24 October 2006

Action's Quality Service Strikes Again!

| James-T-Kirk
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Gota love inACTION

I purchased a 10 ride ticket to allow my child to travel home from school. Sadly, I was forced into it, as the driver gets shitty at the children if they elect to tender the coins of the realm as a form of payment…. (Go figure! It probably makes them late to watch the Simpsons, or Australian Idol, when they get home at night)

The next day, I have a sad child, because the ticket machine printed the phrase “xxx xxx 18OCT06 15:32 CANNOT BE READ TICKET IS FAULTY – DO NOT RE-USE” across the ticket… After a brief discussion, and the payment of some of those coin thingies that the driver really doesn’t like, she was let on. (Thank God that she had $2 on her). She was told that the ticket had to be returned to the newsagent from where it was purchased, and that they would exchange it. So, I was tasked with taking it into work to arrange for a replacement after one of those company funded coffee breaks us consultants are entitled to (under our EBA).

That’s when things started going sadly wrong. Just after my coffee, I visited the newsagent where I purchased the ticket. As I suspected, the newsagent didn’t want to know. Probably because it broke the basic “you give me money and I give you a thing” business model that they use to feed their children and pay their mortgages. I was told (quite nicely) that I had to take it to an “ACTION ™” office.

OK, So I start my quest to find an ACTION office… Off to the Civic bus interchange went I… Only to discover that my choice of time of the day to have a coffee break was clearly incorrect, as the office had a little sign saying that they were closed from 11.30 – 12.30. Looks like they don’t actually employ enough staff to ensure continuity of service…. That’s ok though, as It was bascially time for a company funded lunch with a client (Also covered by our EBA).

Back I wander at about 2.30, and I discover that the one person who staffs the office is there. I explain the situation to him, and he tries it in his machine, and declares that it works for him… Gosh – How did the neat writing saying “xxx xxx 18OCT06 15:32 CANNOT BE READ TICKET IS FAULTY – DO NOT RE-USE” end up on it?

He declined to replace it, and suggested that I try it again (in the actual bus that had the problem), and if it still doesn’t work, then he will replace it.

Priceless – Wow! Such sensitive service!…. If there is another failure, then my daughter had better have $2 on her, and she will probably get growled at, because the dumb-ass driver will probably scream at her because she tried to re-use the ticket, when the ticket says that it shouldn’t be re-used. Heaven knows that there are *many* examples I have been told by my kids of ACTION drivers providing helpful acceptable workplace behaviour examples to kids on school busses….

Do I bother playing their game, or do I simply apply another $16 to the problem?

Raises a couple of questions;

1) How un-reliable are others finding the ticketing system?

2) Are there other stories from riot-act readers where their kids have had examples of ‘quality’ service from other frustrated drivers?

3) Does anybody know what the single staff member at ACTION actually does during the 1 hour when he is absent? Because he probably doesn’t do his job when he is there…

4) Finally, because there is only one staff member employed, what happens when he needs to use the potty?

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KandyA: when I visted the ‘other’ territory more than a year ago the ticket machines were broken then too – I think there’s a general scam that you get free travel if you buy the 10 trip ticket and has been that way for years. However, only really poor people use the buses there anyway, so it’s not like it’s a massive revenue raiser. Maybe they should hitch up some crocs to tow the buses to save on petrol?

JTK: for (2), the omnibus drivers are, in my experience, extremely rude to anyone with a concession card as a rull – it’s almost like they are paid based on commission or a percentage of fares and by travelling atb the concession rate you are doing them out of their bread and butter.

I can’t count the number of times I, as a Uni student, or others (primary, seconday, tertiary students) have been scowled at, sweared at, ignored, harrassed and generally made to feel small by ACTION arseholes, oops, I mean drivers.

The biggest insult is when little kids, 8, 9 or 10 years old, get on the bus and get chewed out by the bus driver for not showing their concession cards when asking for a concession fare. Sure, you need to be able to produce it to get the fare if you like like you might be in the adult age group, but surely pre-pubescent school children don’t need to prove that they qualify for an age based concession fare.

The one exception I have noticed to the treatment of concession traveller by ACTION drivers is, suprise suprise, to hot young females.

Hey woodyman. I’ll bet that bus driver from the late 90s on the Curtin run was my brother in law. He got sacked for being over the limit when the coppers decided to breathalise his bus one night.

Absent Diane of the Imminent Present1:23 pm 26 Oct 06

lmao @ KandyA

this woman used to be in my seat, every morning, there she was, I sat next to her and moaned a bit, pulled a few faces, but she didnt get the hint. So I upchucked on her to teach her a lesson, but the next day – in my seat again! I used to upchuck on her every week or so, but it was months before she let me have my seat back.
Facing the back of the bus so I can stretch out and play pocket billiards.
– Ralph

I hate it when people sit next to you when there are other seats available – I used to just moan silently to my self thinking about how annoying and smelly they are – but as I am now a lot more experienced in being a rude b*tch, I say, “Excuse me” in a frustrated tone and then move to the free seat myself. (And I usually shake my head or something)

there used to be a midget retard who caught my regular bus.

he used to sit in the seat facing backwards and play pocket billiards all the way to his stop…

A woman at my workplace used to catch an ACTION bus every day.

Every day a retarded kid would sit right next to her, despite the rows of empty seats.

This retard often suffered from motion sickness and once of twice a week would chunder all over the place.

The woman was partially blind and couldn’t avoid using the bus.

She ended up changing jobs, simply to get away from the ralphing retard.

The eavesdropping can be amusing.
If I’m anxious it can piss me off though. Sometimes you can only turn your walkman up so loud before your brain hurts.

