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North East Buses Local Bus Scene Go North East Emergency Service Changes from 25th September 2021

Emergency Service Changes from 25th September 2021

Emergency Service Changes from 25th September 2021

 
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Dan

Site Administrator

18,100
22 Oct 2021, 10:58 pm #101
(22 Oct 2021, 9:42 pm)Andreos1 At what point tomorrow, do I decide to go for the 2300 X1 or cut short my evening and plump for the 2200 or 2230?
Is it a case of checking my phone to see if it is running (potentially spoiling my night) or just cutting my losses and heading home early?


The website is usually updated in the morning at 9am, sometimes later in the day too although less often on a weekend given reduced staffing levels and their other work commitments (goes back to Adrian’s comment on cost vs benefit).

I think, as much as it’s not the right answer, the expectation once the worst case scenario has been posted, is to cut short your evening in case it doesn’t get covered.

It’s terrible, and goes against everything that the company is clearly trying to achieve with later buses, cheaper evening fares, etc, but that’s the world we’re living in at the moment (and I think most are understanding of it - those who aren’t have probably contacted Customer Services and obtained a refund for their taxi fare).

Being grateful for small mercies, it’s better you found out through this list, than not at all when you’re stood at the bus stop waiting for a bus to turn up that isn’t going to (though take the point you and others have made on several occasions prior, not everyone has internet access and not everyone is passing through a bus station to see a printed copy) as would be the case with other operators.

I might have said it before - if not here then certainly elsewhere - but the big difference between a staff shortage for a bus company, and a staff shortage in other sectors, is that the service simply cannot be provided by a bus company when they are short of staff. Elsewhere, service is slower, or not all products are available but alternatives are readily available. It’s certainly a lot worse for a bus company, and I think that’s why staff in bus companies are susceptible to a lot more abuse in the current climate.


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Dan
22 Oct 2021, 10:58 pm #101

(22 Oct 2021, 9:42 pm)Andreos1 At what point tomorrow, do I decide to go for the 2300 X1 or cut short my evening and plump for the 2200 or 2230?
Is it a case of checking my phone to see if it is running (potentially spoiling my night) or just cutting my losses and heading home early?


The website is usually updated in the morning at 9am, sometimes later in the day too although less often on a weekend given reduced staffing levels and their other work commitments (goes back to Adrian’s comment on cost vs benefit).

I think, as much as it’s not the right answer, the expectation once the worst case scenario has been posted, is to cut short your evening in case it doesn’t get covered.

It’s terrible, and goes against everything that the company is clearly trying to achieve with later buses, cheaper evening fares, etc, but that’s the world we’re living in at the moment (and I think most are understanding of it - those who aren’t have probably contacted Customer Services and obtained a refund for their taxi fare).

Being grateful for small mercies, it’s better you found out through this list, than not at all when you’re stood at the bus stop waiting for a bus to turn up that isn’t going to (though take the point you and others have made on several occasions prior, not everyone has internet access and not everyone is passing through a bus station to see a printed copy) as would be the case with other operators.

I might have said it before - if not here then certainly elsewhere - but the big difference between a staff shortage for a bus company, and a staff shortage in other sectors, is that the service simply cannot be provided by a bus company when they are short of staff. Elsewhere, service is slower, or not all products are available but alternatives are readily available. It’s certainly a lot worse for a bus company, and I think that’s why staff in bus companies are susceptible to a lot more abuse in the current climate.


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Andreos1



14,155
23 Oct 2021, 11:37 am #102
(22 Oct 2021, 10:03 pm)Driver9*** Do Taxis not exist now?

Ah, I didn't realise I had to organise or budget for a taxi in addition to a bus that would have already been paid for.
Silly me.

(22 Oct 2021, 10:58 pm)Dan The website is usually updated in the morning at 9am, sometimes later in the day too although less often on a weekend given reduced staffing levels and their other work commitments (goes back to Adrian’s comment on cost vs benefit).

I think, as much as it’s not the right answer, the expectation once the worst case scenario has been posted, is to cut short your evening in case it doesn’t get covered.

