Anyone here work for Stagecoach?
- Thread starter Max Paper
- Start date
Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊
They refused me from Lancing on my travel voucher 2/3 times this season, gave up and now leave my car near shoreham station - get S bus in anf train back. On each occasion with Stagecoach, Initially I was having to buy a further ticket to get from Lancing to Shoreham then get the S
- Thread starter
- #3
Snap mate, I'm in Lancing and thats where the problem has been. If I can be bothered later or if there is enough interest i'll stick up my email correspondence with Mr Steve Venables, the guy who is in charge of all this. You do realise that the voucher entitles you to free bus travel from as far as the other side of Worthing in the west to Seaford in the east and Haywards Heath to the north? It's the train travel that is only valid from Shoreham so what I (have been trying to do) is get the bus to Shoreham and the train to Falmer!
Just get a train from Lancing, they never check!
- Thread starter
- #5
The problem is i'm smack bang in the middle of both stations so it's either a 15-20 minute walk or hop on the bus (which I have paid to do)
Very frustrating
BensGrandad
New member
I thought that Stagecoach do not accept the vouchers it was only Brighton & Hove buses or P & R that they are for use on. I know London Country from Haywards Heath and last season from Withdean would not accept them. I have an old dodderers pass so it didn't matter.
- Thread starter
- #9
They do it's clearly stated on the back of the booklet. They admit they accept them in the emails, they just don't do enough to make the drivers aware!
BensGrandad
New member
Thanks for that perhaps somebody from the club should advise the Stagecoach drivers but I see no mention of London Country. As I say it doesn't affect me as I could use my bus pass from home to The Amex if I wished.
clippedgull
Hotdogs, extra onions
Has the fool not seen the stagecoach logo on the voucher?
Will be interesting next season as it will be season tickets only when the compulsory travel element is added!
I wonder how the OAPS will react when they have to stump up thirty quid!?
Will be interesting next season as it will be season tickets only when the compulsory travel element is added!
I wonder how the OAPS will react when they have to stump up thirty quid!?
- Thread starter
- #13
ok boring email alert, at the risk of the spelling/grammar police, this is the 2nd of 3 emails I sent a few weeks back
It is with great disappointment that I find myself writing to you on this subject once again. 3 weeks ago I was refused admission onto one of your coaches because the driver had not EVER heard of or seen a Brighton and Hove Albion match day travel voucher (the ones that have been in circulation since August last year, SIX months ago) On that occasion it was -4 degrees and not only was it highly embarrassing to hold a coach full of passengers up, I was forced to walk to Shoreham train station, missing two trains with an icy wind blasting at my face. I'm not in the habit of writing complaint letters but on that occasion I will happily admit that I was furious.
Yesterday, the 26th February 2012, I was waiting for a bus at the same bus stop, Broadwater shops, Lancing. at 1.05pm the bus arrived and as I got on and handed my travel voucher, I could not believe it when the driver looked at me and said, 'what is this
' Once again I held the bus up whilst I explained to YOUR employee that the travel vouches have been in use for SIX months, that this had happened to me 3 weeks earlier and I had been told in writing that it would be addressed. I had to show YOUR employee the book of travel vouchers (yes I bought the whole lot with me this time so I could prove that Stagecoach WAS involved in the Scheme, something your other driver 3 weeks ago FAILED to acknowledge and when told the voucher was valid all throughout the Brighton and Hove area, he had turned to me and said 'well yeah but this isn't Brighton and Hove!) One man shouted 'hurry up' whilst I was standing there looking like an idiot once again and on this occasion I stuck to my guns and politely informed your driver that I would NOT be getting off the bus again so he could either drive or park up. I had hoped that would be the end of it for one day.
At around 7pm, upon my return from the football stadium I got off the train at Lancing station and popped into asda right outside the station to get some essentials (I should probably inform you that Southern Rail have handled the whole travel voucher thing magnificently and have not had a single problem with them, at all,all season) and walked along towards the seafront road to head the mile or so home. As I was walking I noticed a bus coming towards me and as the shopping I had bought was becoming heavy I thought i'd catch the bus for the final few stops home. I got on the bus, pulled my travel voucher from my wallet and presented it to the driver. He took one look at it and said 'OK' and I sat down. One thing that struck me was the way he looked at it was a little odd, so when we arrived at my stop I asked the driver the following question as I left the bus. 'Just out of interest, are you at all familiar with the travel voucher I showed you when i got on, have you seen them before?'
