I travel on the buses most days. Occasionally they break down, or simply don't turn up. And occasionally I get the bus driver from hell...
On Saturday I was heading for the Stokesley Show. It's a few miles out of town, a bit dearer to get to. A ticket called the All Zone Day Rider gets me there and back. Can get on and off too, if I fancy a diversion to one of the neighbouring villages, eg Great Ayton for an icecream.
Get on the bus. "An All Zone Day Rider, please" I chirp. "Day ticket?" asks the driver. Well, it is one of the day tickets that they provide. Get ticket and walk along the bus. Look at change in my hand. Too much. Look at ticket - it's the wrong ticket. He's given me a Teesside Tripper instead. A useful ticket inside the towns here, but it won't get me to Stokesley. If I have to add extra tickets to it I'm going to be out of pocket.
Dash back to driver. "It's the wrong ticket" I say, "I asked for an All Zone Day Rider." I get the jobsworth routine. "There's a 5 second window to change the ticket, and you missed it." He won't change it.
"I want this ticket changed" I insist. "Or my money back. You've made a mistake, I asked for an All Zone Day Rider." "No, you didn't" he says, "You asked for a Teesside Tripper." This is beyond belief. I prepare to hit the roof. "I asked for an All Zone Day Rider," I say. "Are you trying to make out that I'm a liar?" Nasty. In front of a full load of passengers. They busy themselves looking out of the windows. He repeats that I asked for a Teesside Tripper, not an All Zone Day Rider.
Now he goes one better. He tells me that this bus doesn't do All Zone Day Riders. Why didn't he say that earlier, I wonder to myself. I show him the ticket. "This isn't going to get me to Stokesley, is it?" I demand angrily. "I don't know" he says in a tone that clearly says he doesn't care either.
The bus pulls in to a stop. Upset and angry I get off. Get on the bus behind, which gives me the correct ticket with no problems. I'm out of pocket and I've been insulted. I head for the office in the bus station and file a complaint. Asked for a refund, apology, and that man be given a severe reprimand.
Good to let off steam.
Jobsworth
I feel for you northener, i had a driver like that once.
Don't they make your blood boil.
I'd got on with Jazz when she was little , and we were given the wrong tickets, when I politely told the driver this, she proceeded to arguee and tell me that my daughter had said said something else.
I was stood there with her, and knew exactly what she'd said.
this driver ranted and raved for ages, it was so embarrasing, but I was so angry that I wasn't just going to walk away.
As soon as I got home I was straight on the phone!!...i recieved a letter of apology within a couple of days, and was told that the driver had been repremanded, wether or not she had I don't know, but I never saw her on that route again.
My arguement is that they shouldn't argue with you anyway, even if they think that they're right. You're a customer, and they're serving you.
i wouldn't have been able to do that when I was working in retail, and believe you me, there were times when customers did drive you to it. you just had to hold your tongue, smile sweetly
Thank you Sue. This man was way out of line! When I dictated my complaint at the bus station and told about the man telling me that they don't do All Zone Day Riders, she immediately murmered, "That's not true". I'm now waiting for the written reply.
Good luck with that, hope they do the right thing with an apology +
I'm fighting a battle with Seeboard (electricity) As the final bill for my late MIL's bungalow they asked for 540pounds for an empty and unused property. Phoned and was told that though they had my meter reading (&an explanation that the property had been empty for 18 months), they thought it must be wrong and deleted it!!!!!
They apologised and said it would be redone manually. I then received a bill (with a mispelt name) for 150 pounds. Nearly paid, then thought, no ring them. Was told that they'd gone too far back and they will send another bill......
Saga continues!
It never ceases to amaze me how many phone calls it can take to sort something out.
It seems as if you explain it to someone...then it gets filed...in a big black hole!!
My daughters moving house this weekend, and is trying to sort everything out, think she's having REAL fun....!!She said she spent most of this week on the phone with one company or another, being passed from pillar to post.
hope they sort it Pholomel, could take a while :-(
Ah yes... then there's Abbey.....
I went in to give them my change of address to France in April. The girl took photocopy of passport, details etc. ......
...............NOTHING happened. Fortunately I've paid to have my mail forwarded for a year!
I phoned their helpline who contacted my branch who told them it was impossible to continue with my accounts from abroad and I would have to close them. They hadn't contacted me to tell me this!!!!
