Germantown native Peter Adamzcak has been living in Virginia Beach for the last three years.
On August 4th he decided to pack up his $5,000 custom wheelchair and all of his belongings, and move back home on a Greyhound bus. To make the trip more memorable, Adamzcak decided to make the move a road trip: traveling through Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, to Wisconsin.
"You know I figured it would be a good way to see lots of the country and have some time to reflect," says Adamzcak.
But on his 30-hour ride, things went south fast, he says. Adamczak recalls Greyhound staff being aggressive and rude towards him whenever he had questions or was looking for assistance.
Throughout the trip Adamczak switched between his crutches and his wheelchair to get around between stops. In Pennsylvania, he noticed pieces of his luggage had gone missing. Then in Ohio he realized his wheelchair was gone.
Arriving at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station on August 6th, Adamczak had no luggage or wheelchair. He says he demanded a refund but was told his property was his responsibility. But, he was compensated $40 from Greyhound.
Greyhound released a full statement about the situation:
" We apologize for the customer’s experience. We understand the importance of reuniting him with his belongings and are making every attempt to do so. Our normal protocol for lost or delayed baggage is to allow up to 90 days from the date of a customer’s claim to locate their baggage. If the customer hasn’t filed a claim for his missing baggage, he will need to do so at his nearest Greyhound location. Within the 90 days, we will explore every possible location of where the customer’s baggage may be or where it may have traveled. Customers are responsible for transferring their own bags but baggage assistance is available upon request.
When we find the customer’s baggage, we will deliver it to the nearest station and inform the customer that it is available for him to pick up. If, for some reason, we are unable to locate his baggage after the 90 days, we will compensate the customer up to $250."
For now, Adamczak is borrowing a wheelchair from Independence First. He says pieces of his luggage are turning up at the station. But he's been reaching out to greyhound for help, and that has gotten him nowhere with his wheelchair.
TODAY'S TMJ4 has reached out to Greyhound to find out what exactly is going to happen with Adamczak and his wheelchair. The company has not yet sent a comment.
