat down and waited. Around 6pm, people started showing up and getting in line at the Terminal. I waited for 15-20 people before I joined in.
6:15pm rolled around (boarding time) and there was still no bus. People started getting a little worried and tried calling Greyhound, or walking over to the Greyhound desk and asking for info. Their replies? "Boltbus is a different company, we can't help you."
I went on their website and looked for a number to call. Here's what I found:
We do not maintain a call center or agents at each stop, so e-mail is all you need. Our goal is to keep the process as simple as possible.
One guy went so far as emailing them to see if they'd respond. They didn't
Finally at 8pm, the bus pulled in. By that time, 75% of the riders had tired of waiting and hopped on a Chinatown bus instead.
The bus itself was nice and new and the seats had more legroom than usual. The front 2/3 of the bus had electrical sockets in the back of the seat in front of you. The bus stops and picks up in NYC on the corner of 34th and 8th.
The busride back from NYC left on time. It did take a while though, 4.5 hours - which is longer than I'm used to.
Will I ride Bolt Bus again? I haven't decided yet. But I am going to email them asking for a phone number to call. Standing around waiting with no one to consult is unacceptable.
Click (here) for an entry on how to get to NYC.
So I arrived fairly early on Friday (5:40pm) because I didn't know what to expect. There is one terminal for Bolt Bus (terminal 21). Because I was almost 50 minutes early, there was no one else around so I just sat down and waited. Around 6pm, people started showing up and getting in line at the Terminal. I waited for 15-20 people before I joined in.
6:15pm rolled around (boarding time) and there was still no bus. People started getting a little worried and tried calling Greyhound, or walking over to the Greyhound desk and asking for info. Their replies? "Boltbus is a different company, we can't help you."
I went on their website and looked for a number to call. Here's what I found:
We do not maintain a call center or agents at each stop, so e-mail is all you need. Our goal is to keep the process as simple as possible.
One guy went so far as emailing them to see if they'd respond. They didn't
Finally at 8pm, the bus pulled in. By that time, 75% of the riders had tired of waiting and hopped on a Chinatown bus instead.
The bus itself was nice and new and the seats had more legroom than usual. The front 2/3 of the bus had electrical sockets in the back of the seat in front of you. The bus stops and picks up in NYC on the corner of 34th and 8th.
The busride back from NYC left on time. It did take a while though, 4.5 hours - which is longer than I'm used to.
Will I ride Bolt Bus again? I haven't decided yet. But I am going to email them asking for a phone number to call. Standing around waiting with no one to consult is unacceptable.
Click (here) for an entry on how to get to NYC.
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Email me at beantownblog@gmail.com
Email me at beantownblog@gmail.com
4 comments:
I also rode the Bolt Bus this weekend and thought the Customer Service was almost too helpful. The driver held the bus up for 20 minutes to help a woman locate her confirmation number via someone's borrowed lap top.
Friend,
The bus you waited for left NYC on a Fri afternoon. That means hours on the CT turnpike inching along, and arriving late at Boston. NYC to Bos is 6 hours on a Fri, and that probably accounts for the delay. The Bolt schedules say 4hours, but Fri, and Fri was raining, cannot keep a schedule.
I was on the 1230pm Boston to 34th St. bus and left my knapsack that contained all my prescription medicine in the overhead rack above my seat when I got off the bus at 500pm. It had a tag with my name, address, telephone number, and email address. Boltbus does not have a telephone number to call if something goes wrong so I could not immediately call the dispatcher like other bus companies. I sent them an email to customer service when I got home and got a reply that I would be contacted if it was found. That was the last I heard from them as they refuse to respond to my emails. It is like a black hole...nothing. So be warned. If something is amiss and you need to contact the driver of your bus or the bus company you are out of luck. They have your money and that's all they care about. No customer service after they have your money. After that it's get lost.
Dear Dui,
I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your knapsack. I'd suggest you try emailing them again to see if you get can get a response. I emailed them shortly after my first bus ride and told the story about the delay and asked if they could provide a customer service numbers. They said no, but at least they responded.
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