Messages

It's fairly obvious that the moderators of this forum seem to think that the inane ramblings of the few are the way forward, which is something I'm not interested in being a part of. There are plenty of other places on the internet that offer a more balanced view.

I won't bother with further contributions to this forum. I would delete my account but can't figure out how to, which I'm sure is something that should be allowed.

Disprove all the negative posts instead of just complaining about being hard done by!

Interesting that a moderator wants someone to provide proof of something. Maybe Bob and co should offer some proof - something which is sadly lacking on this forum!

I've got no proof of anything (why would I have proof?), I just think that this continuous criticism is tiring, particularly as it isn't backed up by any real evidence.

Other forums would insist on proof of any accusations or posts would get taken down. This forum disappoints me as it doesn't seem to be well managed.

Maybe this thread should be renamed 'Chaserider Criticism' and open a new thread for those with something interesting to say.

Going to be new to this area soon, I've seen buses out all the time to be fair. Without all the slander, factually are the buses and network ok?
Will be possibly travelling Norton Canes, Hednesford, Cannock.

This is probably the wrong place to ask for a considered and balanced opinion!

The question (as usual) is where is Bob getting his evidence from?

Is he standing at the side of the road observing these issues, or is he sitting in a chair at home scoring the internet for anything he can make an assumption on?

Did the bus break down, or could it have been a faulty ticket machine that has presented incorrect or missing data to bustimes.org and the depot swapped the bus as it was quicker than changing the ticket machine? Or the bus was swapped for another for servicing?

To report to the TC you would need evidence rather than assumptions, and Bob would have to be in a lot of places at the same time to witness as many 'breakdowns' as he says he does!

I seriously think that forums like this should be monitored more to stop these sort of wild accusations - for some reason Chaserider seems to bear the brunt of these and very few other operators come in for such severe criticism. All of the comments that get thrown around are often based on assumptions and are definitely not helpful.

I really think Bob needs to consider whether he is an 'enthusiast' (which is what this forum is for), or just an angry man who really needs to stand aside and leave the commenting for those who are 'enthusiastic' - something which he rarely seems to be, at least not about buses. This issue is not just on this forum, but in several other places online too where I come across the same inane random accusations. I think he needs to understand that it gets very tiresome. Several people say this occasionally but nothing seems to get done by the moderators of groups like this to stem his wild accusations.

Perhaps they could maintain whqt they have then to aroadworthy level? 2 no 71s,an hourly service,broke down one aftee another testerday....imagine thats as your first impression as a passenger

So why not start the 'Bob Bus Company' then? It would be better than sitting in your chair scouring the internet for evidence of missing buses then making assumptions that they have broken down because they are 'clapped out' or the staff are 'incompetent'. I doubt you have actually witnessed the majority of 'breakdowns' that you continually allege.

If you did start your own company I'm sure it would be more successful than Chaserider as you seem fully qualified and make it sound so easy. Have you actually ever worked for a bus operator? I doubt it, but then again we live in a society experience and knowledge doesn't really matter as long as you keep banging on about something on the internet until enough people start to agree with you.

You could always offer to buy Chaserider. I'm sure a serious offer would be considered. As others have advised, money is so easy to come across and you can just borrow what you need from the bank, and replace the entire fleet once you take over - all of the 'clapped out' Solos could be scrapped and replaced with 'decent' vehicles like the Metrocity (the one that is identical to a Solo underneath but seems to qualify as a 'proper' bus due to the front wheels being in a slightly different place). The 'Bob Bus Company' will be the best thing that's ever happened to buses in the Cannock area.

I suppose you could always apply for a job at Chaserider. Your vast knowledge of diagnosing faults on buses would be invaluable to any operator, or you could get an operations role where you can ensure that a 'clapped out' Solo never makes it onto an interurban route. Or you could go and drive the buses and never be miserable despite the grief that drivers get from passengers on a daily basis.

Some decent suggestions there for you, or is the armchair too comfortable to leave?

You still have to pay for it.

Every bus company in the UK is losing money at the moment, being kept alive with government money, there's no way Chaserider are bringing in £40-50 per hour which is what is needed to run a bus.

I find it fascinating that the 'they should just buy more buses' mentality still exists, particularly given the prices of both new and second hand buses these days.

