December 6th-8th, my family & I took a Columbus Coach bus from Chillicothe, Ohio, to NYC, each paying $170 for the trip. Unfortunately, our bus (#233) was drastically different from the other 4 buses & not in a good way. The suspension was practically nonexistent, causing the bus to lean to 1 side, & every bump in the road felt excruciating. Passengers were literally bouncing out of their seats! To make matters worse, the heating & air either didn’t work or the driver was unable to manage it correctly, leading to unbearable conditions that made some passengers vomit. This resulted in multiple unscheduled stops.
Additionally, we had a low tire, raising serious safety concerns about our bus being on the road at all. It felt reckless for five buses to meet at the same gas station or travel center, especially with 300+ people stopping at once. In NYC, one of the other bus drivers even clipped a scaffolding, shattering a pane of glass. I understand that managing such a large group can lead to unforeseen issues, but there were certainly preventable problems that contributed to our 16-hour journey to NYC, and another 16-hour return trip. We were supposed to arrive in NYC by 9:00 AM but didn’t get there until noon. Afterward, we stood outside in the cold for over an hour, waiting for our bus to take us back home. The restroom on the bus was in terrible condition, no toilet paper or other essentials. Medical emergencies that arose were mishandled due to staff being untrained in those situations. During those incidents, there was no communication from the drivers, leaving us confused and anxious. Also, passengers remained on the bus while it was being fueled, which was unsafe. We were later told it was a fine! Each of our stops (about 6 on the way there and back, totaling around 12 stops) took 1-2 hours because of the number of people in 1 place. To top it off, I(female) had to use the men's restroom twice. Overall, it was a frustrating and uncomfortable experience.