A Fife resident has slammed bus firm Stagecoach’s customer service after his elderly mother was among a group of people left stranded at Kirkcaldy bus station recently.
Tom Cunningham, from Kettlebridge, contacted The Courier after the bus his 80-year-old mother and others had waited patiently for, was forced to drive off without taking on any passengers.
Mr Cunningham revealed that his mum had only wanted to travel the relatively short distance from the bus station to her home in Buchanan Court, Kirkcaldy, along Links Street after a day out shopping.
After the bus arrived around 10 minutes later than scheduled, though, a bus inspector headed straight to the front of the queue, demanded that no one board the bus and instructed the driver to leave right away — eaving those who had been waiting for the bus home in disbelief.
“‘The bus HAD to make up time,’ the inspector explained to the waiting crowd who were now in shock and amazed at this appalling treatment,” Mr Cunningham told The Courier.
“Where on earth is Stagecoach’s customer care, what happened to the customer comes first?
“Where on earth did anyone have the right to authorize such an instruction?
“This is not the first time this has happened. In Kettlebridge, buses pass waiting customers and drive straight through the village to make up time.
“I wish to make a complaint to the highest authority in Stagecoach and complain to whoever authorizes the companies that run the bus services.
“Stagecoach are not fit to run a bus service.”
Steve Walker, operations director for Stagecoach East Scotland, confirmed that the firm had received a complaint from Mr Cunningham and emphasised that he will receive a direct response in due course.
“In instances of buses expected late at Kirkcaldy bus station, a duplicate bus and driver are available to depart Kirkcaldy at the scheduled time,” he said.
“In this case the driver of the late running bus is usually instructed to drop off passengers only, as the duplicate should have already uplifted passengers at the scheduled departure time.
“While this policy assists with time keeping, on this occasion the arrangement has not gone smoothly and we will investigate the full circumstances to ensure this does not happen again.”