Dublin Bus Complaint and Resolution

Borzoi

Last Saturday evening I was giong into town for a few drinks (actually Iwas planning a a lot of drinks) so Ileft the car outside home and went for the bus.

Down at the terminus waiting, when a bus came from town, dropped passengers off, then buggered off again without picking up any of the eight odd people waiting. Then it started to piss rain, now given that buses on my route are every 1/2 hour, I decide feck this, went home, changed clothes and ordered a Taxi.

Pretty standard service so far, but I really was annoyed, so....

I wrote an email on the Dublin Bus website on Monday, and lo and behold, got a response, in the post yesterday (Wednesday).

Started with the standar coporate apology, then explained that due to staff absences the 19:15 service hadn't run, and that the only reason there was a bus from town was that a driver volunteered that one bit of OT, so they'd actually cheked out my complaint, pretty good.

But the icing on the cake was three bus tickets they included to the value of €22, more thn my taxi fare I can tell you.

So the moral is that they do give a damn, and it's worth complaining. And I have to give a 'well done' for a prompt reply to a customer complaint - all businesses should operate that way.

thedrowner

dont get me started on busses......
there must be the same driver every day on the 54a pulling the same sickey. you'd think they'd have replaced him by now....

LFCFan

what really annoys me about the bus service is the timetable. For example the Stop in Blanchardstown village near the Garda Station says there should be a bus every 15 minutes on one route, 20 minutes on another and 20 minutes on another one. Yet I had to wait 45 minutes for a bus the last 2 times I was there. This was at a time when traffic was light and there should be no excuses for buses to be late. In the same space of time 11 buses went in the opposite direction. The biggest joke is the Government wanting us to leave our overpriced, over insured cars at home and take the inadequate, useless public transport they supply us with.

MDR

So the moral is that they do give a damn, and it's worth complaining. And I have to give a 'well done' for a prompt reply to a customer complaint - all businesses should operate that way.

Fair play to them,getting a more profession feel from Iarnod Eirean as well,they were replacing East Wall Bridge over the weekend. So there was bus transfers between Dublin and Droegheda, they left bang on time no messing (we had been forewarned to be 40 minutes early), the train arrived on time in Belfast, there where stewarts to help with the bags, there was a problem with some drunk women which was resolved quickily and professionally.

I have despaired with them for some years, but there seems to be a change of attitude. At the end of the day, the main problem is that its a government service and workers can treat it like a holiday camp should they so desire

edit : oh yeah an the serve breakfast rolls on the morning service

thedrowner

another little 54a story

i was at the terminus last friday on eden quay with friends, one of them who had to be at a job on time and the 54a would have gotten her there had it actually left. but the bus decided that despite the fact that everyone was waiting at the bus stop that said 54a on it, it would leave further up the quays. apparantly a bus conducter shouted this at the bus stop, but noone actually heard him. so the 54a pulled off with no one on it and left behind a bus load of angry people (despire the fact that it was already 10 minutes late, which, at a terminus, is unexcusable).

now the bus load of people went up to the bus conductor and tried to sort out what had just happened, but he just ran away. yes. a definate change in attitude. even worse than it used to be.

MDR

now the bus load of people went up to the bus conductor and tried to sort out what had just happened, but he just ran away. yes. a definate change in attitude. even worse than it used to be.

did you lodge a complaint with Dublin Bus ?

thedrowner

not yet

althought i would have thought going up to the guy in charge of the running of the busses on eden quay would be enough (sorry i know i referred to him as a conductor but i didnt know the name for these guys who hang around the bus stops making sure all the busses come in when theyre suppsoed to etc. etc.) of a complaint.

ive seen the guy on the 123 do this as well, he runs at the first sign of trouble!

LFCFan

I asked the inspector once on Eden Quay why the bus that was due 10 minutes earlier was still sitting in front of us not letting us on and he pointed out that his timetable said it was on time and I pointed out that the timetable that was on the bus stop said it was 10 minutes late. He accused me of being cheeky and threatned to not let me on the bus. I was very polite with him and was nowhere near cheeky and then he has the cheek to nearly stop me getting on a bus for enquiring about the timetable. Pr1ck.

b20uvkft6m5xwg

Although DublinBus rank w/ Eircom in the my list of hated corporate entities (hence why I very rarely use the former) but...

About 6 years I ripped a Carhartt Fleece (expensive yoke about £90 at the time) on the corner of the ticket reader whilst getting off a bus. I wrote a very sympathtic letter saying I was a poor student (nothings changed ) and I had save up to get this jacket etc etc. I had only had it about 2 months and I enclosed a copy of the receipt. Now it was only a slight rip at the pocket and my mother had stiched it up real good after the incident.

