Bus Éireann Drivers

Whispered

Hi,

For everyone who commutes on a regular basis the driver of the bus can really make a difference to the journey. I regularly travel to Kilcullen for Dublin and the usual driver is fantastic, always says hello, always asks how you are, has a nice little comment for most of his regulars and is very polite. However I feel like i have to complain here about another driver, this incident happened months ago, and I complained to the bus company and got a less then satisfactory response. I just found this forum so I thought I'd share.

I had missed my bus from the bus station, because I was working late. So I got into town and asked at the desk which bus will drop me off at x,y or z (naming towns close to home where I could get picked up) I was directed to a bus, given a ticket took my seat, near the back of the bus because there were no others available.

I am not familiar with the town but when people started to stand to get off I realised thats where I was to get off too. So I stood up and tried to make my way up the bus but a man had left a sports bag and a ruck-sack in the aisle and fallen asleep so I had to try step over it I got to the driver just as he shut the door to pull out. When I asked to be let out, and I swaer I asked politely, he shouted that I shouldn't be on the f*£^ing bus if I dont know where I'm going. I was stunned, he then shouted I that I could wait until the next f"^*ing stop and get another bus back. The next stop happened to be a on a road with no houses, lights, shops etc I planned to stay on to the next town so at least I'd know where I was or could get a taxi. But the driver had other ideas, he stopped the bus and told me to get off (still shouting, I had sat back down at this stage). I got off the bus, rang my boyfriend to see if he could collect me, sat on my bag at the side of the road and cried for the 20 mins it took my boyfriend to find me.

Please believe me when I say I'm a completly normal 23 year old girl, I was coming back from work so was in a shirt and trousers, I had never met the driver before for him to react to me like that, I was perfectly polite at all times, even while he was shouting and cursing at me. It was the most embarassing thing ever to happen to me to be cursed at like that in front of a bus full of people.

I emailed the bus company telling them about the incident and recieved a reply which basicially said something like "we are sorry for any inconvenience caused, we will look into the matter, regards............."

While I know it is took late now to do anything about it I was wondering if I am right to feel that the response given to me is terrible and the least I could of expected was a phone call?

Thanks for your views

RadioCity

Why do some BE drivers behave like that?

Because they can, thats why.

Unfortunate but true.

murphaph

Don't drop it here helena. That was very serious bad behaviour (althought o be fair the driver can't defend himself here and we only have your side). You should contact Bus Eireann again by telephone, before writing. The next girl this man dumps at the side of the road may not be as lucky as you and may never be seen again.

The cursing is also very serious but pales in comparison to leaving a woman on her own in what sound like potentially dangerous surroundings. Contact your political representatives and the Dept. of Transport. Don't drop it.

tampopo

There was something similar about this on Joe Duffy during the summer. There wasn't a satisfactory outcome. "We'll look into it. We'll look into it" blah blah blah. Nameless faceless unaccountability from BE.

Oh yeah, I remember now, an autistic lad, who was facinated with buses, harmless to all around him was thrown off a bus, or refused access to a bus causing untold havoc with yer man and his family....

LFCFan

A BE driver refused to stop for my wife at her regular stop because he said he didn't get enough warning (even though she was standing ready to get off for half a mile and had indicated to him that the stop was coming up) and forced her to get off a mile up the road on a very dangerous stretch with no footpath and was very rude to her about the whole thing. Some drivers are just pure ignorant and realise that they can get away with it.

daymobrew

murphaph wrote:

Don't drop it here helena. That was very serious bad behaviour (althought o be fair the driver can't defend himself here and we only have your side). You should contact Bus Eireann again by telephone, before writing.

Write to someone waaaay up top of the chain, but not Mr Vacancy

Tim Hayes is listed as the Chief Executive on the Customer Charter page. I recommend reading this to see if there is anything you can use (though you have enough compelling data already).

Provide as much info as you can (time, date, route).

Whispered

Well thanks everyone for your replys. I might still have the original email I sent to them in my sent items, if I do I can get the date, time etc. But as I said it was a long time ago and I doubt anything will be done at this stage.

Murphaph I understand that you do only have my side, but my side is the right side haha, seriously though..... the fact I was put off on the side of a road is exactly what my boyfriend was angry about, if he wasn't at home I could have been there for hours.

LFCFan, that has happened to me a few times, there is a stop close to my house and onother about 10 mins walk away, some of them refuse to stop at the closer stop, saying it's not on their timetable. But it's on the route and has no "pick up only" sign on it or anything. It's no big deal but it is frustrating!

