Buses are local. Local people use them to make local journeys and, if the truth be known, don't unduly concern themselves with what's happening to the buses anywhere else. If they have a query or complaint about the service they expect it to be dealt with locally - and by a local person who can address their issue knowledgeably.
For many years that is how things were, but now Stagecoach, not satisfied with closing down its local Travel Shops, has closed all its local telephone and email enquiry offices as well and has centralized everything at its head office in Perth, in Scotland.
We don't think this will work and our first experience of the new "service" seems to bear this out.
Long running road works on Scotforth Road in Lancaster have led to lane closures and temporary traffic lights, with bus stops being closed as the work progresses towards to the city centre. As usual,no attempt is being made to phase the work so as to minimise disruption to the bus service and no attempt is being made to provide alternative stopping places - passengers are just expected to walk to the next stop.
But not everyone can do this. The Bus Users' Group has been contacted by a local passenger, who needed to know whether her bus stop was affected by the works, as she has mobility problems and would be unable to walk to or from the next one if the bus could not stop there. Her call to Stagecoach was taken at the company's new call centre in Perth, where the operative was completely unable to help her because the only information they had access to was what was on their website -and this didn't say anything about road works on Scotforth Road!
The works are quite prominent
and no doubt everyone at Stagecoach locally is well aware of them. Even if the previous call centre at Carlisle didn't have all the details it would at least know who at White Lund depot to ask.
Our complainant says she was "quite forthright" in letting Stagecoach know what she thought of the new set-up but was told that "they had had complaints about poor service under the old arrangements" and that "people wanted a centralized service"!
In her experience the people dealing with enquiries locally have always been "friendly and helpful" and neither she not anyone we know has ever suggested that what is needed is a centralized call centre, where the staff have no more access to information than what is on their computers, most of which can be seen by passengers logging on to their website anyway.
If you do need to contact Stagecoach for local advice or information, please let us know of your experiences (good or bad) of the new system.
lancasterbususers@gmail.com
