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Bus Eireann complaint
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12-12-2011 11:46pm#1I have made two formal complaints to bus eireann regarding an issue mid november and i brought up another issue i had with them late october. and funny thing is, both these journeys were the only journeys i had to take all year and they ended up putting me off the company. cut a long story short, travelling from sligo to castlebar. changeover bus at charlstown. bus dropped me at charlstown at 2.56pm with the bus picking me up to arrive at 2.58. no bus, no shelter, pissing rain, bag soaked, me soaked, noone else there, just me. rang bus eireann, asked where the bus was, "oh hes actually half way between castlebar and westport". bus left charlstown early so i had to wait 2 hours in the rain for the final bus to castlebar. made a complaint, got a response that they will "investigate" the matter...that was last week. surely to **** it doesnt take a week to track down the bus driver. I want to take this all the way as the longer it goes on the more pissed off im getting. Il give them one more week but if i havent heard back by then where will i pursue both complaints???
:mad: Tagged:1
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I have made two formal complaints to bus eireann regarding an issue mid november and i brought up another issue i had with them late october. and funny thing is, both these journeys were the only journeys i had to take all year and they ended up putting me off the company. cut a long story short, travelling from sligo to castlebar. changeover bus at charlstown. bus dropped me at charlstown at 2.56pm with the bus picking me up to arrive at 2.58. no bus, no shelter, pissing rain, bag soaked, me soaked, noone else there, just me. rang bus eireann, asked where the bus was, "oh hes actually half way between castlebar and westport". bus left charlstown early so i had to wait 2 hours in the rain for the final bus to castlebar. made a complaint, got a response that they will "investigate" the matter...that was last week. surely to **** it doesnt take a week to track down the bus driver. I want to take this all the way as the longer it goes on the more pissed off im getting. Il give them one more week but if i havent heard back by then where will i pursue both complaints???:mad:
There is no way that should happen - the 1458 bus starts at Knock Airport at 1440 and should wait for the connection.0 -
Bus Éireann don't give a flying fúck about customers.
In fact they would prefer if they didn't have the hassle of carrying passengers at all. As a state owned company they'll get paid regardless.
That way the driver on the last bus from Dublin - Galway could enjoy his 15 minute break in Athlone without being annoyed by the poxy passengers telling him he is running an hour late as it is.
Hmmmm,is it the assertion that the individual Bus Eireann driver woke up that morning with a portrait of Lapin occupying the bullseye spot on his dartboard ?
Or is the issue one of the Driver having to take a break at all ?
Any expansion on what the contributory factors may have been which led to the late running..?
I have always found the Dublin-Athlone leg of the Galway road to be tight for time which tended to be compounded by any form of delay in or around the Maynooth dog-leg..
But,I suppose it's always easier and certainly more populist, to do a Foggy on the Driver,rather than make any deeper investigation into the reasons for whatever ailment occurs
Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
Charles Mackay (1812-1889)
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Hmmmm,is it the assertion that the individual Bus Eireann driver woke up that morning with a portrait of Lapin occupying the bullseye spot on his dartboard ?
Or is the issue one of the Driver having to take a break at all ?
Any expansion on what the contributory factors may have been which led to the late running..?
I have always found the Dublin-Athlone leg of the Galway road to be tight for time which tended to be compounded by any form of delay in or around the Maynooth dog-leg..
But,I suppose it's always easier and certainly more populist, to do a Foggy on the Driver,rather than make any deeper investigation into the reasons for whatever ailment occurs
I don't have an issue with the driver having a break at all. I'd prefer if they took their breaks on their own time. Not when the bus is already running an hour late.
My post has nothing to do with being populist and everything to to with the reality of my own experience from using this service twice a week for the last 2 months.
As for your last paragraph, I have often 'made deeper investigations into the reasons for whatever ailment occurs' but I'm sick of hearing different excuses from bus drivers. There is no reason why any bus route should be tight. If there is a regular delay in Maynooth, this should be reflected in the timetable.
When I once questioned a driver in Athlone (10 minutes into his break) if he ought to be taking so long, as it was close to midnight and the bus was already an hour late, his reply was "I'm entitled to 15 minutes, I was only going to take 10 but you can wait another 5 minutes now," and then suggested I write a letter of complaint to Broadstone if I wanted.
This attitude confirmed for me there and then that Bus Éireann don't give a tinkers curse about their customers.0 -
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I don't have an issue with the driver having a break at all. I'd prefer if they took their breaks on their own time. Not when the bus is already running an hour late.
