84x farce

essentialjc

Does anyone in Dublin Bus know the route for the 84x???? twice last week on the way home (5pm from Eden Quay) the bus drivers drove on past the Charleland turn off, up towards Delgany (the old route) the first instance the bus driver just went oh sorry, havent done this in 5 years - luckily he went round and dropped us off. The 2nd time the driver couldnt have been more of an a$$hole - he insisted it didnt go to Charlesland even though it said it on the front of his bus! (he wouldnt go look) 5 of us telling him so, he then ranted to us to call his inspector on doing that he politely told us all to f*** off!!!! I kid you not...it was absolutely hammering down with rain and we all got soaked walking. Also last week, one of the 5pm buses didnt even turn up and 2 for Newtown turned up (only meant to be the 5.15) again, he told us to call his inspector...I just find it a very badly run service...no wonder not many people use what could be a great service for getting me near work

mikedragon32

I've been on to the depot about a similar incident with a driver before (he's eastern european, not that it matters, but it does help to identify him to the inspector), and I was told then that there had been complaints about him before and that several drivers seem to have missed that leg of the journey.

When I pointed it out to the driver I was told that I was a "****ing waster". If he'd said sorry, I wouldn't have bothered calling Donnybrook, but he was so ignorant.

Now that you've had a similar experience and reported it, I wonder do they actually have any plans to discipline him or do they all just have a joke about the "cranks" on the bus when he gets back to the garage?

loyatemu

from reading the Commuting forum (where a couple of bus drivers post) apparently many of the drivers don't know the north wicklow routes very well.

there's no excuse for such ignorant behaviour though and you should complain, in writing, to the donnybrook depot.

farside290

I was also on that 84X where the driver dumped us at the Delgany roundabout and in no uncertain terms told us that he didn't have to go anywhere near charlesland. Its does appear the drivers can pick and choose the route they take as the bus this AM went up by Tesco's.
I did check out the CIE website for am e-mail/contact details for customer services but no joy in locating one.
Hopefully this evening the driver makes it to charlesland as its lashing!!

JanneG

Seems like they don't have a customer service (complaints) number nor email.

All I could find was the general contacts page
http://www.dublinbus.ie/home/contact_details.asp

with

DONNYBROOK
Contact Name Phone Number
Declan Murray (01) 703 4441 (01)703 4428 Mon. - Sun. 0700 to 2300

Under their 'Contact Us' webpage they give you a couple of options to mail them about such as 'Timetable Query', 'Website Comment' and 'COMPLAINT'. These options all give you the same email address, just different subject headers where complaint would be the one in this case.

The email address is info@dublinbus.ie

Give it a shot as the behaviour is totally out of order...

Should probably say that I only take the bus about once every 3 years or so but it would be nice to know that it actually goes down to Charlesland if and when I might be on it...

essentialjc

:mad: Incredible, I wrote this feed this afternoon - I went to the bus stop as normal this evening on Leeson St. - I waited as normal for the 5pm 84x to Newcastle - along came a bus with Newtown on it again! (due 15 mins later I believe) I asked him and he had obviously got irrate by the similar questions from other customers at previous stops - again, people stood there in disbelief as he drove off telling us to speak to the inspectors!

I am going to follow up the link for the complaint - I am not one to complain at all but it is REALLY shabby to say the very least - its like a lottery if I can get in to and home from work! and its not the easiest commute in the world

OH AND ONE MORE THING!!! The bus stops display a different timetable to that of the internet - the internet displays Newton as destination (yet only 1 or 2 at the most got there) whilst the stops display Newcastle/Kilcoole only

GRRRRR

bloggj

I was in town this evening heres my experience of the 84X. Something weird is happening.

I walked down to Kildare Street to drop something off to someone at 4.55pm
and as I approached Kildare St/Molesworth steet corner an 84X whizzed by.
This was for Kilcoole/Cland.

