BoltBus
Reviews and Complaints

The drive of bus 0894 on 06/02/2023 has a very bad and mean attitude. While his English isn't all that great he had the balls to say something about how a passenger was talking. While that passenger was talking loudly on his phone it is still no reason to say anything about his language. To the point I am afraid to talk on my phone, he had threatened several people to put them off the bus if here could hear them talking. I was not aware that talking on the phone was against the rules. He just doesn't seem to like his job. If he had talked to me in that manor and embarrassed me like that there would if been a fight. Customer service While difficult at times is still just that! No need to be an overbearing [censored] threatening paying customers or talking crap about the way they talk. This man needs retrained and he were my employee he would be looking for a new job!

Totally uncalled for behavior from a bus driver who can't speak English so well himself.

Also I would like to add his braking skills suck! Several times I smashed my face on the seat in front of me due to him stomping on the breaks it's called feathering driver, or slow down a bit I realize he has a schedule to keep but dam this is ridiculous, this driver needs total retraining and sensitivity classes before your company gets sued!*

Me and my spouse had booked two tickets to travel from DC to NYC on 12/1/2019 on 9:30am. We received an email from BoltBus customer service that our schedule has changed for 10:30am. Although we arrived at the bus departure terminal 20min prior to departure we were refused to board until all passenger that had booked the 10:30am bus were first boarded. As a result I had to sit two seat rows away from my spouse. Me and my wife are submitting a complaint for being denied to board on our turn although we made sure to arrive well in advance to be able to seat together.

On 10/27 I reserved tickets for a bus from NYC to Washington D.C. I decided to take Bolt since I had heard good reviews, which from my experience are very inaccurate. The but was an hour late to begin with and there was no alert as to when the bus would arrive or be leaving the station. I finally after being told by 3 different people that worked for Bolt they had no idea what the issues was, I was able to find someone who gave me information with an attitude at that. Finally we were on our way after an hour delay. At some point on the NJ turnpike I was woken up when the bus made an abrupt stop and then the bus started moving backwards. I though something was wrong why else would the bus driver do something so dangerous as to drive backwards on the highway with a bus full of people. Someone in the front of the bus asked if there was problem to which the bus driver did not reply. after about 7 mins of driving backwards the bus stops on the side of the road and a young man boards. The gentleman and the bus driver exchange salutations and then he gets off and the driver proceeds to drive as if nothing happened. I was and am still in disbelief that this situation occurred on a bus full of people. Needless to say I will not be taking Boltbus at any point ever again I would not recommend this bus service to anyone else. I also feel that the bus company should look into this event and some type of action should be taken. There could've been potentially a horrific accident caused by the blatant disregard for the law or any of the lives that were on the bus that day.

This bus was 1.5 hours late. Then the driver who does not communicate at all and did not even scan our tickets had to stop at the truck stop to get something to eat. He did not care about our schedule. Then He stops in the middle of a highway and backs up. This is scary as hell! Not telling us that he needed to help stranded people because the other bus broke down. Very angry people got on board and took it out on us. We are not doing anything wrong but wanting to get to DC! I would like a refund for what we have been through today. If you were on this bus, You would have been very unhappy. My confirmation # is [protected]. For me and my husband! Please email me back at [protected]@msn.com. Tracey Goulet

Hello I am writing to complain about a driver who slammed the doors in my face and took off when there was one available seat on the bus she said my ticket was from last year but it was not -I have included all of the information below and customer service has confirmed my ticket was valid not only did she takeoff without me she was incredibly rude I have never experienced such unprofessionalism or rudeness in my entire life this woman should be fired please contact me and let me know the action taken

Order Number: [protected]
Web Passenger (AP) Northeast: Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable, web tickets are only valid on the dates & times selected.
From Baltimore, MD to New York, NY
Departing on 10/05/2019 10:00 AM, BOLT 4025
Returning on 10/06/2019 05:15 PM, BOLT 4078 $45.00

I took an evening bus from Boston to New Haven yesterday (26th September). The bus was 45 minutes late arriving in New Haven. The on board power stopped working not long into the journey, which I was intending on relying on as it was an advertized feature. The overhead reading lights were also not working, and the WiFi did not seem to be working reliably. Coupled with a smell of urine all the way down the bus, this was the most unpleasant bus journey I've ever taken.

