Letter: Better to travel than to Arriva
Tuesday 24th November 2009, 7:47AM GMT.
Letter: I thought I would catch the bus this week to go to my voluntary job.
The normal computer information boards are no longer working and I was advised to consult the new timetables.
So off I went to the bus station only to find that the one I needed was out of stock.
I was told I could buy a photocopied sheet for 10p but as the timetables are normally free, this seemed a somewhat novel approach to “customer service” and I subsequently declined the opportunity.
Why should the customer be penalised for Arriva’s inefficiency?
The lady in the office was unable to tell me the time the bus would reach the stop where I planned to catch it from so I just had to take pot luck and wait in the rain.
At a time when we are being encouraged to use public transport in this country, Arriva’s approach seems very cavalier and to make no sense, from either a business or climate change perspective.
Roger Ford
Shrewsbury
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roger look out for a bus stop you will see bus time tables they tell you times of your local service .
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Its not exactly all ARRIVA’s fault strictly, ask yourself why the electronic information displays no longer display the information? Answer because Shropshire Council pulled the funding on these.
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It is good to see that someone is complainig about arriva once again, however i think it should be brought to your attneion that the digital display boards are operated by the council, the travel information office is run by travel news (howard williamson) and although they may be out of stock of arriva supplied timetables it is they that are profiteering by charging 10 pence for photocopies. im sure if you rang the traveline number or consulted the internet you would be able to gather this information, so yet again it would seem that an ilinformed member of the public is unduly complaining about arriva
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Good to see Someone complaining about arriva once again. However a couple of things should be brought to your attention. the digital displays in the bustation are controlled and updated by shropshire council not arriva!! The supply of timetables to the privately run travel news shop is made by arriva but the charging of 10p per copy is down to the proprietor of the shop not arriva. Im sure if you spent the time to conult the internet or ring the travel info line 08712002233 you would of got the info you required.
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While I imagine Arriva deserve criticism now and again, the writer of the letter seems either ignorant of the facts or is so ant–Arriva it wouldn’t make any difference.
As stated, the council is responsible for the bus station and for publicity, including electronic boards. If any of this is lacking it’s because of disinterested or unknowledgeable staff in the transport department. And it could be due to budget cuts too – expect lots more of them!
The travel shop – which is nothing to do with Arriva – should have ordered more timetables if they knew they were running out.
In short – Arriva aren’t for once really at fault here, Mr Ford….
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Arriva timetables? Don’t make me laugh! They are a joke in Bayston Hill anyway. The odd bus or two might arrive on time but most don’t and come along in two’s and three’s. To stick to some semblance of a timetable buses very often wait outside the village for up to four minutes in pull ins before setting off again. My elderly next door neighbour waited for an hour recently for a bus which is supposed to run every 15 minutes. Arriva gets no sympathy from me or from the majority of Bayston Hill bus passengers.
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I suspect those people not complaining are those who don’t actually try to use the service…
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so now we blame the council because they aren’t funding the infoboards with arriva times on them – forgive me but arriva should fund these themselves, it is for the ease of their customers, and also may even increase their customer base, more people using the service if they know about it etc. Or perhaps the council should fund the electronic boards at the airport too, showing when flights are taking off and landing, rather than the private, profitable, company that owns them. and yes the travel shop should have ordered more timetables if runnibng out, however, again, arriva stands to benefit from having people able to access this info so should also be making sure the places that keep this info that their customer visit actually do have timetables.
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Post 8: But its not just ARRIVA who run the services, is it? A good number of ARRIVA’s routes are subsidised to operate on behalf of Shropshire Council who fund them via the rate payers of Shropshire! End of the day it comes to the Council cuttings costs and that is a fact since they were reorganaised to unitary. Since when did Councils fund Airports, not a valid point I’m afraid! I use many services in the town and have no issues with timetables or obtaining them. Shrewsbury’s biggest problem for reliability of bus services is too many cars congesting the town centre!
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