Any idea on why the service was running an hour late?
This "forget about breaks" idea is an interesting concept indeed and one which I would think will be eagerly investigated by Bus Eireann amongst others.
My post has nothing to do with being populist and everything to to with the reality of my own experience from using this service twice a week for the last 2 months.
As for your last paragraph, I have often 'made deeper investigations into the reasons for whatever ailment occurs' but I'm sick of hearing different excuses from bus drivers. There is no reason why any bus route should be tight. If there is a regular delay in Maynooth, this should be reflected in the timetable.
Again,I totally agree with the above assertion regarding Running Time and I hope that your communications with the relevant authorities reflect this opinion ?.
Mind you I'm wondering why you should see any Drivers response to your questioning as "offering an excuse"
No Driver taking his/her statutory break should be seen as having to justify it to their passengers,which is why I fully support your decision to get to the nub of things with Bus Éireann management.
When I once questioned a driver in Athlone (10 minutes into his break) if he ought to be taking so long, as it was close to midnight and the bus was already an hour late, his reply was "I'm entitled to 15 minutes, I was only going to take 10 but you can wait another 5 minutes now," and then suggested I write a letter of complaint to Broadstone if I wanted.
A very good suggestion too,I'd venture,bearing in mind that if the service was running an hour late there is a good chance that driver was very close to exceeding his driving hours and may have been taking a statutory rest break in order to avoid running out of hours altogether and perhaps being forced to pull over and seek an alternative driver to complete the remainder of the journey. Some idea of the scope of the regulations can be found here....
http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/Tachograph_Enf/Drivers_Hours.pdf
This attitude confirmed for me there and then that Bus Éireann don't give a tinkers curse about their customers.
Indeed,nothing quite like an open and shut, cut'n dried case,is there ?
Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
Charles Mackay (1812-1889)
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Simple solution. Why not switch drivers in Athlone ?
Another thing. City Link run a near identical service on the Dublin - Galway route.
Their drivers take their breaks before and after each leg of a journey.
Not half way through it inconveniencing passengers.
Why do Bus Éireann drivers need to take such 'statutory rest breaks' where City Link drivers don't ?
When was the last time you heard of a train driver pulling up in Limerick Junction for 15 minutes for his statutory rest ?
Where do you think a trans atlantic airline pilot pulls in for a coffee and a cigarette ?
Why are Bus Éireann drivers incapable of working more than 3 hours like anyone else, without taking a little 'statutory rest' for themselves ?
These are all points which I and other posters have debated before with at least one other poster here...;)
There's quite a selection of to'ing and fro'ing over a couple of years on these topics.
But actually you're totally correct,and we generally have been forced to accept that the Private Sector Drivers are SuperMen (and the odd Superwoman) whlst any other Driver belongs to the untermenschen,such is the level of their Cheek,Laziness,insubordination,appearance,proficiency etc etc (Delete/Add as appropriate)...
The Airline Pilot analogy is indeed a valid one,for I have long lobbied for similar arrangements for us Drivers...IE:
Guaranteed ground space and remote passenger handling,
Guaranteed possession of whatever Airspace is required for the journey.
Accurate Weather Data and full radar and service backup in the event of problems there.
A full Cabin Crew to look after the "needs" of the passengers without the Pilot ever having to press any flesh in person,not a chance of the Pilot being asked to swallow his hang sandwich cos the man in seat 32b is in a hurry ?
Even better on long-haul,the Pilot's (Yep they usually have an assistant
) can get their head down in isolation well away from the rigours of the flight deck,and a ready supply of freshly brewed coffee served by admiring steward/ess's
Crikey Lapin,the more you describe it the more I'm likin it
I somewhat doubt that any answer,or combination thereof,would salve the thirst for blood which appears to emanate from this series of posts.....In fact were I to experience the same level of angst as a customer I'd have high-tailed it off to City-Link long ago,where,no doubt,perfection awaits.
Perhaps some CityLink personage can confirm that their Drivers have managed to find some means of circumventing the (often byzantine) Drivers Hours rules and associated other statutory requirements...or perhaps there's a simpler answer which does'nt involve a conspiracy against the plain people ?
Mind you the State has already a fairly substantial and recent document on it's hands which appears to suggest Bus Éireann is managing reasonably enough...although they could well be wrong too...?
http://www.transport.ie/upload/general/final%20report%20bus%20review%20220109.pdfMen, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
Charles Mackay (1812-1889)
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