Where I live, public transport means a state government-run bus service. These buses are so frequently late – especially during peak hour – that lateness has just become the norm, accepted by all.
With bus timetables so completely unreliable, passengers leave home much earlier than we otherwise would, allowing ample buffers in the hope of getting to work or other commitments on time.
Yesterday I had a job interview in the late morning. Even with a generous buffer for public transport disasters, I still arrived at the interview late and embarrassed. One scheduled bus didn’t turn up at all, and the next bus turned up over 45 minutes later than the first bus was supposed to arrive! It wasn’t even peak hour!
Normally I’d shrug off such poor service, but the personal repercussions on this morning riled me into action. I jumped onto the website for the bus service last night and made a formal complaint, highlighting how unacceptable the service has become.
Much to my surprise, I heard back from the bus company’s customer service centre this morning. Not only was the response astonishingly timely, it wasn’t even generic! I hadn’t expected any feedback, let alone a prompt and personalised response.
Although fast, the content of the response was unsatisfying. The customer service representative stated that excessive traffic and an increased number of customers delayed the arrival of the second bus.
Neither of these assertions rang true. Peak hour had ended by the time I left to catch the bus and the bus route starts just one suburb from mine, so there’s minimal exposure to traffic between the first stop and my stop. There also didn’t seem to be more passengers than usual. When I boarded, the bus was not even half filled. I was surprised how few people were on the bus, since the previous scheduled service didn’t show up at all, a point my customer service correspondent appeared to have overlooked!
It seems the two different parts of the business have opposite problems. One part is slow and unreliable but has plenty of seats outside peak hour. The other part is prompt and pleasant, but ultimately useless. Perhaps the customer service team and the bus operators could get together and compare notes?
