Phone jammers on Bus Eireann

reggaeman · 03-04-2011 01:07AM #1

As a driver with Bus Eireann I get right pissed off with people using mobile phones. Its no problem if they just make a short call and hang up. The problem is the ones that go on for ever. They shout down the phone like the other person is on another planet. Bus Eireann have a agreement with the unions that passengers can only use the phone 4 seats back from the driver' and they must keep the call short.
But passengers still have to be told to put away the phone. We even have passengers coming up to us complaining about others using phones.

Well now we have phone Jammers. They do the job well. If a passenger starts talking for to long we just turn on the jammer and in about 1min the phone packs in.

job done

blubloblu · 03-04-2011 01:10AM

I thought they were illegal in Ireland?

Joe10000 · 03-04-2011 01:12AM

Sounds like a wind up

robo · 03-04-2011 01:18AM

Do Bus Eireann let their paying customers know about the phone jammers? I can imagine that it is annoying listening to someone belt out several times "I am on the bus...yeh on the bus". But don't agree with phone jamming if everyone doesn't know about it!

mikemac · 03-04-2011 01:19AM

Reads like an April Fools post
Have Bus Éireann ever told anyone about this four seat rule? Sounds made up

I agree with the rest of your post though and how annoying it is

amacachi · 03-04-2011 01:23AM

I wish Matthews would use phone jammers.

03-04-2011 01:23AM

Troll, troll, troll your boat, gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.

hardCopy · 03-04-2011 01:26AM

I believe they're easily available on dealextreme

Jambo221 · 03-04-2011 01:27AM

I can imagine it gets pretty annoying, but what about the passengers with good phone etiquette? Why paint them with the same brush? What if someone is quietly taking an urgent call and someone else starts shouting down the phone at someone,cutting off both calls would be the only way to go, and which of them do you think is going to start a fuss about being cut off?

I think a method of preventing idiots from blaring music out of phone loudspeakers is more urgently needed.

reggaeman · 03-04-2011 01:32AM

feelingstressed wrote: »

Reads like an April Fools post
Have Bus Éireann ever told anyone about this four seat rule? Sounds made up

I agree with the rest of your post though and how annoying it is

It no April Fool joke. But I will admit Bus Eireann dont know about it. And Passengers have no idea why the phone keeps cutting off. They think its a problem with the phone . it is illegal to have them. But how can they find it?

mikemac · 03-04-2011 01:37AM

Well you're here nearly a year and your other threads were as a driver so you don't seem to be a troll.

You do face disciplinary procedures when you're caught though

AlekSmart · 03-04-2011 01:38AM

Feelingstressed: Reads like an April Fools post
Have Bus Éireann ever told anyone about this four seat rule? Sounds made up

I agree with the rest of your post though and how annoying it is

I think Foggy_Lad may well be along in a minute,unless he`s already here and doin a bit of Ska man !!! :eek:

03-04-2011 01:53AM

feelingstressed wrote: »

Well you're here nearly a year and your other threads were as a driver so you don't seem to be a troll.

You do face disciplinary procedures when you're caught though

Really?

reggaeman wrote: »

Bus Eireann have a agreement with the unions

reggaeman wrote: »

Bus Eireann dont know about it

He's not even consistent in the one thread!

reggaeman · 03-04-2011 01:54AM

feelingstressed wrote: »

Well you're here nearly a year and your other threads were as a driver so you don't seem to be a troll.

You do face disciplinary procedures when you're caught though

Well so many drivers have them now we think it worth the risk. And as the jammer fits in the pocket I cant see how they can detect it. And to be honest I only use it when I have a bad one up front. As you know we drive for more than 3 hours each way and people talking into phones for more than half a hour (sometimes hours) can be very annoying and interfer with the driving of the bus.

reggaeman · 03-04-2011 01:58AM

Deleted User wrote: »

Really?

He's not even consistent in the one thread!

I did say the unions have a agreement with managment about 4 seats back and its true. But I did at first make it seem like managment know about the jammers.

Keith186 · 03-04-2011 02:09AM

Illegal or not I can see why you'd have one of them jammers.