It’s terrible, and goes against everything that the company is clearly trying to achieve with later buses, cheaper evening fares, etc, but that’s the world we’re living in at the moment (and I think most are understanding of it - those who aren’t have probably contacted Customer Services and obtained a refund for their taxi fare).

Being grateful for small mercies, it’s better you found out through this list, than not at all when you’re stood at the bus stop waiting for a bus to turn up that isn’t going to (though take the point you and others have made on several occasions prior, not everyone has internet access and not everyone is passing through a bus station to see a printed copy) as would be the case with other operators.

I might have said it before - if not here then certainly elsewhere - but the big difference between a staff shortage for a bus company, and a staff shortage in other sectors, is that the service simply cannot be provided by a bus company when they are short of staff. Elsewhere, service is slower, or not all products are available but alternatives are readily available. It’s certainly a lot worse for a bus company, and I think that’s why staff in bus companies are susceptible to a lot more abuse in the current climate.


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Made alternative arrangements now.
Timings didn't work for the 2230 and didn't want to take the risk with the 2300 possibly being reinstated.

Interesting you mention the 50 the other night. I actually know someone who was working in Durham that day. Made alternative arrangements once they saw the 50 wasn't running. 
Whilst the advance notice was useful in that alternative arrangements could be made in advance, reinstating it didn't make much difference to that person in that particular instance. It just resulted in an additional car on the road.
Edited 23 Oct 2021, 11:41 am by Andreos1.

'Illegitimis non carborundum'
Andreos1
23 Oct 2021, 11:37 am #102

(22 Oct 2021, 10:03 pm)Driver9*** Do Taxis not exist now?

Ah, I didn't realise I had to organise or budget for a taxi in addition to a bus that would have already been paid for.
Silly me.

(22 Oct 2021, 10:58 pm)Dan The website is usually updated in the morning at 9am, sometimes later in the day too although less often on a weekend given reduced staffing levels and their other work commitments (goes back to Adrian’s comment on cost vs benefit).

I think, as much as it’s not the right answer, the expectation once the worst case scenario has been posted, is to cut short your evening in case it doesn’t get covered.

It’s terrible, and goes against everything that the company is clearly trying to achieve with later buses, cheaper evening fares, etc, but that’s the world we’re living in at the moment (and I think most are understanding of it - those who aren’t have probably contacted Customer Services and obtained a refund for their taxi fare).

Being grateful for small mercies, it’s better you found out through this list, than not at all when you’re stood at the bus stop waiting for a bus to turn up that isn’t going to (though take the point you and others have made on several occasions prior, not everyone has internet access and not everyone is passing through a bus station to see a printed copy) as would be the case with other operators.

I might have said it before - if not here then certainly elsewhere - but the big difference between a staff shortage for a bus company, and a staff shortage in other sectors, is that the service simply cannot be provided by a bus company when they are short of staff. Elsewhere, service is slower, or not all products are available but alternatives are readily available. It’s certainly a lot worse for a bus company, and I think that’s why staff in bus companies are susceptible to a lot more abuse in the current climate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Made alternative arrangements now.
Timings didn't work for the 2230 and didn't want to take the risk with the 2300 possibly being reinstated.

Interesting you mention the 50 the other night. I actually know someone who was working in Durham that day. Made alternative arrangements once they saw the 50 wasn't running. 
Whilst the advance notice was useful in that alternative arrangements could be made in advance, reinstating it didn't make much difference to that person in that particular instance. It just resulted in an additional car on the road.


'Illegitimis non carborundum'

big mac



430
23 Oct 2021, 2:16 pm #103
(22 Oct 2021, 10:03 pm)Driver9*** Do Taxis not exist now?
I didn't realise taxis now accepted Go North East bus tickets.

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big mac
23 Oct 2021, 2:16 pm #103

(22 Oct 2021, 10:03 pm)Driver9*** Do Taxis not exist now?
I didn't realise taxis now accepted Go North East bus tickets.

