National Express driver tried to half kidnap me from Heathrow to Victoria. 8 January 2020 at 10:23AM edited 15 January 2020 at 6:22PM in Public Transport & Cycling 88 replies 7.5K views

wishuponastar

NBLondon wrote: »

Very weird.... You've got a ticket to Heathrow Coach Station which is a scheduled stop and he's driven there but doesn't want to stop? Even if he had been running late and likely to get a rollocking for being late - he should now get a bigger one as a result of the complaint! Hope you get a decent answer from NE.

The driver did drive to Heathrow and stop as expected, he confirmed to me it was the Heathrow coach station, then that's when he just point blank refused to open the doors (no one else was getting on or off) until near the end. I don't know why he got so angry (as letting passengers on and off is one of the expected tasks with the job) so i hope NE give an explanation as it was most bizarre but as someone suggested there should possibly have been two drivers, i'm thinking with him doing all the driving (he didn't share it with anyone else) maybe he was getting tired / grumpy or both. I'll update when i hear from NE.

Kiko4564

Yeah that might be an explanation, and maybe even mitigating circumstances for not letting the passenger off but that is NO excuse (or even mitigation) for throwing luggage on the ground.

I'd have called the Police out of principle personally, false imprisonment is false imprisonment regardless of the perputrator, or whether or not you've got a flight to catch.

Tallaght

Check on the national express website for that route and it will list heathrow as a stop.

[Deleted User]

Kiko4564 wrote: »

I'd have called the Police out of principle personally, false imprisonment is false imprisonment

I think perhaps you are a little unsure as to the role of the Police in our society.

Calls to the Police for spurious reasons are a waste of Police resources at a time when they are stretched as it is.

Call the Police when you you are genuinely in danger or have an issue they can actually do something about.

Calling the police in the circumstance you describe, would still end with the OP at the wrong destination and the driver would not be charged with "false imprisonment" or "kidnapping".

Kiko4564

OK we will have to agree to disagree then. How about I suggest calling 101 for a less urgent situation like this, I accept that I got carried away when I suggested calling 999.

The driver wouldn't necessarily be charged by the way, but that is a decision for the Police and CPS to make, not you, or anyone else. They would've still ended up at the wrong destination but that doesn't mean that the offences has not been commited.

DUTR

wishuponastar wrote: »

The driver did drive to Heathrow and stop as expected, he confirmed to me it was the Heathrow coach station, then that's when he just point blank refused to open the doors (no one else was getting on or off) until near the end. I don't know why he got so angry (as letting passengers on and off is one of the expected tasks with the job) so i hope NE give an explanation as it was most bizarre but as someone suggested there should possibly have been two drivers, i'm thinking with him doing all the driving (he didn't share it with anyone else) maybe he was getting tired / grumpy or both. I'll update when i hear from NE.

Your story has changed from the opening post.
Perhaps there was some misunderstanding of the procedure and where you wanted to get off.

MothballsWallet

I've just checked the most recent National Express coach ticket I booked for Heathrow and it says "HEATHROW Airport London T2,3 (LHR)" but the stop is usually known as "Heathrow Central Bus Station".

In my experience, the driver will say "Heathrow Central Bus Station for Terminals 2 and 3".

wishuponastar

DUTR not sure which bit you think has changed? Let me try to clarify it further...in case others are misunderstanding the situation too.

I had been watching for the approaching for Heathrow on signs in the lead up to the expected arrival time as i knew time wise i was due to be near my stop and when it stopped there (no annnouncement) that's when i asked and it was confirmed it was the central bus station. I had expected an announcement to be honest. After he confirmed we were at the central bus station which is at t2/3 (where my ticket was for) i expressed clearly this was my stop and i needed to get off and get bag from hold...that's when the situation got weird and he wouldn't open the doors initially (obviously he did in the end as i explained).

I'll update when i hear from NE.

wishuponastar

MothballsWallet wrote: »

I've just checked the most recent National Express coach ticket I booked for Heathrow and it says "HEATHROW Airport London T2,3 (LHR)" but the stop is usually known as "Heathrow Central Bus Station".

In my experience, the driver will say "Heathrow Central Bus Station for Terminals 2 and 3".

Yes that is what my ticket said too. I had researched it and knew the stop was the central bus station in advance. I expected an announcement from driver but there was none. So when i asked and it was confirmed as being the right place, i.e. my stop that is when driver got all weird with me.

I'll update when i hear back from NE.

Jono111

It's unfortunate that none of the other bus passengers ( with bags in the hold ) wanted to get off at Heathrow airport.
How unlucky can you get.