Hey all, I've sat on my reply to First Bus until today when I was a bit less angry about life and how poorly they put it together.  I'm quite notorious for making some proper arsey compliant letters and as my first reply I'd like to avoid looking like a complete arsehole until at least the next one.  So if you could just have a quick look and see what you think (this is a friends only entry so won't be on public display)?  I'm pretty sure it's grammatically sound and MAH SPALLING IZ GUD TWO but I may have missed one or two bits.

Here is what First Bus sent me in reply to my complaint (if you haven't seen it) for your reference:-
> Message du 13/04/12 14:28
> De : First@BusTrainCoach.info
> A : kdwc@orange.fr
> Copie à :
> Objet : Enquiry Response from First Customer Services - ref 111455
>
> Dear Mr Costelloe,
>
> Thank you for your E-Mail. Thank you for contacting us by E-mail, and we were sorry to learn of your feelings concerning the service 309 bus on which you travelled. Our drivers should all undertake a first use check of their vehicles which includes checking their brake lights, and we will be looking at the details of this vehicles checks and investigating this matter further.
>
> Thank you again for bringing this matter to our attention.
>
>
>
> If you need anything further please do not hesitate to contact us by replying to this e-mail and quoting the reference:111455
>
> Regards,
> First Customer Services

This is what I put together:-
To whom it may concern,

Thank you for your e-mail dated 13 April 2012. I'm sorry to have to say that I do not feel this email is an acceptable reply to my initial issue and I wish to escalate this matter further and make a formal complaint.

The issue which I brought to your attention, is in my opinion and perhaps one could even argue that of the officer who stopped the bus, is quite a serious matter and I would have expected better from not only First Bus but also the reply I received on the back of my complaint.

I'm also afraid to say that First Bus failed to meet even the most basic expectations from the start of this incident to now. As a customer and a passenger of any mode of licensed passenger carrying transport I expect that drivers will take vehicle checks as standard, that the vehicle used is at a safe an legal condition and should it not meet those basic standards not be in service.

I also expect from a customer service point of view, that should I have to bring a matter to your attention that I will receive a satisfactory explanation of what occurred, how it will be rectified or if the previous two items can not be dealt with there and then, that I will receive a message to acknowledge my correspondence, advise me of the next steps and provide me with a reasonable time frame in which I will hear back.

I would also expect that any correspondence conveys that my matter has been taken on board and that it is being looked at seriously and personalised; the only part of this email that meets this is that you correctly spelled my surname. I can not honestly say that I feel this has been looked in to seriously and that this email was put together in a few minutes to fob me off.

In my initial email via your web form I wrote "…I also find it disturbing that this was not picked up earlier on the vehicle, considering this is a basic maintenance concept…" which would indicate that I was already aware that this should have been picked up from a depot level or by a driver on some kind of pre-use check; in your response you wrote "…Our drivers should all undertake a first use check of their vehicles which includes checking their brake lights…" this not only confirms what I initially thought should have been the process, but I'm dismayed that "…drivers should…".

When you say that "drivers should" is this a company policy that drivers must check their vehicles prior to use or a "just if you can get around to that, it would be fab" expectation of the drivers? Unfortunately again this raises the issue if First Bus take the safety of their fleet seriously.

You also advised that "…and we will be looking at the details of this vehicles checks and investigating this matter further." I feel this is very much a grey area, will I be advised of the outcome or will I hear nothing further? It doesn't set an expectation and actually does not answer my query at all.

Should I not receive an explanation or a sufficient reply to this response, is there an internal department within First Group or independent body that I can contact to review the matter as I don't feel currently that my complaint is being taken as seriously as it should.

I would also like to take your name for reference as the email is signed "First Customer Services".


Regards,

Kevin Costelloe

Listening to:

Vibe: predatory

LJ ItemID: 1434025