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[Jetgirly]

Back to busses:

In March, I went to Zacatecas and Guanajuato but had an emergency and had to cut my trip short by a day. I had a bus ticket reserved with Primera Plus, but I had to buy a ticket from ETN to get back right away. Primera Plus wouldn't issue me a credit, but they did issue me a "boleto abierto" for Guadalajara to Mexico City, after I paid the difference in prices. I think I paid about $15-20 US more. When I bought the ticket, they told me I could call the reservation number to reserve a seat and then show up at the station thirty minutes early to confirm my seat and give them my open ticket. They gave me that information in English. No problem.

I am coming to Mexico City on Wednesday. I phoned the reservation number yesterday and they told me that I couldn't reserve by phone. They said I had to go to somethinginSpanishIdidntunderstand. Because I didn't understand, I asked for further confirmation. I said something along the lines of, "Puedo ir a uno modulo de venta in Soriana?" (That is probably a mix of French, Italian and Spanish- I know it's not totally correct.) He said yes/si. Not trusting my lack of Spanish skills, I repeated, "Quiero confirmar- para reservar un asiento, necessito ir a uno modulo de venta in Soriana?" Puedo and necessito are like, the only two Spanish words I know, so I wanted to make double-sure I knew what was going on. I got the words "modulo de venta" from the Primera Plus flyer. He said SI.

So today I went to Soriana after work, and waited while the lovely lady working at the desk finished chatting with her friend and reapplying her makeup. When it was "my turn", I told her that I had an open ticket and I wanted to reserve a seat. She told me I had to go to the central bus station to reserve a seat. I told her that when I bought the ticket they had said I could phone in my reservation, and that I had phoned the reservation number yesterday and they were very specific that I should go to the modulo de venta at Soriana. She flat out refused and told me to go to the central bus station, which would be $10 (US) away by taxi or an hour on the city bus. She also told me that "con un boleto abierto" you can only reserve at the time you purchase the ticket- doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of an open ticket? I phoned the reservation number from my cell phone and they apologized for the misinformation I had received on the phone, but they said there was nothing I/they could do.

I walked outside the grocery store and sat on a bench, debating whether or not to go all the way to the central bus station. Then I turned over my ticket and read, and I quote, "Puede reservar su lugar con anticipacion por via telefonica." I'm no Spanish scholar, but I'm not a manatee either. I can read! So I phoned the reservation number again and got a different employee. I said, "Tengo uno boleto abierto. En el boleto, se escribe 'puede reservar su lugar con anticipacion por via telefonica' y yo quiero reservar mi lugar." Not only did the person on the phone say they couldn't do it, she denied that was written on the back of the ticket! I argued and I argued and I argued, and she put me on hold for a REALLY long time, but when I didn't hang up they transferred my call to one of the people I spoke to before and they agreed to reserve my seat. BUT JUST THIS ONCE! NEVER AGAIN! ONLY ONE TIME! Yeah... like I'd ever "buy" an open ticket again! Actually, like I'd ever use Primera Plus again!

Moral of the Story: Primera Plus was mean to me and thus you should boycott them. Also, open tickets suck.