The two of us waited over an hour for the 2:50 bolt bus from cherry hill to nyc to arrive before finally giving up. We repeatedly called the bolt bus number and talked to people who could not tell us anything about where the bus was. Another person was waiting for the same bus and he couldn't get any information about the whereabouts of the bus from calling either. I am attaching images of our tickets with bus number and confirmation numbers. I ask that at the very least I will be reimbursed. My email [protected]@gmail.com

I was going on my trip from Vancouver to Belllingham. The bus was already 30min late, and there was confusion on where we were suppose to line up. Bolt bus divides boarding priority based on letter group A, B, C, and D. I went to ask the driver which group he was boarding and he said C. And then when he made an announcement that he is boarding groups A, B, and C. I was confused so I asked the people in front of line if they were C's, because I was in group C.

The driver became angry with me and said that it was rude to ask fellow passengers which group they were in. And then he informed me that I am not calm and so cannot board his bus. As far as I know, all I did was ask a question to make sure I'm lining up where I am suppose to.

I am shocked that I can be denied boarding because of this incident. Can I sue the company for this?

i leslie calhoun was on bus leaving nyc 12;45 going to baltimore the bus was well maintain the driver was excellent.he did what he could to help, but the bus was already in route when the air had stop working. wwe may have been an hour in the trip when i notice the air stop, but i didnt think nothing of it until it started getting hot and a man when up to ask what was going on and we was inform that the air was off.so the driver did what he could and open the top vents with no help because than it began to rain and we had to close them and the heat was on.so than the driver decided to stop at a rest stop so we could get a lil reife, but we still had another hour to ride with the rain and heat [protected] is the # my email is [protected]@aol.com thank you leslie calhoun i have been riding with u guys for 6yrs

This is a piece of [censored] bus service. The following sequence of events happened to me twice. Booked bus for Baltimore to depart Newark at 6:00 pm. The bus didn't show up till 6:15 when all the passengers started calling up the customer care. And the delightfully ill informed representatives after transferring the call at least 5 times informed that the bus came and left at 6:00 while we had been waiting at the stop since 5:30. Upon further inquiry they tell us that it was changed from a bolt bus to a greyhound without any notification, which came and left without picking up passengers. They have wasted an hour of my time two times now. #neveragain

please, I worked from Friday to Saturday and completed my 26rides and 28hrs and my bonus of #6, 500 was given to me and I screenshot it and send to some of my friend, rejoicing that I have completed the task, only for me to wake up this morning to find out that you guys have reduces it to 25rides, I opened my rides and counted it again from Friday morning till Saturday evening and it is complete, please I need my bonus back.

My fiancé and I frequently used to use bolt bus as an affordable way to travel to other cities on the east coast. This January, on a trip to NYC from DC, we used bolt again. We have never had problems with Bolt Bus before, which is what makes this so frustrating. Here's what happened upon returning how to DC:

Left baggage on bus upon arrival on location(NYC to Union Station DC) around 11pm. Upon realizing our mistake on the way out of Union Station, we ran back towards the bus. Upon returning to where the bus had dropped us off, only 3 minutes after arriving, the bus was gone. No one was able to give us any info on how to contact bolt, so I left a note with the Grey Hound Representative. Immediately called Bolt Bus CS, was told to email them with our situation. Was told that email would be flagged, and we would receive a follow up email shortly. Never received follow-up. Emailed again on 3 separate occasions. No answer. Called 3 more times. Was told they could not discuss "private" matters over phone. Contacted Bolt bus through Facebook. Was told they would look into our case. Never replied again. Complained on FB page. Was once again told by a rep that they would look into our case. Never followed up. EMAILED AGAIN. No response.