I just realise how terrible my spelling was in the original post!! I'm so sorry about that! I need to slow my typing down, or at least do a spell check at the end.

Voipjunkie

In fairness you are wasting your time

You have one story ( i presume no witnesses) they will speak to the driver who will have another completely different story (again no witnesses) so it is a she says he says without any supporting evidence the company have no real choice but to accept the drivers version of events.
Otherwise any headcase (not suggesting you are) could write and complain about any particular bus that they may not have even been on and get a driver sacked or disciplined.
Your only hope would be if another passenger witnessed your predicament and independently reported it to the company.

Other than that I am afraid you are wasting your time

constellation

Voipjunkie wrote:

Other than that I am afraid you are wasting your time

The OP might as well follow through as much as possible. If a particular driver receives several complaints then most managers will realise that there is a problem - even if it is a case of he said/she said. I've no definite idea what that manager might do as a result (do you?). Only one way to find out.

spurious

I have found Bus Éireann to be pretty bad at responding to complaints. It's a shame as they are the face of transport many tourists deal with.

I reported a driver once for not only being on a mobile phone, but steering the bus WITH HIS ELBOWS while going round a roundabout on the way out of Shannon Airport as he attempted to write a number in a notebook - a number that judging by the overheard phone conversation was to do with a little sideline job he had running in property letting.

There were some German tourists behind me and one woman was getting particularly distressed watching him (God bless school German). Bus Éireann did not even reply to my complaint, or a follow up email I sent. Dublin Bus on the other hand, the one time I had to complain about a driver, responded the next day.

Voipjunkie

constellation wrote:

The OP might as well follow through as much as possible. If a particular driver receives several complaints then most managers will realise that there is a problem - even if it is a case of he said/she said. I've no definite idea what that manager might do as a result (do you?). Only one way to find out.

What can the manager do seriously?

While I have absolutely no reason to doubt the OP do you seriously believe that a manager could discipline an employee without any supporting evidence what would stop me or anyone else from complaining about some BE employee because of some incident outside of BE in order to get some retribution for example.
Without supporting evidence the OP is wasting their time that is the way it has to be to protect employees from spurious complaints.

The manager can at best have an off the record word in the drivers ear.

murphaph

If this driver makes a regular habit of dumping young women at the side of the road and nobody complain because it will be their word against his then the company will be none the wiser. The management need to know. It has to be recorded.

Voipjunkie

murphaph wrote:

If this driver makes a regular habit of dumping young women at the side of the road and nobody complain because it will be their word against his then the company will be none the wiser. The management need to know. It has to be recorded.

Here is the scenario

Girl says I was dumped off

Driver says she asked to leave the bus

No other witnesses to back up either story the manager has no choice but to accept the drivers version.

GreeBo

Voipjunkie wrote:

Here is the scenario

Girl says I was dumped off

Driver says she asked to leave the bus

No other witnesses to back up either story the manager has no choice but to accept the drivers version.

ok so whats the alternative, sit on your arse and do nothing?
If 50 people have an issue with this driver then its 50 v 1 and the manager might add 2 & 2.
If no one does anything then nothing will change.

Christ on a stick, 99% of moaners on here do nothing and (rightly) get grief, now you are giving grief to someone who is trying to do the right thing?

daymobrew

spurious wrote:

I reported a driver once for not only being on a mobile phone, but steering the bus WITH HIS ELBOWS while going round a roundabout on the way out of Shannon Airport as he attempted to write a number in a notebook - a number that judging by the overheard phone conversation was to do with a little sideline job he had running in property letting.

There were some German tourists behind me and one woman was getting particularly distressed watching him (God bless school German).

A call to 999 could be a solution in such a situation (especially since you know BE are unhelpful). Be all distressed (like the tourists) and say that you don't want to approach the driver in case it adds too much distraction and makes it worse. Later you can mention the call to BE.

The Superintendent at my local station told me that ringing 999/112 is okay - the central location will prioritise calls so you won't be taking away from more important callouts.

Voipjunkie

GreeBo wrote: »

ok so whats the alternative, sit on your arse and do nothing?
If 50 people have an issue with this driver then its 50 v 1 and the manager might add 2 & 2.
If no one does anything then nothing will change.

Christ on a stick, 99% of moaners on here do nothing and (rightly) get grief, now you are giving grief to someone who is trying to do the right thing?

If 50 people complained then it would not be an issue

This is one person complaining and as such it is her word against his


I am not giving her grief I am telling her what the situation is.



