First Buses are a total shambles

[Surfin'Bird 10]

Tuesday 2.25pm - waiting for a number 81 to take me up to Stannington to collect my daughter from school to take her to a doctors appt.

 

14.34 bus did not turn up - phoned travel line SY who informed me that it should be there and they did not know why it hadn't turned up, the man on the phone seemed totally unconcerned that I was not able to get to school in time to collect my daughter and I was told to wait for the next bus - 14.54

 

Waited for the 14.54 - this did not turn up either, phoned SY travel line back and they gave me the number for first buses who told me there were staffing problems - sorry but that is not my problem! - Why advertise a service if you cannot fulfil it?

 

I rely on the buses to get me to school to pick my children up and I leave work in plenty of time to collect them - however, when the buses do not turn up I am late and my daughter gets worried that I am not coming. First buses seemed totally unconcerned about this and have passed my complaint on and i will receive a response in 10 days.

 

Has anyone else had poor service by first buses?

[angel22 10]

the man on the phone seemed totally unconcerned that I was not able to get to school in time to collect my daughter and I was told to wait for the next bus

 

I don't mean to be rude, but what did you want him to do?!

[Surfin'Bird 10]

Not sure really, just venting my anger on this forum - I was very upset at the time and couldn't think what else to do.

 

A lovely old lady who was at the bus stop was really kind and calmed me down, bless her she even offered me £5 to get my kids some sweets!

[woodmally 10]

I don't mean to be rude, but what did you want him to do?!

 

Find out where it is perhaps? It seems that they arnt concerned about the shoddy service as we are only passengers. The bus service is absolutly appalling.

[Lotusflower 10]

Tuesday 2.25pm - waiting for a number 81 to take me up to Stannington to collect my daughter from school to take her to a doctors appt.

 

14.34 bus did not turn up - phoned travel line SY who informed me that it should be there and they did not know why it hadn't turned up, the man on the phone seemed totally unconcerned that I was not able to get to school in time to collect my daughter and I was told to wait for the next bus - 14.54

 

Waited for the 14.54 - this did not turn up either, phoned SY travel line back and they gave me the number for first buses who told me there were staffing problems - sorry but that is not my problem! - Why advertise a service if you cannot fulfil it?

 

I rely on the buses to get me to school to pick my children up and I leave work in plenty of time to collect them - however, when the buses do not turn up I am late and my daughter gets worried that I am not coming. First buses seemed totally unconcerned about this and have passed my complaint on and i will receive a response in 10 days.

 

Has anyone else had poor service by first buses?

 

I have had an almost identical experience with First and a similar response to it from Travel Line.

Travel line is, I believe, run by the Passenger Transport Executive. In my opinion it is often not fit for purpose.

 

Their (First) "staffing problems" seem to be becoming more prevalent too as the number of buses going missing has become a daily event.

 

You should write or e-mail your complaint to make sure it is logged otherwise no pressure can be brought to bear on First to improve the service.

 

Send it to First and the PTE and keep a record. I am amassing quite a collection.

[small_hall 10]

Tuesday 2.25pm - waiting for a number 81 to take me up to Stannington to collect my daughter from school to take her to a doctors appt.

 

14.34 bus did not turn up - phoned travel line SY who informed me that it should be there and they did not know why it hadn't turned up, the man on the phone seemed totally unconcerned that I was not able to get to school in time to collect my daughter and I was told to wait for the next bus - 14.54

 

Waited for the 14.54 - this did not turn up either, phoned SY travel line back and they gave me the number for first buses who told me there were staffing problems - sorry but that is not my problem! - Why advertise a service if you cannot fulfil it?

 

I rely on the buses to get me to school to pick my children up and I leave work in plenty of time to collect them - however, when the buses do not turn up I am late and my daughter gets worried that I am not coming. First buses seemed totally unconcerned about this and have passed my complaint on and i will receive a response in 10 days.

 

Has anyone else had poor service by first buses?

 

I have had the same sort of experience with first in the past (on the 81 no less) . They are unreliable. I would put a complaint into SY travel using this link.

The bus company has to tender every so often for the route, and i think complaints factor into the ultimate end decision.

https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/tellus/

 

Just as an aside - could you not have got the supertram link bus or the 61/62?

[Andy C 85]

I have had the same sort of experience with first in the past (on the 81 no less) . They are unreliable. I would put a complaint into SY travel using this link.

The bus company has to tender every so often for the route, and i think complaints factor into the ultimate end decision.

https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/tellus/

 

Just as an aside - could you not have got the supertram link bus or the 61/62?

 

Just to be slightly pedantic here.... route 81 is operated on a commercial basis and is not a tendered service.

 

It was predicted the Stannington buses would become unreliable when extended down Ecclesall Road due to traffic but it does seem First is struggling to recruit enough drivers at the moment.

 

As mentioned above, there are other operators competing with First in the Stannington area

 

Stagecoach bus SL2 from Malin Bridge tram terminus to Stannington

TM Travel bus 61/62 from Hillsborough Interchange, the Bradfield circular.

 

You may find it worthwhile to buy a Citywide ticket rather than a First one, slightly more expensive but valid on all buses and trams in Sheffield regardless of operator.

 

Personally with First I find some routes are really good (such as 25A) and others less so (such as 53 or 97) ...

Edited October 2, 2014 by Andy C

[Dyke 10]

my brother had this problem the other day (can't remember what day) but two didnt turn up.. the 2049 bus and the 2149 did not run because of staffing problems.. it didnt turn up till 2254 .. must be alot of drivers quitting .. btw it was the number 38 .. there would have been alot of angry customers that night who could have been waiting up to 3 hours

Edited October 2, 2014 by Dyke

[Snorbuckle 10]

I've had similar experiences recently with the 53. It's supposed to come every 10 minutes but after waiting 45 minutes on a particularly bad morning for one that doesn't say "out of service" to trundle along I've started to consider myself lucky if I get on a bus within 25 minutes of arriving at the stop.

[Andy C 85]

I've had similar experiences recently with the 53. It's supposed to come every 10 minutes but after waiting 45 minutes on a particularly bad morning for one that doesn't say "out of service" to trundle along I've started to consider myself lucky if I get on a bus within 25 minutes of arriving at the stop.

 

to be fair to First the 53 (and most other public transport that operates in the Hillsborough area) is suffering badly from roadworks on Leppings Lane.

[small_hall 10]

Just to be slightly pedantic here.... route 81 is operated on a commercial basis and is not a tendered service.

 

 

 

..

 

Thats interesting. I thought all the companies had to tender to run a particular service ( i know that TM travel do as i know one of the drivers well.) . I just assumed that this would also be the case for first/stagecoach.

 

---------- Post added 02-10-2014 at 14:48 ----------

 

I've had similar experiences recently with the 53. It's supposed to come every 10 minutes but after waiting 45 minutes on a particularly bad morning for one that doesn't say "out of service" to trundle along I've started to consider myself lucky if I get on a bus within 25 minutes of arriving at the stop.

 

a few of those with the same message have been pootling up Stannington road in the morning (normally around 7.45am) .

[Snorbuckle 10]

to be fair to First the 53 (and most other public transport that operates in the Hillsborough area) is suffering badly from roadworks on Leppings Lane.

 

I understand why that would disrupt the accuracy of the timetable but I fail to understand how it could cause them to drop out of service altogether.