We did everything we could directly after the incident and in the weeks following it, to no avail. They never provided us with a single solution to the problem, even though the luggage would have been very easy to track given the details we provided and the time that we provided it in. We lost over a thousand dollars worth of goods in the luggage. To say we are disappointed would be an understatement. Bolt Bus is too large of a corporation to be this completely incompetent. Never using their service again.

Booked Bolt for my birthday trip to New York. Upon getting on the bus, none of the sockets worked (meaning you couldn't charge your phone or laptop). So I had to turn my phone off to reserve my battery time. Bus was dirty and lacked the legroom it promotes on its website. Ticket was booked based on time that was feasible for me 7am pick up to 10:30am arrival . Not sure why the driver kept driving through MD for 3 hours but we ended up back on course to NJ then NY. I booked my return trip for 3:45pm. Needless to say...I spent more time on the bus then I did in NY.

Boltbus cancelled my ticket one hour before the scheduled departure - Email was sent at 2:04pm on 4/19 and scheduled departure was 3:30pm on 4/19. There were no other tickets available for that day so was left with no travel options for the weekend. They also gave no reason or explanation for the cancellation other than "operational issues".

Email below:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We apologize for this inconvenience but your schedule for today 4/19 has been cancelled due to operational issues. Please call customer service at 1-877-265-8287 to re-book @ no charge to you or request for a refund. Please have your confirmation number ready.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience

I would like a full explanation on why they chose to cancel this bus last minute.

I missed my bus clearly because they changed the location of my pickup and told me about it only 30 mins prior to departure. I was in traffic! I hate this company so much, seriously shut down if you refuse to cooperate with customers. I wasted near $50 on stupid tickets that were never used and missed my bus because they decided to reach out to me about this sudden new pickup location just 30 mins before departure. Just the worst!

ROUTE #8262

I have left a Bag on the LAs Vegas Bound Bus from Los Angeles that arrived at 9:36 pm
I am attempting to leave my information due to the nature of the Unmarked bag but can not seem to get a direct department for Lost and Found. This bag has every key I own in it, and I desperately need it back. I am hoping it can be set aside as soon as possible.

It is faded Floral medium size
No tag but an old tag with "mexico" on it
Male Bus Driver Route 8262 October 28/18

My address is 150 N Las Vegas Blvd 89101 #2017
Phone Number [protected]

"Guaranteed seats" represents a lie. They overbook and you are forced to wait as long as necessary for them to get another bus, sometimes hours. I was scheduled to be on a 5 pm bus, Baltimore to Nyc. Instructions were to arrive 15 min before which I did. The bus was over booked and they asked me and the 25 other people waiting, to wait for the next bus. Have waited 45 min now and still no bus.

Hello, I traveled on the 11:30 BoltBus from Seattle to Eugene, on July 8th. The air conditioning on the bus was not functioning, and the temperature rapidly climbed to unhealthy heights. Our driver announced that she had not tried opening the ceiling vents, because she thought it wouldn't help. I and many other passengers suffered in the hot bus On the way to Portland. Further, our driver announced that there were no substitute buses available in Portland and that we had no other options but to continue on that bus, where one person with a temperature app reported it was 88 degrees.
On arrival in Portland, we learned that there was indeed another bus available. That is when our driver made another mistake by not having all passengers remove personal items from the disabled bus as well as our luggage from the storage compartment below. This decision increased the lateness of our bus; driver had to personally transfer all of the items on arrival at the new bus. In addition, two passengers had not removed their personal items from the coach, so we had to return to the Greyhound terminal in Portland in any case, for them to do that.
I became dehydrated and felt ill from such prolonged exposure to heat inside that bus, and all day yesterday I felt ill as well. Thankfully, with extra hydration and rest I am beginning to feel back to normal. But I lost an entire day plus the evening of the 8th to heat exhaustion. This is an unacceptable situation, and one that could have been avoided with better training. I overheard the Portland ground employee saying that the air conditioning on that bus had to be set at 70° and above or else the compressor would freeze. It appears that our driver set the a/c well below that, and she also didn't try opening the ceiling vents. They should be better protocols in place for situations when the air-conditioning fails a hot day. I and many others suffered greatly.

