Brace yourselves for another infomercial about diabolical customer service.
Arriva North East, for those fortunate enough not to know already, operates bus services in the North East of England. Unfortunately, from my point of view, that includes my stomping ground up in God's Allotment.
Sheer belligerence prevents me from buying a car, despite having passed my driving test many moons ago. As a consequence of this lifestyle choice, I tend to travel quite frequently by bus and train. Unfortunately this includes travel by Arriva North East.
Their level of service is atrocious to say the least. Their "Customer Service" people are not told of half the problems passengers encounter. Their drivers are not given any information to fend off disgruntled passenger complaints or enquiries. Quite simply, they would struggle to choreograph the running of a bath - let alone the running of an efficient public transport system.
A quick glimpse of their new Facebook site demonstrates that the Arriva North East arse doesn't know what the elbow is doing. So many contradictory reports on those pages. So many passengers complaining that the bus has missed their stop or hasn't even turned up. Coincidentally, if anyone dares to be critical on that public forum it is quickly airbrushed out or dismissed with the retort "take it up with Customer Services and not on here".
Despite being absolutely furious at the time, I chose not to write publicly about an occasion where an Arriva driver completely ignored a queue of us at the bus stop. Arriva will inevitably discover this blog post, which will remain here in perpetuity, so I will jog their memories: the incident involved Service 505 departing Alnwick at 10:03 hrs on 26th July 2010.
So livid was I at the time that I actually wrote to them to complain for the first time ever: "Despite there being four passengers waiting at the stop, two of whom signaled with their arms to the approaching driver, the bus continued straight past and failed to stop as requested.
"To make matters worse the driver had clearly noticed us at the road side, because he pointed in response to our arm signals. As the bus went past we could see several empty seats on the nearside, so the driver's failure to stop couldn’t have been in response to overcrowding.
"I also recognised the driver as one of the long serving regulars on the route, who would have been well aware where all the stops were."
Characteristic of their abysmal level of service it took them more than a fortnight to reply to that. Their reply, which I immediately discarded in disgust (sadly before scanning), told me that their Ashington depot manager had reviewed CCTV footage and found that none of the four people at the stop had signalled to the bus.
Furthermore, as all their stops are request stops, it is the responsibility of those waiting to attract the approaching driver's attention clearly. What come back could I possibly have when their Ashington manager, a person of some standing (if that's possible) in Arriva circles, fabricates a different chain of events to what actually happened?
Last night took the biscuit. I was returning home from work, having had a pretty long day already. I caught Service 505 at Morpeth on this occasion. The bus was scheduled to leave at 17:10 hrs, but it was 17:50 hrs before it started limping towards Berwick.
As my Twitter readers will already know, the driver couldn't even force a welcome smile - let alone a conciliatory explanation for the delay. That's common practice for Arriva drivers. They are so used to poor punctuality that they expect passengers to accept the same shoddy standards. Their drivers are so entwined by lateness, that they seem to forget people with important business haven't always got that luxury.
I was somewhat relieved to be making progress home when the bus inexplicably pulled over at the side of the A1 near Tritlington. An alarm could be heard in the driver's cab and ear wigging his subsequent phone call revealed there was a problem with the brakes so he couldn't continue. The bus stood disabled at the roadside, trucks flying by within feet, with our seats shaking in their wake. Ten minutes passed and the internal lights and heating stopped working, so we were left sitting shivering in the dark. The bus shook as another truck hammered by, his horn blaring with disapproval.
A concerned passenger asked the driver how long would we be stranded in this perilous position? The reply came: "How long's a piece of string? Don't ask me, I'm just the driver." Not a word of a lie, as was reported live on my Twitter feed last night. Another lady went to the driver for reassurance that the back of the bus was clearly visible to approaching traffic. His reply: "If you're worried you can always move to a seat further forward. There'd be something wrong if they (the approaching drivers) couldn't see a big double-decker bus."
A replacement bus came about 30 minutes into our roadside breakdown experience. We then had to struggle along the snow covered verge in the pitch black to board the second vehicle. Despite having my digital camera in my pocket, I somehow resisted the urge to take a snapshot of elderly walking stick users fighting along the icy roadside. It would have set this article off nicely, but with tempers already fraying I didn't want a thump for my journalistic endeavours. Pram users had an equally difficult battle, struggling to find their balance with the ice slipping between their wheels and feet.
At last we were again making progress. By the time we arrived at Alnwick the 20 miles from Morpeth had turned into a 2 hour nightmare. I pity the poor folk who were travelling all the way to Berwick and hope they made it safely.
I'm debating whether it's worth writing another letter of complaint, given the pitiful response I received last time. The Ashington depot manager would probably deny anything untoward had ever happened: "Just another day of quality Arriva service."
What they deliver is consistently pathetic, regardless of excuses like the weather. The majority of their fleet, particularly on the 505 route, is in an appaling state of repair and communicating with their drivers is like talking to a brick wall.