Hiya jacross! *waves*

Yeah, my partner has had my car for the last week coz his bike’s in the shop. I’ve also had a pleasant reminder of why I hate buses. The drivers aren’t generally the problem for me. It’s my sensitive nose and ppl who use too much smelly stuff or are just plain stinky! My anxiety also causes problems.
Dying to get my car back!

Woody Mann-Caruso8:29 am 25 Oct 06

I have two Action war stories:

A driver on the Curtin run in the late 90s would sit in the bays at the Woden exchange having a smoke before he rolled up to let us board. As a result, the bus was full of smoke. “You’re not supposed to smoke on here,” I said. “Mind your own fucking business,” he said. “It is my business,” I said, “because I don’t particularly feel like inhaling your fucking cigarette smoke.” “Go fuck yourself,” he said. So I called Action and complained. The next day he stepped off the bus and pulled back to take a swing at me. I just stared at him, along with the other people in the line. He mumbled something under his breath then got back on the bus. After that he used to park round the corner and stand on the stairs in the open door to have his fag. I just started leaving work 5 minutes later and catching the other Curtin bus instead.

The other was the day I bought one of the old three month tickets – I think it set me back about $120. I also had in my hand a bread roll in a brown paper bag. I carefully removed the roll from the bag, then screwed up the ticket and threw it into one of those green bins that are clamped shut. I stood there munching the roll for a full minute before glancing at my hands and realising something was terribly wrong. Went to the counter and met a lovely lady who pissed herself laughing and gave me a shiny new ticket, no questions asked.

I have to say I have more good Action stories than bad ones. As a lowly ASO4, though, I used to wish their expensive tickets could be as easily faked as they were in Townsville, where tickets consisted of a strip of blue photocopy paper with the word “ADULT” printed on it in 16 point Arial.

Until recently (bought a motorbike) I’ve found ACTION service to be decent. You get dickhead bus drivers and you get nice busdrivers. I hate ACTION and having to catch a bus but not because of the people who work there. It’s just an inconvenient waste of time and didn’t save me enough money to warrant the frustration of waiting. The only thing I miss is being able to eavesdrop on the more colourful citizens of this city.

My bike was in the shop last week, I was quickly reminded that I love my bike very much, because although ACTION drivers are generally nice, the nicest driver in the world can never compete with the freedom of my two wheeled death machine.

My brother accidentally scrunched up my term ticket he lent off me once. There was only a few days left on it but it was replaced, to be valid for those few days, with no fuss.

It is unfortunate that your experience was otherwise.

I had the same thing happen to a 10 ride card of mine one evening at Woden about 12 months ago. Because I had to catch another bus the supervisor there suggested that I try it on the other bus just in case it worked okay. I didn’t have another problem with the card, and managed to get the full ten rides out of it, so I put it down to a fault with the card reader in the first bus I caught.

Most ACTION drivers are fine, and I feel sorry for them when you take a look at some of the arseholes of passengers they have to deal with on a daily basis e.g. useless bludgers who don’t want to pay full fare but don’t have their consession card on them, smartarse teenagers who thing they know everyfuckingthing, and grumpy fat bastards like me who are tired and irritable after a day at work!

Absent Diane5:04 pm 24 Oct 06

i bet cutting off cars would have been another contest inaction would have done well in.

Was jamming on the brakes and flinging passengers forward a contest ?

What about sudden acceleration making old people fall over ? Action would score well on that also.

Yes, hearty congratulations to Wayne … whoever the hell he is.

My term bus ticket did that last term.

And after a frantic phone call home, and trying to explain my situation to the guy at the bus interchange, he directed me to the bus depot, who replaced my bus ticket that afternoon.

And amazingly, the ticket did work, even through it said ‘cant be read, do not re-use’ Ha..that was just pretty weird.

The 2006 National Bus Roadeo was hosted by ACTION on Sunday at the Transport Industries Skills Centre. The Roadeo is a competition of driving skill and accuracy. Bus operators came from across Australia and New Zealand to compete. Bus roadeos have been conducted in the USA and Canada for many years, with Australia’s first national bus rodeo commencing in 1991. This is the second time ACTION has hosted the event, previously hosting it in 1997.
The course included obstacles which drivers must avoid and steel plates on the pavement which must be touched by the bus wheels. Competitors were given two attempts at the course, with penalty points being accrued if obstacles are touched or if any of the steel plates are not touched.

Wayne competed against 17 other entrants from around Australia and New Zealand to take the winning prize. Well done, Wayne!!!!!

I mostly like the ACTION bus drivers
I LOVE sitting on busses, which is good because, unless your bus is going directly from one town centre to another, ACTION busses tend to meander around the burbs in a confusing, nonsensical and time consuming fashion. In the OTHER Territory, i visited recently, nearly all the ticket machines were busted, and, if you were lucky enough to getr hold of a 10-ride pass, transport was basically free. noice

Next time I need to catch a bus I’ll be sure to conspicuously drag a leg.

Absent Diane3:53 pm 24 Oct 06

I have had many grumpy drivers who deserve a smack upside of the skull. I also wouldn’t put up with that level of service JTK… that’s very fucking ordinary.

in actions defence (slightly) they do go out of their way to look after disabled people. its 1 thing they seem to do ok.

instead of posting here write to CEO of Action.

I use a monthly ticket. if mine was faulty and refused to be read, i’d still board the bus and sit down. it says ‘valid until x date’ on it.

the whole point of us using mag tickets is to reduce coin usage.

the driver was clearly an arsehole. many are.

there are also many very nice drivers as well.

I disagree VY – ACTION plods would be way to lazy to wipe their own arse – I bet they just dump it straight into the folder…

In response to (4) above, I suspect he runs ouot the back, lays a big brown egg, and the wipes it with about half a ream of white A4 paper. The paper is then inserted into a big white folder with the words “ACTION SERVICE STANDARDS” printed across the front…

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