Aircoach launching Belfast - Dublin Airport - Dublin City Express

devnull · 14-06-2012 12:17pm

I just checked their twitter and Facebook (which is advertised nowhere on their site), and it seems they haven't even tweeted about the Belfast service, nor have they posted about it on Facebook.

A quick search shows they're also getting a lot of people tweeting them who are not being answered, and also looking at their Facebook it seems that they don't seem to take criticism very well with any moan issued with a canned response of "We'll pass it to management"

bk · 14-06-2012 12:41pm

Yes their marketing strategy is very poor.

Looking after twitter, facebook, etc. is typically part of the marketing persons job. I assume they have at least one marketing person. Would it really be that difficult for the marketing person to read, update and respond on facebook and twitter once a day. It only takes five minutes.

If they don't have a dedicated marketing person, then one of the customer service people who answers the phone could do it.

I know one person companies who manage to do this religiously every day and thus have a very good relationship with their customers.

Citylink and GoBus do an excellent job in this area.

The reason I say they do read this thread, is because I think management are actually reading this thread, versus the cs/marketing people who look after twitter/emails/etc.

I know for a fact that lot of people, including management, from the public transport companies read these forums, as it is about the broader topics of the industry and their competitors, rather then just an individuals once off issue.

Out on this very public forum, it gets much greater exposure.

Don't forget journalists also lurk on boards, a few times I've been quoted word for word in news paper articles and even in consultancy reports!!

devnull · 14-06-2012 12:52pm

That is my problem with Aircoach - a lot of these things do not take a lot of time yet they are still not done. To be fair to them they do seem to respond to queries on Facebook pretty quickly, but they do not advertise they have a Facebook presence anywhere, having a Facebook icon on the timetable is no good if they have no mention of it on their website or a link.

What ideally needs to happen is the following:
1) Someone spend an hour or two going through the website, reviewing and updating every page and bringing it all up to date.
2) Every time news is posted, cross post it on Facebook and on Twitter. There are applications you can even get to do it for you.
3) Make sure Facebook and Twitter is promoted more heavily on the website. All you need is a little icon, like the one on the Dublin Bus site. Social networking DOES drum up extra business.
4) Respond to all tweets. Customer service staff should be doing this themselves. It's not hard to log in and check a few times a day.
5) Be more open to criticism, as I used to say in an old job, every interaction we have with a customer is a chance to exceed their expectations.
6) The Belfast service has launched. Why not set the website up to randomly alternate between a banner for Belfast and one for Cork? That is what I did in a previous company in another industry.

You know if routes don't work at the end of the day Aircoach need to take a long hard look at themselves, it doesn't matter how operationally excellent you are if you get the basics in other areas wrong. With competition being so fierce, you would expect that Bus Eireann, GoBus and Irish Rail and any other competitors will look to exploit what they see as being Aircoach's worst failings. A modern, dynamic, well run company will make sure that they close such opportunistic chances of rivals by ensuring it is all up to scratch and there is no gap left to exploit in the first place.

Unfortunately for all concerned a buy out and a new management team may be better for everyone in the long run. Aircoach used to be a visionary company but now it seems to be treading water and lacking effort in areas. More attention to detail, engagement with it''s customers and target market is required if they want to be successful in such a tough marketplace.

bk · 14-06-2012 1:36pm

devnull wrote: »

What ideally needs to happen is the following:
1) Someone spend an hour or two going through the website, reviewing and updating every page and bringing it all up to date.
3) Make sure Facebook and Twitter is promoted more heavily on the website. All you need is a little icon, like the one on the Dublin Bus site. Social networking DOES drum up extra business.
6) The Belfast service has launched. Why not set the website up to randomly alternate between a banner for Belfast and one for Cork? That is what I did in a previous company in another industry.

I'm guessing they don't have anyone on staff who has web programming skills, which is why it takes so long to update the site.

What I think they need to do is contract someone in to build them a new website using a content management system (CMS) like Drupal.

With a good CMS system in place, a non techy person can update most parts of the site without any technological knowledge going forward.

Actually if anyone from Aircoach management is reading this, then I'll offer to do it for free, I'm a software engineer.

