The free online magazine for news and views from Cradley, Storridge & Mathon
35
Nov
2022
comment here or
email us
HAVE YOUR SAY ON ANY TOPIC
TALKING POINT
Recent un-announced road works and closure on the
connecting road between East and West Cradley
prompted the following communication between a long
term resident and First Bus: the operators of the 417 bus
“service”.
Thanks for contacting First Bus. We value all customer feedback that we
receive and fully review all comments, suggestions or praise, passing these
on to the relevant departments where appropriate.
For lost property enquiries, we'll let you know of any potential matches
within 7 working days. For all other enquiries, we will aim to respond
within 14 days or sooner where possible.
For your records, this is what you submitted:
Reason: My bus never arrived
Opco: Worcestershire
Incident:
Date: 19/10/2022
Time: 10:30
Location: Cradley
Stop: Buryfields
Route:
Number: 417
Direction: to Worcester
Vehicle:
Registration:
Driver:
Description: Not seen
Ticket:
Number:
Comment: We have an ongoing problem with bus diversion when any of the narrow roads in the village are closed for
repairs/maintenance. Buses are diverted through the village and onto the A4103 bypassing the Buryfields stop and
all of the senior citizens who live there and rely on the service to get to Worcester and Ledbury. Why the bus does not
turn off the A4103 and back into the East side of the village to collect people there is a mystery that I would like you
to explain. We have had instances of elderly people having to walk half a mile up a very steep road with no pavement
into the village carrying shopping when your drivers will not turn into the village. I appreciate that doing so would
involve turning the bus around but in my ( and others) opinion there is ample space to safely do so. This service has
been severely reduced in recent times to a point where it is on the verge of being what you might class as a chicken
and egg situation which will of course lead to less use and more reductions. This stop serves the biggest
concentration of elderly people in the village who do not drive and I would submit that such actions by your company
is not conducive to the encouragement of public transport use. I understand that you do not receive notifications of
road works affecting your services but efforts could be made by your company to serve your loyal customers better
by instructing drivers to re-enter the village to serve them. I look forward to receiving your solution.
Older than 16: yes
Marketing contact preference: Email
Thu, 3 Nov 2022 12:13
To:SSC-CustomerFeedback@firstbus.co.uk Details
Thank you for your response to my complaint. Unfortunately you failed completely to address that complaint at all. You
have not answered my question as why it is not possible for you to complete the route should there be a road diversion
in the central area of the village by instructing your drivers to turn off the diversion via the main road to collect people
at the Buryfields stop ( and drop off there on the return) There is ample room for the bus to turn around and proceed
via the main road to completer the route.
Please I must insist that you answer my complaint completely without the standard platitudes you seem to see fit to
use. I have no use of a £5 voucher for two reasons 1) I do not use your app 2) I have a bus pass which I use for travel.
Whilst you may feel this is a good will gesture, coupled with your reluctance to address my complaint correctly it is in
fact an insult and an attempt to placate my position. Please DO NOT close this complaint as it has not yet been
resolved.
I look forward to receiving your response to my complaint in full.
Yours
-----Original Message-----
From: UK-SSC-Customer Feedback <SSC-CustomerFeedback@firstbus.co.uk>
To:
Sent: Wed, 2 Nov 2022 16:49
Subject: First Bus Reliability Complaint
CC/22/154554 IM00301477
Thank you for contacting us. I am sorry you have experienced a problem with our services.
The Bus industry, like many other sectors, is affected by labour shortages. We have seen varying levels of shortages
across many of our depots and within our Contact Centre.
We continue to plan our networks on an ongoing basis using the latest real-time data and technology available,
balancing customer demand and resource to deliver reliable services.
We recognise that we haven’t replied to your enquiry as quick as we would have liked and to avoid any further delay, as
a gesture of goodwill we would like to offer you a £5 voucher to redeem against any ticket you purchase through the
app.
You will need to enter the code when you are buying your ticket before you choose a payment method. The section to
enter the code should appear in green text under the “Secure checkout” banner. Your voucher code is: 4PLDG2FKKC
and is valid till 21st December 2022.
Please note, the code can only be redeemed against one ticket and will apply a discount of up to £5. If the ticket you
are wanting to purchase is less than £5 then the full amount will be discounted, but the code cannot be used again to
receive a further discount for the remaining balance.
We will now close your enquiry. If you require any further assistance, please complete a new form at
https://www.firstbus.co.uk/help-and-support
We thank you for your understanding.
First Bus National Contact Centre
Further Information:
We aim to post regular updates relating to service disruptions and cancellations on our local Twitter pages. These
updates can be viewed on our website via a banner at the top of the homepage, or by viewing them directly on Twitter.
You do not need to be a Twitter user to view these updates.
If you don’t have it already, the First Bus app uses real time information to help you track your bus live on a map, so
you’ll know where it is and when it is due to arrive at your stop. Further information on how to track a service can be
found at https://www.firstbus.co.uk/tech-bus/first-bus-app
If you are unable to use the First Bus app you can find where the next bus is by selecting the bus stop you are waiting
at https://www.firstbus.co.uk/next-bus
AWAITING REPLY
FIRST BUS
RESIDENT
FIRST BUS
RESIDENT
35
Nov 2022
comment here
or email us
HAVE YOUR SAY ON ANY TOPIC
TALKING POINT
Recent un-announced road works and closure on the
connecting road between East and West Cradley
prompted the following communication between a long
term resident and First Bus: the operators of the 417 bus
“service”.
