Yankee Trails do you really want to use Them

[Flyinglady]

About 6 of us were waiting to be picked up at Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port yesterday morning. Our bus, not the coach that they show on the advertisement, arrived over an hour late, during this time we had no information relayed to us from Yankee Trails as to why our transport had been delayed. First of all, the bus was far too small for all the passengers and luggage the last row of seats had to be used for the luggage that wouldn't fit in the allocated luggage space, the seats were very uncomfortable with very little space between the rows, the air condition only worked on a low setting, so we travelled for over 4 hours with insufficient air conditioning.

As we later found out the reason for the late arrival was because one of the ships had not been cleared to dock and our driver, Janet, was told to stay in Miami and wait. The reason the ship was not cleared was because they COVID onboard. One of the two passengers Janet was told to pick up was the son on one of the Covid Victims who quite obviously been in close contact with his father. Because of the delay Janet said she would not wait and proceeded to Fort Lauderdale, whilst there she was in phone contact with Yankee Trails office, they instructed her to return to Miami to pick up the son. Janet refused to do this to safeguard her passengers, YANKEE TRAILS FIRED HER OVER THE PHONE. Although she had been dismissed from her employment Janet proceeded to drive all her passenger back to the villages. One of the ladies on the bus wrote a note on the back of an envelope imploring Yankee Trails to re-instate Janet - it was signed by everyone on the bus.

It is obvious that Yankee Trail does not care about the well-being of the drivers or of fare paying customers that use them.

[Stu from NYC]

About 6 of us were waiting to be picked up at Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port yesterday morning. Our bus, not the coach that they show on the advertisement, arrived over an hour late, during this time we had no information relayed to us from Yankee Trails as to why our transport had been delayed. First of all, the bus was far too small for all the passengers and luggage the last row of seats had to be used for the luggage that wouldn't fit in the allocated luggage space, the seats were very uncomfortable with very little space between the rows, the air condition only worked on a low setting, so we travelled for over 4 hours with insufficient air conditioning.

As we later found out the reason for the late arrival was because one of the ships had not been cleared to dock and our driver, Janet, was told to stay in Miami and wait. The reason the ship was not cleared was because they COVID onboard. One of the two passengers Janet was told to pick up was the son on one of the Covid Victims who quite obviously been in close contact with his father. Because of the delay Janet said she would not wait and proceeded to Fort Lauderdale, whilst there she was in phone contact with Yankee Trails office, they instructed her to return to Miami to pick up the son. Janet refused to do this to safeguard her passengers, YANKEE TRAILS FIRED HER OVER THE PHONE. Although she had been dismissed from her employment Janet proceeded to drive all her passenger back to the villages. One of the ladies on the bus wrote a note on the back of an envelope imploring Yankee Trails to re-instate Janet - it was signed by everyone on the bus.

It is obvious that Yankee Trail does care are about the well-being of the drivers or of fare paying customer that use them.

You might want to take a look at the last sentence in your post.

[Flyinglady]

Thank you for your criticism. Is that really the only thing of interest you found to comment on in this post?

[Stu from NYC]

Thank you for your criticism. Is that really the only thing of interest you found to comment on in this post?

Your last sentence I thought was the opposite of what I was thinking you were trying to say.

Thought I was doing you a favor, next time will not help you. Or you could just say thank you.

[Madelaine Amee]

You might want to take a look at the last sentence in your post.

I think your one liner was kind of unnecessary. It is obvious to me, and probably a lot of others, that she was hot under the collar when she wrote this and maybe you should have cut her some slack.

[Bilyclub]

We all make mistakes. The preview button is there for a reason.

[Stu from NYC]

I think your one liner was kind of unnecessary. It is obvious to me, and probably a lot of others, that she was hot under the collar when she wrote this and maybe you should have cut her some slack.

I thought I was being nice, her last sentence was the opposite of what she was trying to say.

[Arctic Fox]

I would have done exactly the same as Stu and politely pointed out that the post said the exact opposite of what was intended.

And if someone had done that to me I should have been very grateful.

[Mushkie]

I think the woman just wanted to vent and expressed a rhetorical question- she didn’t want someone to solve this or fix this or answer-she just wanted to vent.

[me4vt]

Y’all are a bunch of children on here!

[Get real]

That was a really good excuse for being late.

