Pacific Coach, Vancouver

I had a bad experience with James one of their drivers and when I complained about it, Gary the dispatcher promised to give me a credit for a one way trip. Never received it and I have left messages with him and Patty in the office. Each time I speak with them, they promise to work things out and call me back - never have they done so. Such a poorly run organization. There must be a better way to get to Seattle airport from Vancouver by bus.

My husband and I want to complain about the 11:00 pm Pacific Coach Bus service from Vancouver Airport (YVR) to Whistler on Friday Feb 18th. Our flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to YVR was delayed that night. We called Pacific Coach kiosk desk at YVR at 10:45 pm right after we landed, letting them know that we landed and please hold the 11 pm bus for us. We were told the bus could only wait for 5 minutes after 11 pm. At 10:55 pm, I called again at luggage pick up area, informing them that we were picking up our luggage and we should be there shortly. Once we got our luggage, we raced through the custom to the bus stop. It was just 5 minutes after 11pm, and the bus was gone. We were left stranded at YVR. The only solution for us then was to stay at the hotel at YVR, and catch next morning’s bus to Whistler. This has caused us tremendous stress and other unexpected expenses, including the hotel at YVR airport for $290.00. In addition, our prepaid hotel expense at Whistler on the night of Feb 18 was not refundable. To make things worse, we missed the next day’s ski lesson which had been paid advanced, and it was also not refundable. We were told that it is Pacific Coach Company’s policy to hold the bus for 5 minutes. However when we took the next morning bus to Whistler, it didn’t depart YVR until 8:42, 12 minutes after the schedule of 8:30 am. If the next day’s bus can wait for 12 minutes after the schedule, then the 11 pm bus on Feb 18 should also be there for its customers especially during special circumstances. What was worse is that when we report this to their manager, we got a cold response that it is their company's policy to hold the bus for only 5 minutes, and a false report that the bus next day left 6 minutes late.

Pacific Coach left my wife and I stranded in Whistler and then blamed it on us saying we were a no-show, which is a lie. We were scheduled to be picked up at 12:15pm in the Summit Lodge and we were there in the lobby precisely at that time with our bags but no one showed up. We asked the front desk lady and she said no one from Pacific Coach came in the lobby and suggested we wait a little in case they were late. So we waited about 20 minutes and then decided to call Pacific Coach to see what was going on. The customer service lady at Pacific Coach said that they stopped by at 12:25pm and checked in with the front desk lady and didn't see us so they left without us. I asked the front desk lady and she said that she was working all day said no one checked in with her. Her GM also said the same. Then Pacific Coach said they called my cell phone and left a voicemail and since I didn't answer it they left. Well I'm not from Canada so my phone didn't work there. So then I got transferred to the supervisor, Omar, and asked him to put us on the next coach back to Vancouver and give us a partial refund for leaving us stranded, which he said he couldn't do until he "conducted an investigation". So in an effort to help him with his “investigation” I handed the phone directly to the front desk lady and she told Omar that none of his drivers ever came into the lobby at Summit Lodge and checked in with her and that we had been in the lobby since 12:15pm waiting with our bags. When I got back on the phone with Omar, he refused to use the front desk lady’s testimony in his “investigation” and continued to deny any fault in the situation. So much for a fair investigation! We finally did get picked up and put on a later coach, however we were two hours late for my cousin’s family event in Vancouver, which we were pretty irate about. I asked the guy who picked us up and he said that the original driver WAS there at 12:25pm but just called my cell instead of actually going into the lobby and looking for us, and since we didn’t answer, it’s our fault that we were left behind. Well that explains it right there. Omar said that he would continue his “investigation” and then call me back to settle the issue but I have not yet received a call and it has been four days since. So if at all possible, DO NOT RIDE PACIFIC COACH unless you want to pay hundreds of dollars to be left stranded and then blamed for it by a horrendous cast of rude and incompetent customer service characters.