Greyhound Bus Lines

Last evening I attempted to get tickets for a bus ride from Cedar Rapids to Chicago via
on the first leg of my trip to Washington, D.C. because Amtrak does not have a ticket office here.
After initiating the purchase online @GREYHOUND.COM that clearly has a link for purchase (WEB ONLY FARE), and coming to near completion, the site says that the ticket cannot be purchased and provided an 800 number to call.
Upon calling (800−231−2222), I was finally instructed (language /​accent barrier) by the representative that the purchase indeed was not available online and that I needed to call a different 800# to complete my transaction. After attempting to get an explanation as to why the online purchase — as shown on their site was unavailable — the representative just kept explaining that I needed to call another number, book my trip with a representative and pay an additional (nominal) fee.
The number (319−753−2864) turned out to be Trailways — not Greyhound — and after listening to the prompts (press 1 for ?, 2 for ?), making my selection, I was left to be believe that their offices were closed; as the prompts led nowhere. So I visited their website and attempted to purchase the ticket (after agreeing to the convenience fee for online purchases) and was again told that I’d have to purchase the ticket with a representative.
So today I call Trailways and speak with a representative who:
* tells me that the purchase cannot be made via the WWW and must be done at the terminal counter;
* could not explain (1) why they have it available as an online purchase, when it is not (GREYHOUND: UNDERSTANDABLY, as he does not work for them); (2) why I’m being charged a processing fee when I initially chose to buy online (asked this ?? JUST out of curiosity).
I decided to rent a car and make the drive to Chicago and offered three people to join me as they were in line at the ticket booth. Not only did we enjoy the road trip, but we stopped for a meal and arrived in Chicago faster, cheaper and far more content.
Question (s):
* Why did it take over 3 hours total to try and book a bus ride?
* Websites + company representatives are supposed to be customer friendly and knowledgeable of their company’s wares; did I miss something here?
* Are CS representatives really this stupid — across the board?
* Anyone out there wondering why PLANES, TRAINS + AUTOMOBILES have long since taken away the bus riding experience?
Hope the rest of my trip via AMTRAK is uneventful!!!