FlixBus Ignored Complaints About Podgorica Drivers Charging Passengers Illegally

We had the worst travel experience of our lives with the Podgorica FlixBus team, and we will always leave negative feedback about them. Our bus, which was scheduled to depart at 1:00 PM, still hadn’t arrived even by 4:00 PM. When we informed the staff at the Podgorica bus terminal, they simply said, “There’s nothing we can do, you can just gather some people and go on your own.” This kind of response is completely unethical. We had already paid for our tickets and planned our entire trip around this journey — such an attitude is unacceptable.

Later, around 4:15 PM, a service vehicle finally arrived. The two drivers inside demanded €5 per bag from us and other paying passengers who had been waiting for hours, saying they didn’t have to take us otherwise. When we objected, they responded rudely: “Your choice — don’t come if you don’t want to.” No tourist deserves to be treated this way. Moreover, one of the terminal staff scolded a female tourist in front of everyone, speaking to her as if she were a child, which was witnessed by all the passengers present.

When we were finally allowed to board — practically forced onto the bus like refugees — all we could do was hope that it would at least take us to Tirana. No one felt safe during the trip; the driver’s behavior was erratic and aggressive, yet nobody dared to speak up. About 15 minutes after departure, the driver suddenly stopped the vehicle and started waiting on the roadside. Later, one of his relatives got on board, and we suspected that he was simply giving this person a ride. Unfortunately, we were right. Instead of dropping us off at Tirana Bus Station, he announced that he would stop in the city center. No one protested out of fear. Eventually, his relative got off in the middle of nowhere — about a 1.5-hour walk from the actual bus terminal. When an American tourist objected, the driver almost got into an argument with him. We felt truly sorry for that passenger. Seeing so many similar complaints on Google, yet no action taken by the company, makes us believe that FlixBus ignores serious customer issues.

Additionally, on July 21, we had a 9:00 AM bus from Tirana to Macedonia, but we canceled it after reading even more negative reviews. We had a flight that evening and couldn’t risk another disaster. We ended up paying ₺8,000 extra to travel with another company instead.

We sincerely hope that after reading this, the responsible authorities at FlixBus will stop ignoring these repeated problems. No passenger should ever experience such unprofessional and unsafe treatment again.