Oriental Pearl Travel

Review: On May ** 2015, as a first time customer I arrived at the location to board my bus headed to Raleigh, NC. As I was the first person in line I provided my ticket to board the bus. I then entered the bus and sat in the third row on the right. Other customers boarded the bus and sat. When the bus was almost filled there were about 8 Asian customers that boarded the bus and were demanding to sit in the seats at the front of the bus. Myself along with another passenger refused to leave our seats. They then complained to the bus coordinator who then started telling us to get up and he'll find us another seat. We also refused to him. The bus coordinator and the driver both became irate by insulting (the use of profanity) myself and two other passengers at this point. The coordinator said if we do not get up we can not leave for our destination. We still refused to leave our seats. the bus driver then, removed the key from the ignition, closed the bus door and left the passengers with no air or lights. The coordinator came back about 3 minutes later and stated that the bus driver went home because "these [redacted](profanity) wont move from their seats" The other passengers began to call the police because of the safety issue. There were also small children on the bus. In the meantime before the police arrived the coordinator continued to scream and insult us. The police then arrived and after I and the coordinator explained our sides of the situation that occurred we were then instructed by the NYPD to enter the bus and have a seat where we choose to sit and that the driver take us to our location. After this everything was calm. A half an hour into the ride there is a strong odor of marijuana flowing around on the bus. Then I realized that there was a passenger in the bathroom smoking. I then told the bus driver and was waved off. I thought this was unacceptable that children and other adult passengers who don't indulge in these habits had to endure that. And the bus driver did absolutely nothing about it. All of this resulted in my delay of arrival and a headache from the marijuana odor and yelling from the bus coordinator.Desired Settlement: Provide better service. If there are going to be assigned seating they need to state it to the passengers before boarding and/or board according to seating on a consistent basis. Also they need to make announcements about the use of drugs and alcohol on the bus. Also better customer service skills is needed.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by Oriental Pearl Travel regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted]

Review: On 7/30*15 I rode the 9pm bus from Columbia S.C. to NYC; which arrived at 11am 7/**/15. On my arrival to the city I noted numerous red splotches on my [redacted]. They weren't raised or itching at the time. After my arrival home following my shower I also noted numerous reddened raised areas over my [redacted]. They began to itch and these areas also began to swell. I am a Registered Nurse in the State of New York and have worked as a Public Health Nurse and have been trained to recognize bed bug bites. I believe during this ride I was bitten by bed bugs. I have reached out to the company numerous times for a refund to which they gave me a time to call and speak to a manager. On my follow-up attempts there was no manager available and I was given another time to call back. 7Desired Settlement: I would like a refund in the amount of $35 and proof that the company has since exterminated the bus for the sake of their NYC patrons.

Review: On 05/**/2014 I purchased a round trip ticket from RALEIGH, NC to NEW YORK, NY on the [redacted] website with service provided by ORIENTAL PEARL. The departure was on 05/**/2014 at 11:59pm at [redacted] (this was not a bus stop or station, just a random place). First the bus arrived 30 minutes earlier and the bus driver was in a hurry to make everybody enter the bus, I showed my printed receipt and got a a ticket back; no ID was checked. The bus driver was very rude and anytime anyone would ask him a question he wasn't able to understand or speak English, he would just use his body language to make us hurry. This was a general bus with no signs whatsoever. After 1 hour on the road (around 1:00am) we stopped and had to move to another bus, which was waiting for us for 2 hours. This was when I got really worried about my life and what the outcome of this trip would be. The bus driver just kept making us hurry again to the other bus like he was herding animals. The second bus was crowded and really dirty, old and sketchy. Adding the attitude of the bus driver, the condition of the bus itself and the anger of the other passengers that have been waiting for us for the past 2 hours I had the feeling that I was in a bus that did human traffic for organs or in a bus that takes illegal immigrants to cross the Mexico/ US border like we see in movies and documentaries. Again no ID was checked and the bus driver would just yell something if somebody asked him a question and send us away using body signs. At 2:00am the bus stopped again and we waited for about 30 minutes and again we changed to another bus and the same situation: crowded, dirty, old, sketchy. I was scared and afraid and praying that nothing happened to me. At this point I was questioning where the destination really was. We finally arrived in NYC ([redacted]) and I decided to find another way to go back to NC on Friday because I wouldn't got through this again. My friend who was already in NYC went online and then started reading all the reviews and Oh God! many people had the exactly same experience as I did. On Friday morning I called Oriental Pearl (###-###-####) to try to get a refund. The first time the guy who answered hang up on me when I asked about the refund. I tried again and told him to stay on the line and asked again. He said no refunds, its their policy. Then I said I was worried about the safety of the bus and passenger and that's why I didn't want to take the bus back to NC. He just kept repeating no refunds and when I questioned about their policy regarding quality and safety he hung up on me again. No Costumer service assistance at all!!! Thank God I was able to gather some info at the Bus Terminal in NYC and took a Greyhound bus back to NC. I just need the refund and to make sure this complaint gets someones attention before something worse happens and somebody gets hurt. Reading all the reviews online I wasn't the first and for sure I wont be the last.Desired Settlement: Refund on my Credit Card + changes on safety and quality of service provided. * I can provide a copy of the receipts.