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23 Oct 2021, 4:50 pm #104
(23 Oct 2021, 2:16 pm)big mac I didn't realise taxis now accepted Go North East bus tickets.

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Perhaps they should. Elsewhere in public transport, LNER will straightaway book me a taxi if I miss the last bus home because of disruption - I don't have to flag one down and hope I have enough money to pay for a taxi on the night.

Why can't GNE have someone in control manning the Customer Services number who can book and pay for taxis on the customers' behalf...?
omnicity4659
23 Oct 2021, 4:50 pm #104

(23 Oct 2021, 2:16 pm)big mac I didn't realise taxis now accepted Go North East bus tickets.

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Perhaps they should. Elsewhere in public transport, LNER will straightaway book me a taxi if I miss the last bus home because of disruption - I don't have to flag one down and hope I have enough money to pay for a taxi on the night.

Why can't GNE have someone in control manning the Customer Services number who can book and pay for taxis on the customers' behalf...?

Adrian



9,566
23 Oct 2021, 5:45 pm #105
(23 Oct 2021, 4:50 pm)omnicity4659 Perhaps they should. Elsewhere in public transport, LNER will straightaway book me a taxi if I miss the last bus home because of disruption - I don't have to flag one down and hope I have enough money to pay for a taxi on the night.

Why can't GNE have someone in control manning the Customer Services number who can book and pay for taxis on the customers' behalf...?

Or have customer services hours more reflective of the operating hours? I think all of the big three up here now run a similar Mon-Fri 9am-5pm service. 

It again comes down to benefit vs cost, sadly.

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Adrian
23 Oct 2021, 5:45 pm #105

(23 Oct 2021, 4:50 pm)omnicity4659 Perhaps they should. Elsewhere in public transport, LNER will straightaway book me a taxi if I miss the last bus home because of disruption - I don't have to flag one down and hope I have enough money to pay for a taxi on the night.

Why can't GNE have someone in control manning the Customer Services number who can book and pay for taxis on the customers' behalf...?

Or have customer services hours more reflective of the operating hours? I think all of the big three up here now run a similar Mon-Fri 9am-5pm service. 

It again comes down to benefit vs cost, sadly.


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Keeiajs

563891

1,026
23 Oct 2021, 6:18 pm #106
(22 Oct 2021, 10:58 pm)Dan The website is usually updated in the morning at 9am, sometimes later in the day too although less often on a weekend given reduced staffing levels and their other work commitments (goes back to Adrian’s comment on cost vs benefit).

I think, as much as it’s not the right answer, the expectation once the worst case scenario has been posted, is to cut short your evening in case it doesn’t get covered.

It’s terrible, and goes against everything that the company is clearly trying to achieve with later buses, cheaper evening fares, etc, but that’s the world we’re living in at the moment (and I think most are understanding of it - those who aren’t have probably contacted Customer Services and obtained a refund for their taxi fare).

Being grateful for small mercies, it’s better you found out through this list, than not at all when you’re stood at the bus stop waiting for a bus to turn up that isn’t going to (though take the point you and others have made on several occasions prior, not everyone has internet access and not everyone is passing through a bus station to see a printed copy) as would be the case with other operators.

I might have said it before - if not here then certainly elsewhere - but the big difference between a staff shortage for a bus company, and a staff shortage in other sectors, is that the service simply cannot be provided by a bus company when they are short of staff. Elsewhere, service is slower, or not all products are available but alternatives are readily available. It’s certainly a lot worse for a bus company, and I think that’s why staff in bus companies are susceptible to a lot more abuse in the current climate.


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It seems non of the last buses for 49/57/96 and 730 for 4 hour period was picked up, well that is what it seems by the website.

EDIT - Seems like the 730 did run.
Keeiajs
23 Oct 2021, 6:18 pm #106

(22 Oct 2021, 10:58 pm)Dan The website is usually updated in the morning at 9am, sometimes later in the day too although less often on a weekend given reduced staffing levels and their other work commitments (goes back to Adrian’s comment on cost vs benefit).

I think, as much as it’s not the right answer, the expectation once the worst case scenario has been posted, is to cut short your evening in case it doesn’t get covered.