At 17.05 another 84X arrived...this time saying NewtownMtKennedy. About 5 people went to get on and one woman proceeded to indicate there should be
a Gstones/Kilcoole/Cland bus at 17.15pm to which the driver insisted a bus at 17.15pm would serve this area. The timetable in reverse if you ask me.

Didnt bother waiting for when they decide to turn up. Like most people i find the morning no issue, but the evening generally seems to be very hard to gauge. Putting a call into Dublin Bus.

It took nearly 2 years to get a bus to serve Charlesland!! We dont mind delays once in a while but when they start playing with the timetable, that
becomes a joke

essentialjc

yeah I have to say (fingers crossed) since the timetable was improved the 84x always turn up in the mornings, cant fault that. But I genuinely believe, apart from the drivers not knowing whats what, that the particualr inspector or whoever is on that night gets confused between Newtown and Newcastle!

Basil Brush

Drivers also don't stop at brewery road stop which they should - it is on the timetable on the website. Every time you highlight it to the driver, they completely dismiss you and tell you that you're wrong. I wrote stinky email to Dublin bus to follow on from phone calls - i think we need to bombard them totally - am getting so fed up as you just can't rely on Dublin Bus, they will drive us all back to our cars!!

essentialjc

Apologies for this folks - this thread is turning into the tales of my journies on the 84x!! but I forgot to add the fact that 4 times in the last month the bus has broken down on the way home...lo and behold this morning...it did the same travelling along the n11 at no more than 10 mph until it got to Foxrock and we all had to get off and wait...oh the joys of Dublin Bus....its getting laughable!!:D

Damo75

I got so frustrated by the 84X scenario that I made a list of the problems that I had encountered, i.e. drivers not knowing the route, buses not showing up etc..., and I eventually got through to a guy in Donnybrook called Chris Rafferty (phone no. 01 7034439). I went through my list and he took a note of all of the details and I have to say that I noticed an immediate improvement in the service within a couple of days.

It would appear that the service is starting to slip again so I would recommend that you contact Chris as he seems to be able to get things done.

I get the 16.45 bus home in the evenings and I have had no problems with it in ages.

Greentrees

I was also on that broken down 84X this morning. It broke down during the winter also and we were left in the snow.

When the 84X 1st started going to Newtown I got on it by accident and was the only person on the bus.. i thought the driver had gone nuts and was taking me off to the mountains.. he was actually nice and dropped me home. I sent a complaint and got the following response:

"Thank you for your e-mail and for bringing this matter to our attention.

Firstly, please accept my apologies for the upset caused by the bus not going on the route you expected. The 84x had a change of schedule in December and as part of this we now have two bus 17.15 and the 17.45 from the city centre that only go to Newtownmountkennedy. Neither of these buses operates via Greystones and this should have been marked on the scroll on the bus.

To avoid further difficulties such as you encountered I have asked that the timetables be changed to highlight that these buses do not serve Greystones and go directly to Newtownmountkennedy.

Once again my apologies for this unfortunate and regrettable incident.

John Graham
Administration Officer
Public Affairs Department
Ph 7033160"

Since then they have updated the time table but its the times that are blank that go to Newtown.. this is not refelcted.

My biggest peeve at the mo is that the 5pm bus has not shown up once for me.. the next bus leaves town at 5.30 so its a bit of a wait. Can't take it anymore I'm getting the dart in the eve from now on! I'll get complaining agian though cause the more complaints the better.

Oh and when are they gonna sort out the nightlink to go past Charlesland??

APG

Can anyone tell me what time this bus leaves Charlesland in the morning ?
And how has the service been lately ?

Thanks !

GAN

I only get the 84x in the evenings, very rarely in the mornings. I've found the service pretty good recently although yesterday a woman at the Stephens Green stop was saying that the 5pm bus hadn't turned up.

I think the big problem with this route is the turnover of drivers -- it used to be pretty much the same guys all the time, and they knew the route like the back of their hand, but since they've changed the timetable there are loads of different drivers and they often don't know the route very well.

