Two weeks after I spent an hour on the telephone to their ‘customer complaints department’ asking that my journey fare (circa £1) was refund since it was terminated less than a third of the route, when a driver inexplicably stopped our bus at a station and opened the doors – most people including me – staying on the bus for 10-15 minutes wondering what was going on before finally giving up and getting off, still none the wiser, just late, I received the following response today via email:
Dear Mr Westron
I am writing in response to your complaint about your journey on route 8.
I was sorry to learn of the inconvenience you experienced, [Never mind that, you should be sorry for the poor service your company provided – I’m sorry about the ‘inconvenience’ too, your being sorry helps no-one] I would assure you that every effort is made to avoid buses breaking down. [Of course? But these things happen – it’s life, I obviously realise that and don’t expect for a moment that a bus or any other vehicle never break down…] On the odd occasion that this occurs, the driver should advise passengers of what has happened and arrange for passengers to transfer to the following bus without further payment. [He did not, of course] While there may be some inconvenience involved, [There – may – be?!] if passengers decide to make alternative arrangements [As opposed to sitting on the bus indefinitely?] to continue their journey, then we are not liable for any additional costs involved. [Never mind the additional cost (though now you mention it, since it’s apparently rare you should certainly, provide a fare for an alternative mode of public transport e.g. the Tube / Overground) how about the fare for the journey, that’s the least one should expect, surely?!]
I hope that this clarifies our position. [Clear as day: you couldn’t care less]
Yours sincerely [I failed to pick up on the sincerity]
…
Customer Services Manager [Seriously?]
East London Bus Group