Arriva North East - absolutely woeful.
Arriva North East, for those fortunate enough not to know already, operates bus services in the North East of England. Unfortunately, from my point of view, that includes my stomping ground up in God's Allotment.
Sheer belligerence prevents me from buying a car, despite having passed my driving test many moons ago. As a consequence of this lifestyle choice, I tend to travel quite frequently by bus and train. Unfortunately this includes travel by Arriva North East.
Their level of service is atrocious to say the least. Their "Customer Service" people are not told of half the problems passengers encounter. Their drivers are not given any information to fend off disgruntled passenger complaints or enquiries. Quite simply, they would struggle to choreograph the running of a bath - let alone the running of an efficient public transport system.
A quick glimpse of their new Facebook site demonstrates that the Arriva North East arse doesn't know what the elbow is doing. So many contradictory reports on those pages. So many passengers complaining that the bus has missed their stop or hasn't even turned up. Coincidentally, if anyone dares to be critical on that public forum it is quickly airbrushed out or dismissed with the retort "take it up with Customer Services and not on here".
Despite being absolutely furious at the time, I chose not to write publicly about an occasion where an Arriva driver completely ignored a queue of us at the bus stop. Arriva will inevitably discover this blog post, which will remain here in perpetuity, so I will jog their memories: the incident involved Service 505 departing Alnwick at 10:03 hrs on 26th July 2010.
So livid was I at the time that I actually wrote to them to complain for the first time ever: "Despite there being four passengers waiting at the stop, two of whom signaled with their arms to the approaching driver, the bus continued straight past and failed to stop as requested.
"To make matters worse the driver had clearly noticed us at the road side, because he pointed in response to our arm signals. As the bus went past we could see several empty seats on the nearside, so the driver's failure to stop couldn’t have been in response to overcrowding.
"I also recognised the driver as one of the long serving regulars on the route, who would have been well aware where all the stops were."
Characteristic of their abysmal level of service it took them more than a fortnight to reply to that. Their reply, which I immediately discarded in disgust (sadly before scanning), told me that their Ashington depot manager had reviewed CCTV footage and found that none of the four people at the stop had signalled to the bus.
Furthermore, as all their stops are request stops, it is the responsibility of those waiting to attract the approaching driver's attention clearly. What come back could I possibly have when their Ashington manager, a person of some standing (if that's possible) in Arriva circles, fabricates a different chain of events to what actually happened?
Last night took the biscuit. I was returning home from work, having had a pretty long day already. I caught Service 505 at Morpeth on this occasion. The bus was scheduled to leave at 17:10 hrs, but it was 17:50 hrs before it started limping towards Berwick.
As my Twitter readers will already know, the driver couldn't even force a welcome smile - let alone a conciliatory explanation for the delay. That's common practice for Arriva drivers. They are so used to poor punctuality that they expect passengers to accept the same shoddy standards. Their drivers are so entwined by lateness, that they seem to forget people with important business haven't always got that luxury.
I was somewhat relieved to be making progress home when the bus inexplicably pulled over at the side of the A1 near Tritlington. An alarm could be heard in the driver's cab and ear wigging his subsequent phone call revealed there was a problem with the brakes so he couldn't continue. The bus stood disabled at the roadside, trucks flying by within feet, with our seats shaking in their wake. Ten minutes passed and the internal lights and heating stopped working, so we were left sitting shivering in the dark. The bus shook as another truck hammered by, his horn blaring with disapproval.
A concerned passenger asked the driver how long would we be stranded in this perilous position? The reply came: "How long's a piece of string? Don't ask me, I'm just the driver." Not a word of a lie, as was reported live on my Twitter feed last night. Another lady went to the driver for reassurance that the back of the bus was clearly visible to approaching traffic. His reply: "If you're worried you can always move to a seat further forward. There'd be something wrong if they (the approaching drivers) couldn't see a big double-decker bus."
A replacement bus came about 30 minutes into our roadside breakdown experience. We then had to struggle along the snow covered verge in the pitch black to board the second vehicle. Despite having my digital camera in my pocket, I somehow resisted the urge to take a snapshot of elderly walking stick users fighting along the icy roadside. It would have set this article off nicely, but with tempers already fraying I didn't want a thump for my journalistic endeavours. Pram users had an equally difficult battle, struggling to find their balance with the ice slipping between their wheels and feet.
At last we were again making progress. By the time we arrived at Alnwick the 20 miles from Morpeth had turned into a 2 hour nightmare. I pity the poor folk who were travelling all the way to Berwick and hope they made it safely.
I'm debating whether it's worth writing another letter of complaint, given the pitiful response I received last time. The Ashington depot manager would probably deny anything untoward had ever happened: "Just another day of quality Arriva service."
What they deliver is consistently pathetic, regardless of excuses like the weather. The majority of their fleet, particularly on the 505 route, is in an appaling state of repair and communicating with their drivers is like talking to a brick wall.
