A convicted cybersquatter named Dennis Toeppen now runs the Suburban Express bus service that is used to take students home from university in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa to Chicago. Suburban Express attracts many online complaints from riders who object to the company’s policy of fining riders $100 (charged automatically to their ticket-purchase credit-card) if they present the wrong ticket when they board, and other, similar policies — and who allege that the company hunts down its online critics and bans them from riding.
But Toeppen and Suburban Express went too far when it threatened a volunteer Reddit moderator with a defamation suit for failing to police the company’s critics on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign subreddit, where a banner read, “Don’t ride Suburban Express! They’re likely to sue you, have terrible reviews, and also this.” The banner implied that an anonymous Reddit commenter who accused Suburban Express critics of of being “lonely virgins” was run by Toeppen or his representatives.
The ensuing negative publicity (and a stern note from Ken “Popehat” White) frightened the bullying, cowardly company into withdrawing its threat. But with any luck, the company’s public conduct will warn its potential customers away and make the offers presented by its rivals more attractive. If I was running a competing bus service, I’d be buying ad space on the subreddit in question, running ads that say, “Ride with us, we don’t fine you, we don’t ban you for complaining, and we won’t threaten to sue you if you aren’t happy!”
The company has developed a bad reputation online, with reviewers on Yelp and commenters on reddit sharing stories of what they claim are the company’s cutthroat business practices. For example, the company’s ticket policy includes a “ticket fraud” clause that hits riders who hand the wrong ticket to a driver with a $100 fine, charged to the credit card used to purchase their ticket. “In the event that ticket is used to obtain transportation on another day or at another time,” the company’s policy statement reads, “or to or from a Chicago area stop other than printed on your ticket, you will be charged full fare for the trip you actually rode PLUS $100 penalty. You will also be permanently banned.” The company also has a history of suing passengers for violating its terms and conditions—it has filed 125 tort and contract damage lawsuits against passengers this year alone, according to a report from a student newspaper.
The terms of service don’t include not speaking ill of the company online, but apparently they might as well. Some commenters have accused the company’s owner, Dennis Toeppen, of hunting down negative reviewers and banning them from the company’s buses.
The Internet cauldron of opinion boiled over for Suburban Express after an incident on March 31. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate student Jeremy Leval took to Facebook, describing a driver he saw make derogatory comments to an international student who was having difficulty understanding him—“If you don’t understand English, you don’t belong at the University of Illinois or any ‘American’ University,” he reportedly told her.
Update: Aaand here it is: a rival company, Peoria Charter, is advertising to Suburban Express customers with a campaign that stresses that they don’t sue their customers. They’re offering $2 off if you book tickets on their coaches with the promo code “nolawsuits” — thanks, Murph!
Express to Internet Hate: Bus company threatens redditor with lawsuit [Sean Gallagher/Ars Technica]