If it's that simple some of these 'armchair spotters' should get down to the bank and take the loan out themselves and start their own bus company. It's a free market so if you think Chaserider aren't up to the job why not start a competing service?

Vendetta? This has actually happened today thank you very much. Check out their google reviews if you want to know what passengers think of them!. Also if you had to rely on them maybe you'd have  different view of the rubbish service they provide?  Worst than a cowboy operator

You've quoted so many different 'issues' that it's as if you've got multiple personalities, and they are all waiting for buses in different places!

I think Bob has missed a dose of his medication. Surely there is no other reason for the continuous ranting. I wish I had enough time to stalk a bus company on the internet and do a live feed of all of the issues I find. Although if I did have that much time I'd make better use of it.

In all honesty this thread on the forum may as well be closed down as it seems to have become a one-man vendetta which is getting rather tiresome.

That's correct. From what a driver told me is the manager likes to mess around with routes & timetables and just axe them for no reason. The only reason why the 1 is coming back is because the managers wife is having a go at him because she keeps getting stranded on the A34 by Dog Tree because the buses keep getting filled with pushchairs so she's being stranded until there's a bus space for a push chair

If a driver said it then it must be true 🙄

Cutting Essington is the most awful desicion ever

Read the timetables - Essington still has a service six days a week.

Standardising failures lol

You wouldn't be happy if they had brand new buses running every five minutes with low fares. Wouldn't it be nice if you said something positive for a change!

Oh, those poor private profiteering companies. Before privatisation, buses were mostly publicly owned and run as a public service and profitable routes could cross subsidise less busy but socially necessary services.

The fact is that at present there are loads of breakdowns, loads of missed trips due to that, often on hourly services, filthy buses that dont look thryve been cleaned in weeks sonetimes, buses with the doors falling off ( literally the door fell off a 52 plate e200 in cannock bus stn other day!), 2 hr gaps in service etc.

Hence my comment earlier - it's a free market so if it's that easy why don't you start up your own bus company instead of constantly whining about the current ones?

Or maybe you just like to complain - I've never seen a positive comment from you yet!

Enthusiasts should be supporting the bus companies through their difficulties, not sitting in an armchair ripping them to shreds for their own entertainment. If you can't support the industry you are enthusiastic about then why bother?

I see the keyboard warriors are out in full force again.

Have any of you actually ran a bus company? If you think you can do better than Chaserider why not start your own business? It's a free market and you could run your own services and reap the huge profits from having high specification buses running on frequent timetables.

Or maybe you don't want to throw away a couple of million quid on something where you can't guarantee a return?

Tesco change their ranges and prices constantly and never draw the harsh criticism that is wagered against a bus operator.

I note it's the same usernames (hiding their real identities) that always throw their hat in the ring to tell everyone how bad a bus company is, but they rarely seem to offer any sensible advice on how to resolve the issue.

Don't forget bus companies are generally low margin businesses and the money for huge investments, particularly in 'shire' areas with very little government support, is just not there and it's a very difficult challenge to make ends meet.

Why on earth would any business want to participate in 'managed decline'? Don't you think that if a bus operator didn't want to run something then they would just cancel it? This idea of running a service into the ground over time so as to eventually withdraw from it is a load of twaddle as it just doesn't happen.

You may not like what bus companies do, but as an 'armchair spotter' I'm sure you have a wealth of experience to dispense sage advice on how to fix all of the issues!!

Scroll past then if you prefer. Thats what i did to your monologue in the main..... I wondered if you were on commission for them? 13 year old Solos, that have never even had a seat retrim and are in a pretty dire state arent suited to interurban routes cos they dont have much capacity and the examples at Cannock are suffering horrendous reliability problems. So yes theres a driver shortage but it probably wouldnt matter at Cannock cos the bus theyre short of a driver for would probably be broken down anyway. And it IS a poir service. Theyve completely wrecked the 71 since taking it over. Countless times it hasnt turned  up/ran at all/broke down/missed our estate out with no warning etc and  people rely on it for hospital appts, but cant cos its so poor reliability wise. Select operated it through pandemic and didnt seem to have the reliability issues? They run the 875 Cannock to Stafford without reliability issues that the Chaserider 74 has.....And local passengers dont think much of Chaserider either judging by social media posts.

I shan't comment that n this any further as I'm quite obviously up against an expert who is so judgemental they are not willing to listen to reason. Quite sad really.