Cancelled service leaves Passengers Stranded (aka RR against the rest)

Started by Sir Pompously, December 23, 2007, 09:08:14 PM

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Sir Pompously

From The ACTBUS Times 23 December 2007
Quote


Passenger Todd Milton awaits the cancelled service in Fyshwick

Article by Deborah Hutton and Jessica Good (Transport Editors)
Commuters were stranded today when the 4:39 pm 80 bus service from Fyshwick to Belconnen was cancelled due to a bus breakdown. Infuriated customers contacted 13 17 10 to complain about the lack of communication given on the second last service on the Sunday timetable. A young woman exclaimed to her friend on the phone in a factually incorrect manner ?The driver has died, and now I have to wait an hour for the bus?. ACTION stated that ?Passengers would have to wait for a replacement service which is trying to be organized, but if we do not organize a service then passengers will have to wait for the next service?. The final service of the day arrived to all stops on time or early.

On the side: ACTION Passengers Todd Milton and Mathew Barber were travelling on the outbound service from the City which forms the inbound service to the city. They stated that 'The bus had no problems and was even hooning along Gladstone St, Fyshwick'.
The ACTBUS Times


bubzie

someone has a little too much time on their hands, me thinks..

O305

If there was such a paper, would anybody even buy it? LOL.

Busnerd

Well i suppose we did have too much time on our hands..an hour to be exact! waiting for a bus that was perfectly fine five minutes earlier causing us to get stuck in bloody fyshwick for an hour on a sunday!

Irisbus Rider

It happens everyday, it's not that big of a deal, come on. The driver probably skipped the route, ha, I would have too if I saw you two were at the stop, which makes me think, was it Fraser? ;D  :P

Bus 400

I am just wondering how do you know that it was that exact bus doing the return run? That bus could of gone home to Tuggeranong & another driver from Belconnen may of been doing the return run & then signing off for the day.

Irisbus Rider


Buzz Killington

what they were doing there is irrelevant, and as for "its no big deal" im sure you would be pretty annoyed if you had to wait an extra hour for your bus, particuarly in an area with no real alternative

Sir Pompously

Normally on that route, Bus 400, the bus going in is the bus returning. That is normally the way for hourly routes, especially the loop routes (Duh). And John, it is that big of a deal when it is an hourly route. Its alright on the intertown (unless you miss your hourly connection) during a weekday, but on a weekend a bus should be provided for the stranded passengers considering the route is no where near another route. ACTION's customer service was not really up to scratch. A 'we will try' is not good enough, and then telling us 'you will have to wait for the next bus' is even worse. Its not like rail, where adding in an extra service is hard (As you need permission to create a new path). Buses are easy as you can add as many more services as you want (Within the restraints of staff and buses).

Irisbus Rider

Get a driver on Sunday at 4pm (services end approx 7:30pm) the day before Christmas Eve, lets be realistic here.....

Buzz Killington

let's not go down this path again.

it doesnt make a difference what day it is. Drivers have ROSTERED shifts. If they have other plans, they can arrange to have the day, or afternoon off and be replaced by another driver. I could not care less if they want to leave early.

By your logic John, then you must believe it's quite all right for a register operator at Coles to head home a few hours early just because its December 23, leaving customers lined up waiting for service.

Busnerd

Quote from: Renault Rider on December 26, 2007, 05:56:33 PM
Get a driver on Sunday at 4pm (services end approx 7:30pm) the day before Christmas Eve, lets be realistic here.....

It doesnt matter what time or day it is. There are always 'depot floaters' waiting for broken down buses or drivers calling in sick, its their job to fill in on a shift, so there would have been someone available. Alternatively ACTION should have sent the van from city interchange out as its only a 20 minute drive, but they didnt.

Bus400 & John - the driver didnt skip the route, he broke down as we saw the tow truck drive past, he didnt slop the stop cause he saw us at it, as we were on his bus ten minutes earlier, we got off a few streets before the terminus. We are also aware that services end at 7.30 but action have a duty of care to ensure as many as possible that all services run and on time at that as it is a public service. What we were doing there is irrelevant, we dont ask why you go to mitchell every day, even though we know why, you seem to forget that todd helps out at a job in fyshwick. And it is a big deal, you have and anyone else on here would get the shits if your hourly bus didnt come, as it stuffs up everything, especially when at that time of night we ran the risk of not being able to get home cause services end so early.

