Arriva Bus Service Review

“Where the hell do I start? ”

Written on: 20/05/2010 by HeathReach (1 review written)

Where the hell do I start?

I first started using the ARRIVA bus service 69/70 from Leighton Buzzard to Luton in early 2009 when my car was off the road - since then I have used the service on a daily basis only because it's cheaper than using the car.

At first I was paying £4.30 return per day but was told by another passenger to buy a 4 weekly saver online for the Shires & Essex region and it would only cost £63.00 for 28 days...well worth it I thought.

That is until I realised that the bus service is erratic,ALWAYS LATE,some don't turn up at all and a high proportion of the drivers are rude, aggressive, inconsiderate wholly lacking in customer service skills.

During this recent winter, the coldest for over 30 years, I waited for the bus for over 3 1/2 hours on 3 occasions only to be told by a completely different bus company that ARRIVA would not be running buses between LB and Luton...but no refunds were ever provided!

To add insult to injury when they did run they kept alternating the routes so we never knew where to stand to catch the particular service...resulting in some passengers missing the bus or being left stranded. (On one particular late afternoon after waiting for the bus for over 1 1/4 hours I decide to walk home...8 miles through the snow!!!)

Now, finally, after trying to purchase an online 4 weekly saver ticket again, allowing 6 days before the expiry date of my present ticket as advised by ARRIVA, I cannot buy one for the 28 May 2010...I can only purchase a new start date of the 31...why? Because the system is flawed and the Bank holiday has caused a 'Glitch'!

ARRIVA is a complete and utter load of C**p, the people working for it don't care, the service is indescribably bad and no-one wants to know,or help!

I sincerely hope the Germans do buy ARRIVA - then we may have a decent,dependable,reliable and courteous service.

DO NOT USE THIS BUS COMPANY UNLESS YOU REALLY NEED TO!