I never actually wrote about the conclusion to my £3.15 running joke. Well, despite it now being £3.20. To be honest I wasn't going to, but feel it's important as it shows both the bad and the really good to customer relations.
One Friday I was heading to my mates on the 8, so I done the X2 from Durham to Chester le Street with my Arriva pass, and then waited patiently for the (late) 8. Jumped on, and stated my usual destination (Biddick). Now with Davey Bowyer's advice in mind (naughty people paying with notes etc), I had the correct change counted out, but to my surprise was only charged £2.70. I quickly inspected the fare stage on my ticket, and noticed that it was "Glebe TFC". This was the same Glebe as in the stop after Biddick on route towards Sunderland.
So I had a quick check of my wallet, and found a previous ticket that I'd been charged £3.15 for. The fare stage was "A1231 Slip Road". Now I knew the machines, with simple fares, always state the maximum point of travel on your ticket, so I'd thought nowt of it at the time. Why would I? I'd asked for a fare in good faith, and been told the fare on numerous occasions.
Anyway, I got on to GNE's customer services team about it. Got a query back initially asking if I was travelling to Biddick Academy or Biddick Primary School. I opted for the former, being that the latter is in the middle of a housing estate, and not actually served by any buses. I confirmed so, and was told the solution was to ask the driver for "Cooks Hall" to avoid any confusion. I mean hey, who would be confused by that? Just ask for a ticket to a building that was demolished over 50 years ago. Perhaps I should ask for Newell's Works instead of Teal Farm when I'm next on the 73?
I pointed this out to customer services, and pointed out that looking back at my diary, I'm almost £5.00 out of pocket. The response I got back was pretty much what I was expecting, that I couldn't have a refund without providing all the individual tickets. Of course I had no reason to keep the tickets, as I put my trust in the company to issue me with the most suitable fare for my journey. I was told that the fare stages were set years ago, and it is "very seldom" that they change, as local people opt to quote the old fare stage. Really? I'd like to see evidence supporting that. The email finished off stating I wouldn't be refunded for this one instance (50p), as the Finance department would be unable to issue a refund for that amount.
I responded with a request for the complaint to be escalated, and I had a bit conversation with an extremely helpful manager. I highlighted that I was refused access to fare tables for three services back in November last year, which I requested on the sole basis that it allowed me to work out the most economical fare for my journey. I should add that I had tried to escalate that back in November, but customer services started ignoring my emails. I'd instead escalated the matter to Bus Useless UK, who had sided with the company's stance that I couldn't have them, and also started ignoring my emails.
Anyway, the manager had apologised and had went on to explain to each and every point I'd made. Explaining what they're looking to do in future, and agreed with several points I'd raised. The best bit was that the manager had said he was concerned that I was refused fare tables, as they're obliged to provide me with them when asked. The manager obliged with the original request and provided me with the info for the three services I'd asked for. They had also contradicted what I was told previously from customer services, and added that they do try and update the stage names, with the depots help.
Moral of the story? Always question what you're told. If it's not written down, you'll never know it's accurate, but even then it may not be accurate.
The company clearly has some very helpful people within, but the problem, from experience, is getting to speak to them. Many an exchange I had with the late Peter Huntley, and even if we didn't always agree on something, he always took the time to personally respond and even on the one occasion invite me in. The channels of communication are severely reduced these days (no more OpenLine
) and I feel to some extent that relationship is lost. Of course one solution would be to ensure customer services give out more than an educated guess.
The end.