It’s terrible, and goes against everything that the company is clearly trying to achieve with later buses, cheaper evening fares, etc, but that’s the world we’re living in at the moment (and I think most are understanding of it - those who aren’t have probably contacted Customer Services and obtained a refund for their taxi fare).

Being grateful for small mercies, it’s better you found out through this list, than not at all when you’re stood at the bus stop waiting for a bus to turn up that isn’t going to (though take the point you and others have made on several occasions prior, not everyone has internet access and not everyone is passing through a bus station to see a printed copy) as would be the case with other operators.

I might have said it before - if not here then certainly elsewhere - but the big difference between a staff shortage for a bus company, and a staff shortage in other sectors, is that the service simply cannot be provided by a bus company when they are short of staff. Elsewhere, service is slower, or not all products are available but alternatives are readily available. It’s certainly a lot worse for a bus company, and I think that’s why staff in bus companies are susceptible to a lot more abuse in the current climate.


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It seems non of the last buses for 49/57/96 and 730 for 4 hour period was picked up, well that is what it seems by the website.

EDIT - Seems like the 730 did run.

23 Oct 2021, 9:22 pm #107
(23 Oct 2021, 5:45 pm)Adrian Or have customer services hours more reflective of the operating hours? I think all of the big three up here now run a similar Mon-Fri 9am-5pm service. 

It again comes down to benefit vs cost, sadly.
It seems they used the the pandemic as an excuse to severely cut back on customer service hours, then never brought them back.

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streetdeckfan
23 Oct 2021, 9:22 pm #107

(23 Oct 2021, 5:45 pm)Adrian Or have customer services hours more reflective of the operating hours? I think all of the big three up here now run a similar Mon-Fri 9am-5pm service. 

It again comes down to benefit vs cost, sadly.
It seems they used the the pandemic as an excuse to severely cut back on customer service hours, then never brought them back.

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Dan

Site Administrator

18,100
23 Oct 2021, 9:24 pm #108
(23 Oct 2021, 9:22 pm)streetdeckfan It seems they used the the pandemic as an excuse to severely cut back on customer service hours, then never brought them back.

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Possibly because staff were laid off..?

Adrian is right - cost vs benefit - and when revenue starts picking back up, customer service hours and the headcount in that department may also pick back up.


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Dan
23 Oct 2021, 9:24 pm #108

(23 Oct 2021, 9:22 pm)streetdeckfan It seems they used the the pandemic as an excuse to severely cut back on customer service hours, then never brought them back.

Sent from my AC2003 using Tapatalk


Possibly because staff were laid off..?

Adrian is right - cost vs benefit - and when revenue starts picking back up, customer service hours and the headcount in that department may also pick back up.


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Malarkey



6,060
23 Oct 2021, 9:39 pm #109
(23 Oct 2021, 5:45 pm)Adrian Or have customer services hours more reflective of the operating hours? I think all of the big three up here now run a similar Mon-Fri 9am-5pm service. 

It again comes down to benefit vs cost, sadly.

I work in Collections for EE and as a department we have recently reduced our operational hours from 8am-8pm to 8am-6pm as we found in the latter two hours our customers were not calling in as much resulting in staff being sat for long periods doing nothing which is a massive cost to the business.

I would like to think much like out local Bus Operators other companies from other sectors are following suit, for example the opening hours for Eldon Square is 8am-6pm for a handful of retail stores while others are open 9am-5/6pm now as it is not justifiable in the current the climate to have late night openings, I do wonder if this may change in the coming weeks with Christmas just around the corner.
Malarkey
23 Oct 2021, 9:39 pm #109

(23 Oct 2021, 5:45 pm)Adrian Or have customer services hours more reflective of the operating hours? I think all of the big three up here now run a similar Mon-Fri 9am-5pm service. 

It again comes down to benefit vs cost, sadly.

I work in Collections for EE and as a department we have recently reduced our operational hours from 8am-8pm to 8am-6pm as we found in the latter two hours our customers were not calling in as much resulting in staff being sat for long periods doing nothing which is a massive cost to the business.