The newly designed site could include twitter and facebook feeds like the Citylink site does.

devnull wrote: »

2) Every time news is posted, cross post it on Facebook and on Twitter. There are applications you can even get to do it for you.
4) Respond to all tweets. Customer service staff should be doing this themselves. It's not hard to log in and check a few times a day.
5) Be more open to criticism, as I used to say in an old job, every interaction we have with a customer is a chance to exceed their expectations.

Yup, Tweetdeck is an excellent app for doing this and cross posting between facebook and twitter.

devnull wrote: »

Unfortunately for all concerned a buy out and a new management team may be better for everyone in the long run. Aircoach used to be a visionary company but now it seems to be treading water and lacking effort in areas. More attention to detail, engagement with it''s customers and target market is required if they want to be successful in such a tough marketplace.

Yes, I think perhaps if they were an Irish only company, they might have more focus on these sort of things.

devnull · 14-06-2012 1:48pm

They just lack attention to detail most IMHO and you're probably right with regards to the web skills. I'd assume the news system is via a CMS and the online ticketing system has some sort of admin tool when the rest does not, hence why stuff is not updating. But if that was the case they should have got a new website built long before now, the existing one has been around for around 7-8 years (check archive.org for aircoach.ie).

To the outsider though they generally don't seem bothered which is a bad thing and can create a negative perception. They are spending money on marketing, but just contracting someone to do web work for them just to fix up the problems and improve things even for a couple of days would be a big help. They need people who are creative, passionate and have flair and desire to improve such things and they seem to lack that.

I doubt anyone from Aircoach is reading this, but would be nice if they are!

J_Dublin15 · 14-06-2012 2:39pm

Well if you want to know what my gripe was about, it was in relation to the fact that when the fares changed in March, some were actually reduced. However, the online booking system is still charging the higher fare, which means it's cheaper to buy on bus than online but when I'm abroad with foreign currencies I don't always have euros to hand when I get back to Dublin so I'd like to buy online.

I mailed them in March and they told me that they would pass it on to their IT team and resolve it, but it was not resolved. I mailed therm at the start of the week to point out it still had not been fixed and got no reply so in future if I don't have the euros to hand I'll just use leap on DB.

devnull · 15-06-2012 3:57pm

The Coach stop at O'Connell Street opposite the Gresham has NO INFORMATION in it. It seems that someone has took out the Airport service information, and replaced it with nothing so now we have empty timetable displays. Is it so hard to print out a sheet of paper, put it in the display for both services? Why remove the old one if you didn't have a new one to put in?

Once again another failing, hence a confused gentleman asking passers by, does the coach to Belfast go from here or the other side of the road, I told him I had no idea but I assume he was at the right stop but I couldn't be sure. Then some taxi drivers came along and poached another two passengers waiting for the airport as I had the conversation, the taxi driver argued that the service has ceased, hence why there was no timetable.

Obviously incorrect, but once again, self inflicted by Aircoach. How do you expect people to trust the service when there is no timetable information at the stop. I think they're getting worse for updating on street information than Dublin Bus, and really that is quite something.

J_Dublin15 · 19-06-2012 2:07pm

I still have not heard from Aircoach in reply to my point in relation to ripping off people who book online by charging higher fares than they charge on the bus for certain stops. This is despite the fact the fares section on the Aircoach website suggests the price should be the same online as it is on the bus.

I can see from looking around on Twitter that many people have had problems with Aircoach and their poor attitude towards their customers in the past few weeks non e of which have been graced with an answer by the company. It is a sad state of affairs when the company appears to be refusing to deal with any complaints as it seems they are holding their customers in that low regard.

It is sad to see how the company has gone down in many peoples estimations but I doubt anyone cares and if anyone is reading this they probably won't take it seriously anyway and think complaints on this thread are not valid. Back to Dublin Bus for me I think, they've lost one customer and I'm sure I'll not be the only one.

ballooba · 21-06-2012 11:02am

devnull wrote: »

Then some taxi drivers came along and poached another two passengers waiting for the airport as I had the conversation, the taxi driver argued that the service has ceased, hence why there was no timetable.

Obviously incorrect, but once again, self inflicted by Aircoach.

Or an industrious cabbie has removed it.

devnull · 21-06-2012 11:21am

That is quite likely, you know what they are like

However if they did, they did a good job as they lifted up the cover, took the paper out, and then put the cover back up! Personally considering the fact the Cork Timetable was the wrong one, I'd say is unlikely.