If this guy does this all the time then it will be easy to deal with but if it was the guy having a bad day and it happens once every couple of years then without supporting evidence even if a similar allegation is made in a few years it does not mean that this allegation is proven or that one.


i am being realistic people are saying oh it is terrible BE will do nothing but it would be worse if a driver was dismissed from his job on the basis of a spurious complaint from a crank( not suggesting the OP is a crank or her complaint is spurious but how can a BE manager determine whether she is or not without supporting evidence)

murphaph

Voipjunkie wrote: »

If 50 people complained then it would not be an issue

This is one person complaining and as such it is her word against his


I am not giving her grief I am telling her what the situation is.



If this guy does this all the time then it will be easy to deal with but if it was the guy having a bad day and it happens once every couple of years then without supporting evidence even if a similar allegation is made in a few years it does not mean that this allegation is proven or that one.


i am being realistic people are saying oh it is terrible BE will do nothing but it would be worse if a driver was dismissed from his job on the basis of a spurious complaint from a crank( not suggesting the OP is a crank or her complaint is spurious but how can a BE manager determine whether she is or not without supporting evidence)

I manage 50 people. If I got persistant reports from people about one individual in particular I would watch this peson very carefully indeed. If nobody ever complained I would be unlikely to know there was a problem to be looking out for. That's how it is.

Voipjunkie

murphaph wrote: »

I manage 50 people. If I got persistant reports from people about one individual in particular I would watch this peson very carefully indeed. If nobody ever complained I would be unlikely to know there was a problem to be looking out for. That's how it is.

Of course if it was persistent then as I have already said that is easy to deal with but the chances are that this was a bad day and he doesn't behave like this all the time.

My point is that you can not expect BE or anyone else to act on uncorroborated allegations all the manager can do is ask the driver what happened if his story is different with nothing else to go on then it ends there.

If this guy was regularly up to this then the chances are greatly increased especially amongst regular users of the service of more than one complaint in relation to the same incident. And even without that an agent for BE could be placed on the bus to act as a witness to any improper behaviour.

Iam not suggesting that people should not complain far from it but that given that this incident took place some time ago and BE have apparently taken no action it would appear that no corroboration of the incident exists and at this stage it is not going to happen. So the complaint was made BE are aware of it but there is nothing they could do about it so trying to resurrect it in the absence of a change of corroboration is a waste of time end of story.

BE did not act because there was nothing for them to act on that has not changed and refiling the same complaint again will not change that.

GreeBo

Voipjunkie wrote: »

Of course if it was persistent then as I have already said that is easy to deal with but the chances are that this was a bad day and he doesn't behave like this all the time.

My point is that you can not expect BE or anyone else to act on uncorroborated allegations all the manager can do is ask the driver what happened if his story is different with nothing else to go on then it ends there.

If this guy was regularly up to this then the chances are greatly increased especially amongst regular users of the service of more than one complaint in relation to the same incident. And even without that an agent for BE could be placed on the bus to act as a witness to any improper behaviour.

Iam not suggesting that people should not complain far from it but that given that this incident took place some time ago and BE have apparently taken no action it would appear that no corroboration of the incident exists and at this stage it is not going to happen. So the complaint was made BE are aware of it but there is nothing they could do about it so trying to resurrect it in the absence of a change of corroboration is a waste of time end of story.

BE did not act because there was nothing for them to act on that has not changed and refiling the same complaint again will not change that.

if you agree that 50 complaints means something will happen then how can you not agree with someone making 1 complaint?
The only way you get to 50 is by starting at 1.

axer

Voipjunkie wrote: »

Of course if it was persistent then as I have already said that is easy to deal with but the chances are that this was a bad day and he doesn't behave like this all the time.

My point is that you can not expect BE or anyone else to act on uncorroborated allegations all the manager can do is ask the driver what happened if his story is different with nothing else to go on then it ends there.

If this guy was regularly up to this then the chances are greatly increased especially amongst regular users of the service of more than one complaint in relation to the same incident. And even without that an agent for BE could be placed on the bus to act as a witness to any improper behaviour.

Iam not suggesting that people should not complain far from it but that given that this incident took place some time ago and BE have apparently taken no action it would appear that no corroboration of the incident exists and at this stage it is not going to happen. So the complaint was made BE are aware of it but there is nothing they could do about it so trying to resurrect it in the absence of a change of corroboration is a waste of time end of story.

BE did not act because there was nothing for them to act on that has not changed and refiling the same complaint again will not change that.

