Today was frustrating day on Broward County Transit.
I believe in getting to the stops early so there's no chance of missing the buses I'm condemned to ride. This morning the 6:03am bus sped by me at 5:50am. I was steps away from the stop, and the driver blew right by 13 minutes early. I chased the bus to the next stop, which fortunately can be measured in yards rather than miles as I was dressed for work, and yelled to the boarding passengers as I got into earshot. No matter. The driver sped away. Not for nothing, but riders can be helpful telling drivers about someone running to catch up so they'll wait a few seconds. Not this driver.
So I was left to my own devices to take a different bus and then another bus on a convoluted route to my destination, which was another bus stop. I asked the bus driver the name of the supervisor of drivers. The guy looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about. I said to him, "You know the name of your supervisor, don't you?"
He rudely replied, "Yeah, but I'm not telling you." Nice. Apparently, the supervisors at BCT do not want anyone to know they work there. What are they afraid of?
I know that this is my first post about problems I've experienced with Broward County Transit, but it is not the first problem or frustration I've experienced. This incident was the most recent straw that broke the camel's back. During normal business hours, I called "customer service" (don't get me started) and spoke to a gentleman who gave me his first name, but I question whether it's his real name. Anyway, I asked for the name of the supervisor of the drivers. He told me that that particular information was not available. I politely informed him that my next call was going to be to my County Commissioner, Chip La Marca. (I'm condemned to Broward County Transit because of a physical disability not because I'm an idiot and uninformed.) He asked me to hold for a moment. Miraculously, when he returned, he had the information. Funny how that is.
Just another funny thing about calling that "customer service" number... there was a new addition to amuse those of us willing to hang on long enough to speak to a human being. A voice would periodically come on informing me of how long a wait I would have until a "customer service" representative would be with me. The funny part was that the first time the recording came on, it said something like, "Your wait time is two minutes and seventeen seconds." The second time it informed me that my wait time had increased to three minutes and five seconds. The third time my wait time had increased to three minutes and fifty-two seconds. The last two times I got the original message both said that my wait time was back down to two minutes and seventeen seconds. About five seconds later, someone came on the line. This was about seven or eight minutes after the first message. Broward County Transit shines. It did actually make me laugh even though I was pretty pissed off at the time.
So now I have the name and address of the supervisor and will mail him a letter asking him about how he's going to handle my complaints. Just so you know, I've gone to this extreme because every time I call "customer service", I'm told that someone will call me back to discuss the issues. I know it's shocking, but no one ever calls me. Hard to believe, right?
Why don't more frustrated riders complain loudly and often? What happened to all of the other riders affected by the driver who sped by thirteen minutes early? I can't have been the only one.
I issued a challenge in my letter to the supervisor, but since it won't be mailed until tomorrow, I'll give the guy a chance to see it before I post it.
More as it happens.
No comments:
Post a Comment