Bus pass refund issue

scrumble_2

My step son is currently going to college in Dolgellau, which is a 45 minute bus ride from our home in Tywyn. At 23 years old he's too old for a student bus pass, so we've paid out £400 for a standard pass.

One week after buying the pass we find out from Arriva that they're now selling the route to Lloyds Coaches, and the bus pass is now useless. When we paid for the pass we told the Arriva rep over the phone what route it was for, so we where sold a pass for a route which they knew they would not be running.

Lloyds coaches not only won't honour the pass, but they don't even run a bus pass system. Arriva will only give a partial refund, saying we've had 'use', and will only refund £150.

Is there any legislation that covers bus passes, and the sale of routes like this?

After all the hoops he's had to jump through just to get into college because of his age, this just feels like another kick in the teeth.

Elle7

How much use has he had?

It might be worth working out how many times he has travelled, and the costs of a single fare, and presenting this to the company as a starting ground.

That said, they might work it out on the basis that he could have used it everyday, in which case depending on how long he has had it the refund may be fair.

It's rubbish that this has happened though, and I would definately complain to Arriva that they sold you a pass knowing the route would be sold.

flyingscotno1

scrumble wrote: »

One week after buying the pass we find out from Arriva that they're now selling the route to Lloyds Coaches, and the bus pass is now useless. When we paid for the pass we told the Arriva rep over the phone what route it was for, so we where sold a pass for a route which they knew they would not be running.

Lloyds coaches not only won't honour the pass, but they don't even run a bus pass system. Arriva will only give a partial refund, saying we've had 'use', and will only refund £150.

Is there any legislation that covers bus passes, and the sale of routes like this?

Arriva won't have sold the route I think.

What is most likely for me is that the bus is subsidised by the local council. Arriva's contract will have expired, and the council has chosen the other bus company to operate the route- most likely because they bid for a lower amount of subsidy.

Now if you specifically bought a pass for solely this route or said as much within a couple of weeks of it ending for a year then Arriva have been a bit unfair, but if it was just a general area wide Arriva pass, it might be a bit misleading but not unlawful. Equally it is possible the person selling the ticket could have had no idea about any changes to a fortnight or less before!

Legislation wise it is doubtful anything exists. Best thing to do is complain to Arriva HQ and see if they will increase the offer. Other than that contact the council and see what they say about passes and route transfers.

wealdroam

Here's a few websites that may help...

http://www.bususers.org/index.html

http://www.busappealsbody.co.uk/index.html

http://www.passengerfocus.org.uk/

MarkyMarkD

Arriva's website says:

Q: Can I cancel my multi-journey Saver ticket?
A: Tickets may be cancelled at the discretion of the Customer Services Manager. You can normally get a refund, less an administration charge of £10, on the proportion left on your ticket. You will need to arrange for the unwanted ticket to be sent to your Customer Service Team by calling 0844 800 4411.

So I would give them a call on this number, rather than being fobbed off locally.

A pro-rata refund, less £10, would be far more reasonable.