Wow! I really need to complain more often!

Gingernutty

Seriously!

Check my post from the 3rd of March!

I have to travel from Wolverhampton to Walsall every day for work.

There was a train service which was gradually wound down to nothing. The argument was that very few people actually wanted to travel all the way and wanted to stop off en-route. The buses would better serve the intervening areas.

The train journey only took about 20 - 30 minutes max.

The shortest bus journey, has, over the course of a year gone from about half an hour to three quarters of an hour. That means, door to door, it is routinely taking me up to an hour and three quarters to get to work.

The bus company is National Express which used to trade as Travel West Midlands.

I used to leave my house at 8am to get to work for 9am, but have had to get out the door earlier and earlier. I now have to leave the house between 7.30am and 7.45am and there's still no guarantee that I'll be on time.

I have been late so many time for work that I have been threatened with disciplinary action a few times.

Every time there is a delay I send a complaint. And the complaints are falling on deaf ears. I receive an automated acknowledgement and nothing more.

For this deteriorating service, I paid £36 a month. That money has gone up this month to £40 per month.

By paying by dd I have agreed to a membership scheme which means that I have to wait for them to send me my new pass through the post - it's a piece of perforated paper which has to be ripped out of a letter.

My dd for £36 has gone out last month on the 21st. That means I've paid for the new pass that I should be using from today onwards. No such luck.

The delivery of the passes has been getting later and later as well as the bus service.

I am absolutely fuming.

I have left messages and another automated complaint stating that I'll have to walk to work on Monday. 6.5 miles. That's a 13 mile round trip.

I've done it once before when my finances were too tight to scrimp the £3.40 for a day saver ticket the day before I got paid.

I've since managed to cobble together a few bags of coins, paid them into an account and used my debit card to pay for a weeks pass. That's £13.

That was a palaver in itself. I went to the Travel Information Centre, which sells all bus tickets (and are agents for National Express coaches as well) to buy my weekly pass.

I arrived at 16:50, to be told that they stopped selling passes at 16:45. They close at 17:30. And they are closed all day on Sunday.

I was directed to the Co-op down the road.

I have never seen such a shambolic set up before in my life.

Anyway, after standing in a very long bus pass queue, I got my pass from the Co-op.

On Monday, the £40 dd will go out for the pass which should cover March to April and I'll still won't have seen the February/ March pass I should have been using from tomorrow.

I am sending at least one, angry complaint a week to the bus company, they're getting worse by way of service and now, come Monday, they will have £76 of my money and I'll have nothing to show for it.

What can I do?

I can't drive. I'm too skint to learn and acquire a car and frankly, it's too dangerous to ride a bike around here. I would love to just cancel the dd and find an alternative route but I can only walk.

Either no-one at work lives in my area so can't give me a lift or they travel at completely the wrong time.

I get paid on Wednesday. I can spare no more than about £50 max on alternative means of transport. Where would I buy a push scooter for an adult? Halfords?

Would threatening National Express/Travel West Midlands/NX (or whatever they're trading as) with a county court action/summons for my money be just wasting my breath?

Has anyone else been in this position and what have they done about it?

aheaton46

Gingernutty wrote: »

it's too dangerous to ride a bike around here.

Sounds like an excuse to me. If it's taking a bus 45 minutes to do under 7 miles then it doesn't sound like fast roads.

Sambucus_Nigra

http://www.cycle-route.com/routes/Wolverhampton_to_Walsall-Cycle-Route-430.html

cybergibbons

Gingernutty wrote: »

The shortest bus journey, has, over the course of a year gone from about half an hour to three quarters of an hour. That means, door to door, it is routinely taking me up to an hour and three quarters to get to work.

I used to leave my house at 8am to get to work for 9am, but have had to get out the door earlier and earlier. I now have to leave the house between 7.30am and 7.45am and there's still no guarantee that I'll be on time.

Whilst I agree that their service sounds bad, a lot of people have to deal with using public transport and it taking a lot longer than it would do by car. You say it routinely takes 1hr45, but you leave at 0730 and expect to get in for 0900? You really need to leave earlier.

birkee

They're driving us off the roads with costs, and services that don't meet our needs.
They're driving us out of our cars too, with punishing costs. Do they want the whole country to stop dead?

My own decision is "stuff em", I prefer my independance, to being a trapped 'victim'.......a motor scooter should save a fortune in time and money.
I'm sorry if you don't have a licence or the confidence though, but...... you've got to fight back somehow!

Gingernutty

Part of the route travels along the approach roads to the M6 and some hefty A roads.

I have little confidence in my ability to balance and there is no chance of me cycling along there, trust me!

The traffic is solid and often crawls along - so it may not be fast, but there's a lot of it and a lot of side roads - there have been numerous accidents and deaths along the route - drivers, riders, cyclists and pedestrians.

What frustrates me is that the bus company makes no attempt to reroute or retime for planned roadworks, makes no attempt to warn passengers about problems (we have three local radio stations) and makes no apology for their poor service.

And back to my original query, what can I do to get my money back?

dmg24

How anyone can hate a company is beyond me. Get some perspective!

Gingernutty

Well let's see........

I hate my job.

I hate my boss.

I hate my working environment.

I hate the fact that any application for any job I do submit seems to be outright ignored.

I hate anything that makes getting to and from my job any more stressful than it already is.

I hate not being able to drive, not being able to afford driving lessons or being able to buy or run a car.

I hate being so helplessly dependent on the !!!!!! I have to buy my bus pass from.

I hate spending money on a service which gets worse by the week.

I hate spending £36 I can ill afford and not having anything to show for it except more stress.

and I hate being unable to do much about it except rant impotently on forums like this.

That enough perspective? :wall:

Buttercup2305

I used to do the wolves to walsall trip so I sympathise. Certainly not something I would attempt on a bike...

chuckley

that sounds really bad. how much notice did they give about the trains no longer doing that route? cant u get some form of a refund for that?? and with the buss and pass thing complain and ask for a refund for the days you've been unable to use it due to their late posting.

I wouldnt bother emailing as most dont bother to check the mail boxes and respond. send a recorded letter detailing everything.

Gingernutty

The train thing has been a long slow decline over a number of years - we had plenty of notice. It didn't bother me then as I had no reason to go to Walsall.

Little did I know......_pale_

There is a variety of passes to choose from. One doesn't have to pay for a service one doesn't use, I certainly don't!

There are bus, bus and tram, bus, train and tram combos. There are even a number of different bus passes for different bus companies and areas, but as National Express have a near monopoly around here, most people just pay them for their 'services'.