I'm sorry you lost your bike. On the whole, I'd call that an excellent outcome. Hartford has hugely upgraded its bus fleet recently-- tons of busses now have the racks. They have their 'hart' in the right place. Making that city more bike and ped friendly will go far in pushing out the blight that's endemic to our Connecticut cities.

I'm sure that drivers aren't the happiest about it as it adds to their workload in a sense, (I'm a union city (of Bridgeport) employee and that's how we think-- hate to say it, but it's true)

75% cost for the bike is a fairly decent settlement. Your persistence might well benefit the next rider who experiences a similar screw up.

I've yet to use a bus rack, but your anecdote has given me the idea of being sure to enter and exit the bus with my helmet on as a visual cue for the driver.