Complaint Review: Greyhound

As of December 31, 2011, over 8100 people have signed an online petition asking Greyhound to end the Gift Ticket Fee. You can do the same at:

http://www.change.org/petitions/greyhound-eliminate-the-18-gift-ticket-fee

I too work for the company and yes just like cell phone companies, cable companies etc. they rip people off all the time. We need jobs, we need an income and some of us are not proud to work for some of these companies, but hey some of us choices are only as good as our options. With that said, I do not think just because we work for a company, we have to come to their defense. Forget all the technical explanation as an attempt to justify this cost. Lets go back to kinda garden logics; why would it cost absolutely nothing for me to buy it online for myself but $18 more if I am buying it for someone. In neither scenarios are the tickets purchased at the departure station therefore it is fair to say the "convenience fee" of having the ticket ready at the will call is F*kry. If they are worrying about wasting $18 dollars worth of ink and paper on a customer, why not give the option of printing it online (it's not like the passengers are going through customs). Final point, when things are purchased online it is done electronically, a middle man is bypassed. Basic business principle... cutting out a middle man= cutting expenses in most cases. Lowering expense= increasing efficiency. Increasing efficiency= increasing net income/decrease loss (depending if the business is profitable or not). So... again, it is fair to say charging $18 because it was purchased online is F*kry.
Solution, if you want to buy a ticket for someone, send it through western union and have them pay cash or if the person has a bank account, just make a deposit :-)
Ps. someone TRIED to use big mac as an example, I won't even comment on that one.lol.

The Gift Ticket Fee is the same as the Pre-Paid Ticket Order Fee which is applies to any ticket that is bought in one location for someone to pick up at another location. This is all plainly stated on their website. The reason for this charge is basically a convienience charge for you buying this online or on the phone. I highly recommend going to the bus stations or terminals to buy your tickets as I know some people who saved 400 dollars by driving 30 minutes to their bus station to buy their tickets. When you buy anything online you cut out all middlemen and in turn are in most cases (referencing ticking) paying more than if you would have just went in bought the ticket yourself and mailed it to the person or, sent them the money.

Come on, get real. This fee is usury plain and simple. The fee is now $18. What do I get for my money? Nothing that I can observe. I order a ticket for myself I'd have to pick it up at will call. If I order a ticket for a family member, guess what? Same will call! The information technology infrastructure and human resources costs difference should be negligible. No $18 worth of extra service provided.

There are several reasons why your view is incorrect and I will do my best to explain them. First the gift fee is only charged if a ticket is purchased over the phone, internet, or at a terminal locations other than the one the ticket is leaving from, and the customer wants it electronically transferred. If you went into the station and purchased the ticket directly for your son and mailed it to him or gave it to him in person there would be NO additional fees.

Second the idea that you would rather have Greyhound raise their rates than charge a fee is, in my opinion ridiculous. Why should everyone pay for your convience. As a consumer I wouldn't want McDonalds to raise their extra value menu rates across the board. I perfer them asking you if you want to supersize and then pay extra for that. If I want a medium size I should only have to pay for a medium size. By charging the gift fee Greyhound insures that only those people who want the additional service pay for it.

My third and final point is this, this is a capitalistic country. Every business is out there trying to make the most money and spend the least. Every publicly held company, such as Greyhound, has the responsibility to its stockholders to keep profits up and costs down. We as a society have lost track of this ideal and want something for little or nothing, everyone should be equal. This DOES NOT work. It is called communism, everyone is equal. Russia is a prime example of have equality fails. Look a their economy. Look at China, even they realize this and are slowly becoming capatilistic. People have an unrealistic view of what customer service is. The nice thing about capitilism is if you are unhappy with a company you can go somewhere else.