Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Jefferson Lines's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

close

Find a Location

Jefferson Lines has 4 locations, listed below.

*This company may be headquartered in or have additional locations in another country. Please click on the country abbreviation in the search box below to change to a different country location.

BBB accredited

Near

Country

USUnited States

Please enter a valid location.

Filter

• 

  Jefferson Lines

  2100 E 26th St Minneapolis, MN 55404-4101

• 

  Jefferson Lines

  1101 Troost Ave Kansas City, MO 64106-3006

• 

  Jefferson Bus Line

  501 Nebraska St Sioux City, IA 51101-1346

• 

  Jefferson Lines

  120 Wyoming Ave SW Huron, SD 57350-1845

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/17/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hello, I bought a bus ticket in mid March for travel. The bus did not arrive on time, I got notified by a third person that the bus was two hours late. I came back one hour later and waited for two hours and the bus did not show up. Nobody answers the telephone at Jefferson bus lines. All mailboxes are full and will not accept voicemail. Nobody answers any extension. So I emailed, the response was I was going to get a credit, that was three weeks ago and nothing further has been communicated. Again, I cannot get a hold of anyone to problem solve this. I simply want to refund for the bus that did not arrive. I found other modes of transportation. The customer service really could not be any worse. For trees with no live person, all mailboxes full, open ended email responses with no follow up. Not quite sure how they stay in business. I just want a refund.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/29/2024

  Dear *************,

  We regret to hear about the difficulties you encountered during your recent journey with Jefferson Lines. Could you kindly provide us with the order number and the date of your travel? We will investigate your ticket and follow up with you once we've had the opportunity to look into the matter.
  Additionally, we would appreciate the chance to investigate the challenges you faced in reaching our **************** team. If possible, could you please share the phone number you called from, along with the date and approximate time of the call? This information will assist us in conducting a thorough review.
  Thank you for your cooperation.

  Customer Care Team

  ********************** 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/02/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Issue has not been resolved. No one answers the customer care phone Ph. ************** ext. 1063 or any other extension on the number tree for that matter. Cant even leave a voice message as Mailboxes are full. So I emailed, email string below. I was to receive a credit, but never received it. The only communication I was given was the bus was 2 hrs late. In the app the bus was in ********* and stayed there the whole time, for the rest of the evening. I was at bus stop at the 2 hr late ***** You say Service was provided but not at time communicated so how is that relevant? Buses coming and going at random with no accuracy of time is not a valid service. You cant communicate at time of pick up that bus is two hrs late only to come a hr later when people arent watching, cant see the bus in the app, stop for 2 minutes, and call that provided service. And to top it off not have a means for people to voice complaints and come to a resolution. I dont want a credit any longer, I dont trust the service. I want a refund. 
  

   

  ---------- Forwarded message ------
  On Wed, Mar 20, 2024 at 3:13?PM Service <**********************************> wrote:
  
  Hi, ****** -
  Thank you for reaching out regarding a refund on your ticket purchase.
  After looking into order #*******, I found that the schedule of 907 was to operated from *********** U of ** to ****** U of ** on 2/29/24. Looking through our Dispatch notifications, that specific route was not cancelled but seems to have encountered a delay while en-route. The *** shows the arrival time to ********** at 7:36 PM and departing the location at 7:38 PM. The motor coach made it to the destination of **************** per the ticket at approximately 10:22 PM and departed at 10:24 PM.
  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/17/2024

  ******,

  Thank you for your response.  We understand the trip you had a delay which left uncertainty to the actual arrival time of the bus. In the interest of resolving this issue, we will issue you a refund for your purchase of order1399216 in the amount of $31.00 which is the ticket amount.  The refund has been issued and may take 5-7 business days to reflect in your account.  In addition, we will issue you a credit for $50.00 to use toward a future trip. It is in your Jefferson account now and is available for your use.  We apologize for the delayed response and hope to have you use our service in the future.  