Can be hard enough to listen to other people talking really loud let alone drive at the same time. Would do my head on after a few minutes!

foggy_lad · 03-04-2011 04:14AM

While I agree that some people need to be gagged on busses I don't believe illegal actions are the answer and it will only lead to trouble for bus Eireann and particularly the drivers concerned in the long run!

It also bolsters the image in many people's minds of the bus drivers being a law unto themselves thus making sure even the best of drivers are seen as lawless scamming chancers by the traveling public.

Alex I wasn't sure if I should post seeing how I'm now barred from bus Eireann services:D

L1011 · 03-04-2011 11:07AM

An imported US jammer isn't likely to be in any way reliable here due to completely different bands...

-Chris- · 03-04-2011 11:35AM

reggaeman wrote: »

Bus Eireann have a agreement with the unions that passengers can only use the phone 4 seats back from the driver' and they must keep the call short.

Do either of you have an agreement with passengers regarding this rule - does anyone know they're not allowed to use the phone in the first 4 rows or that there's a duration limit?

Is there any detail in the agreement that you're allowed to use a jammer to enforce this rule, or is that your own decision? there isn't, so why do you think your decision to jam a phone signal has any relation to this agreement?
Why not just man up and ask people to stop talking on the phone rather than be underhanded and jam their signal?

To be honest it sounds like a prank from a 16 year old rather than the actions of a responsible adult acting in the capacity of their job.

My €0.02

listermint · 03-04-2011 11:40AM

Reggae man,

I hope you like jammin too....

AlekSmart · 03-04-2011 01:24PM

-Chris- wrote: »

Why not just man up and ask people to stop talking on the phone rather than be underhanded and jam their signal?

Interestingly Chris,Whilst I am somewhat bemused by Reggaeman`s revelations I`m not totally without sympathy,particularly as he has to spend a long journey listening to highly interesting and relevant conversation (shyte).

In my experience the Mobile Telephone has turned many people into schizophrenics who`s dual personalities are controlled utterly by the little red/green call buttons.

The most incredible and thoroughly apoplectic torrents of abuse I`ve recieved in recent times have been from mobile phone using young ladies,who stand roaring inanities into their device whilst rooting for change,usually apologising profusely to the other participant whilst sighing and bemoaning the awfulness of having to do other stuff in opposition to babbling inanely.

Usually,this will occur at a busy stop with the non-mobile using customers standing (in the rain) behind the harpie,in typically Irish patient mode.

I usually,and veryquietly ask the person to place their call on hold.
I deliberately keep my tone low to force the caller into focusing on what I say,which usually causes even more frothy spittle to run from the corners of their mouth.

On some of my journeys I carry a regular customer who,I suspect,suffers from Tourettes Syndrome and I`m always glad for his intervention from further down the Bus.....

"WILL U FOR GOD`S SAKE PUT THAT FCUXXKING PHONE AWAY U SILLY BITCXXH WE DONT WANT TO LISTEN TO YER OUL SHYTT TALK".

.........and other more colourful interventions which I`v always found work very effectively,without the grumpy ol Busdriver even having to open his.her mouth !

With most Financial Institutions,Petrol Stations and other one-to-one customer focused institutions now having a "Swith-Off Mobile Phones" policy it`s high time a similar policy was enforced on Public Transport.

Mind you,the entire issue is already comprehensively covered by the Bus Atha Cliath-Dublin Bus Bye-Laws,1996

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/About-Us/Dublin-Bus-Bye-Laws/Passenger-Behaviour/

Specifically here.....

No person while on the vehicle shall sing, perform on any musical or other instruments or use any audible radio, television, record player, tape recorder or portable apparatus.

No person shall molest or interfere with the comfort or convenience of any passenger or person in or about the vehicle.

I await the first court proceedings under the relevant sections.....:)

Trampas · 03-04-2011 01:24PM

Does the driver turn on the jammer after his is talking to long while driving also?

Cookie_Monster · 03-04-2011 02:51PM

That's completely ridiculous, what gives you any right whatsoever to cut off someone phone call?