I agree with the previous poster about the guy in Donnybrook garage, he is extremely helpful. I think the customer service guy in head office is called Tom Maher and you can email him at tom.maher@dublinbus.ie

MuffinsDa

here's one I sent today:

Dear Tom,

I am writing to you to complain about the behaviour of one of your drivers on the bus route I normally take.
I went to take the 84X bus to town from Greystones this morning (12th of October) at 8:00 am. I beleive this would be the last 84X bus to town.
I presented a 2-easy 3.20 euro ticket (I ordered 10 of them recently thinking they work on that route - the website said nothing about them not working on expresso buses) which was rejected by the machine. I presented it to the driver and he said that I can't use that ticket on his bus. I told him I just ordered them and the website didn't say anything about express buses but he said it's not valid and I either have to pay cash fare of 3.20 or get off the bus. I told him he can take the whole ticket (3.20) if he likes (instead of a single swipe = 1.60) since I the only cash I had was a 10 euro note but he refused it too. I told him I'll get some change from passengers for my 10 euro note (which I showed to him) and give it him at next stop but he refused that too, and told me I can go. I -unlike him- cared for other passengers on the bus and didn't want to hold them up so I left and told him that he has been very unhelpful, to which he replied if you have a problem with the system it's your problem. I asked for his name which he refused to give me, but I'm sure you can find it our from your rosters.

I think his behaviour in this case is truely out of order. You really need to provide a customer service course for people like him, and educate them. I didn't look like a fare dodger, I offered to pay in a variety of ways, and yet I was thrown out of the bus because of this man's ego.

It would be appreciated if you could let me know what actions are taken in this relation.

Kind Regards
****
*** Charlesland Park,
Greystones,
Co. Wicklow

Charlie-Bravo

'I don't know what a tracker mortgage is'

Joliegood

New timetable in use today. Should be on website.

SickCert

Joliegood wrote: »

New timetable in use today. Should be on website.

Any queries gimme a PM, im one of the resident drivers on the X.

New stops on the route.
Middle stop heading down to Sea road.
Eden wood
G'stones park and ride
Redford park
Top of Windegates

I presented a 2-easy 3.20 euro ticket (I ordered 10 of them recently thinking they work on that route - the website said nothing about them not working on expresso buses) which was rejected by the machine.

Minimum fare is 2€ so it would reject the ticket. I normally just scribble all over it and continue on my way towards breakfast.
The problem apart from the attitude is there is no ticket info inside the depot for drivers.

mikedragon32

SickCert wrote: »

Any queries gimme a PM

Minimum fare is 2€ so it would reject the ticket. I normally just scribble all over it and continue on my way towards breakfast.
The problem apart from the attitude is there is no ticket info inside the depot for drivers.

84X timetable wrote:

Schoolchild €0.55 cash fare and Schoolchild and Scholar 2 Easy prepaid tickets are not valid on this service. All other prepaid tickets are valid to normal terms and conditions.

My reading of this would be that you CAN use an adult 2easy ticket on this service as it's not specifically mentioned as one of the invalid ones

SickCert

The adult 2easy just beep error.

The better value is the pink 90 tickets which are accepted no problems.
(Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Annual) all fly through the machine.

But a little cop on from the driver, like tearing up a 2easy 1.60 ticket (3.20) if the person has no cash and your the last bus in and the fare is 3.20!

From DublinBus.ie

ADULT 2-EASY TICKETS (BUS ONLY)
Buy Online
€2.00 Ticket (1 to 3 stages)
€2.80 Ticket (4 to 7 stages)
€3.20 Ticket (8 to 13 stages)

Validity?
2 Easy Tickets are valid for 2 Journeys within one month from date of purchase on all Dublin Bus Services (except Nitelink, Airlink, Ferry Services & Tours and certain sections of outer suburban routes where cash fare exceeds €2.00).

I.D. Requirements? You do not need any I.D. to use this ticket.

How to use? Ticket must be inserted into the bus validator on boarding. Should you experience problems with validation please advise your bus driver who will be happy to assist you, by manually validating your 2 Easy Ticket on your chosen journey