As of: January 20, 2024, 6:44 a.m
By: Natascha Heidenreich
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Press
Split
When the Flixbus didn't come as promised, the pensioners didn't know what to do.
The staff on site was no help either.
Prague - It's every traveller's nightmare: the tickets have been bought, you get to the bus station in time to go home and then everything goes wrong.
Four pensioners from Dresden recently had such an experience.
The group, consisting of a married couple and two of their friends, wanted to take a short day trip from Dresden to Prague.
In the morning we were supposed to take the Flixbus to the capital of the Czech Republic.
In the evening the group wanted to go home.
However, when the time came, there was no sign of their bus.
As the four pensioners reported to the online portal
Bild
, the Flixbus to Dresden was supposed to leave at 8:40 p.m.
Two hours later they would have been home again.
Tickets from Prague to Dresden start at 13 euros per trip.
The group arrived at the bus station on time: “We stood at the bus station from 8:15 p.m. and waited,” says Volker Neuhäuser.
So they were more than punctual, because on Flixbus trips it is common practice for those booking them to be there 15 minutes before departure.
Alone in Prague at night: Another Flixbus turns away the four pensioners
The time of departure came and passed again.
What didn't come was the bus.
The two couples from Dresden asked the driver of another Flixbus, which was also traveling through Dresden, whether there were still seats for them on his bus - but in vain.
They were refused a ride.
Another pensioner also had no luck with the Flixbus.
He simply left her behind.
When asked by IPPEN.MEDIA, Isabella Domke, the press spokeswoman for Flixbus, confirmed that the four of them only had to buy a ticket for the other bus.
“This is necessary, among other things, for safety reasons so that we can ensure that every passenger has a seat with us.”
Service counter closed: The pensioners from Germany were left alone with their problem
The press spokeswoman cannot explain what exactly went wrong that evening in Prague.
It is not known whether there were any misunderstandings or whether the other Flixbus was already fully booked.
The only thing that is certain is that if the four pensioners had bought tickets for the other bus, they would of course have been refunded.
The small travel group ran out of alternatives: “No Flixbus employee took care of us.
The service counter on site closed at 9 p.m.,” said Neuhäuser in an interview with
Bild
.
At 9:09 p.m. the first certainty came in the form of a message: your Flixbus was canceled.
You will receive tickets for a bus the next day.
The problem was that the four of them were standing alone at night in a bus station in a foreign country.
Their situation was not as bad as that of a tour group that was left behind at the motorway service station, but it was still completely different than what they had previously imagined.
Shock for the pensioners: They had to find another way to get back to Dresden
The pensioners from Dresden were in shock: “The last train to Dresden was gone.
Rental car was currently not available,” said Neuhäuser.
The four of them really wanted to go back home that evening and quickly took a taxi.
They had to pay the 200 euros themselves.
However, Neuhäuser's group didn't want to be stuck with the costs and submitted the receipt to Flixbus.
The pensioners probably imagined this day trip differently.
They had organized everything - and then the bus didn't come... © Marcel van Hoorn/IMAGO
As
Bild
reports, the company did not initially respond.
The passenger rights on the website also state that in the event of cancellations or delays in departure from a bus station, meals, soft drinks and accommodation, per passenger, of 80 euros per night will be covered by the carrier.
Finally, the company paid the 200 euro taxi costs.
When asked by IPPEN.MEDIA, the Flixbus press spokeswoman emphasized that the four pensioners had their Flixbus tickets refunded “as early as December 8th, 2023” and on “December 27th.”
The further reimbursement process for the taxi costs was initiated after a telephone call.” The reason for the delay is that the company does not normally accept taxi rides.
Domke makes it clear once again: “We regret the inconvenience caused to Mr. Neuhäuser and his companions because of the canceled trip.” (
nhf
)