National Express driver tried to half kidnap me from Heathrow to Victoria.

lisyloo

I complained to NE after my reserved seat was taken and the driver would not help.
I was a bit intimidated to ask the the large male passenger to move who appeared to be deliberately ignoring me (with hindsight he might have had headphones in).

They didn’t listen to my complaint, for example said I should have asked the driver for help when I told them I already did that.
Phone service was useless (they just take messages and don’t do customer service).
NE said they refunded me on 2 occasions and didn’t.
In the end I got a refund using the PayPal resolution service as NE seemed unable to make a simple refund.

I personally doubt a driver would risk their livelihood and licence by going over their legally allowed hours.

Perhaps his paperwork said no passengers but doesn’t excuse his behaviour.

wishuponastar

Jono111 wrote: »

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.

Yep that's what i thought. Although i think the other passengers wouldn't have known they were at the Heathrow stop as driver didn't announce it. So i expect that NE will receive similar complaints especially if the others ended up at Victoria and had to make their way back.

DUTR

wishuponastar wrote: »

Yep that's what i thought. Although i think the other passengers wouldn't have known they were at the Heathrow stop as driver didn't announce it. So i expect that NE will receive similar complaints especially if the others ended up at Victoria and had to make their way back.

Please make your mind up , in an earlier post you wrote"The driver did drive to Heathrow and stop as expected, he confirmed to me it was the Heathrow coach station"

Jono111

Is is possible all the other passengers were going to Victoria as they had just been picked up from Heathrow and that's why they didn't want to get off with you.

lisyloo

wishuponastar wrote: »

Yep that's what i thought. Although i think the other passengers wouldn't have known they were at the Heathrow stop as driver didn't announce it. So i expect that NE will receive similar complaints especially if the others ended up at Victoria and had to make their way back.

I find this really hard to believe.
Most people know how long their journeys are going to be.
Many will be checking google maps, to ensure they’ve visited the loo in time and packed their bags.
Most also won’t miss the fact that it’s lit up like a Christmas tree, there are planes landing and taking off and there’s a massive jet at the entrance :rotfl:
There might be the odd person that falls asleep and miss their stop but my personal experience is that most people are quite aware and some even tracking the journey.

If people got off at the wrong stop it’s their personal responsisbility.
The drivers usually announce it in advance but I’d say it’s a personal responsibility to get off at the right place.


More likely you were the only one which is unusual for a very busy airport but not impossible.

lisyloo

DUTR wrote: »

Please make your mind up , in an earlier post you wrote"The driver did drive to Heathrow and stop as expected, he confirmed to me it was the Heathrow coach station"

Some people may be unaware that Heathrow bus/coach station serves the airport and is connected to the terminals.

DUTR

lisyloo wrote: »

Some people may be unaware that Heathrow bus/coach station serves the airport and is connected to the terminals.

Indeed they maybe, the OP though stated the driver stopped at Heathrow station, it's for the OP and other passengers to make themselves aware of their onward plans from there, the world isn't about them, and it doesn't ring well with the sensational thread headline.

wishuponastar

DUTR wrote: »

Please make your mind up , in an earlier post you wrote"The driver did drive to Heathrow and stop as expected, he confirmed to me it was the Heathrow coach station"

He did stop at Heathrow (it was never the case he hadn't stopped at Heathrow (sorry if that was the impression), just that he didn't want to let me get off and wanted me to go to Victoria). He didn't announce to everyone he was approaching there or had arrived at x y or z so i walked down to ask him and when he confirmed it to me, at that point and i asked him to open the doors because they were closed since no one else got on or off and i needed to get my bag etc...that was when it got weird.

Definitely no announcement like someone said normally happens.

wishuponastar

lisyloo wrote: »

I find this really hard to believe.
Most people know how long their journeys are going to be.
Many will be checking google maps, to ensure they’ve visited the loo in time and packed their bags.
Most also won’t miss the fact that it’s lit up like a Christmas tree, there are planes landing and taking off and there’s a massive jet at the entrance :rotfl:
There might be the odd person that falls asleep and miss their stop but my personal experience is that most people are quite aware and some even tracking the journey.

If people got off at the wrong stop it’s their personal responsisbility.
The drivers usually announce it in advance but I’d say it’s a personal responsibility to get off at the right place.


More likely you were the only one which is unusual for a very busy airport but not impossible.

I thought there would have been others too, but as you say not impossible for there not to be. It was an overnight coach arriving early morning so maybe if there was someone else they were still sleeping, i don't know.

True it is each person's responsibility to check they are getting on and off at the right stop, but it would be made easier if the driver a) made an announcement to say which stop they are approaching like they do on trains and other buses (there was no announcement and b) actually opened the door to let me off at the stop when requested instead of insisting i needed to travel to Victoria.

wishuponastar

lisyloo wrote: »

Some people may be unaware that Heathrow bus/coach station serves the airport and is connected to the terminals.

It is one possibility why no one else got off. Never thought of that. I had checked before to find out where i was going etc so i knew the heathrow t2/3 stop was bus/coach station. There are good helpful detailed maps on the heathrow website so that was really handy.