However, they sent a letter back about a month later stating to the effect, becuase it was 2 months old they were prepared to reimburse me £75 which was enclosed.

I was pleasantly shocked to say the least, considering you wouldnt even notice the rip- and I still have it and wear it BTW

The moral of the story is...exercise your right to complain.
Civil Servants dont mind compensating you, when its not their money !!

thedrowner

hmmmm....i wonder if i send them a bill for about 200 euro's worth of taxi fares would they reimburse me...

pork99

He accused me of being cheeky and threatned to not let me on the bus. I was very polite with him and was nowhere near cheeky and then he has the cheek to nearly stop me getting on a bus for enquiring about the timetable. Pr1ck.

yes they do have a tendency to forget who is paying their wages

<edit>

or I should say A FEW of them have a tendency to forget who is paying their wages - its not fair to say they are all ignorant w*nkers

</edit>

Big Chief

bus service is a absoloute joke, i got so sick of the 19a/54a driving by me every morning due to it being full (im on lr kimmage rd.) that ive just started walking the hr upto me work (IFSC) :mad:

and im not even talking about just 1 driving bye, on the last occasion (i was late for work the whole week) about 4 of them drove bye all full.

And yet what furthers my aggrevation is they then come out with pleas for MORE people to use publin transport :rolleyes:

how about they sort out the feckin people that are actually using there ****e public transport in the first place.....

oh yeh and i dont trust the timetables, infact i stopped looking at them altogether, i just stand around and wait like an eejit while smoking a cigarette till either of them (19a/54a) turns up. Timetables just annoy me more when i know theyre late

LFCFan

Originally posted by Big Chief
And yet what furthers my aggrevation is they then come out with pleas for MORE people to use publin transport :rolleyes:

how about they sort out the feckin people that are actually using there ****e public transport in the first place.....

Exactly. The governments answer to traffic problems is to make it more expensive to use your car and then go on and on about us all leaving our cars at home and taking the Bus/Train etc. What a joke. And I don't see any of these ministers calling for us to use public transport leaving their cars at home and travelling by bus to Leinster House. Hypocrites the lot of them.

MDR

You seem to be all-knowledgeable LFCFan,
why not run for office yourself ?

I'd vote for you,
if only to see what you would do if you got in

Can I point you at Bus Rage , don't get angry, get even ...

LFCFan

The first thing I'd do is get in a top Accounting firm to do the Countries books and find out where **** loads of money can be saved. The amount of perks TD's get are rediculous for a start. They are already getting paid way too much and on top of that they get massive expense accounts. As someone said on Questions & Answers last night, the Government will save €40,000,000 by scrapping the First Time Buyers Grants and the new government Jet just happens to cost €40,000,000. Roads should be built by foreign firms because they do the job in a quarter of the time for half the money and do a hell of a lot better job. I'd bring in zero tollerance to reduce crime. I'd have stiffer penalties for re-offenders. I'd legalise canabis and prostitution because whatever anyone says it's gonna happen anyway so we might as well regulate it and it would generate even more tax revenue. I'd abolish VRT. I'd reduce duties on Pura Unleaded petrol so it would be more attractive for drivers to use so reduce emissions. I'd have a complete overhaul of the licensing laws bringing them in line with mainland Europe. I'd move towards complete decentralisation of Government departments and remove restrictions on Shannon so it can operate at full capacity. I'd remove tax incentives for companies locating in Dublin but give more incentives for companies locating in and around Shannon. I'd invest heavily in infrastructure so that companies locating in the Shannon region would be happy to locate there. I'd have college fees for those who can afford it. I'd remove lower income families from the Tax net. I'd like to see people in office who actually know what they are talking about. ie. Minister for Foreign Affairs should be fluent in a few languages, have travelled a lot etc etc. Minister for Education would be an ex-teacher, minister for health would have some qualification in the field of health.

MDR

It would be wonderful to have such a simplistic view of the world and government.

I must conceed that some of your arguments are well founded, but most assume an umlimited purse and ignore economics.

Minister for Foreign Affairs should be fluent in a few languages, have travelled a lot etc etc. Minister for Education would be an ex-teacher, minister for health would have some qualification in the field of health.

I must admit I especially like the one above, yes of course, lets have Ministers who are sympathetic to the Unions and will give the teachers the 30% rise they demand, the consultants the €100,000 they all want etc ....

Its very difficult to find people who are both knowledgeable and unbiased ... no ?

Anyway ... very off topic ...

LFCFan

of course off topic. I seem to be specialising in that lately. Some of what I said though is wishful thinking but I really believe that if someone external was to go through the countries finances they could come up with at least an extra Billion Euro a year by scrapping wasteful spending. The likes of McCreevy is afraid to do something like that 'cause he'd piss off too many of his collegues who are living the high life.