  Regards,

  Customer Care Team

  **********************

   

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/18/2024

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Thanks for your attention to this.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/18/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I bought a bus ticket from Jefferson Lines from ****** ** to ******** **, round trip. On the return trip, the bus left an hour late and I missed my connecting bus in ******** and they told me there were no alternatives except to go to ****, spend the night, and take a bus to ****** the next day. When I demanded a refund, they refused.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/13/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Jefferson lines never communicated with their contractor, ****** Bus Lines, about their passengers.Here is the info from the ticket verbatim:Departing 11:00 AM ******* (**********),** ************************************* 12:50 PM *********, ** ******************************************* Date 01/13/2024 I entered the bus, confirmed with the bus driver that he was driving to *********, and presented her ticket. The bus driver looked at my ticket, and stated that "this is NOT your bus. I've never heard of Jefferson Lines before. This ticket won't work for me, I've never seen that scanny thing before. You can buy a ticket from me, but I won't let you on this bus". Clearly, the bus driver was confused and had no idea what was going on. I continued to wait for another bus to come, but one never came. The bus driver deceived me and caused me to wait in the freezing weather for over an hour. The bus driver is categorically in the wrong, and unjustly refused me passage on the bus. He would NOT accept my valid ticket from Jefferson Lines simply because he had no idea what was going on.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/16/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I bought a ticket for ***** for a trip from *****,** to ***********,************. The person on the phone told me to hold the ticket and upgrade it at a later date now the Jefferson lines don't want to talk about any refunds or upgrades to the ticket they just want to steal the money. I'm here in ***********, ************ purchasing another ticket to go back to ***** which makes my 3rd ticket and ****** spent when it was only supposed to be ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/10/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On August 22, 2023, I purchased a one-way ticket (order number ******) for Jefferson Lines bus, route JL 966, departing Thu., Aug. 24 at 12:40pm from *********, ** (downtown terminal) to *********** (******* - **********). The transaction was for $29.50.On August 23, 2023, I received notification this route was being canceled. I immediately contacted Jefferson Lines via phone, and was told by two different associates that because they canceled and I needed to make alternative arrangements as I *had* to get home on Aug. 24, that they would issue a refund, and all I needed to do was complete their online form and request a refund. So, I did that on Aug. 23 at 1:45pm, reference number 1855364943.On September 5, 2023, I finally received a response telling me that "I did find that route 966 was cancelled prior to travel due to unforeseen circumstances" but that their no-refund policy was absolute, and that I had two options -- to book a different trip home (as I had told them, I had to make alternative arrangements, and this was WEEKS after I reached out to them), or to use a credit on the exact same itinerary within a year. I responded with disappointment, but that the credit was my only option at that point.It is November 10, and I have yet to receive the credit and keep paying for other transportation arrangements. I have since tried calling the company several times, at both their general contact number, ************** as well as the corporate number listed by BBB, **************, and the phone just rings and rings. I don't know what to do. This feels like a dishonest business that cancels its service at-will, but then decides it doesn't owe its customers any compensation for not delivering on their end of a service already paid for.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/13/2023

  Dear ****************,

  We are sorry there was an issue with your original route scheduled on August 24th.  We reviewed your original purchase on 8/22/2023 for a non refundable ticket for a 8/24/2023 departure from LaCrosse to *********** UofM campus totaling $29.50.  On 8/23/2023 the route was cancelled and passengers were notified of the cancellation via phone messages.  You did not provide a phone number with your order so we were unable to leave a phone message of the change.  We do list all schedule changes on our website which also listed the cancellation.

  We did receive your refund request form on August 23rd.  You were contacted via email on September 5th indicating your ticket was not eligible for a refund but an online credit was offered to you which could be applied to any future travel with Jefferson Lines.  You responded to the offer on November 10th and indicated you had been waiting for the online credit.  We did apply the credit of $27.00 for the original ticket value to your Jefferson account ******, on 11/13.  That online credit is valid for 1 year from that date and can be used on any Jefferson Lines schedules across the 14 states we serve.

  You also mentioned you tried calling our customer service line at ************ which has agents available during our normal business hours of 7:30 am - 7:00 pm Monday - Friday and 7:30am - 4:00 pm on weekends.  Our corporate office ************ does provide a menu option when called with different departments to connect with based on the number selected.  Both numbers are operating and a test was made to both to verify they are working properly.  If you provide the phone number you called from we can research our call history to see what problems might have occurring during your past attempts. 

