(18 Feb 2018, 9:02 pm)Dan wrote On a slightly different note, and perhaps something which will strike up some discussion, I travelled on a handful of Arriva buses yesterday and I found myself quite disappointed.

Few things to add on this, not going to quote the post as it's a tad lengthy!

Arriva, while they seem very keen now on kitting everything out with WiFi and e-leather, need to understand that these things are now standard for a reason, and maintain them adequately. While e-leather is easier to clean, it looks far worse if it hasn't been cleaned - and indeed it is far more apparent to customers. On a general appearance note, one of Ashington's original Sapphire E400s (7524 I believe), had a cracked upstairs front panel (inside) for at least a year, and as of August that still hadn't been rectified. 

NSAs and sockets are another issue. I can't remember the last time, with the slight caveat that I haven't travelled on one full stop since the summer, I got on a 57-plate Sapphire with working sockets. Even 7522-28's had pretty much all given up the ghost by the time the MMCs rocked up.

7416 went a year and a half without branding or internal refurbishment, and still hasn't been branded for anything! 4664 has been running around in MAX base since late 2016, while the amount of buses with incomplete branding is quite ridiculous. 

I fully echo your point about the rear destinations being used for numbers only - Ashington had 7522/3/5-8 running around like that for about half a year without caring. Yes, it is a little thing, but when you've got a bus with so many "little things", it doesn't give off an impression to the customer that you care about the bus, or them. 

There is no attention to detail. It seems like the management are still firmly stuck in the mindset where all they had to do was get a bus from A to B - while in 2018, a mindset like that won't see you get very far. You can't try and win passengers by promising everything and delivering nothing, as sooner or later they'll just give up.