SandyfordGuy · 24-06-2012 12:25am

Saw some people get turned away from a BE service this morning, coach only half full, seems they ran out of luggage space. Still. don't see this benefiting Aircoach on the route as it seems there has been no advertising of this service anywhere,

foggy_lad · 24-06-2012 12:30am

SandyfordGuy wrote: »

Saw some people get turned away from a BE service this morning, coach only half full, seems they ran out of luggage space. Still. don't see this benefiting Aircoach on the route as it seems there has been no advertising of this service anywhere,

on one of their new multi million euro coaches?

BenShermin · 24-06-2012 1:00am

SandyfordGuy wrote: »

Saw some people get turned away from a BE service this morning, coach only half full, seems they ran out of luggage space. Still. don't see this benefiting Aircoach on the route as it seems there has been no advertising of this service anywhere,

Another feck up by BÉ there. I wonder would the Ulsterbus Goldliner buses have a simular problem?

With IÉ/NIR being so cheap on this route if you book three days in advance I can't see myself ever using the bus on this route tbh. Although both Aircoach and BÉ seem to be centred on getting pax to/from Dublin Airport on this route?

highlydebased · 24-06-2012 1:07am

BenShermin wrote: »

Another feck up by BÉ there. I wonder would the Ulsterbus Goldliner buses have a simular problem?

With IÉ/NIR being so cheap on this route if you book three days in advance I can't see myself ever using the bus on this route tbh. Although both Aircoach and BÉ seem to be centred on getting pax to/from Dublin Airport on this route?

The Goldline buses have very little luggage space too. It makes me very paranoid that my case could easily be nabbed....

SandyfordGuy · 25-06-2012 2:58pm

The problem is that there are very few double decker coaches that are suited to a large amount of luggage on the market and most of the ones that are able to handle such amount of luggage are often those from Belgium coach builder Vanhool and the German built Setra (Part of Mercedes-Benz). Excellent coaches but heavily expensive which is why they're rarely seen on scheduled services and instead tend to be used for private hires, tours and that kind of thing.

You then have the coaches such as Bus Eireann and Ulsterbus have, which have less luggage space, with the aim of getting more seating in the lower deck, because the more passengers you fit in the more economical that makes the coach on busy routes. However there is a trade off for luggage space here, as generally it's limited to behind the seating section of the lower deck, when you don't have any under coach areas to store it and obviously the bigger you make this area, the less seating you get in downstairs.

Generally the models operated by BE/UB are not designed to operate on routes such as the ones they are being operated on at the moment. They are designed for moving large numbers of people at once, but not for a coach full of passengers who will have huge cases on an airport route. The coaches simply don't have the large luggage space that they need for such operation.

The only way around it now they have the coaches is to add a luggage compartment that fixes to the back of the coach as can be seen in countries in mainland Europe, although that is not without problems either.

bk · 25-06-2012 4:13pm

So anyone actually use this service yet?

How was it?

What sort of coaches are they using?

Toilets on board?

What are the loadings like?

Actually it is surprising how comprehensive this schedule is. They have 22 journeys per direction per day, so almost one an hour. Versus 17 journeys on the Cork route!!

I would have thought it would be better to use the extra journeys on the Cork route where you face no competition, versus the established hourly 24 hour service already offered by BE/UL.

devnull · 26-06-2012 10:27am

The journey is much shorter though, so you would probably need less coaches to run 22 services on the Belfast route vs 17 on the Cork.

Although the service HAS to be marketed more for it to be a success.

SandyfordGuy · 26-06-2012 4:52pm

There has been marketing on Cool FM in Belfast, a Radio Station, whilst it appears they have changed their Facebook picture to mention the Belfast instead of the Cork service, so lets not say they are making no effort. There was also a piece in the Irish News.

SandyfordGuy · 28-06-2012 1:29pm

BK: To answer your question they appear to be using the Blue Setras.

ballooba · 28-06-2012 3:07pm

Planning to use this on Sunday, do I need to book?

devnull · 28-06-2012 3:27pm

No - you can book online if you want but it's not required.

Driver takes both Euros and sterling.

devnull · 02-07-2012 7:00pm

ballooba - did you get the service, if so how did you find it?

ballooba · 03-07-2012 10:48am

devnull wrote: »

ballooba - did you get the service, if so how did you find it?