Anyway! Dublin Bus suck! (Back on Topic again).

thedrowner

big chief-scary-we live on the same road!
it'd be weird if we knew each other.

oneweb

Originally posted by LFCFan
what really annoys me about the bus service is the timetable. For example the Stop in Blanchardstown village near the Garda Station says there should be a bus every 15 minutes on one route, 20 minutes on another and 20 minutes on another one. Yet I had to wait 45 minutes for a bus the last 2 times I was there. This was at a time when traffic was light and there should be no excuses for buses to be late. In the same space of time 11 buses went in the opposite direction. The biggest joke is the Government wanting us to leave our overpriced, over insured cars at home and take the inadequate, useless public transport they supply us with.

Couldn't agree more with your last statement.
Also, yeah - the 39 used to be schedule for at least every 6 mins during peak time (they changed that a while ago to be every 15/20 whatever minutes). Also - I sent a complaint off to Dublin Bus regarding the fact that I'd seen many 39s going down Coolmine Road COMPLETELY EMPTY - which is impossible unless they went straight from Clonsilla past Molloys (until they made that one-way) and onto the Coolmine Road skipping Hartstown/Huntstown and the Blanchardstown centre (the part of the route I get on). I did get a response, but it just said that they had to because of time/traffic and that a review of the route was underway.
They still take the shortcut. And coming from Hawkins Street (terminus) you're still waiting way more than the 15/20 minutes. Don't even get me started on how many sets of traffic lights there are from Hawkins Street until you get back onto the quays, and how much time is added to the route. :rolleyes:

Just my €2 (too lenghty to be centsible)

Big Chief

Originally posted by thedrowner
big chief-scary-we live on the same road!
it'd be weird if we knew each other.

i stay in the mount argus estate :cool:

ive only stayed here for 4 months, lucan village 2 months, and back in glasgow 19 1/2 years beforehand

thedrowner

ah, i wouldnt know you then. sorry bout that!

Nevyn

living in d15 the public transport is beyond stupid to silly

they really should split up the 39 route into at least 2.
one just going arround the est on the horse shoe and on to the motorway and another from the termins to the village and into town.

Personally I would like to break the nose of the idiot that rerouted the 39 over th south side. I spent 30 mins sitting on the keys while the bus moved from the bus lane to the turning lane to get across the liffey and when it got into the turning lane it could not proceed down it for the cars parked at the quayswall
were in the way.

Then it did not stop at the central bank as there were too many other buses pulled in and went to hawkins street not letting anyone off before then. Arrrgghhh !!!!

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by Thaed
living in d15 the public transport is beyond stupid to silly

Hes not wrong you know. Theres too many lights junctions on the route now. They should dig a tunnel (theres already a rail one under there) through the park and replant the park over the top. The run the route around the back of the castelknock and to clonsilla. But have no stops from town to clonsilla, but put feeder buses all around the d.15 area.

Or just get the finger out and improve the exisiting rail links which are massively underdeveloped.

Seraphina

yis bastards stole our bus stop!!!!
now i have to walk all the way around the corner!

Arcus Arrow

Dame street this evening. Looking at the electronic readout I could see there was going to be a potential problem. There were four buses all due to arrive at the same time at the same stop. So I'm ready for what usually happens. The ones who pull up short of the stop will open the doors to let people on and then pull out. They pull up, one up the arse of the other, so many of the people at the stop can't see the numbers on the front of their bus. It's a dark rainy evening.

When they all did arrive one right behind the other it got even worse thanks to the well worn lackadaisical attitude too many drivers have to time keeping.

Just at the first bus in the line had closed his doors a young guy runs up and bangs on the glass. The driver opens the doors and lets him on. They then proceed to start jabbing with the driver pointing this way and than. There are now five buses held up. The guy finally gets off only to be replaced by a young girl. She's looking for directions as well. The driver is hanging over his door and pointing this way and that laughing and joking. The first guy on the queue loses it and rips into the driver. In response to being told he's holding up four other buses the driver say's "go ahead report me" with a smirk. I called bus control. No joy. He'd already started to pull away. As soon as he pulls out all the others follow like a synchronised circus act. A good number of people were left waving as their buses headed off into Westmoreland street.

There should be a sign on each bus that says

"The driver does not give tourist information, timetables or route guides. Please do not engage the driver in conversation."

It's nice to have friendly helpful bus drivers but their job should be to drive the bus and keep it on time.

There's is just no commitment to keeping buses on schedule. There's a kind of "so what" attitude". In other countries I've had bus drivers glare at me for paying in cash when I should have had a prepaid ticket.

The Hill Billy

And why did you need to drag up a 9-year old thread in the wrong forum to tell us about it?

Closed.

tHB