I would like to think much like out local Bus Operators other companies from other sectors are following suit, for example the opening hours for Eldon Square is 8am-6pm for a handful of retail stores while others are open 9am-5/6pm now as it is not justifiable in the current the climate to have late night openings, I do wonder if this may change in the coming weeks with Christmas just around the corner.

Andreos1



14,155
23 Oct 2021, 10:12 pm #110
(23 Oct 2021, 5:45 pm)Adrian Or have customer services hours more reflective of the operating hours? I think all of the big three up here now run a similar Mon-Fri 9am-5pm service. 

It again comes down to benefit vs cost, sadly.

It would be interesting to see what damage (short, medium and long term) is being caused by cutting CS hours.
There's a clear and obvious plan to grow passenger levels specific to the leisure market (see £1 fares etc), yet not clear and obvious plan to counter any issues, queries or customer service issues for those travelling within the £1 window.

Those elastic passengers enticed by a £1 fare but not familiar with any of the social media pages aren't going to be overly impressed when a bus doesn't rock up and there's nobody to speak to on the phone number they Google on their phone from the bus stop.
These are people where there's a decent chance they're not going to be regulars - with access to the app or social media pages (if they're even aware of it).

'Illegitimis non carborundum'
Andreos1
23 Oct 2021, 10:12 pm #110

(23 Oct 2021, 5:45 pm)Adrian Or have customer services hours more reflective of the operating hours? I think all of the big three up here now run a similar Mon-Fri 9am-5pm service. 

It again comes down to benefit vs cost, sadly.

It would be interesting to see what damage (short, medium and long term) is being caused by cutting CS hours.
There's a clear and obvious plan to grow passenger levels specific to the leisure market (see £1 fares etc), yet not clear and obvious plan to counter any issues, queries or customer service issues for those travelling within the £1 window.

Those elastic passengers enticed by a £1 fare but not familiar with any of the social media pages aren't going to be overly impressed when a bus doesn't rock up and there's nobody to speak to on the phone number they Google on their phone from the bus stop.
These are people where there's a decent chance they're not going to be regulars - with access to the app or social media pages (if they're even aware of it).


'Illegitimis non carborundum'

big mac



430
24 Oct 2021, 10:11 am #111
(23 Oct 2021, 9:39 pm)Malarkey I work in Collections for EE and as a department we have recently reduced our operational hours from 8am-8pm to 8am-6pm as we found in the latter two hours our customers were not calling in as much resulting in staff being sat for long periods doing nothing which is a massive cost to the business.

I would like to think much like out local Bus Operators other companies from other sectors are following suit, for example the opening hours for Eldon Square is 8am-6pm for a handful of retail stores while others are open 9am-5/6pm now as it is not justifiable in the current the climate to have late night openings, I do wonder if this may change in the coming weeks with Christmas just around the corner.

The difference is that buses are still operating into the evening. They don't knock off at 5pm. Therefore, people still have a reason to be ringing GNE customer services after that time with the need to speak to someone there and then about a service that hasn't turned up or whatever else. It's no good to them to wait until the next morning until they're open again.

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big mac
24 Oct 2021, 10:11 am #111

(23 Oct 2021, 9:39 pm)Malarkey I work in Collections for EE and as a department we have recently reduced our operational hours from 8am-8pm to 8am-6pm as we found in the latter two hours our customers were not calling in as much resulting in staff being sat for long periods doing nothing which is a massive cost to the business.

I would like to think much like out local Bus Operators other companies from other sectors are following suit, for example the opening hours for Eldon Square is 8am-6pm for a handful of retail stores while others are open 9am-5/6pm now as it is not justifiable in the current the climate to have late night openings, I do wonder if this may change in the coming weeks with Christmas just around the corner.

The difference is that buses are still operating into the evening. They don't knock off at 5pm. Therefore, people still have a reason to be ringing GNE customer services after that time with the need to speak to someone there and then about a service that hasn't turned up or whatever else. It's no good to them to wait until the next morning until they're open again.

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