My name is Kathy Nguyen and I was one of 8 passengers that was left stranded by the bolt bus in Barstow, CA on July 13, 2018. We were heading north to Las Vegas on bus number 0901 departing Union Station in Los Angeles, CA at 4:15pm. The bus was 30mins late to arrive to the pick up location and when we had our second stop in Barstow, Earl Smith, the male, african american driver left me and 7 other passengers behind without any warning whatsoever.

THIS IS COMPLETELY UNPROFESSIONAL AND UNACCEPTABLE!

There was absolutely no warning, no headcount and all of us abided by his rule of not to go across the street or anywhere far to order some food for ourselves. He told us 20 minutes and I was timing it. It was definitely NOT 20 minutes before I saw the bus drive away without us on it. All 8 of us were inside the Carls Jr. restaurant where the bus is scheduled to stop. I had gone to the restroom then ordered my food and was waiting for it when all 8 of us saw the driver enter the Carl's Jr. restaurant. The driver cut the line at the restaurant and went directly to the side of counter, ordered his food, received it before any of us, left the restaurant and started driving away without telling any of us. As he was leaving the restaurant I made a comment and asked him not to leave as we were all waiting for our orders, he saw me, he heard me and then he ignored me. One of the ladies who was left stranded with us mentioned that her insulin was on that bus. That behavior in itself is grounds for dismissal for this driver. He is now putting paying customers lives in danger.

Now because the bolt bus driver decided to leave us behind. Some of us had to find other dangerous methods to get to our final destination including having to hitch hike, pay extra monies to ask complete strangers to help get us get to our destination.

Once I was able to arrive to the bus' final destination in Downtown Las Vegas to collect my belongings that were left on the bus, my items were no longer there and were no where to be found. The 2 other stranded passengers who were able to hitch a ride with a stranger with me were also missing all of their belongings that were on the bus. I also had prescription medication on that bus. I filed a claim at the Downtown Las Vegas greyhound station to be reimbursed for all of my belongings that were stolen off that bus but would like to have someone reach out to me so I can file an official complaint about this driver and his work ethic. I also have contact information for 3 other stranded passengers who also had their belongings stolen off the bus as well. I strongly believe that this bus driver had very bad intentions to purposely leave us behind so that he himself or maybe even an accomplice could steal our belongings.

This should never have happened and he is putting peoples lives in danger by leaving them stranded in the middle of the desert in the summer where it is easily over 100 degrees all day and night.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me directly at nguyen.[protected]@gmail.com. I've attached my ticket for your reference and would like a response, reimbursement of my missing belongings & a resolution to my complaint.

Best Regards,

Kathy Nguyen

My trip from Newark, NJ to Washington, DC was terrible. I was booked for the 11:45 trip. 15 minutes prior to the bus time to arrive we were told that the bus had mechanical issues and they were not sure when it will arrive. The options suggested to us was to take the path to New York and try to catch the bus there. Told us if we were to leave at that moment we could catch the 12:30 bus. We decided to do this because we were told they didn't have any idea when the bus would arrive. I bought myself and granddaughter a ticket only to find out there wasn't any trains coming that would get us there to catch the 12:30 bus. Costing me $7.70. When we approached the person who gave us the information we saw another bus pulled up. Only to be told that it was the 2:30 bus. The attendant went to speak to the driver about taking us to Baltimore and dc but was told that a certain protocol had to be followed. Then we were told that the bus would arrive in 15 minutes, (12:15). Well the bus was a hour late. It arrived at 1:46. With all the running around. Additional money spent to not even use the tickets to NY and the confusion left me a little frustrated. Not only was the bus late causing me to arrive to my destination at a later time but i missed my appointment. I along with the other passengers couldn't understand why the bus that was there for 2:30 couldn't take us to our destinations and the late arriving bus take the 2:30 people. The bus sat there while we waited outside for the bus to show up. This could have been handled differently with a better outcome.