Eurolines France: shitty service

[Viva_a_Historia]

First of all I want to say I'm sorry for not be able to write this post in French. "Je parle seulement un petit peut de français".

This post is not intentioned to have something against France or French people but just to have something against Eurolines France.

Finishing a voluntary project (EVS) in Croatia I decided to get back home by bus to Portugal. I decided to not do all the trip at once so I decided to stay two nights in Padova (Italy) and two nights in Bordeaux. I got the trips through the Eurolines France's website from Padova to Bordeaux for 119€ and from Bordeaux to Coimbra (Portugal) for 24€.

To go from Padova to Bordeaux I booked the ticket and waited to receive a e-mail from them with the ticket. After two days that e-mail was not received so I sent an e-mail to Eurolines France asking for the ticket and giving all the details about my reservation. I never got an answer. I decided then to send an e-mail to Eurolines Italia exposing the problem and fortunately I got an answer one day later by e-mail received on that way my ticket. When I looked at the ticket I saw that the ticket was printed by Eurolines Italia and the conditions about the luggage were different from the ones which I saw on Eurolines France's website (1 piece of luggage allowed instead of 2) and with which ones I agreed on the booking time. Other difference was the fact that on Eurolines France's website I was not informed that I would need to change the bus in Paris, while that information was in the ticket printed. Anyway, on that moment for me the most important was to have finally the ticket.

The trip from Padova to Paris was OK (the drivers were Spanish and they didn't give a shit about the quantity of luggage so I could bring 2 pieces without problems). In Paris I went to do the check-in for the trip to Bordeaux and I found that the bus to get to Bordeaux was changed to another one two hours later than the one which I had to take on the ticket. I asked on the desk why they did that I get a very rude answer from the lady there telling me that this is the bus for the connections. At 12:30 (the time on the ticket to get the bus from Paris to Bordeaux) I saw that there was a bus departing to Bordeaux but I had to take another one at 14:30 without have been asked by them if it would be OK for me to change or if it would cause some disturb to me. When I got in Bordeaux it was already at night (I never was in Bordeaux before and didn't know the way from the bus stop to the hotel).

Two days later it was time to get the bus from Bordeaux to Coimbra. Three hours before the time supposed to take the bus, I received by e-mail a message saying that I would have to go to the Euroline's office in Bordeaux to do the check-in from that moment because the bus would depart from Bordeaux one hour before the predicted. I went to the Eurolines office and it was closed. I exposed (together with other people who were in the bus stop) the situation about the check-in to the driver (a Portugueseman) and everything was OK.

Now, the problems about all this:
- Why do they think that they have the right to change the connection's bus departure without asking the passenger if it would be OK? And if I really needed to get the bus at 12:30 to arrive to Bordeaux on time to take another transport (bus, train or airplane)? And if the hotel's check-in (already booked) in Bordeaux was already closed when arriving in Bordeaux? Would I have to sleep in the street?
- And if I was not on the internet when they sent me the e-mail to get early to the check-in in Bordeaux? I am not oblied to be always on the internet. Would they give me another ticket if I missed the bus because they changed the departure's time?

[lajofa]

I think you'll find youre answers in sections 3 and 11 here

[neptunik]

Too bad you had such an unpleasant experience. That's why most people do not like Eurolines, because it is a coalition of various carriers operating under a single brand.
I've never had a nasty situation with them. Several times a year I travel around Europe with Eurolines. Very good connections Eurolines has from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. Others include connections from Prague to Scandinavia via Germany (Free Wi-Fi, snack, drink etc.)
Coach transport, especially international, is quite specific. Before you decide on the trip by coach you need to prepare very well for the journey in every way. You should read the information on the carrier's website or other sites such as http://www.europebus.co.uk. Check the bus stops where they are located, search for the so-called emergency number, etc.
In my opinion any inconvenience should be presented to the operator, you should write a complaint. This will improve performance in the future.

[Road_UK]

Padova to Bordeaux via Paris???