His reply? 'I have absolutely no idea what it is or where it came from, I've never seen one nor been told about them in my life!'
I would like to know why after a 3 week period and after being told in writing that this would be addressed, nothing has changed? I can not begin to explain just how embarrassing it is having to firstly explain to your drivers information they should already know, and secondly be confronted by a bunch of angry passengers when I have done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING wrong! Can it really be THAT hard to put a memo up in the depot or to email your employees such information? To ask your managers to make sure that the staff they are responsible are FULLY aware of their roles and responsibilities?
I REALLY hope Stagecoach as a company react to this email and take the necessary steps needed to put an end to this. This email has been sent to you at the southern department of Stagecoach but I am ready to forward it on to head office and Brighton and Hove Albion should I decide that the correct action has not been taken upon your response. I will be VERY disappointed if this happens to me again.
Regards
It is with great disappointment that I find myself writing to you on this subject once again. 3 weeks ago I was refused admission onto one of your coaches because the driver had not EVER heard of or seen a Brighton and Hove Albion match day travel voucher (the ones that have been in circulation since August last year, SIX months ago) On that occasion it was -4 degrees and not only was it highly embarrassing to hold a coach full of passengers up, I was forced to walk to Shoreham train station, missing two trains with an icy wind blasting at my face. I'm not in the habit of writing complaint letters but on that occasion I will happily admit that I was furious.
Yesterday, the 26th February 2012, I was waiting for a bus at the same bus stop, Broadwater shops, Lancing. at 1.05pm the bus arrived and as I got on and handed my travel voucher, I could not believe it when the driver looked at me and said, 'what is this
' Once again I held the bus up whilst I explained to YOUR employee that the travel vouches have been in use for SIX months, that this had happened to me 3 weeks earlier and I had been told in writing that it would be addressed. I had to show YOUR employee the book of travel vouchers (yes I bought the whole lot with me this time so I could prove that Stagecoach WAS involved in the Scheme, something your other driver 3 weeks ago FAILED to acknowledge and when told the voucher was valid all throughout the Brighton and Hove area, he had turned to me and said 'well yeah but this isn't Brighton and Hove!) One man shouted 'hurry up' whilst I was standing there looking like an idiot once again and on this occasion I stuck to my guns and politely informed your driver that I would NOT be getting off the bus again so he could either drive or park up. I had hoped that would be the end of it for one day.At around 7pm, upon my return from the football stadium I got off the train at Lancing station and popped into asda right outside the station to get some essentials (I should probably inform you that Southern Rail have handled the whole travel voucher thing magnificently and have not had a single problem with them, at all,all season) and walked along towards the seafront road to head the mile or so home. As I was walking I noticed a bus coming towards me and as the shopping I had bought was becoming heavy I thought i'd catch the bus for the final few stops home. I got on the bus, pulled my travel voucher from my wallet and presented it to the driver. He took one look at it and said 'OK' and I sat down. One thing that struck me was the way he looked at it was a little odd, so when we arrived at my stop I asked the driver the following question as I left the bus. 'Just out of interest, are you at all familiar with the travel voucher I showed you when i got on, have you seen them before?'
His reply? 'I have absolutely no idea what it is or where it came from, I've never seen one nor been told about them in my life!'
I would like to know why after a 3 week period and after being told in writing that this would be addressed, nothing has changed? I can not begin to explain just how embarrassing it is having to firstly explain to your drivers information they should already know, and secondly be confronted by a bunch of angry passengers when I have done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING wrong! Can it really be THAT hard to put a memo up in the depot or to email your employees such information? To ask your managers to make sure that the staff they are responsible are FULLY aware of their roles and responsibilities?
I REALLY hope Stagecoach as a company react to this email and take the necessary steps needed to put an end to this. This email has been sent to you at the southern department of Stagecoach but I am ready to forward it on to head office and Brighton and Hove Albion should I decide that the correct action has not been taken upon your response. I will be VERY disappointed if this happens to me again.