[lindaelane]

I thought the original poster accidentally did not type (or accidentally deleted) the word "not"....it is obvious YT does "not" care.....

I did not think it was necessary to begin discussing the omission of one word.

I taught school and might have quickly corrected a student who omitted a word, but as a young woman in her early 20s, new to that career, I learned that "corrections" just are somehow not appreciated in social situations :) (Yes...I see the irony here, but I will let this stand. Thanks.)

[GOLFER54]

We all know what she meant to say, and she had a legitimate complaint. Back off !

[coconutmama]

About 6 of us were waiting to be picked up at Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port yesterday morning. Our bus, not the coach that they show on the advertisement, arrived over an hour late, during this time we had no information relayed to us from Yankee Trails as to why our transport had been delayed. First of all, the bus was far too small for all the passengers and luggage the last row of seats had to be used for the luggage that wouldn't fit in the allocated luggage space, the seats were very uncomfortable with very little space between the rows, the air condition only worked on a low setting, so we travelled for over 4 hours with insufficient air conditioning.

As we later found out the reason for the late arrival was because one of the ships had not been cleared to dock and our driver, Janet, was told to stay in Miami and wait. The reason the ship was not cleared was because they COVID onboard. One of the two passengers Janet was told to pick up was the son on one of the Covid Victims who quite obviously been in close contact with his father. Because of the delay Janet said she would not wait and proceeded to Fort Lauderdale, whilst there she was in phone contact with Yankee Trails office, they instructed her to return to Miami to pick up the son. Janet refused to do this to safeguard her passengers, YANKEE TRAILS FIRED HER OVER THE PHONE. Although she had been dismissed from her employment Janet proceeded to drive all her passenger back to the villages. One of the ladies on the bus wrote a note on the back of an envelope imploring Yankee Trails to re-instate Janet - it was signed by everyone on the bus.

It is obvious that Yankee Trail does not care about the well-being of the drivers or of fare paying customers that use them.

Thanks for the heads up. The trip home must have been horrible. Hope Janet got her job back, if she wants it. Must be other companies that would be glad to have her.

[Jazzman]

Your last sentence I thought was the opposite of what I was thinking you were trying to say.

Thought I was doing you a favor, next time will not help you. Or you could just say thank you.

You need to find another activity other then attempting to correct grammatical errors in an on line post.

[YeOldeCurmudgeon]

Your last sentence I thought was the opposite of what I was thinking you were trying to say.

Thought I was doing you a favor, next time will not help you. Or you could just say thank you.

The content of the post made it obvious that the last sentence was a typo. If you can PM the OP, that would've been more appropriate.

[PennBF]

Anyone who used Yankee Trails on a regular basis know that you are going to wait quite
awhile at the Port when you doc for them to show up. You will always get a pick up time that essentially means nothing as they schedule pick ups at a number of arriving ships and you must wait until they are all gathered up. Their driver attitudes are usually OK and most likely they are also stressed from the numerous delays they are scheduled for and the unhappy passengers who have been waiting. To blame any person (e.g. the fired driver) for their terrible scheduled practice is totally unfair. I also hope she is successful in finding other employment and puts this behind her as an unfortunate experience from a Co that does not appreciate good employees. It is their policy to make passengers wait not hers. :popcorn:

[airstreamingypsy]

That's a horrifying story, that a company would hold up a bus so they could put someone exposed to Covid on the bus. The driver could and literally saved a life and gets fired for it? They are based in Lady Lake and upstate NY. Stephen Tobin is the CEO, I would relay that story to him....... someone should be fired, but not the driver.

[Rodneysblue]

Thank you for bringing this post back on track.

[swooner]

Fare paying customers? Virtually all YT passengers ride free for booking with Y T.

[Bill14564]

Janet left two paying customers standing on the dock in Miami? Can't say as I blame the company for dismissing the driver who did that. Also can't feel good about the company that sent a vehicle too small for the eight passengers they were scheduled to pick up.

[Bilyclub]

Janet left two paying customers standing on the dock in Miami? Can't say as I blame the company for dismissing the driver who did that. Also can't feel good about the company that sent a vehicle too small for the eight passengers they were scheduled to pick up.

So you would sit in a crowded van with a covid infected person and roll the dice with a virus that has killed a lot of people ?

[Bill14564]

So you would sit in a crowded van with a covid infected person and roll the dice with a virus that has killed a lot of people ?