Irisbus Rider

Yeah, of course I would be upset, but I wouldn't ring ACTION, and make such a big deal of it, and blow it to massive proportions, I just accept the circumstances, and move on with my life, more important things.
"Shock horror, my bus didn't show up, I'm so offended", gees, honestly, I know ACTION have a rersponsibility of customer service, and all that, but sometimes you just have to accept the circumstances, it happens, you're not the only one that it happened to.

As for depot floaters, they are only there for drivers that don't show up for their shift on weekends, not for breakdowns on weekends. As for the City Interchange ACTION Mobile, it was Sunday evening and the night before Christmas Eve. Come on, have a thought with all the people that wanted to be with their families, and all that.

Anyway, life goes on, get over it, it happens, sometimes, you don't always get what you want it's not as though you're more special then the rest of the public, please, be reasonable.


Busnerd

Quote from: Renault Rider on December 26, 2007, 10:39:33 PM
Yeah, of course I would be upset, but I wouldn't ring ACTION, and make such a big deal of it, and blow it to massive proportions

Allow me to recall how that phone conversation went

Todd: *gets put on hold for about 3 minutes*
ACTION: Hello
Todd: um,the 80 was due to leave fyshwick terminus for the city at 4.39 right?
ACTION: Yes
Todd: Uh..it still hasnt come
ACTION: This service has broken down, we might be sending out a small replacement bus, but if we cant you will have to get the next service
Todd: oh ok, thats not good, ok thanks, bye.

Now John, where in that call was it blown out to MASSIVE proportions?

CanberraTransport

You have to expect these sorts of things to occur in Fyshwick... the bus driver would've been off at a brothel, and just decided to report the bus as 'Broken Down'. :P

Buzz Killington

Quote from: Renault Rider on December 26, 2007, 10:39:33 PM
please, be reasonable.

please, understand the fact that your argument about it being christmas eve is completely irrelevant. All of these staff had every opportunity to take the day off if they wanted to spend it with their families, so please stop using that reasoning. I refer you back to my above example - by your reasoning, since its ok for bus drivers to skip a run on the 23rd of december to spend it with their family, then it must be perfectly alright for a checkout operator to wander off early, leaving people waiting to be served, just because they wanted to go home early and spend time with the family

of course, in that example, at least the shoppers have an alternative register. did matt and todd have an alternative bus? no, they had to wait an hour for the next one, and almost managed to miss the last bus home as a result

Busnerd

Quote from: CanberraTransport on December 27, 2007, 10:48:51 AM
You have to expect these sorts of things to occur in Fyshwick... the bus driver would've been off at a brothel, and just decided to report the bus as 'Broken Down'. :P

As ive said about three times it DID break down, the tow truck was seen and photographed.

Irisbus Rider

#19
Quote from: Busnerd on December 26, 2007, 11:35:08 PM
Quote from: Renault Rider on December 26, 2007, 10:39:33 PM
Yeah, of course I would be upset, but I wouldn't ring ACTION, and make such a big deal of it, and blow it to massive proportions

Allow me to recall how that phone conversation went

Todd: *gets put on hold for about 3 minutes*
ACTION: Hello
Todd: um,the 80 was due to leave fyshwick terminus for the city at 4.39 right?
ACTION: Yes
Todd: Uh..it still hasnt come
ACTION: This service has broken down, we might be sending out a small replacement bus, but if we cant you will have to get the next service
Todd: oh ok, thats not good, ok thanks, bye.

Now John, where in that call was it blown out to MASSIVE proportions?
Mis-interpretation there, not the call, but more generally, i.e., the article, lol.


And Ryan, I never indicated that, the bus clearly broke down, not skipped the route, and I never said that it would have been ok to skip the route due to the date, thats just stupid. I did say that if I was the driver, I would have skipped that stop if I saw them waiting there as a joke. Nothing more. So, I agree with you there.

What I did say is that it would be difficult to get a replacement driver/vehicle out there, as it was late on a Sunday afternoon, and Christmas Eve Eve. How many Depot floaters would be around then? NONE!

But;
The facts:
The bus broke down.
Todd and Mat had to wait an hour in Fushwick
ACTION customer service was rude