  Best **************************** Team

  **********************.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/24/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I booked two trips online, both were cancelled without my being notified. Had I not checked Jefferson Lines website I would have no knowledge of the cancellation. They had my email. One rep said I should have received an email the other said they only call. If they only call with cancellations then it should be a required field it is not. It seems they penalize you if you book through the website. I think it is unethical for the business to keep funds when they cancelled. This was a special circumstance for me to take the bus and quite frankly I am very disappointed. I would like to know how much money they make off of cancelled trips that they cancel, not the consumer. Im sure it is a lot. I feel ripped off. One ticket was ****** the other was ******

  Business Response

  Date: 10/25/2023

  Dear **************,

  Thank you for reaching out regarding your recent experiences with Jefferson Lines.  We apologize for the trip interruptions you encountered with our organization.  I have researched your tickets and found the following information regarding the tickets referenced in your communication.

  Your ticket ****** on 9/18 was for travel from ******* to ******.  This run was cancelled for the day of your travel.  The ticket value of $14.26 is available for you to use on future travel purchases.  We will issue this credit to your Jefferson Lines account.  Please allow 3 business days for the amount to be added to your credit amount.

  Ticket ****** on 9/26 was for travel from ****** to Maple Grove in ***********.  ******* schedule was cancelled but you were rescheduled for the 906 on the same day.  

  Currently, we are notifying passengers by voice mail messages when a Jefferson Lines route is cancelled.  After the first of the year we will be implementing a process to send an email message with the cancellation notice and options for passengers to rebook on another schedule or get a credit for future travel.  

  Thank you for using Jefferson Lines.

  Customer Care Team

  **********************.

   

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/25/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:  I own my own car and if they were to research my name they would find that it has been well over 10 years since I used Jefferson Line.  I don't need a credit because it will never be used.  This was a special circumstance where I was driving a family member home from *************** and did not need my car.  As it turned out I ended up renting a car in ****** and leaving it in ***********, **.  The businesses email just made excuses for their policy and the fact that they make money off of this time and time again.  The fact that I was not notified lies with them, not myself.  I will make sure that I inform anyone talking about taking Jefferson Line that they should have a back up plan because more than likely the route will be cancelled.  
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/18/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  One day of travel i called to cancel ticket on the account of my job being cancelled..I spoke to operator she informed me that i had a year to do the refund and she would help me tommorow..*** i spoke to the next rep the following day i let her kno that the refund forms we not pulling up on my phone..She offered to do it i told her my job got cancelled she said i cant get a refund on that note,only if the bus was cancellled..She submitted the forms,so i calked back the following day to check the status and was told by a different rep that the reps ******** submitt these types of froms.Also my ticket was refundable period..At that time i resubmitted the form with all the proper info on Saturday July 8,2023

  Business Response

  Date: 08/04/2023

  Dear Mr. ********,

  Thank you for reaching out regarding your recent experience with Jefferson Lines.  We will need some additional information from you to properly research your request.  Could you please provide us with the ticket number from your purchase along with the purchase date?  Also, could you provide the phone number you used to call our ************* team to discuss the refund of your ticket.  We do record all calls and we want to review the calls to ensure our representatives were clear on the steps to be taken to start a refund request process.

  Thank you,

  ************* Team

  **********************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/04/2023

  Hello i purchase a ticket at jefferson lines which on June 30,2023 i was inform my ticket was refndavle..The job i was suppose to go on was canceled and ive been getting the run around and being told lies about my refund since then ticket number ****** thank you..

  Business Response

  Date: 08/25/2023

  Dear Mr. ********,

  Thank you for providing the order number related to your order 743034.  We were able to research your order and review the purchase for a possible refund.  

