I have lived in Gainesville for 7 years. I just graduated from law school and have frequently had to travel to my hometown of Miami for various reasons, and busing is easier and cheaper than driving my car down.
In my 7 years of using bus services, be it GMG, Miami Bus Service, Red Coach, and MegaBus, GMG Transport is the most horrendous business I have ever had the displeasure of using. 7 years I have given these people chances out of necessity, and 7 years they have failed. I wish Miami Bus Service was still in business. When I have the extra money, I will pay Red Coach the extra few bucks, because with them I KNOW I will not be ignored, treated rudely, and will actually be treated like a human being instead of cattle.
I hate GMG. I don't use the word hate a lot, but on my short list of things I hate, GMG is #1. I'm actually very glad they finally got a Yelp page so that I can tell the world of my woes and to tell everyone to AVOID this business. Over the past 7 years, here's what I can think of from the top of my head:
1. One of the ticket checkers (who is kid and by no means a customer service expert), when I had a ticket in hand that was fully paid for and I had my ID, completely disregarded me and wouldn't let me on the bus. I was polite. I was kind. I tried to speak to him several times that I paid for my ticket and it's obviously an error that I wasn't on the list. What did this kid do? Blatantly speak OVER me (he was taller than me) to speak to the customer behind me. He was COMPLETELY ignoring me and not trying to address this situation. It wasn't until the bus driver lent me his cell phone to talk to the owner, who then told the ticket checker that it was a mistake and to let me on. The jerk didn't even try.
2. Cockroaches. They're real. They're disgusting. And on one fateful bus ride in 2014, a large group of them were running around the bus, confused why so many humans were in THEIR house. Because it was obviously their house. Because this bus was disgusting.
3. I've been on buses that have broken down at lease 4 times of the 20+ times I've ridden buses. That's a 1/5 chance that the bus will break down. It's almost as if GMG is in this business just because they think it's a good idea to squeeze money out of students, and not even TRY to learn how a bus system works. They don't care enough to take care of their buses, which are their ENTIRE BUSINESS! It's a miracle people still pay money to use this service.
4. The "movies." First of all, all the movies they play are bootlegs they probably bought for $2 from a car in Hialeah because they refuse to spend more than $2 on anything. Second, they have no idea what movies they are. Let me clarify: I sat through an entire unedited, uncensored, NC-17-version of The Wolf of Wall Street on the bus ride. Please understand the IMMENSE amount of nudity, drug use, and straight-up pornography of that film. With the volume on high. Moaning was echoing through the bus. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. It felt like a mobile adult theater!
5. Don't rely on the in-bus bathroom. Once I absolutely HAD to go, so I ran to the bus bathroom. Not only did the bathroom not lock (so I had to hold the door closed the entire time while other bus patrons are literally seated a few inches away), and not only does the air conditioning (If you're LUCKY and the air is actually working on the bus!!) not reach the bathroom, but there was no toilet paper or soap. I swear, these people truly, truly do not care about their patrons.
I'm sure there are more instances of horrible service, but these are the ones that stick out the most.
Please, for the love of the lord, do not use this service. Spend a little extra and use any other transportation service. Hell, it might even be better to walk to your destination. The service is that bad. read more