It's also appalling from a customer service point of view to do something like that to a paying customer who has every right to use their phone on the bus.

n97 mini · 03-04-2011 02:59PM

Bus drivers don't like having to listen to passengers talk when they're on the bus.

What next.

ArmaniJeanss · 03-04-2011 03:06PM

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

It's also appalling from a customer service point of view to do something like that to a paying customer who has every right to use their phone on the bus.

I have been on a 46A where the driver pulled in on Suffolk Street and said he wasn't willing to continue driving (as he felt he couldn't do so safely) unless the two people talking (it was borderline yelling) into their mobile phones near the stairwell ended their calls.
I didn't feel he was contravening their 'rights' in any way.

foggy_lad · 03-04-2011 03:18PM

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I have been on a 46A where the driver pulled in on Suffolk Street and said he wasn't willing to continue driving (as he felt he couldn't do so safely) unless the two people talking (it was borderline yelling) into their mobile phones near the stairwell ended their calls.
I didn't feel he was contravening their 'rights' in any way.

But to use an illegal device to block all mobile phone use on and around the bus is infringing on passengers rights, the two at the stairwell were rightly told to end their calls as just telling them to tone it down would work for about 30 seconds before they were up at full volume again.

Slick50 · 03-04-2011 03:43PM

Keith186 wrote:

Illegal or not I can see why you'd have one of them jammers.

Can be hard enough to listen to other people talking really loud let alone drive at the same time. Would do my head on after a few minutes!

From what I've seen of bus drivers, they seem to have no problem driving while using their own phones. Perhaps the real problem is they can't hear their own conversation, with pesky passengers talking on their phones too loudly or too close to the driver.

Cookie_Monster · 03-04-2011 04:48PM

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I have been on a 46A where the driver pulled in on Suffolk Street and said he wasn't willing to continue driving (as he felt he couldn't do so safely) unless the two people talking (it was borderline yelling) into their mobile phones near the stairwell ended their calls.
I didn't feel he was contravening their 'rights' in any way.

so talking on the phone distracted him but dozens of people talking to each others wouldn't (as per most bus journeys)? There's little difference between them but you'd never get away with telling people to stop talking to each other.

Plenty of drives also seems able to drive no problem with headphones in, radios in the cab or on the phone themselves, seems a fairly stupid reason to refuse to do your job.

03-04-2011 05:11PM

I doubt the mobile companies would be happy either with someone interfering in their bands.

CIE · 03-04-2011 05:42PM

What next, phone marmaladers too...? :eek:

On a more serious note, has anyone ever heard of "quiet cars" on the train? Those are specially-designated cars where talking on mobile phones is banned. Perhaps "quiet buses" may need to be introduced as well? (Or maybe such designations need actual personnel on board the bus or train full-time to enforce them. You sure won't get a "quiet car" on a DART, Luas or commuter train unless you have conductors on board, for example...)

The laugh is that people talk on the phone while riding a mass-transportation conveyance like a bus or train, but while driving, they would be texting. Wouldn't that be counter-intuitive? A lot of mobiles have speakerphone feature so it's a bit safer to talk while driving...and instead of talking, texting on the bus or train is not as common as talking...oh never mind :rolleyes:

-Chris- · 03-04-2011 05:51PM

AlekSmart wrote: »

Interestingly Chris,Whilst I am somewhat bemused by Reggaeman`s revelations I`m not totally without sympathy,particularly as he has to spend a long journey listening to highly interesting and relevant conversation (shyte).

I have absolute sympathy for Reggaeman, and yourself. I get just as annoyed as a passenger listening to them, as you so as a driver.

I object to the surreptitious removal of signal.

If I'm on a bus waiting for a phone call about my (hypothetical) sick child, and I don't receive the call because a driver has jammed everyone's mobile phone signal instead of addressing the person who's causing the issue directly, I'm going to be very annoyed and, depending on my self-restraint and general level of aggression, the driver may well be putting himself at risk of physical injury...*

*of course, I (thankfully) don't have a sick child, and have plentiful self-restraint

Phone jammers on Bus Eireann

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