Bus Eireann owes me Money!

Hamhide

I had to go up to Dublin yesterday from Galway for a hospital appointment. So I took the bus down and bought a return ticket. When you get on the bus they clip your ticket. So All was grand or so I thought didnt think twice about it.

Coming back from Dublin today. The driver looks at me as if i've four heads and says, "This ticket has been used for return already." I insisted it hadn't but he insisted it had. He showed me that it had been punched twice, and indeed it had been punched over the return side however i've no Idea why. I got really embarassed and frustrated but I had to get the bus so I had to pay a further €14.50 to get a Single back home. Im absolutely fuming over this, I've got **** all cash.

I want to go into the office tomorrow to complain but am afraid Ill just be politely told I'm in the wrong and that its my responsibility to make sure I have a valid ticket. Any advise?

TheDriver

think you answered your own question, the driver accidently punched it twice and unfortunately you should have "checked your change" before leaving the driver. Chalk it down to experience

Hamhide

You may be right

Still its annoying as the tickets
show the time they were bought at and i can prove i was in Dublin for
the day (my appointment card) I would have to
have been going back and forth non stop from Dublin
to Galway for a return journey to have happened in that time.

grrr not a happy sailor tonight.

Miaireland

Sounds like driver error alright. Write a polite email or letter to head office explaing your situation, giving details of the bus you took, the time and length of your appointment and if you stayed overnight in a hotel give them the name of that.

Explain that the second driver would not let you on the bus without buying another ticket and ask for this ticket price to be refunded. You will need to include a scan or photocopy of the tickets.

Hamhide

Thanks for the advice mia. I have Emailed
their office this morning asking what their procedure is
dealing with refund claims. I'll see what they say.

Hamhide

I've had no reply from their Customer services email.

I've drafted up a formal letter for their Regional manager
in Galway and I'll send it to him with photocopys of my
tickets and appointment forms. If I don't get a reply
from him I'll be sending one on to the Business development
manager in Dublin.

I've cooled down at this stage and I doubt
I'll see any money back, but if theres a chance
this will stir some **** I'll take some solace in that.

BuffyBot

To be fair, you emailed them just yesterday...

Hamhide

BuffyBot wrote: »

To be fair, you emailed them just yesterday...

That's true I suppose. I may have been a bit expectant to recieve a reply yesterday or today. Ill be sure to check my emails before I send any letters off.


Anyone else dealt with them before?
Or know how long they usually take
to reply?

pleasant Co.

Its the weekend, you wouldn't get a reply until Monday at the absolute earliest. They owe you money, its not going anyway so stay patient and more importantly, calm and polite. You'll get this sorted, in time

Chain_reaction

This happened me before and I was left stranded with no money and crying in busaras.

Bought a return ticket in a newsagents that was selling them at the time in the county I'm from, I got on the bus and the driver stamped it.

A day later I try to come down from Dublin, go to board the bus and the driver won't let me on advising that the ticket had the return part already stamped and said I would need to speak to the controller. I enquired how I managed to come up from Dublin late the night before, go back to my home county three hours away and then get back up to Dublin to get a 15.00hr bus home again within 24 hours, he wasn't having any of it as I went to talk to the controller....

The controller laughed at me and when I started to cry told me that I was trying to pull a fast one, when I said I would make a complaint he walked off and said he didn't deal with threats. I was only 18 at the time and ended up having a huge panic attack ,the controller then came back and said he would put me on the next bus due to my distressed state, still unable to breath he laughed as he told the driver to "take that one home".

My Mam rang the waterford depot the next morning...

After they investigated I ended up with an apology from the company and two free bus tickets. The newsagents where I bought the ticket stopped selling them a few weeks later and I haven't gone near the bastards since.

fasttalkerchat

Hamhide wrote: »

I had to go up to Dublin yesterday from Galway for a hospital appointment. So I took the bus down and bought a return ticket. When you get on the bus they clip your ticket. So All was grand or so I thought didnt think twice about it.

I had a similar problem when getting cross-border buses. On Ulsterbus tickets there is no return section so the ticket is only punched on the return journey. Sometimes if the nothbound bus is a Bus Eireann one they wanted to punch it on the first journey too I always said not to punch the ticket because its a return and they never did.

Hamhide

Just to update, after liasing with one of their
area managers I got a refund order in the
post today.

So Me and Bus Eireann are Square! :P