22nd
An Open Letter to Megabus.com Concerning Discrimination from a Driver
UPDATE: Megabus has since responded to this letter. Read their answer here. The following is a letter I just sent to Megabus.com about an adventure some friends and I had with one of their drivers yesterday. Depending on how they handle it, I don’t mind this post coming up in Google searches for a while…
Name: Colin Morris
E-mail: mail [at] colinmorris [dot] net
Subject: Overt Discrimination by a Driver
To whom it may concern,
I’ve been riding the Megabus since its April 2006 debut in the States and have had very few bad experiences. I’ve always been quick about providing positive feedback about my good rides. It’s only fair, then, that I alert you promptly to a most disturbing episode that occurred on the 15:15 CST route to Toledo-Cleveland-Pittsburgh on 21 March, 2008.
I’ll list my grievances against our driver, whose name tag said “Washington,” in order of ascending severity:
- He refused to load my only piece of luggage, which was a snowboard packed in a zipped case with padding inside. Mr. Washington insisted it didn’t fit the criteria of your luggage policy. It did: It was my only piece, and weighed less than 50 lbs. No dimensions are provided in the policy to regulate what constitutes “the size of a standard suitcase.” I calmly brought this to Mr. Washington’s attention, and he told me he wasn’t “going to have a debate about it.” I then spoke to a cool-headed and compassionate employee at the front of the bus, who Mr. Washington called “Lou,” who has overseen Megabus boarding procedures at Union Station for many trips I’ve taken with your company. She told me that my luggage was acceptable and that she would “talk to [Mr. Washington].” Afterward, I protested with Mr. Washington again, saying Lou had approved the luggage, and he said “I don’t care WHO you talked to.” Ultimately, a passenger who had purchased an extra seat allowed me to store my luggage on board next to her.
- Mr. Washington horribly mistreated one of my fellow travelers, who is confined to a wheelchair and made an accessible reservation by phone weeks before the trip. His abuse of this passenger was in direct defiance of your policies regarding passengers with disabilities and constitutes the bulk of my complaint.
Mr. Washington began by telling Passenger that, because Mr. Washington was missing a special key needed to board a wheelchair, Passenger would have to wait for the next bus. Another passenger protested, saying that this was unfair, and Mr. Washington asked her if she was “stuck on stupid.” When this problem was brought to Lou’s attention, she spoke with Mr. Washington and summoned the driver of a nearby Megabus, who she called “André,” to bring his key on board and help.
André boarded our bus, opened the accessible back door, and three passengers (including myself) assisted Passenger aboard in his wheelchair. Meanwhile, Mr. Washington continued to complain about liabilities and why he should not have to allow Passenger onto his bus. After demonstrating that Megabus drivers are under-trained in the accommodation of handicapped passengers by fumbling for approximately ten minutes with the wheelchair harnesses, André and his fellow employees had Passenger strapped in and ready to go.
Mr. Washington’s resistance to Passenger delayed our trip by exactly 45 minutes. Including other weather-related delays (for which no reasonable person would hold Mr. Washington responsible), our bus arrived in Cleveland at 12:30 a.m. instead of 10:45 p.m. as scheduled.
At no point during our seven-hour trip could we find a piece of wheelchair-accommodating hardware that required a key to operate, including the floor-to-wheel harnesses, rear door or ramp storage compartment. For this reason, my fellow passengers and I found Mr. Washington’s basis for excluding Passenger particularly suspect.
When we finally arrived in Cleveland, Mr. Washington interrupted the process of disembarking Passenger from the accessible door, standing in the doorway to tell me and others who were waiting to help Passenger off that we didn’t understand the liability of Mr. Washington. He told us he could be sued, to which I replied that he very well might be someday. He went on to repeat that he has 20 years of experience (I assume he meant in driving buses) and knows how to deal with “a cripple.”
A “CRIPPLE.”
I told Mr. Washington that I planned to share my experience with Megabus, and he challenged me, saying “Okay, you DO that.” He seemed neither concerned or aware that, as driver, he is THE Megabus diplomat on board. Luckily in this case, Lou and André were available in Chicago to assist patiently and competently in our departure.
By contrast, Mr. Washington is, as he alluded, a lawsuit waiting to happen. His reprehensible, discriminatory behavior, which suggests ANYTHING but “20 years of experience,” made travelling with Megabus a nightmare that my fellow travellers and I will share with others.
I am very interested in your company’s response to us, a group of loyal, returning customers, who deserve at the least a refund for our fare, and Mr. Washington, who deserves nothing short of a prompt reprimand and a lesson in tact and compassion.
Sincerely, Colin Morris
UPDATE: Megabus has since responded to this letter. Read their answer here.
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