Arriva North East - absolutely woeful.
12 comments:
It seems like "customer Service" gets worse over time across all industries. I wonder if this is the curse of the call centre to a large extent. The workers in these places are devalued and have no freedom of choice to make decisions on helping "us" the customer.
To get a decent outcome from a valid complaint is a skill of its own. I don't think it is because people don't care per se. It's the fact they do not have the tools to help people.
Interesting blog. Thank you.
Thank you for your comment Marty.
Customer service? On two occasions I've been on there buses the drivers didn't seem to speak any English, which makes it difficult of check if it stops at your stop. (However recently one to the woe of everyone on board went in completely the wrong direction off a roundabout and missing the bus stop) then told us we where all wrong and there wasn't one there. Before turning around a mile up the road at the next roundabout and going back to the said (non-existent bus stop). However on the other side of things one or two bus drivers have waved me on for free so the odd free trip makes it even.
As an ex driver on those very routes I can sympathise with the traveling public, I would imagine since the closure of Alnwick depot that things have not improved any. When I worked at Alnwick it seemed to be the policy of Arriva’s engineering department to ignore any none essential mechanical problems until it actually involved a roadside recovery, quite often when a bus broke down it had been expected.
Sadly from a driver’s point of view stories like this one are the ones that get publicity. I do however think it’s wrong to paint all drivers as uncaring, there are many drivers out there doing an excellent job whose commitment and professionalism are never recognised.
Thanks for your comments John. Given the high level of traffic this post has received over the last few days I think Arriva, or at least some of their employees, may have found it.
Hopefully they'll take on board my comments, which are the same as most other north-Northumberland passengers I speak to.
Most people traveling by bus have no other option. Arriva recognise their passengers' necessity to travel, so confidently provide substandard service with relative commercial impunity.
Of course I realise there are many good Arriva employees, doing their utmost to ensure the customer receives the best level of service.
Sadly, I don't see many of them in north-Northumberland. Maybe their enthusiasm drained when the company closed the local depot beneath their feet, causing many of them considerable inconvenience.
As a bus driver you cant win with the customer yes i would love to chat and have a laugh but when u have 30 or more customers chomping at the bit to get on the bus it aint possible and of course we have timetables to which i do my upmost to stick to there just isnt time because if i run late because of talkin to customers we then get cursed for runnin late .
Good morning/afternoon/evening, thank you - I'm hoping your schedule isn't that busy you don't have the time to do that. Apparently most Arriva drivers don't.
I should also add that I was on the 1745 #505 departing Newcastle today. Yet again, despite several complaints and assurances to the contrary of Arriva NE's Facebook page, the bus was way too small for the post-match crowd. Customers turned away because all seats full. Pathetic.
absolutely unbelievable.Iwork for Arriva and i deal with complaints,seeing the CCTV really opens my eyes to the lies some passengers come out with.
It seems the public dont like it now that we can prove they are makingthings up and they dont get the automatic free voucher anymore.
I can assure you that I have no need for a voucher to ride your "services".
I'm sure they know already, given we're on the first page of Google for the search term "Arriva North East", but if not please direct your bosses to my posts. It would be interesting to see how they defend the tripe they deliver nearly every day.
If anyone hasn't seen the latest episode of Arriva North East incompetence, they can read all about it here:
http://tomjacksononline.blogspot.com/2011/05/arriva-north-east-epitome-of-customer.html
I TOTALLY agree with you Tom! Arriva North East hasn't a clue about customer service. I have complained twice about buses not turning up, buses driving away from Eldon Square in N'castle without ANY passengers leaving a queue of people behind (I kid you not!), buses failing to stop even when hailed, buses on long routes being so old and falling apart that they constitute a health and safety hazard and I have had no satisfactory response. Also, when I posted some (fairly mild) comments on the Arriva NE facebook forum I was howled down and even belittled by Arriva bus drivers & this behaviour was supported by Arriva management. Truly, deeply shocking.
Thanks for your comments Joanne.
I don't know what's worse: the fact they consistently deliver diabolical customer service, or the fact they are seemingly oblivious to how bad they actually are.
Their Facebook page is a joke. Everytime someone mentions anything remotely critical they get the same canned "this isn't the place, take it up with customer services" reply, with the occasional chippy driver putting their two-penneth in.
I have dealt with customer services and they are also a joke. I've only rang them once, but it was enough to enshrine how incompetent they are.
It was the day our usual bus to work just didn't bother coming, with no word of explanation. After 40 minutes of delay I tried to phone their customer services people, but the phone rang off the hook despite the fact it was now 8.15 am. When someone did answer she didn't have a clue what was happening. When we did eventually get an answer from Arriva it varied depending on who you were speaking to. Not once did they offer an apology, despite most of us have pre-paid tickets.
They're a disgusting, money-grabbing company.
Reading this I hope they're in doubt how lowly I rate them.
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