What makes it "the chances are that this was a bad day and he doesn't behave like this all the time."? How is the affected customer supposed to know whether this driver is just having a bad day? How do you know that BE have not taken any action? - they more than likely would not tell the customer who complained. They said they would look into the matter - maybe they did act on this complaint.

OP: You could write a follow-up letter or else if it happens again then complain again and refer to it happening before.

Voipjunkie

GreeBo wrote: »

if you agree that 50 complaints means something will happen then how can you not agree with someone making 1 complaint?
The only way you get to 50 is by starting at 1.

Read the original post the girl has already complained
Complaining again for the same event is not a new complaint it is a waste of time for the reasons already stated unless she has a witness or any new evidence to support her claim it did not go anywhere a few months ago and if nothing has changed it will not go anywhere now.

My point is not that the original complaint was a waste of time as for all she knew another passenger might also have complained as well but that restarting the complaint is a waste of time as obviously there is no supporting evidence and nothing that BE can do without supporting evidence

Voipjunkie

axer wrote: »

What makes it "the chances are that this was a bad day and he doesn't behave like this all the time."? How is the affected customer supposed to know whether this driver is just having a bad day? How do you know that BE have not taken any action? - they more than likely would not tell the customer who complained. They said they would look into the matter - maybe they did act on this complaint.

OP: You could write a follow-up letter or else if it happens again then complain again and refer to it happening before.

If they had done anything they would have returned to the Op to tell her the matter had been dealt with the fact that she did not hear anything is because BE do not like to tell complainants like this that unfortunately they could find no substance to her allegation so they did nothing.

GreeBo

Voipjunkie wrote: »

Read the original post the girl has already complained
Complaining again for the same event is not a new complaint it is a waste of time for the reasons already stated unless she has a witness or any new evidence to support her claim it did not go anywhere a few months ago and if nothing has changed it will not go anywhere now.

My point is not that the original complaint was a waste of time as for all she knew another passenger might also have complained as well but that restarting the complaint is a waste of time as obviously there is no supporting evidence and nothing that BE can do without supporting evidence

I have read the entire thread.
The OP got no satisfaction from her original complaint. A generic "thank you for.." letter is not acceptable in this situation. Its not like he was rude or ignorant, he dumped her off the bus alone and in the middle of nowhere. This is a potentially life threatening situation that deserves a specific answer.

axer

Voipjunkie wrote: »

If they had done anything they would have returned to the Op to tell her the matter had been dealt with the fact that she did not hear anything is because BE do not like to tell complainants like this that unfortunately they could find no substance to her allegation so they did nothing.

Really? Are you well versed on how Bus Eireann handles complaints?

Voipjunkie

GreeBo wrote: »

I have read the entire thread.
The OP got no satisfaction from her original complaint. A generic "thank you for.." letter is not acceptable in this situation. Its not like he was rude or ignorant, he dumped her off the bus alone and in the middle of nowhere. This is a potentially life threatening situation that deserves a specific answer.

Hello that is my point she got no satisfaction and she will not get satisfaction because BE can not act on the word of a lone complaint without any corroboration.

She says he put her off he will say she asked to get off its stalemate and sending the same complaint again is not going to change that.

The specific answer that BE can give is they investigated and found nothing to support the customers complaint and as such no action has been taken and the case is closed if that kind of answer will satisfy the OP then it is not a waste of time but if she expects disciplinary action then it is a waste of time.

GreeBo

Voipjunkie wrote: »

Hello that is my point she got no satisfaction and she will not get satisfaction because BE can not act on the word of a lone complaint without any corroboration.

She says he put her off he will say she asked to get off its stalemate and sending the same complaint again is not going to change that.

The specific answer that BE can give is they investigated and found nothing to support the customers complaint and as such no action has been taken and the case is closed if that kind of answer will satisfy the OP then it is not a waste of time but if she expects disciplinary action then it is a waste of time.

Hello :rolleyes:
satisfaction doesnt have to mean that the driver gets publicly tarred and feathered.
It might be something as simple as a process review or an acknowledgement that drivers should not force people to leave the bus and should allow people to leave them bus when requested.
Maybe they need bells on each seat.
But thats not the point. It would be nice to think that someone took the time to read your complaint.
Goodbye:rolleyes:

John R

the reason to follow up on the complaint is to make it known that the complaint has gotten through to the correct people and that it has been taken seriously.

People who act like ignorant assholes tend to do so frequently so chances are this individual has previously or will in the future generate more complaints, when his file starts growing he can be taken to task over it based on the unusually high number of complaints.

