74 Bus Service Complaint

[megilleland]

I thought I would tell you of my complaint to First Group concerning the 74 bus service:

Sent 16th February

"Experienced the local bus service last night. We arrived at 9.55pm to catch the 10.05pm departure from the bus station at Tesco, along with 12 other passengers, to travel on the 74 service to Newton Farm - which then failed to arrive. We would have to wait another hour for the next bus at 11.05pm which together with the travelling time of 15mins to Newton Farm meant that we would have got home nearly one and half hours later. Not a good advert for using buses. This happens quite regularly on this service and the £6.70 taxi fare didn't help either".

 

First Group acknowledged 17th February:

"Thank you for contacting us. We aim to respond to all enquiries within 14 working days, but hope to respond sooner. If you have not heard from us within this time, please accept our apologies and contact us by phone on the number shown on our website".

 

First Group replied 25th February:

"Thank you for contacting First and I apologise for the delay in getting back to you

 

Your comments have been passed to the Depot Manager for investigation where the service will be looked into and the driver concerned identified and interviewed. As soon as we have had a response, we will be in touch as soon as possible. This can take 7-10 working days".

 

Follow up reply 20th March:

Thank you for your contact regarding the issue you faced with the No.74 service on 16 February and I apologise for the delay in my response.

 

Running our buses on time is one of our key priorities as it is vitally important that customers are able to plan their journey knowing that their service will arrive as advertised in the timetable. We are working strenuously to reduce delays and have intensified our monitoring processes to identify late or early running buses and understand underlying causes. Our buses also benefit from a remote satellite tool so that we can properly monitor their movements and take corrective action to ensure adherence to the timetable.

 

Having re-investigated your comments with the depot, they have checked the records onboard the vehicle and confirm that on the date in question, the driver was still issuing tickets in the Bus Station at 2204hrs and has not left the stop before the scheduled time of 2205hrs. On this occasion, we are unable to uphold your complaint".

 

My response 24th March:

Thank you for your reply which was rather disappointing. I can assure you that myself and at least 12 other people were waiting for that last bus on the night in question. However in view that the computer says the bus was standing in the bus station at the correct time it must have been a ghost bus!

 

I cannot be bothered to continue arguing the toss with your company and accept that your company will continue to run the Hereford 74/74A bus service as you see fit and not for the benefit of your customers.

 

Thank you

 

Martin Gilleland

 

PS: My partner returned from Malvern on Thursday 21st March had to wait for 74 bus for nearly an hour between 3.30pm and 4.30pm before getting home.

Does anyone else experience missing buses from the timetable?

[Glenda Powell]

I have had a lot of problems over the past 3 months with the 74 Newton farm bus being either missed out all together or being late, have spoken to bus drivers and company without success. Some of the drivers are rude!

[Ken Baynham]

I also had a problem but it was a few months ago and unfortunately I did not complain or record the incident.

 

I waited 40 minutes at St Peters Square late afternoon between 4pm and 5 pm. Ended up walking 2.5 miles.

I

will ensure I record and report all future incidents.

[megilleland]

My partner waited for the 14.24 and 14.39 74 service from Newton Farm to city centre on Thursday 28th March - neither turned up.