Regards
- Thread starter
- #14
this is what i got back
Dear Mr Berry
Please accept my sincere apologies for the problem you have yet again encountered in that our driver said they had no knowledge of the travel voucher. I can assure you that every effort was made to avoid this situation arising as notices were placed in the drivers area informing them not to refuse the match day travel voucher and explaining how to correctly enter it on our ticket machines.
It is apparent that all drivers do not read the notices placed on the notice board! To resolve this we have now resorted to issuing notices to each individual in the hope that this will not happen again.
I would like to send you a couple of notices so that if you should have any problems in the future, you can present the notice to the driver!
Please accept my apologies once again, but we are making every effort to effectively resolve this situation.
Please e-mail me your address so that you can have copies of the notices.
Yours sincerely
Steve Venables
Operations Manager
Dear Mr Berry
Please accept my sincere apologies for the problem you have yet again encountered in that our driver said they had no knowledge of the travel voucher. I can assure you that every effort was made to avoid this situation arising as notices were placed in the drivers area informing them not to refuse the match day travel voucher and explaining how to correctly enter it on our ticket machines.
It is apparent that all drivers do not read the notices placed on the notice board! To resolve this we have now resorted to issuing notices to each individual in the hope that this will not happen again.
I would like to send you a couple of notices so that if you should have any problems in the future, you can present the notice to the driver!
Please accept my apologies once again, but we are making every effort to effectively resolve this situation.
Please e-mail me your address so that you can have copies of the notices.
Yours sincerely
Steve Venables
Operations Manager
- Thread starter
- #15
and this is what I sent today
Dear Mr Venables
Sadly I would like to make a 3rd complaint on the travel voucher situation. I have managed to avoid using the bus service for a few weeks and have successfully commuted to the stadium using the train and/or a hired coach. Yesterday however due to reasons beyond my control I had no choice but to do it.
As the bus arrived I advised all others waiting to go in front of me as from recent experience I have found I can be standing next to the driver for some time whilst I get the whole 'never seen one of these things before' treatment. They asked why I was doing this, I explained, we laughed about it. So, I produced my travel voucher, the driver looked at it, squinted his eyes and then BINGO. Ahh it's one of those thingamajigs from the football club. Finally, I thought we were there. He prodded away at the ticket machine, took a while but got there in the end and then... That's £2 please mate. I explained I had payed for it in advance, he was very nice, and then he actually got out of the cab, switched the engine off, got his mobile out and called someone at stagecoach holding the whole bus up and me looking like a RIGHT idiot. Now I fully appreciate that he was trying to do the right thing and I can see from what I overheard during his conversation that something is being done about this as promised by yourself with regards to posters being put up in the staff room, but this was beyond embarrassing! To be honest I would have left it there and not wasted my time emailing you again but what was to come later unfortunately changed my mind.
Upon my return from the American Express Community Stadium I boarded the train at Falmer and made the fairly crammed but efficient journey back to Lancing. I then walked along once again to the seafront road to catch the bus the 3 or 4 stops down the road to my house. When the bus arrived I was greeted my a middle aged chap, I produced my travel voucher and he then became sarcastic, rude and aggressive. I can't remember all the details but he asked me questions like 'is this a day or a night game (he knew exactly what it was believe me, he was just being difficult) Are you traveling to or from the game? Again, he knew full well I was returning as i'd already told him. He looked at the voucher flipped it over a few times, shook his head and gestured for me to take a seat. His attitude was appalling. As my stop arrived I pressed the buzzer and made my way to the front of the coach. The doors opened and as I was stepping off I said 'cheers mate' like I would to all drivers. He then SHOUTED 'here mate, take this with you and stick it in the bin, it's nothing to me at all' and tossed my travel voucher back at me!
Here is my solution. I work in the print industry and what i'm prepared to do is this. I reckon you have what, 100, 200? coaches that operate the routes around Sussex. I will print you 200 a6 stickers that you can stick in the cabs of your coaches so that EVERY driver is FULLY aware of the travel voucher scheme and to ensure this ends now. I will do this FREE OF CHARGE. All you need to do is email me a design and I will do it on my lunch break.