Where was it said the person was Covid infected? There was a rumor that the person was the son of someone who had Covid and it was apparently assumed that they slept in the same bed and spent all their time attached at the hip. Take away the rumor, assumption, and hysteria and all that is left is two people standing on the dock.

There would have been eight people on that van but only one of them had been cleared of having Covid. My chances are better with the one that has been cleared than with the seven that have not.

[Bilyclub]

Where was it said the person was Covid infected? There was a rumor that the person was the son of someone who had Covid and it was apparently assumed that they slept in the same bed and spent all their time attached at the hip. Take away the rumor, assumption, and hysteria and all that is left is two people standing on the dock.

There would have been eight people on that van but only one of them had been cleared of having Covid. My chances are better with the one that has been cleared than with the seven that have not.

Considering you're supposed to wait a minimum of 5 days to get tested after an exposure I still side with the driver. Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

[Bill14564]

Considering you're supposed to wait a minimum of 5 days to get tested after an exposure I still side with the driver. Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

I heard it on Start Trek so it must be true? Were there several thousand passengers left standing on the dock or only the two who were unfortunate to be associated with this driver?

Why is it that you're supposed to wait a minimum of five days? Could that be a factor? Is the driver qualified to make the determination?

In the end, I trust the protocols used on the ship that released the passenger. But, wasn't my cruise or my family so not my problem.

[vettman01]

They are the worst many people I know have problems with them. We were told to be out by 8AM for the bus and it showed up at 9:30. This is just 1 of many problems with them.
I called their main office 3 times never received a call back.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

We all make mistakes. The preview button is there for a reason.

So are private messages.

[ThirdOfFive]

About 6 of us were waiting to be picked up at Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port yesterday morning. Our bus, not the coach that they show on the advertisement, arrived over an hour late, during this time we had no information relayed to us from Yankee Trails as to why our transport had been delayed. First of all, the bus was far too small for all the passengers and luggage the last row of seats had to be used for the luggage that wouldn't fit in the allocated luggage space, the seats were very uncomfortable with very little space between the rows, the air condition only worked on a low setting, so we travelled for over 4 hours with insufficient air conditioning.

As we later found out the reason for the late arrival was because one of the ships had not been cleared to dock and our driver, Janet, was told to stay in Miami and wait. The reason the ship was not cleared was because they COVID onboard. One of the two passengers Janet was told to pick up was the son on one of the Covid Victims who quite obviously been in close contact with his father. Because of the delay Janet said she would not wait and proceeded to Fort Lauderdale, whilst there she was in phone contact with Yankee Trails office, they instructed her to return to Miami to pick up the son. Janet refused to do this to safeguard her passengers, YANKEE TRAILS FIRED HER OVER THE PHONE. Although she had been dismissed from her employment Janet proceeded to drive all her passenger back to the villages. One of the ladies on the bus wrote a note on the back of an envelope imploring Yankee Trails to re-instate Janet - it was signed by everyone on the bus.

It is obvious that Yankee Trail does not care about the well-being of the drivers or of fare paying customers that use them.
Thanx for the heads-up. We usually use private drivers for airport, medical, etc. trips but as the costs of those have skyrocketed of late we've been thinking of going the group route. Good information to have.

Businesses read these threads. Odds are Yankee Trails will be doing so if they haven't already. I'd also consider the advice of a previous poster regarding contacting the CEO of the company with your concerns. The fact that you are a Villager, surrounded with well over a hundred thousand other people who represent a huge potential as well as actual customer base, is bound to have an impact.

[Indydealmaker]

You need to find another activity other then attempting to correct grammatical errors in an on line post.

Communication skills, rather the lack thereof, start wars.

[Flyinglady]

Anyone who used Yankee Trails on a regular basis know that you are going to wait quite
awhile at the Port when you doc for them to show up. You will always get a pick up time that essentially means nothing as they schedule pick ups at a number of arriving ships and you must wait until they are all gathered up. Their driver attitudes are usually OK and most likely they are also stressed from the numerous delays they are scheduled for and the unhappy passengers who have been waiting. To blame any person (e.g. the fired driver) for their terrible scheduled practice is totally unfair. I also hope she is successful in finding other employment and puts this behind her as an unfortunate experience from a Co that does not appreciate good employees. It is their policy to make passengers wait not hers. :popcorn:

Our complaint was not so much that we had been kept waiting, although an update would have been appreciated, more with the fact that Yankee Trails insisted that Janet should return to Miami to pick up someone who had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive with Covid Yankee Trails obviously has little or no regard for the health and wellbeing of the passengers onboard. Janet refused to do this and got herself fired.