I didn't believe it as my daughter and DH had already got theirs at the new address (after a battle of their own needless to say)
So I phoned again. Was then told which items to send to which department (same as I'd taken in to my branch) which I did over 2 weeks ago and I STILL haven't heard anything
I wish your daughter all the best with her move.... *g*
did I touch a raw nerve there Philomel?
I wonder if half the problem is that a lot of firms now employ part-timers, to cut down costs as they don't have to give paid lunch hours and breaks etc.
When I was at next , the only full-timers were the management, so it was really hard to give good service, as any jobs , messages etc, were passed on from person to person as the day went, and shifts changed over, so things often went astray. It really used to bug me, because it made us look incompetant.
And lack of training also, if the staff were trained in what their company did/didn't offer, you wouldn't get conflicting advice.
I've been watching a program on t.v. about problems that people encounter when buying abroad. there were some real horror stories, house demolished by developers, and being allowed by, law to do it. Some of these poor people had invested all their money in these places, and just had to walk away.
Haven't heard anything yet. Sigh.
I hope you get your bill sorted soon Philomel.
LOL Sue, I think you did ;)
I particularly came up against the lack of training and message passing when my husband was admitted to a medical NHS ward while in the mid stages of Alzheimer's. They didn't understand the concept of someone not being 'with it' though they were trained nurses. They seemed to think he was being awkward when he didn't understand. Also, partly lack of time no doubt, but they ignored the fact that he couldn't feed himself - so I had to feed him every day, though the strict visiting hours meant that he only got one meal a day!!!
OK I'll stop winging....
Hope you hear soon diane :)
Now ,that does make me mad. That's what they're there for.
I spent quite a bit of time in hospital a few years ago, and you could tell the old-fashioned (trained) nurses, from some of the ones nowadays.
Some of them couldn't even read the new machines that took blood pressure etc, and were writing down the wrong results!!...
my friend was a nurse in the hospital too, and she used to tell me some terror stoies, she left there to work in the community as she said a lot of it was unsafe practice, too many untrained, not enough qualified.
Another time a guy in the single room behind us fell out of bed, we could hear him calling for help, we called out too, then I rang the emergency bell, they came running then! I got a telling off for ringing it 'unnecessarily' , but at least it got someone there.
this poor guy had altzeimers too I think, as you could hear the condescending way they were talking to him.
Then one day this very camp staff nurse came on the ward. He had socks up to his knees, shorts and his smock top on, but boy, was he on the ball. He told a nurse off for talking to someone as if they were simple. He said that it didn't matter what state they were in, you spoke to them like they were your parent, with dignity and respect.
shame they weren't all like that.
Yes, it's such a shame that the ordinary hospitals have so few like that.
My husband's now in an NHS continuing care home and won't be put through incidents like that again. The staff there are absolutely wonderful and trained properly to look after people with these sort of problems, but there's a great big hole in the system :(
I'm sorry to hear that Philomel, but glad to hear that he's in a place where you know he'll be well looked after. That must be very hard for you .
Thanks sue. Yes the people there are very trustworthy.
It felt very strange to leave him there when he would have loved the move to France so much. My son and wife go in still and my daughter and I phone the home, but my husband doesn't know us now, so it was time to look after the other members of the family - my 93 year old mum and daughter and grandchildren
Any updates Diane?
I've just had a letter from Abbey and that problem is now sorted :)
Nothing yet, Philomel. Perhaps the easiest way for the bus company to deal with this is to ignore it. I'll let it ride for anothe week or so, then I'll contact them again. I'm glad your problem is resolved now.
Good news! I had a letter of apology this morning from the bus company. And when I take this letter to their bus depot office they will give me a refund.
Excellent Diane - well done for making your feelings known.
Pleased the outcome was good in the end
About time, I'd have thought they'd have given you a season ticket at least!! :-)
Haven't got the money yet. Need to call at their office. Might manage that later today.
Disgusting that they make you go and collect it, tight *people*
And I agree with you Sue on the season ticket!
Yes, I was disgusted when I opened the letter to see that there was no cheque inside. I immediately picked up the phone to complain. Then I reread the letter to see that they were indeed refunding my money. But I had to make a journey to their office to collect it.
This still isn't good - I'm on a very low income. I'll collect it in a few days though.
Do you have to take a bus to get there to get your refund? If so, they should owe you for that too!
No more refunds. I simply had to pick it up when I was passing there anyway. Of course, if I'd not been passing the office, then yes, I would have been further out of pocket.