Introduction
Our Customer Charter is designed to advise you of the standard of service you should expect when using Stagecoach bus services within the UK. It also sets out your rights when travelling with us and what you can do if things go wrong.
It covers all regular scheduled services provided by operating companies within Stagecoach UK Bus, with the exception of services operated on behalf of Transport for London. It excludes coach services operated by megabus.com, megabusplus.com and Scottish Citylink Coaches. The relevant information for these operations is at www.megabus.com and
www.citylink.co.uk.
Contact details for all operating companies covered by this Customer Charter are available in our Help & contact section.
Our commitment
This Customer Charter sets out our commitment to provide a good service which meets customers’ needs. It also sets out the rights that customers have under EU and UK legislation.
Safety
The safety of our customers, and our staff, is our highest priority. We manage our activities, and cooperate with other bodies such as the Police, to make your journey safe.
CCTV
The majority of our vehicles are fitted with CCTV. The presence of CCTV equipment on a vehicle is confirmed by appropriate signage. When we record customers on our CCTV systems, we follow the CCTV Code of Practice published by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Information
We seek to ensure that information for customers will be as accurate and relevant as possible.
Timetable information
We provide timetable information through the following channels:
- On our website www.stagecoachbus.com
Information will normally be available at least two weeks in advance of any revisions.
As we continue to develop our website, we will seek to make it available in accessible formats.
- Through Traveline: telephone 0871 200 2233, text 82468 from bus stops showing a text code or online at www.traveline.info.
Information will normally be available at least two weeks in advance of any revisions.
- On main bus stops
In many areas this is the responsibility of the local transport authority, who we work with to ensure all information is accurately and promptly displayed.
- Via our drivers
Whenever possible, timetable leaflets are carried on buses running on the service. Where that is not possible, timetable information is available from the driver.
Fares
We provide details of daily, weekly and longer period fares on www.stagecoachbus.com, and will work towards providing all fare information on our website. All fare information is also available from the drivers on the buses they operate.
Information in accessible formats
We’re able to provide timetable and fare information in accessible formats on request. We can provide large print timetables, maps and departure lists for bus stops. To request this, contact your local operating company (whose contact details are available in our Help & contact section). For information regarding the accessibility of this website, please see our website Accessibility statement.
Information displays on our vehicles
All our vehicles display a route number and a destination, or another indication of which route they are on and where they are going.
Reliable services
We’re committed to providing you with a reliable service. We will provide enough buses or coaches, drivers and supervisors to run the service we advertise in normal circumstances. We train and manage our staff and operations to run a full service in line with our timetable.
When factors beyond our control make it impossible to run the full service, we will do our very best to minimise inconvenience and keep customers informed.
All our operating companies provide Twitter feeds with significant service updates between 07:00 and 19:00 on weekdays, and between 09:00 and 17:00 at weekends (reduced hours may operate on bank and public holidays). Details on how to follow your local operating company are available in our Help & contact section.
We aim to ensure that at least 95% of our journeys will start no more than five minutes later than advertised, and each of our operating companies publishes performance measures in an Annual Performance Report.
Providing a clean travel environment
We clean our vehicles regularly and work with those responsible for the stops and terminals to ensure they are kept clean and tidy.
Comfort
We regularly check our vehicles to make sure that their heating, cooling and lighting systems are working as intended. We train our drivers to give customers a safe and comfortable journey
Making you welcome; helping you travel with confidence
We provide a welcoming travel environment and treat our customers with respect. We’ll make reasonable adjustments to meet the individual needs of customers.
We look for customer service and disability awareness skills when selecting our staff. We will give all these members of staff initial and ongoing training in helping people with disabilities travel confidently and safely.
We provide dedicated helplines for people with disabilities. The contact numbers are in our Help and contacts section.
We offer Journey Assistance Cards that can help people with disabilities make our staff aware of their needs.
We have a scheme that allows people who use certain “class 2” mobility scooters to travel on our buses with the scooter following an assessment.
Details of approved mobility scooters are available from the Disability Helpline of your local Stagecoach operating company, which can also provide access to the formal approval process and issue of a permit for travel required before taking a mobility scooter on a bus.
You can see more about the carriage of wheelchairs, small prams and buggies in our Conditions of carriage.
If you want to contact us
We encourage feedback on our performance – good or bad. Contact details for our operating companies are available in our Help & contact section.
If you want us to follow up a specific incident, please give us enough information to identify the service you used (for example the service number, location, direction of travel, time and any other information that you feel would assist us).
We will aim to resolve your query and respond to you within within one week. If this is not possible, we will advise you of this, and give an indication as to when we will respond fully.
Independent appeals
If you disagree with our response to any complaint you have the option of approaching Bus Users UK (www.bususers.org or 0300 111 0001) who will try to resolve the issue for you. They may refer your complaint to the Bus Appeals Body (www.busappealsbody.co.uk). We will act on the Bus Appeals Body’s recommendations.
Your rights*
You have a right to be provided with appropriate and comprehensible information about your rights when you use regular bus and coach services.
We will not charge you a different price based on your nationality.
You are entitled to adequate information throughout your journey. Where feasible, and where you have made a request, we will provide the information in accessible formats.
We will not refuse to let you travel because of a disability that you have, unless it is physically impossible to carry you safely. If we lose or damage your mobility equipment, we will compensate you fully for its replacement or repair.
We have procedures for giving disability-related training to our staff.
In addition to our commitments above, you have a right for your complaint to be dealt with if it concerns any of the matters covered by this section of the Charter (headed “Your rights”), provided you submit it within three months.
We must respond to these complaints within one month of you submitting them and give you a final reply, stating whether your complaint is substantiated or rejected, within three months.
You have the right to appeal these complaints to Bus Users UK if you disagree with our response. Bus Users UK is subject to a three month time limit for dealing with appeals and must refer unresolved complaints to a Traffic Commissioner. If they fail to refer your complaint promptly, when the time limit expires, you have the right to refer it to the relevant Traffic Commissioner. A list of Traffic Commissioners’ offices can be found at www.gov.uk).
* Includes text that is copyright of Confederation of Passenger Transport (UK) and used with their permission.
Contact details for Bus Users UK:
Bus Users UK
22 Greencoat Place
London
SW1P 1PR
Email: [email protected]
Transport for London (TfL)
This Customer charter does not apply to Stagecoach bus services in London, which are governed by Transport for London (TfL). Please visit TfL's website for more information.