[DAVES]

Thanks for the heads up. The trip home must have been horrible. Hope Janet got her job back, if she wants it. Must be other companies that would be glad to have her.

Typically we only get one side of every story. As far as getting her job back, we've all been in that position. Sort of between a rock and a hard place. If, she stays she will question her devotion to the company. If, she leaves, future employment can be sabotaged. Carefully chosen words can say to a potential employer, do not hire her.
The real world. The person who fired her. Rare is the person who can and will say, I REALIZE I WAS WRONG-I'M SORRY.

One of those shuttle busses. Imagine a bus full of people. You need to drive the bus, you are responsible for the safety of like 40-50 people. Some are seniors with medical issues, some are kids that whomever is with them thinks it is fine for them to bother other people, like kids, I did not need to go at the bathroom break ten minutes ago, then there is, it's too hot, It's too cold etc, of course it is a service dog, I bought the vest on Amazon.

[Flyinglady]

Fare paying customers? Virtually all YT passengers ride free for booking with Y T.

There is no such thing as a free lunch, everyone paid one way or another.

[Flyinglady]

So you would sit in a crowded van with a covid infected person and roll the dice with a virus that has killed a lot of people ?

First of all only the son was waiting to be picked up, one has to assume his father was put in to quarantine somewhere. Secondly there were approximately 20 people on the bus, the six of us were the last to be picked up.

[Flyinglady]

Janet left two paying customers standing on the dock in Miami? Can't say as I blame the company for dismissing the driver who did that. Also can't feel good about the company that sent a vehicle too small for the eight passengers they were scheduled to pick up.

Janet did not leave two people at the port, Yankee Trails told her to return to Miami and pick up the son of the man who tested positive for Covid and was part of the reason why the ship could not dock in the first place.

[Flyinglady]

Where was it said the person was Covid infected? There was a rumor that the person was the son of someone who had Covid and it was apparently assumed that they slept in the same bed and spent all their time attached at the hip. Take away the rumor, assumption, and hysteria and all that is left is two people standing on the dock.

There would have been eight people on that van but only one of them had been cleared of having Covid. My chances are better with the one that has been cleared than with the seven that have not.

Only one person was at the dockside, the other was presumably in quarantine. For your information there were approximately 20 people on the bus.

[Bill14564]

Janet did not leave two people at the port, Yankee Trails told her to return to Miami and pick up the son of the man who tested positive for Covid and was part of the reason why the ship could not dock in the first place.

... and according to the story she refused to do that which resulted in her being fired and two people standing at the port waiting.

[Flyinglady]

... and according to the story she refused to do that which resulted in her being fired and two people standing at the port waiting.

I give up with you. You would argue with a barn door. At no time was it said that Janet had to pick up two people from Miami

[Madelaine Amee]

I am sure Janet will have no problem finding another job. Drivers are desperately needed in TV and if she was capable of driving a large bus full of old people, she could drive just about anything. Yankee Trails will be the loser here, the round trip to Ft. Lauderdale/Miami is a horror show. You take one bus load down one day, stay overnight and pick up the next lot the next morning. Have you ever seen a bus load of old people who have been waiting to be picked up at Ft. Lauderdale, they are miserable complaining people. Another thought, have you traveled with these old people and seen how cheap they are? Not too many of them give the driver a gratuity.

[Bill14564]

...
One of the two passengers Janet was told to pick up
...

I give up with you. You would argue with a barn door. At no time was it said that Janet had to pick up two people from Miami

Doesn't matter if it was one, two, or twenty - Janet refused to do her job and one or more customers were left stranded.

[JSR22]

Doesn't matter if it was one, two, or twenty - Janet refused to do her job and one or more customers were left stranded.

In my opinion Janet's action was correct. The person left was traveling with someone that was diagnosed with COVID. Leaving one person behind vs exposing a bus full of seniors was the right decision.

[Bilyclub]

First of all only the son was waiting to be picked up, one has to assume his father was put in to quarantine somewhere. Secondly there were approximately 20 people on the bus, the six of us were the last to be picked up.

