eurolines/National Express excessively late - help please

casper_g

The delay due to passport control was outside their control, fair enough. The delay due to their coach being impounded because they failed to abide by the tacho regs though is quite different. If this was indeed the problem it was their fault, and could potentially have been a safety issue as well as just a delay!

UKHCGirl

I used to use Eurolines all the time in the mid Noughties for various trips to the mainland and they were fine before.. clean buses.

Once easyjet/ryanair started doing REALLY cheap flights, i stopped.

I have used the service around 4 times in the past 5 years, and 2 of these times, i was excessively late, so it has become something I somewhat expect.. when i complained about being 4 hours late from a trip to belgium about 5 years ago they just ignored me so i gave up trying.

I went to see if a trip to germany later on in the year would be cheaper to go via coach and realised that it was over £20 more than getting an easyjet flight.

Sod that! There are cheaper ways to go without having to sit on a bus for 18 hours.

bob_man_uk

UKHCGirl wrote: »

I used to use Eurolines all the time in the mid Noughties for various trips to the mainland and they were fine before.. clean buses.

Once easyjet/ryanair started doing REALLY cheap flights, i stopped.

I have used the service around 4 times in the past 5 years, and 2 of these times, i was excessively late, so it has become something I somewhat expect.. when i complained about being 4 hours late from a trip to belgium about 5 years ago they just ignored me so i gave up trying.

I went to see if a trip to germany later on in the year would be cheaper to go via coach and realised that it was over £20 more than getting an easyjet flight.

Sod that! There are cheaper ways to go without having to sit on a bus for 18 hours.

i agree that if you book in advance then yes it may be cheaper, but since i had 1 week to book in advance i could not afford to get to an airport that easyjet was flying from, get to frankfurt hahn, get from frankfurt hahn to the place of the interview, and then all the way back, i just couldnt afford it, the cost of a return from london was £6 the return from frankfurt was £30 one way and £35 return, this was by far the cheapest and given the whole ash cloud situation i was not prepared to be stranded in a foreign country.

i say the french authorities held us up but we arrived at the port at 2am, and left at 4am, to be honest I never noticed a ferry leaving during the whole time we were there... so im guessing the coach missed the early ferry that would have had us in the uk on time.

dzug1

The bottom line is that you have no rights to recompense. Their contract was to get you to your destination. It contains no promises whatsoever aboout timing. The airlines and rail companies have some form of compensation scheme in certain circumstances - bus and shipping companies generally don't.

You can complain and there are three likely outcomes:

they ignore you
they send an apologetic fob off letter
they send you a voucher for money off a future journey


My money's on the first two. Even if you get the third is it any use to you?

I'd accept that you've had your vent on here and put the whole incident behind you