Started to post up a trip report yesterday but got lazy.:D

We had a great trip on the Aircoach. We arrived at Glengall St about 20 minutes early and went in to the bus station to buy some reading material. When we came back out there were a small crowd of people waiting to get on the bus. I would estimate it was between about two thirds full when fully boarded.

The driver seemed confused by working in dual currencies with multiple fare options. He messed up our tickets and gave us the price to Dublin Airport. He acknowledged the mistake but gave us that price anyway.

The bus left bang on time and made steady progress all the way. This despite some bint in a private hire minibus blocking the stop when it arrived. The driver politelty asked her to move after she had delayed the boarding of the bus by about five minutes.

My partner and I got the seats behind the rear emergency exit which had extra legroom. No problems with space whatsoever, although the standard seating seemed to have ample room too.

The onboard wifi did not seem to work until we got back into the Republic. I had a book on my phone which I read until the wifi came into service. Once in service it was good quality.

The lack of a toilet was not a problem, although it might of been on Friday when I polished off four Bulmers on the Enterprise on the way up. I'm not sure what the attitude to alcohol or food consumption on the Aircoach is.

I was impressed by the number of backpackers on the Aircoach, the taxi driver was well aware of the service and knew exactly what we were at when we asked for Glengall St. The service seems to be known to hostels and taxis at least.

devnull · 04-07-2012 9:40am

Thanks for the report. Encouraging it was that well loaded as every coach i have seen has been pretty lightly loaded overall but i have only seen people get on and off in Dublin city centre. So if most people are going to or from the airport i would not see this.

Also it seems that some of the fleet have been swapping their Irish registrations for the UK style plates. Can someone in the industry explain what a company has to gain by doing tip versus leaving them on the Irish plates?

ballooba · 04-07-2012 9:48am

Quite a few of the backpackers got off at Dublin Airport, which would make sense.

foggy_lad · 04-07-2012 10:45am

devnull wrote: »

Thanks for the report. Encouraging it was that well loaded as every coach i have seen has been pretty lightly loaded overall but i have only seen people get on and off in Dublin city centre. So if most people are going to or from the airport i would not see this.

Also it seems that some of the fleet have been swapping their Irish registrations for the UK style plates. Can someone in the industry explain what a company has to gain by doing tip versus leaving them on the Irish plates?

When you say swapping their registrations for UK style plates do you mean an Irish 12 D XXXX registration on a yellow background? this would be illegal and should not happen.

many of the buses used on the route are probably kept in Belfast and as such would be required to be registered there or in the UK just as those operating from the republic are required to be registered here.

bk · 04-07-2012 10:48am

foggy_lad wrote: »

When you say swapping their registrations for UK style plates do you mean an Irish 12 D XXXX registration on a yellow background? this would be illegal and should not happen.

No, turns out they now have a proper UK registration.

One reason they might do this is to hide the age of the buses?

It is possible to work out from a UK reg, but most ordinary people wouldn't know how. So perhaps a competitive move against BE's new 2012 coaches.

devnull · 04-07-2012 10:53am

They are actually Northern Ireland plates in the form of something like RKZ 2547 Which means it is impossible to tell the age unlike UK plates. When Aircoach ran the Belfast service before i remember them using Republic of Ireland plates.

foggy_lad · 04-07-2012 10:56am

bk wrote: »

No, turns out they now have a proper UK registration.

One reason they might do this is to hide the age of the buses?

It is possible to work out from a UK reg, but most ordinary people wouldn't know how. So perhaps a competitive move against BE's new 2012 coaches.

it is more likely that the buses are being kept and used from Belfast and as such would be required to be registered there within a certain period following importation. Vehicles brought into the republic are subject to the same rules on registration with some limited exemptions.

double jeopardy · 05-07-2012 8:33am

foggy_lad wrote: »

bk wrote: »

No, turns out they now have a proper UK registration.

One reason they might do this is to hide the age of the buses?

It is possible to work out from a UK reg, but most ordinary people wouldn't know how. So perhaps a competitive move against BE's new 2012 coaches.

it is more likely that the buses are being kept and used from Belfast and as such would be required to be registered there within a certain period following importation. Vehicles brought into the republic are subject to the same rules on registration with some limited exemptions.

First northern ireland are operating the service. Of course they are entitled to use ni plates. Thats is the reg issued to them when they register a vehicle. North is their base!!!!!!

Aircoach launching Belfast - Dublin Airport - Dublin City Express

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