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Got a ticket to ride but they don’t care
Monday 29th September 2008, 9:35AM BST.
My daughter attends Wolverhampton college and as we reside in Cheslyn Hay, has to catch the Arriva 70 bus to Wolverhampton and then a West Midlands bus out to the Paget Road campus.
As we do not pay our council tax to a West Midlands council, she is not entitled to a subsidised student bus pass.
It has been costing us £6.60 per day so we decided to look into purchasing a bus pass that could be used on all buses in the local area.
As Arriva display the “N bus” sign we were told that this bus pass would be ideal.
We purchased one at a cost of £53 and she travelled home quite happily with no problems whatsoever.
However, on September 24, she was refused travel on the 70 bus to Wolverhampton.
The driver was rude and abrasive and on further enquiries we were told that the pass was not accepted until you reach Westcroft.
I don’t think it is right that they display the “N bus” sign if they do not accept the bus pass, especially when you consider that the West Midlands Travel 351 service through Cheslyn Hay, quite happily accepts this bus pass.
Apparently you cannot use this particular bus pass at all in the Cannock area, despite all Arriva buses in Cannock displaying the “N bus” sign.
This is highly misleading and I think this practice should be disallowed.
I also think that the drivers should undertake customer service training as there is no need to belittle people, especially 17 year olds, in front of their friends and peers.
I have contacted Arriva regarding this incident and await a reply.
Mrs K Farmer, Hill Street, Cheslyn Hay, Walsall.
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Does the leaflet for the bus pass not say where its usable?
Seems a bit daft if they don’t define it yet sell it.
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I have the misfortune to regularly catch the Arriva 891 from Tettenhall to Wolverhampton. Almost without exception, the drivers are rude and haven’t a clue about which passes they accept. I’m often told my Network pass isn’t accepted (it is!) and recently one of the Centro inspectors, who happened to be on board, had to persuade the driver to let me on. If I could rely on TWM 501 actually turning up, I’d never set foot on an Arriva bus again.
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Arriva have always been funny about accepting the N bus passes.
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