First Group – Re: Customer Complaint

Posted by Alex on Mar 22, 2009 in Blog | Comments

A few weeks ago me and Tara took a trip into the City of Wells. Wells is about a 10/15 minute drive from where i am and is about 7.9 miles. We decided to take the bus. At present i don’t drive (Just have not had the time to learn). We got on the bus at just after 7pm and the bus fare was £11.20 for the two of us. My exact reaction was “fuck off” to the driver i was totally amazed that is was that much. From my home in Street to Bristol which is 28.8 miles which takes about 58 minutes, its only around £14.00 for the two of us. How does the math work on that? National Express group is also owned by the First Group and for a ticket from Street to London which is further than both journeys it costs around £20 each. I can understand that there maybe price differs when it comes to coach services but it still doesn’t justify the prices for such short journeys.

So you know me, like to kick up a fuss, so i sent there director an email which got bounced from person to person until i got a letter from Simon Cursio who is the Commercial Director for First Bristol, Somerset & Avon Division. In his letter he said.

I can understand the concerns that you have raised when you compare the price of travelling between Street and Wells and the Street to London journeys.  However, it is important to understand the difference between the two trip types and that the pricing on both journeys reflects the fixed costs of service provision.

 

Long distance low frequency journeys often have flexible pricing structures that reflect the need and demand for the market for such trips.  However local bus services are more commonly priced at standard rates given the typically higher frequency provided. 

 

Now i understand some of his point but what is the need to offer an empty bus every 15 minutes. Last time i checked no one asked for them. Would it not make more sense to decrease the number of services and increasing them in busy periods like the school runs and the 5 o’clock rush.  Less Buses, less drivers, less costs, better pricing.

Reviews are also undertaken of our pricing structure for local bus journeys and the example that you have raised in your correspondence will be examined.  Part of this review will be to examine the cost per mile between various stages of each route within which we operate.  Where anomalies are identified, for example a higher cost per mile on one section of the route compared to another section of the route where it is necessary we will look to address such issues in future fare changes. 

I have been taking First services for years and only one thing has gone up and that’s the prices. I must say this sounds like pure business talk for. “Whatever”. He went on to tell me how much money they had invested in the services.

Finally, I am pleased to advise you that along with the £1.6 million of new vehicles invested directly onto services 375, 376 and 377 in 2005, the route will also receive a £2 million investment in state of the art new vehicles, which will also be delivered in 2009/10.  This demonstrates our commitment to providing high quality services for the people of the Greater Bristol region and also ensures that First are at the forefront of providing the level of quality our customers can rightly expect.

Well to sum it up in my words and in reply to First: All investments to local services are obviously a god send and i know that it will be beneficial to the people using these services but offering new buses and services are not the key issue. England is suffering from a recession and your prices don’t reflect the current state of the market. To put it bluntly its an outrage that you consider these prices to be as you say “justified”. I am a great believer in public transport and so are many others. Not only is it practical but its good for road congestion and the environment. Believe it or not even giving the economy a boost. What you are doing is deterring people from using these services. I would suggest that to demonstrate your commitment, you start looking at your fares and making changes with immediate effect. (Who cares though, im going to canada and on the bus there i can go practicly anywhere in the area for $2)