  In reviewing the order, we found the ticket purchased was non-refundable.  There was not an option to purchase a refundable ticket for this schedule.  Typically, once the date and time of departure has past the ticket is expired and thus has no further monetary value.  We would like to make an exception and offer you the option to apply the value of your ticket as a Jefferson Lines credit.  This credit can be applied to a future purchase for any travel serviced/provided by Jefferson Lines.  It would not apply to other bus lines and their services.  Please you would like us to set up the credit, please confirm the email address to use for setting up the credit and we can get this done for you.

  Thank you,

  Customer Care Team

  **********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/18/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I had a bus ticket for April 1 and a return trip April 2. There was a blizzard here April 1. I kept checking for cancellations. Around midnight it said bus 801 (my bus) was cancelled. Therefore..I cancelled my hotel (online) immediately after, around midnight, as well. I also informed my cousin I wouldnt need her transportation. I tried calling Jefferson lines customer service but it just rang off the hook. It has been ring to no end ever since. I also emailed on the morning of 4/2/23 and i got no response. Turns out it was in my spam folder. I found it a few days later. I filed 2 return emails to Jefferson bus on the 9th. I am still waiting. number ********** and ********** respectively (return numbers). I have not received a call nor has anyone picked up on the Jefferson phone number. I would like a full refund.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/10/2023

  Dear Ms ********************** you for reaching out regarding your planned trip with Jefferson Lines this past April.  Unfortunately, the weather did require us to cancel your scheduled run.  We apologize for any inconvenience this caused you.  We do prioritize our passengers safety and we do have to cancel runs if the weather creates unsafe conditions.

  In reviewing the ticket numbers you provided, we know these tickets were purchased from another company.  Tickets purchased thorough our website or one of our agencies can be refunded to our customers but these ticket numbers are not from our system.  We would suggest to reach out to the company where you purchased the tickets to receive a refund since we have not way of looking up the ticket numbers you provided in your communication.   Please let us know if you need assistance with any cancellation information for the company where you purchased the tickets.

  We hope to provide transportation for you in the future.

  Thanks,

  Customer Care Team

  **********************

  ***********, **  55404

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/28/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In Dec. 2022 I bought a bus ticket for my mom to travel from ****** to ************ before Christmas. We had a snowstorm coming and the bus company canceled basically all travel in ** for several days, with no option to get her to ************ before Dec. 25. In January we contacted Jefferson via their website and said we wanted a refund of $36.20, the amount we'd been charged on 12/12/22 for her one-way ticket, and a few days later my mom got an email back from ************************** saying they'd refund her money but since it was paid in cash a refund check would be issued and mailed to her address (the charge appears on her **** as "Jefferson Lines ************ **" in the amount of $36.20, trans. ID ************************. She wrote back and said it had been paid with a credit card, at which point ********* said that the transaction was handled through a third-party payment processor and card information was never retained, so she'd get a check anyway. I know that Jefferson Lines and Greyhound cooperate on routes in ** so I'm not sure why our request got bumped from Jefferson to Greyhound, but we didn't really care who was dealing with it as long as she got the refund. Much back and forth later, the customer service people have been very polite but we're clearly getting the runaround and no refund. The latest email apologizes again for being "beyond the time frame" of ***** business days to process a refund check (more like 8 weeks), said they "will send an escalation" but it's been a while again since we've heard from them and it seems they're just trying to wait us out...

  Business Response

  Date: 04/03/2023

  Hi,
  
  Thank you for reaching out. We have taken the time to investigate the complaint below and unfortunately were unable to find a refund request form submitted online through JeffersonLines.com. Without the form, we do not have a reference for the confirmation number used for travel. We also do not see the confirmation number provided in the BBB complaint. Could this please be provided? This will allow us to better research this case.
  
  Thank you!
  JL *************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/13/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  To make a long story short I had gotten a non refundable bus ticket from online back in oct 2021. I had to cancel my trip due to a miscommunication from a friend. So I got a hold of Jefferson lines and they gave me online credits. So fast forward to Febuary of this year I've been trying to get a bus ticket having to call Jefferson lines customer to use my credits. The person I talked to said their systems were being upgraded and check back in a couple of weeks (which I completely understand) so now it's March and I'm having problems getting ahold of Jefferson lines customer service so I can use majority of my credits. I've been trying to call them for almost a week now and no one is in the office at all.