Thanks for contacting First Bus. We value all customer feedback that
we
receive and fully review all comments, suggestions or praise, passing
these
on to the relevant departments where appropriate.
For lost property enquiries, we'll let you know of any potential
matches
within 7 working days. For all other enquiries, we will aim to respond
within 14 days or sooner where possible.
For your records, this is what you submitted:
Reason: My bus never arrived
Opco: Worcestershire
Incident:
Date: 19/10/2022
Time: 10:30
Location: Cradley
Stop: Buryfields
Route:
Number: 417
Direction: to Worcester
Vehicle:
Registration:
Driver:
Description: Not seen
Ticket:
Number:
Comment: We have an ongoing problem with bus diversion when any
of the narrow roads in the village are closed for repairs/maintenance.
Buses are diverted through the village and onto the A4103 bypassing
the Buryfields stop and all of the senior citizens who live there and
rely on the service to get to Worcester and Ledbury. Why the bus
does not turn off the A4103 and back into the East side of the village
to collect people there is a mystery that I would like you to explain.
We have had instances of elderly people having to walk half a mile up
a very steep road with no pavement into the village carrying
shopping when your drivers will not turn into the village. I appreciate
that doing so would involve turning the bus around but in my ( and
others) opinion there is ample space to safely do so. This service has
been severely reduced in recent times to a point where it is on the
verge of being what you might class as a chicken and egg situation
which will of course lead to less use and more reductions. This stop
serves the biggest concentration of elderly people in the village who
do not drive and I would submit that such actions by your company is
not conducive to the encouragement of public transport use. I
understand that you do not receive notifications of road works
affecting your services but efforts could be made by your company to
serve your loyal customers better by instructing drivers to re-enter
the village to serve them. I look forward to receiving your solution.
Older than 16: yes
Marketing contact preference: Email
Thu, 3 Nov 2022 12:13
To:SSC-CustomerFeedback@firstbus.co.uk Details
Thank you for your response to my complaint. Unfortunately you
failed completely to address that complaint at all. You have not
answered my question as why it is not possible for you to
complete the route should there be a road diversion in the central
area of the village by instructing your drivers to turn off the
diversion via the main road to collect people at the Buryfields stop
( and drop off there on the return) There is ample room for the
bus to turn around and proceed via the main road to completer
the route.
Please I must insist that you answer my complaint completely
without the standard platitudes you seem to see fit to use. I have
no use of a £5 voucher for two reasons 1) I do not use your app 2) I
have a bus pass which I use for travel.
Whilst you may feel this is a good will gesture, coupled with your
reluctance to address my complaint correctly it is in fact an insult
and an attempt to placate my position. Please DO NOT close this
complaint as it has not yet been resolved.
I look forward to receiving your response to my complaint in full.
Yours
-----Original Message-----
From: UK-SSC-Customer Feedback <SSC-
CustomerFeedback@firstbus.co.uk>
To:
Sent: Wed, 2 Nov 2022 16:49
Subject: First Bus Reliability Complaint
CC/22/154554 IM00301477
Thank you for contacting us. I am sorry you have experienced a
problem with our services.
The Bus industry, like many other sectors, is affected by labour
shortages. We have seen varying levels of shortages across many of
our depots and within our Contact Centre.
We continue to plan our networks on an ongoing basis using the
latest real-time data and technology available, balancing customer
demand and resource to deliver reliable services.
We recognise that we haven’t replied to your enquiry as quick as we
would have liked and to avoid any further delay, as a gesture of
goodwill we would like to offer you a £5 voucher to redeem against
any ticket you purchase through the app.
You will need to enter the code when you are buying your ticket
before you choose a payment method. The section to enter the
code should appear in green text under the “Secure checkout”
banner. Your voucher code is: 4PLDG2FKKC and is valid till 21st
December 2022.
Please note, the code can only be redeemed against one ticket and
will apply a discount of up to £5. If the ticket you are wanting to
purchase is less than £5 then the full amount will be discounted, but
the code cannot be used again to receive a further discount for the
remaining balance.
We will now close your enquiry. If you require any further
assistance, please complete a new form at
https://www.firstbus.co.uk/help-and-support
We thank you for your understanding.
First Bus National Contact Centre
Further Information:
We aim to post regular updates relating to service disruptions and
cancellations on our local Twitter pages. These updates can be
viewed on our website via a banner at the top of the homepage, or
by viewing them directly on Twitter. You do not need to be a Twitter
user to view these updates.
If you don’t have it already, the First Bus app uses real time
information to help you track your bus live on a map, so you’ll know
where it is and when it is due to arrive at your stop. Further
information on how to track a service can be found at
https://www.firstbus.co.uk/tech-bus/first-bus-app
If you are unable to use the First Bus app you can find where the
next bus is by selecting the bus stop you are waiting at
https://www.firstbus.co.uk/next-bus
FIRST BUS
RESIDENT
FIRST BUS
RESIDENT
AWAITING REPLY
