Letter to Eurolines - Brussels to Berlin Busride from Hell

---

Dear Eurolines,

Our journey first started out alright. Or so I thought. With the exception of the on board toilet not having a handle inside or toilet paper - leading to the door not shutting all of the way, so the smell got out in the bus. Shortly after we crossed the Belgium/German border, our first driver pulled over somewhere around 3am and left the engine running idle for over an hour. We were apparently waiting for the second driver to get to the bus. As soon as the second driver arrived, our problems started. My friend Sasha S_____ who is also complaining, and myself sat in the front seat and watched the first driver teach the relief driver how to work the pedals, buttons, and even go as far as to draw him a map on how to get to Berlin.We sat there for over 20 more minutes watchin the 2nd driver not understand the directions,or how to use the GPS. He also only spoke Dutch or German, with the majority of the passengers being American. Luckily one passenger translated for the rest of us, who had been on the bus from London to Belgium to Berlin.

We finally got underway but shortly after leaving, the driver got lost and ended up backtracking for quite awhile. Several hours later we still were not anywhere near Berlin. The incompetent driver stopped several different times to get further directions, as well as finally stopping at a rest stop station where the bus then broke down. He was able to get it started but only to pull over and park near several dumpsters. He then opened the doors, letting in around 100 flies onto the bus. We all got off the bus because it was so smelly and filled with flies, waiting for the repair truck in Hannover to come (we were a half hr away). The repair man took over an hr to get there. We were supposed to arrive in Berlin at 915am on the 30th but we were at this stop until past 11AM. In total, from 7AM to 11ish AM. Repair man then yelled at the driver because he had been driving the whole time with the ''check engine'' light on. Found out later the first driver had known of the issue, as told by passengers who had been on the bus from London to Belgium and onto Berlin. Several passengers left to find other modes of transportation (around 8 or so).

We had no proper updates and the driver proceeded to get an attitude with passengers. Once we finally got the engine running, we all got on the bus and prayed we would be in Berlin soon. We then passed a sign around 430am that said 250km until Berlin. Unfortunately the driver then got lost several more times, and also proceeded to drive well below the speed limit, making the bus ride longer, stinkier,and more time dealing with the flies. We stopped at a few other locations for driver to get even more directions and finally give us a bathroom break. After 10min he then proceeded to honk at all of us, as if we were troubling his journey. 10min shouldn't be a problem to him. Especially since we had to deal with a driver who clearly didn't know where to go since we arrived almost 8 hrs later. We didn't get into Berlin until 4PM on the 30th. Over 7 hours past our expected arrival. Our driver stood up at the end of the drive, chuckled and said, ''oh sorry haha''.

The service of this coach was beyond appalling, disgusting, and horrible. I would not recommend to anyone to ever ride your coach line again. We had plans in the city that were irreplaceable that we missed due to the incompetence of the drivers and lack of customer service of the company. I would like a refund for my journey and the trouble we had to endure on our trip.

Sincerely,

Chandra

---

Comments

[Dominic]

Make a complaint
If this trip actually took place, why did not you call during a trip to Eurolines. Each ticket has a so-called emergency number. This number is there to react in such cases. I've never had problems with Eurolines, but I know that there are problems. From all the European capitals, Berlin’s ZOB station is most easily reachable, leading by the super-express road, as opposed to London, for example. Maybe it was the first day of work for this driver but it does not explain his behavior. I always use Eurolines, recently I rode from London to Prague, because I read a special bus on this route and it was without problems and I was more than pleased. http://www.europebus.co.uk/blog/post/344/business-class-from-london-to-prague-pilsen-brno-starting-from-just-79-return/ We even arrived ahead of schedule. Make a complaint is always better than doing nothing.

[passecj]

Hey Dominic, that's exactly what we did. We called and submitted complaints online on their "submit complaint" form. Unfortunately they claimed that it was not their problem when we spoke to them, and then the online form went through and they said they weren't in control of that branch of the buses (which doesn't make sense to me).