Misplaced Pages

Suburban Express

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by CorporateM (talk | contribs) at 16:01, 21 September 2013 (→2013 lawsuits). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 16:01, 21 September 2013 by CorporateM (talk | contribs) (→2013 lawsuits)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Illini Shuttle, operated by Suburban Express, at Illinois Terminal in Champaign, Illinois.
Founded1983
Headquarters714 S Sixth Street
Champaign, Illinois 61820
Service areaIllinois, Indiana, Iowa
Service typeIntercity coach service
Destinations6 Universities served and Chicago Suburbs
Chief executiveDennis Toeppen, President
Websitehttp://www.suburbanexpress.com

Suburban Express is a bus company that serves six universities in the Mid-Western United States. It was founded in 1983 by Dennis Toeppen, then a student of the University of Illinois (UIUC). Suburban Express has a negative reputation online for suing 126 of its customers, sending legal threats to customers that write negatively of the bus company online and an incident involving a bus driver that allegedly insulted a foreign student.

History

Early history

Suburban Express was founded in 1983 by Dennis Toeppen, with an initial investment of $600. At first, the University of Illinois would not sell Suburban Express tickets even though they were half the cost, since it received a commission from competitor Greyhound. A price war led both Suburban Express and Greyhound to cut prices by more than fifty percent. Greyhound initiated two Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) investigations against Suburban Express: one in spring 1984 and one in fall 1984. In 1985, Dennis Toeppen charged Greyhound with "predatory pricing" for lowering their Friday to Sunday campus service from $43.70 to $14.75. The two had matched ticket sales by 1985. The travel center began selling Suburban Express tickets to compensate for lost Greyhound commission revenues. Suburban Express’ service expanded to Eastern Illinois University in 1985 and to Illinois State University to 1989.

2013 lawsuits

In 2013, Suburban Express filed 126 tort and contract damage lawsuits against customers it alleged violated its terms of service by printing out multiple copies of their tickets or using them on the wrong dates. Many of the lawsuits were filed in Ford County, 30 miles from campus, which disqualified students from free legal aid from the university. Students claimed it was done on purpose, while Suburban Express said the court was chosen for logistical reasons.

In early 2013 a customer said on Facebook and told the student newspaper he witnessed a bus driver tell a foreign student "If you don't understand English, you don't belong at the University of Illinois or any 'American' University'." Afterwards, the student received a letter from Suburban Express saying he owed $570 and was banned for life. Suburban Express said he caused a disruption and called the student "a bullying, self-important brat." The student said they were standing up for the other foreign student.

This led to a discussion on the subreddit for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign stating: "Don't ride Suburban Express! They're likely to sue you, have terrible reviews, and also this." The "this" linked to a series of anonymous insults to critics of Suburban Express, calling them "lonely virgins," "chronic masturbators" and other derogatory names that the moderator implied were posted by Suburban Express representatives anonymously. On April 24th, The company threatened to sue a Reddit moderator involved, saying that he was knowingly posting "false and libelous information" and allowing libel to remain "despite clear knowledge... that the materials are untruthful." According to Ars Technica, "internet vigilantes" took down the company website, stole the founder's identity and hacked into his Reddit account.

116 of the 126 lawsuits were dismissed with prejudice, prohibiting the company from filing similar complaints against the same defendants. By May 2nd, the company closed all 126 of its lawsuits, and also withdrew its threat of legal action against the Reddit moderator. Later that same month, Suburban Express hired a new attorney that filed 22 motions asking that previously dismissed cases be re-opened.

Services

Suburban Express serves six Midwest universities: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois State University, Eastern Illinois University, Purdue University, University of Iowa, and Indiana University. Weekend services transport students from all six campuses directly to several suburban Chicago locations. Suburban Express is a "virtual" bus company, in that it does not own any buses or facilities, but instead contracts buses from other carriers.

Suburban Express has a negative reputation on Yelp and Reddit, where customers claim the company has "cutthroat business practices," such as fining, banning and suing customers that allegedly violate its terms of service. According to the company, "we have a few very simple rules: Bring a printed ticket. Don't try to get on a bus you can't get a ticket for because it's sold out by using a ticket for another date. Don't try to get two rides when you have only paid for one. Don't try to ride with a counterfeit ticket."

References

  1. ^ Rozek, Dan (1985-10-20). "Fare wars - Bus service run by student butts heads with Greyhound" (PDF). Daily Herald (Arlington Heights).
  2. Taylor, Barbara. “Greyhound pricing illegal, bus service officials claim.” The Daily Illini. Feb. 16, 1985
  3. . Vol. GLI Schedule 397. 1999-09. Removed from publication {{cite encyclopedia}}: |work= ignored (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Gallagher, Sean (2013-05-02). "Nonstop to schadenfreude: Suburban Express' u-turn on reddit lawsuit". Ars Technica.
  5. ^ Gallagher, Sean (2013-04-26). "Express to Internet Hate: Bus company threatens redditor with lawsuit". Ars Technica.
  6. ^ Brumleve, Will (2013-04-26). "Bus firm's lawsuits criticized". The News Gazette.
  7. Ruff, Corinne. "Suburban Express lawsuits reach 125 this year; conversation continues on Reddit." Daily Illini. April 28, 2013
  8. ^ Geigner, Timothy (2013-05-02). "Bus Company Threatens Redditor With Lawsuit, Meets Ken White, Runs Away". Techdirt.
  9. ^ http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2013-07-30/judge-allows-bus-company-refile-some-claims-against-passengers.html
  10. Geigner, Timothy (2013-05-17). "Suburban Express Goes Double Or Nothing On Their Aggressive Behavior". Techdirt.
  11. ^ Franz, Justin (2013-04-29). "Bus Company Threatens to Sue Redditor Over Bad Press". The Daily Dot.
  12. ^ Gallagher, Sean (2013-13-02). "Troll road: Bus company posts "dirt" on complaining passenger". Ars Technica. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Doctorow, Cory (2013-04-27). "Suburban Express bus-line sends bullying, cowardly legal threat to Reddit, discovers Streisand Effect". Boing Boing.
  14. http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2013-07-30/judge-allows-bus-company-refile-some-claims-against-passengers.html
  15. Gallagher, Sean (2013-06-19). "Bus company that threatened redditor with lawsuit tries to reopen suit". Ars Technica.
  16. http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2013-07-30/judge-allows-bus-company-refile-some-claims-against-passengers.html
  17. Suburban Express website

External links

Categories:
Suburban Express Add topic