A little moan about Stagecoach buses in Manchester

thriftymanc

I got on a bus yesterday and asked for a return ticket. I was given a DayRider ticket (for unlimited travel all day) for £3.50. Found out later on that a single was only £1 so if I'd got a single each way I would have only paid £2! I don't travel by bus often so didn't know that the local buses don't sell returns, only singles and DayRiders. (I only found this out after speaking to a friend who use the buses regularly. When did buses stop doing returns?!)

Not really too bothered about being overcharged £1.50 this one time, but if I hadn't found out and was making this journey quite often that'd really start to add up. The driver could have at least told me a) that the ticket I specifically asked for didn't exist and b) that two singles would be cheaper than the ticket he ended up selling me! (He didn't tell me what the ticket was, I just said 'return to XXX please' and he said 'that's £3.50')

So just a word of warning to anyone using Stagecoach in Manchester (possibly elsewhere?), double check the price of a single before you ask for a return!

Unless this is common knowledge and I'm showing my age (? - returns on the bus definitely existed when I was a kid and used them every week!) in which case ignore me!

jd82

I always ask that question anyway if I am using a bus service I am not used to. I stopped using Stagecoach a while back because of the lack of a cheap return option. I would rather drive to a Metrolink station and get the tram in, its much cheaper and quicker. Also from next year the tram is coming to my town so I will have no reason to use the awfully slow bus service.

The day rider is actually good value if you need to get more than two buses, but for most people they use it as a return ticket and it becomes extremely poor value. It should not cost £3.50 just to get to town and back from Chorlton.

thriftymanc

I know, I know better now and will always ask. I just didn't know that returns didn't exist on this service! I asked for one and was asked for payment, didn't realise it was a DayRider until I looked at it later on. I didn't even go as far as Chorlton. I was only on the bus for about 10 minutes in total! Agreed they're good value if you actually want them though.

Don't get me started on the Metrolink... if I started a moan on that it'd go on for days! Though to be fair I'd rather use it than the buses. When's teleportation going to be invented?!

charley_177

I gave up on Stagecoach Manchester a while ago, most of the time I managed to walk the journey (4 stops) quicker than the bus, which cost £1.30 single! Punctuality and reliability worsened after Denniss' and Maynes were bought out. Poor waiting environment at the bus stop (no shelter or seats), despite being on a 'Quality Bus Corridor'. For comparison, an Off-Peak Return on the train (same distance) was £1.20, however the train fares are subsidised.

Funny enough, they've just won 'Bus Operator of the Year' at the National Transport Awards 2010!