First of all my comment was directed at a post that I quoted, not your post. Second of all your post made it seem like she was told to go back and pick up 2 people in Miami.
"One of the two passengers Janet was told to pick up was the son on one of the Covid Victims who quite obviously been in close contact with his father."

[Flyinglady]

That's a horrifying story, that a company would hold up a bus so they could put someone exposed to Covid on the bus. The driver could and literally saved a life and gets fired for it? They are based in Lady Lake and upstate NY. Stephen Tobin is the CEO, I would relay that story to him....... someone should be fired, but not the driver.

Thank you for that information. I have emailed him and received an automated reply saying he is out of the office until June 3rd. I will update when and if I hear from Mr. Tobin.

[Bill14564]

In my opinion Janet's action was correct. The person left was traveling with someone that was diagnosed with COVID. Leaving one person behind vs exposing a bus full of seniors was the right decision.

Deciding that this person was contagious was a decision beyond her pay grade. The testing and protocols on the ship (and possibly the CDC protocols) determined that he was not a risk at that time.

Of all the people on that bus, the one person left behind went through the most thorough testing to prove they were not contagious. No one else on the bus would have been scrutinized as much as this individual yet you consider all of them to be okay and this one individual to be unclean. It's good to leave these decisions to professionals.

But again, not my people, not my problem.

[Rainger99]

Do we know what happened to the son who was apparently left stranded in Miami? Do we know the age of the son? Was he an adult, teenager, or child?

[ingtaylor]

Janet of YT did get her job back, as she drove the 3 of us to Tampa on Memorial Day. Very pleasant capable lady and today June 4th, she picked us up right at the curb after our trip. We didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes.
I recommend Janet and Yankee Trails.

Ingrid Taylor:bigbow:

[EdFNJ]

Janet of YT did get her job back, as she drove the 3 of us to Tampa on Memorial Day. Very pleasant capable lady and today June 4th, she picked us up right at the curb after our trip. We didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes.
I recommend Janet and Yankee Trails.

Ingrid Taylor:bigbow: Where ya' been for 12 years ;) ?
:welcome:

[photo1902]

Do we know what happened to the son who was apparently left stranded in Miami? Do we know the age of the son? Was he an adult, teenager, or child?

He’s still there, waiting at the pier, surviving off of scraps of food given to him by disembarking passengers.

[ChrisTee]

Thanks OP. That's why we'd rent a car (or park ours down there) and drive ourselves. The exposed guy should have done that - made 100% certain he didn't expose anyone else. No respectable company should operate the way that you described.
Plenty of people out there in denial or who just don't care about the health of others. Poor judgement on the part of the son and the transport co.

[ChrisTee]

Thanks OP. That's why we'd rent a car (or park ours down there) and drive ourselves. The exposed guy should have done that - made 100% certain he didn't expose anyone else. No respectable company should operate the way that you described.
Plenty of people out there in denial or who just don't care about the health of others. Poor judgement on the part of the son and the transport co.

[Flyinglady]

Just to bring anyone who is interested up to date, today I received a letter from Yankee Trails apologizing for the "less than enjoyable return trip from Fort Lauderdale".

I was informed that Janet is still employed, by them, and they enclosed a credit card for $50 for future use.

To date I have never had a reply from their head office.

[Flyinglady]

Just to bring everyone up to date, today I received a letter from Yankee Trails, apologizing for "the less than enjoyable return trip from Fort Lauderdale", enclosing a Yankee Trails gift certificate for the sum of $50. It was also stated that Janet is still employed by Yankee Trails.

[peachpit]

We've been using Yankee Trails to book our cruises since they came to The Villages. Julie, as our travel agent has been wonderful. Had the 'free bus's' had issues, yes. Have we had problems driving our own car and parking in south Florida, yes?

Unless you want to pay a private limo from your house to port you will have issues.

We will continue to use Yankee Trails.

PS: IMO the drivers take a lot of heat and are not tipped properly by a lot of riders.

[Stu from NYC]

We've been using Yankee Trails to book our cruises since they came to The Villages. Julie, as our travel agent has been wonderful. Had the 'free bus's' had issues, yes. Have we had problems driving our own car and parking in south Florida, yes?

Unless you want to pay a private limo from your house to port you will have issues.

We will continue to use Yankee Trails.

PS: IMO the drivers take a lot of heat and are not tipped properly by a lot of riders.

What is tipping a driver properly?