bus strike...claiming money back

hugh_jarse

Hello all,
not sure this is in the right place but here goes anyway, I bought a months bus pass on First buses in Bury for £50 (£5 off usual price). They were on strike on Friday which meant the only conceivable way I could get to work meant a tram to Manchester then a train from there to Bolton. Return trip cost me £10.20 total. They are on strike every Monday from now till dispute is resolved. Am I entitled to claim these extra costs back from First? I have pre-paid for a certain number of days travel which I am being denied. Same goes for my kids with their weekly passes. Are they entitled to a free days travel to replace the one lost to the strike?
Thanks in advance

Hugh

KeithP

hugh_jarse wrote: »

Am I entitled to claim these extra costs back from First?

No.
However you may be entitled to a refund for those days when you were unable to travel due to them not running buses.
That is if they don't have a condition in their t&cs that excludes responsibility during strikes.

hugh_jarse wrote: »

Same goes for my kids with their weekly passes. Are they entitled to a free days travel to replace the one lost to the strike?

Yes.
Same caveat as above.

hugh_jarse

thanks for the reply - just going to search for t&c's so will try and find a loophole!

tiny_courageous

On the first bus manchester website it says that weekly and monthly passes will be extended by 2 days as appropriate for the strike days last friday and this monday

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/northwest/manchester/service_disruptions/?item=5611&show=1

hugh_jarse

thanks for pointing that out, wasn't there when I last looked, nice to know, although as my First Month could cover more than 2 disrupted days I would still lose out if they are only offering 2 day extensions.

hugh_jarse

This has now been reduced to one day according to their website!

tiny_courageous

hugh_jarse wrote: »

This has now been reduced to one day according to their website!

I hope you took screencaps of the previous webpage (or you might be able to find it as a google cache). As a veteran of First Bus strikes of the past nothing would surprise me with them. Which is why I now drive :rolleyes: or get the metrolink (which is a farce in itself)

ETA http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:1LWMkXsYeGUJ:www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/northwest/manchester/service_disruptions/%3Fitem%3D5611%26show%3D1%253C/p%253E+manchester+strike+ticket+site:firstgroup.com&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

there's a cache of the original page