Should I Complain?

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Clarissa

November 17, 2011

I take the bus to and back from work almost every day. We don’t have bus stops, and passengers just wait on the sidewalk, wave to the bus, and it stops. I’ve been doing this for over two years and never had a problem.

Now, however, a new driver has joined the group of our bus drivers. And she refuses to stop for me, even though I’ve seen her stop for other people. She just passed by me, waved at me, and left me standing there in a piercing wind. Now I’m frozen to the bones. And I will be late for a meeting with a student.

On the one hand, I feel bad about putting anybody’s employment in danger in these difficult times. On the other hand, this is very aggravating.

What do you, guys, think? Should I complain about this driver?

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21 responses to “Should I Complain?”

ptiderman

November 17, 2011

I think you should do whatever you have to do to have a conversation with the new driver. It hardly seems likely that she is maliciously avoiding picking you up. There must be another explanation. Find out what it is.

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  November 17, 2011
  
  I’d gladly have a conversation, if only she’d stop for me. But she doesn’t, so I can’t do that.
  
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  1. David Gendron
    
    November 17, 2011
    
    If it’s impossible, you should complaint even more.
    
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  2. David Gendron
    
    November 17, 2011
    
    complain
    
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  3. ptiderman
    
    November 17, 2011
    
    Surely you could contact the bus company, find out who the new driver is, and give her a call. Or you could question the bus company regarding any recent rule changes, etc. before complaining. After all, there may be something YOU do not understand regarding the guidelines.
    
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    1. bloggerclarissa
      
      November 17, 2011
      
      Thirty minutes after, the next bus arrived, picked me up, and drove me where I needed to go. So I;m sure regulations didn’t change overnight.
      
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David Gendron

November 17, 2011

Yes, you should, but I agree with ptiderman.

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David Bellamy

November 17, 2011

It could be a body language thing. When I was a child, I was taught to flag down a bus by waving my hand up and down rapidly in front of it, using the full range of motion of my arm, with my palm outstretched and facing the driver. Anything less could possibly have been misinterpreted as just a friendly wave.

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Jeremy Barrick

November 17, 2011

I work at a large school and my experience may not be the same.

As a campus bus driver, yall should have at least a few designated stops. It just makes things simple and will speed up bus service. If it happens again tell the driver of the next bus that does pick you up. They can take care of it or tell a supervisor without a formal complaint. New drivers can be behind schedule so sometimes they get in a hurry and dont do all the right stuff.

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  November 17, 2011
  
  This is a very good suggestion. I think you are right, the bus was about 10 minutes behind, so probably this is why she didn’t want to stop.
  
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Robert

November 17, 2011

I wouldn’t be afraid to take it up with the bus company. Just describe your experiences in a reasonable amount of detail, being as specific as possible regarding date and time. Ask if there has been a change in policy that wasn’t communicated to the ridership. Having read many of your postings, I have no doubt that you can be clear and firm about your expectations without being caustic and inflammatory. It’s my experience that, in many cases, that’s all that is needed to correct a customer service problem like this.

Assuming there isn’t a good reason why the driver isn’t stopping for you, I’d follow up every missed bus with another phone call /email to the company management.

I ride the bus to work whenever I can avoid driving, and am not reluctant to contact management when problems recur. I don’t react to every single instance, because no system is perfect, but when a problem persists, I contact someone, and then keep it on their radar until it is resolved.

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  November 17, 2011
  
  Thank you for great insights, Robert. And for compliments, too. 🙂
  
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Tim

November 17, 2011

Maybe the bus was full?

Our busses can do nothing but driving on when there is no room on them and nobody wants to get out. And that can mean that you have to wait for the next,

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  November 17, 2011
  
  No, this bus is never even close to being full, especially at that time of day.
  
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Melissa

November 18, 2011

bloggerclarissa :
Thirty minutes after, the next bus arrived, picked me up, and drove me where I needed to go. So I;m sure regulations didn’t change overnight.

Try asking another driver. To avoid getting the new driver in trouble unless you need to, just be vague about the details. “Sometimes this happens, is there a rule or policy that explains it?”

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1. Melissa
  
  November 18, 2011
  
  And I’ll add…if there isn’t any policy that explains it, and she really is just ignoring you out of malice or laziness, then by all means, complain.
  
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2. bloggerclarissa
  
  November 18, 2011
  
  A great suggestion. I’m waiting for the bus right now and when it arrives, that’s precisely what I’ll do.
  
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Anonymous

November 18, 2011

Maybe you don’t fit the driver’s image of what a bus passenger looks like. You’ve written that your town is pretty White, but is the bus ridership White and well-dressed?

Jeremy and Robert both have good suggestions.

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  November 18, 2011
  
  I think you are right, to be honest. I was dressed in a very chic way yesterday because I had an important meeting to attend. So this might definitely be the explanation.
  
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Jeremy Barrick

November 18, 2011

bloggerclarissa :
I think you are right, to be honest. I was dressed in a very chic way yesterday because I had an important meeting to attend. So this might definitely be the explanation.

I would hope not. Drivers can not have an image of what passangers look like. And not stop for some and stop for others. All sorts of regulations and laws there. And pride of the drives.

The big issue is that its stop and waive service bad bad bad.

Clarissa its a 30 minute run or an hour run how many on the run, ask the drives. If it was where I worked. I would guess 3 for about 10 minutes apart. We hit 5 on one of the runs 30 minute runs. Again designated stops is the way to go, no questions stop and pick up even if they are not timed. You are not the only one to have a problem and who knows who has not been picked up public bus travel is well regulated.

Crap has this happend more than once? Just read the post again.

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  November 19, 2011
  
  This bus comes every 30 minutes, more or less.
  
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