First in Manchester. Customer Charter

Transcription

1 First in Manchester Customer Charter 2

2 Welcome Dear Customer, Welcome to the First in Manchester Customer Charter. This is our policy on our quality of service. As a company, we are committed to giving you a service that is safe, reliable, punctual, high quality, accessible and personal. We continually monitor our progress and because your travel needs are constantly improving our service. Customer service and safety are very important to us at First in Manchester. We welcome comments and suggestions from all our customers. We use your feedback to help improve our services wherever possible. Thank you for choosing to travel with us. Dave Alexander Regional Managing Director (North), First UK Bus

3 About First in Manchester First operates a comprehensive network of services throughout Greater Manchester. These services include over 150 local bus routes, all with different characteristics of frequency, days/times of operation as well as purpose. The routes vary from high frequency services, weekend Night Bus services, to school buses operated on behalf of local passenger transport authorities and private school trusts. of our carbon footprint on the environment. modern interiors and full CCTV systems for passenger reassurance and driver safety. We have over 2,300 employees who all contribute to the operation of our services throughout Greater Manchester with depots based in Manchester, Bolton, Bury, We have our own dedicated customer service team which are locally based so they understand our services and provide a point of contact for you by phone or online: Careline

4 Our Commitment to You We are committed to giving you, our customers, a service that is safe, punctual, reliable, high quality, accessible and personal. We will endeavour to do everything within our control to ensure we operate the services we advertise. We are also committed to providing clean and comfortable travelling conditions. We are committed to giving a quality service and we will not tolerate any discrimination. We will do our best to accommodate customers with special travel requirements. We will ensure we treat all customers with courtesy and respect, during your journey and afterwards, responding promptly to your enquiries.

5 Safety and the Environment Your safety and the safety of our staff are very important to us. both passenger and driver safety. All our drivers are trained to a high standard to ensure you are safe when you are travelling on our vehicles. All First staff are trained in our Injury Prevention safety principles which seek to continuously reduce the likelihood of our staff or customers being injured or involved in any incident. The environment is extremely important to us and we are constantly striving to reduce our energy usage and exceed our targets for recycling waste. We have won a number of local environmental awards as a result. In addition, we have also developed many youth related, community initiatives that directly engage young people positively about anti social behaviour, vandalism and the consequences of vandalism. For up to date information regarding our community and environmental work please visit our website.

6 Keeping you Informed Free timetables are available for all services operated by First also have a network map and guide that carries information on the complete Overground network of services operated. Timetable information can be obtained online at at TfGM Travelshops or by contacting our Careline. Up to date route and timetable information is provided by TfGM at most bus stops across the First network. We offer a wide range of value tickets including FirstDay, FirstWeek, FirstMonth, FirstAnnual and FirstStudent. In the event of a change to any of our tickets or fares, the relevant information will be publicised through customer notices on our vehicles, and online via our website and customer s prior to the changes being implemented. In some circumstances an emergency diversion to the normal route operated may become necessary. In such circumstances, we will do our best to ensure that customers are made aware of the diversion and the disruption it may cause to our services. Our website is regularly updated to keep our customers informed about future service disruptions and details can be obtained from our Careline.

7 Purchasing your Ticket FirstDay and FirstWeek tickets can be purchased on bus from the driver. FirstMonth tickets can be purchased from your driver, at TfGM Travelshops and online. Annual tickets can be purchased online. Student tickets can be purchased online and at TfGM Travelshops. A full list of all our value tickets can be found on our website or by contacting our Careline.

8 Customers with Special Requirements Most of our vehicles are low floor - easily accessible for wheelchair users and buggies. As part of our commitment to providing accessible travel for wheelchair users and passengers with buggies we constantly invest in new vehicles which can accommodate all types of passengers. There is limited space for buggies on board our buses. This can vary depending on the vehicle type, the number of buggies and the size of the buggies in question. If there are already buggies on board, the driver may ask you to fold your buggy. Please help us make the journey safe for everyone and don t block the aisles or exits of the bus with your buggy. Our low floor vehicles have enough dedicated space for one wheelchair user. If the wheelchair space is occupied by a non wheelchair user the driver will make every effort to ask them to move to allow you to board. Please do not be offended if the driver asks you to fold your buggy for a wheelchair user. As part of our commitment to providing accessible travel for wheelchair users, a wheelchair passenger is always entitled to travel on our buses, unless the bus is full or there is a wheelchair user already on board.

9 Passengers who have the use of a state assistance dog are always welcome on our buses and state assistance dogs travel free of charge. Boarding of non assistance dogs is at the drivers discretion and a small fare is to be paid upon boarding. If timetable or promotional information is required in a non standard format, customers can request this by contacting our Careline. Large print versions of all our timetables are readily available for print via our website. Audio and Braille versions of all our information can also be requested, however these requests will take a little longer for us to process.

10 Bus Service Standards First in Manchester aims to provide the highest possible standard of bus service to all our passengers. of operating no less than 95% of our scheduled services within the Commissioners window of tolerance no more than 1 minute early or 5 minutes late leaving the terminus. Every month we work closely with local councils, the Transport for Greater Manchester and our in house punctuality team to assess how our services are operating. running. These figures help us to monitor how well your services are running.

11 Conditions of Travel Passengers are advised that all journeys on First bus services throughout Greater Manchester are subject to our standard Conditions of Carriage. You can obtain a copy of our Conditions of Carriage from our Careline, or download a copy from our website using our About Us section.

12 Lost Property our vehicles should immediately hand it to the driver. The driver will return the property to the lost property department at their depot within 24 hours of receiving it. We will keep the lost property in storage for one month unless the item is perishable. To retrieve any lost property you can contact the relevant depot directly using the telephone numbers listed below: Bury depot Bolton depot Manchester depot Oldham depot Alternatively you can send all the details to us online at www. relevant lost property department.

13 If Things Go Wrong We strive to provide you with a bus service that is safe, punctual, reliable, high quality, accessible and personal. If for any reason we fall short of your expectations we would ask you to contact our Careline department. On receipt of your complaint, our team will investigate further with the aim of establishing what has gone wrong, why it has gone wrong and what actions need to be taken to resolve the complaint. It is our company policy to respond to any complaint, (written, via or telephone) within 10 working days of receipt. We aim for our services to operate on time every time but we know that sometimes they can be affected by situations beyond our control.

14 For example: Extreme weather conditions Road and utility works Events Actions by third parties Vandalism Accidents In these circumstances we will investigate the disruption and communicate any delays in advance where possible. you can contact Bus Users UK. Bus Users UK PO Box 119 Shepperton TW17 8UX E mail: enquiries@bususers.org Website:

15 Customers Views and Suggestions We want your views and opinions. We regularly distribute questionnaires to our customers to gain the feedback which helps us to provide the services required. Feedback can also be provided online using our Help & Any comments or suggestions can also be made by contacting our Careline team.

16 How to Contact Us You can contact us in several ways: By post Careline First in Manchester Wallshaw Street Oldham OL1 3TR By Visit us at and use our Help & Contact page. By phone Our Careline team can be contacted on between hrs Monday to Friday. For information relating to all public transport, customers can contact Traveline which is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week:

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