I am SICK to death of this situation, your drivers and their attitude.
Regards
Dear Mr Venables
Sadly I would like to make a 3rd complaint on the travel voucher situation. I have managed to avoid using the bus service for a few weeks and have successfully commuted to the stadium using the train and/or a hired coach. Yesterday however due to reasons beyond my control I had no choice but to do it.
As the bus arrived I advised all others waiting to go in front of me as from recent experience I have found I can be standing next to the driver for some time whilst I get the whole 'never seen one of these things before' treatment. They asked why I was doing this, I explained, we laughed about it. So, I produced my travel voucher, the driver looked at it, squinted his eyes and then BINGO. Ahh it's one of those thingamajigs from the football club. Finally, I thought we were there. He prodded away at the ticket machine, took a while but got there in the end and then... That's £2 please mate. I explained I had payed for it in advance, he was very nice, and then he actually got out of the cab, switched the engine off, got his mobile out and called someone at stagecoach holding the whole bus up and me looking like a RIGHT idiot. Now I fully appreciate that he was trying to do the right thing and I can see from what I overheard during his conversation that something is being done about this as promised by yourself with regards to posters being put up in the staff room, but this was beyond embarrassing! To be honest I would have left it there and not wasted my time emailing you again but what was to come later unfortunately changed my mind.
Upon my return from the American Express Community Stadium I boarded the train at Falmer and made the fairly crammed but efficient journey back to Lancing. I then walked along once again to the seafront road to catch the bus the 3 or 4 stops down the road to my house. When the bus arrived I was greeted my a middle aged chap, I produced my travel voucher and he then became sarcastic, rude and aggressive. I can't remember all the details but he asked me questions like 'is this a day or a night game (he knew exactly what it was believe me, he was just being difficult) Are you traveling to or from the game? Again, he knew full well I was returning as i'd already told him. He looked at the voucher flipped it over a few times, shook his head and gestured for me to take a seat. His attitude was appalling. As my stop arrived I pressed the buzzer and made my way to the front of the coach. The doors opened and as I was stepping off I said 'cheers mate' like I would to all drivers. He then SHOUTED 'here mate, take this with you and stick it in the bin, it's nothing to me at all' and tossed my travel voucher back at me!
Here is my solution. I work in the print industry and what i'm prepared to do is this. I reckon you have what, 100, 200? coaches that operate the routes around Sussex. I will print you 200 a6 stickers that you can stick in the cabs of your coaches so that EVERY driver is FULLY aware of the travel voucher scheme and to ensure this ends now. I will do this FREE OF CHARGE. All you need to do is email me a design and I will do it on my lunch break.
I am SICK to death of this situation, your drivers and their attitude.
Regards
BensGrandad
New member
I hada similar problem with my brother in law who is registered disabled and as such gets a bus pass which can be used by a disabled person at any time of the day but not on night buses. Stagecoach drivers kept telling him that it couldn't be used before 9.30 as per the OAP one but after ,many arguments with drivers on his behalf. I wrote to Stagecoach and was told that in order that all drivers were made aware of the policy a notice would be placed in every pay packet.
thedonkeycentrehalf
Retired
- Jul 7, 2003
- 8,729
Never had a problem with Stagecoach when we were at Withdean. The number 17 to Horsham was always the bus of choice up to the ground after a few beers at the Basketmakers. Most people didn't realise you could catch this bus so whilst people stood on the slow 5's, stopping at every stop to let off some old dear with a tartan shopping trolley, we sat in comfort as our bus whizzed up to Withdean with barely a stop.
BG - it's not London Country, it is Countryliner that have the service from Haywards Heath and they have never accepted travel vouchers.
BG - it's not London Country, it is Countryliner that have the service from Haywards Heath and they have never accepted travel vouchers.
Brighton and Hove buses do not go into Worthing.
BensGrandad
New member
Why should that matter as the vouchers doesn't operate from Worthing but from Shoreham and Brighton & Hove Buses go there.
- Thread starter
- #20
no, the vouchers operate from worthing to seaford and to the north, haywards heath as stated earlier in this thread