OT: I could have sworn I posted a reply to this thread a few days ago, seems to be missing now though.

parsi

Of cours ethere is the possibility that in the Bus Eireann feedback office they add cat pcitures to all complaints....

Victor

parsi wrote: »

Of cours ethere is the possibility that in the Bus Eireann feedback office they add cat pcitures to all complaints....

++

Whispered

Hi everyone,

It's all well and good saying it's a "he said she said situation", and I most definately would not want anybody to loose their job or be publically reprimanded. If BE had given me a call, even to say that they agree it shouldn't have happened and that they would look into it etc they would see that I am not some nut job who makes complaints for the good of my health. Really, I am being genuine here when I say that a 2 min phonecall would have made me happy as I know tht management can only be responsible for their staff to a point. It was not BE managements fault that I was treated in this way, however it is their fault that I did not recieve an apology. So I have gone from having an issue with 1 man to having an issue with the company. I understand that they cannot act on each and every complaint, but there has to be some way of dealing with things like this which will help the customer and the company.

Voipjunkie, perhaps I have this wrong, and please forgive me if I do but from what I read you seem to think that I should just forget about the incident because I am only one person? If I was one person who went missing after getting off the bus would my say matter more to BE, in your opinion is this a case of "we cant do anything until something serious happens" ? and if it is should I (and every other woman who travels on BE) just accept this from the company?

Voipjunkie

helena.ryan wrote: »

Hi everyone,

It's all well and good saying it's a "he said she said situation", and I most definately would not want anybody to loose their job or be publically reprimanded. If BE had given me a call, even to say that they agree it shouldn't have happened and that they would look into it etc they would see that I am not some nut job who makes complaints for the good of my health. Really, I am being genuine here when I say that a 2 min phonecall would have made me happy as I know tht management can only be responsible for their staff to a point. It was not BE managements fault that I was treated in this way, however it is their fault that I did not recieve an apology. So I have gone from having an issue with 1 man to having an issue with the company. I understand that they cannot act on each and every complaint, but there has to be some way of dealing with things like this which will help the customer and the company.

Voipjunkie, perhaps I have this wrong, and please forgive me if I do but from what I read you seem to think that I should just forget about the incident because I am only one person? If I was one person who went missing after getting off the bus would my say matter more to BE, in your opinion is this a case of "we cant do anything until something serious happens" ? and if it is should I (and every other woman who travels on BE) just accept this from the company?

It depends what you want out of the situation if you want to hear that BE have reprimanded the driver then IMO you are wasting your time continuing as like it or lump it BE can't act on a complaint without any proof.

If you want to know did BE do anything like speak to the driver in question then continue.

BTW I am not saying for one minute that BE management are right to ignore your complaint or to leave you with the impression that they have ignored your complaint
IMO they should have contacted you and explained the situation.

And lastly absolute nut jobs can sound perfectly reasonable human beings when they have to.
I recall an incident in which a complaint was received from what seemed like a very reasonable but irate individual about an incident. The driver was questioned and gave a completely different version of events the on board video was then reviewed and it was discovered that the very reasonable irate individual was lying through his teeth and his complaint had absolutely no basis in fact.

MizzLolly

Hey Helena,
I've had a couple of bad experiences with Bus Eireann drivers too. It happened last year when I had just started college. When purchasing my ticket, I asked the driver would he let me off the bus at a particular stop as I'd noticed that some drivers don't always take the marked routes. He said that was no problem so I thought nothing more of it. As we got close to my stop the driver turned down a different road which meant I definately wouldn't be getting off at my desired stop. Luckily I knew the area and knew the next stop that was closest to the one I'd asked for. As I walked up to the top to get off the driver began to laugh and said "Oh you must know where you're going". He obviously thought by my country accent that I hadn't a clue where to go and decided to have a laugh at my expense. I realise I was very lucky because at least I knew where I was but keep in mind it was a late bus so it was dark, I was only seventeen and I could've easily gotten off in an unfamiliar place without knowing how to get home. What if he had have done that to a young girl who didn't know her way? Or to a foreign student? I totally agree with you in complaining about Bus Eireann drivers.

trellheim

Follow up on the complaint;

if all you have done is emailed then change track and write a letter.

Do not e-mail; they are easy and simple to delete, just as they are easy to send.

Note it by registered post. This forces them to do something about it as now you have a record of it.

Follow up again in 14 days; Keep track of everyone you talk to and don't take phonecalls.

Do everything with a letter and a stamp. People absolutely HATE complaints because it forces them to do something about it.