Wednesday, June 8, 2005

Stagecoach bus drivers strike compensation

I sent the following to Fullers Ferries (owned by Stagecoach):

I have applied for a refund covering the monthly pass time period affected by the Stagecoach strikes in May. Stagecoach advised to contact Fullers for any refunds/discounts on monthly Waiheke Fullers/Stagecoach passes. Please send the $45 cheque my address.

Then I got this reply:

I understand that you are applying for a refund relating to the disruption caused by the recent strike by Stagecoach drivers. The refund as advertised by Stagecoach is only applicable to customers who hold a Stagecoach All Zone card, as these customers have specifically paid for travel on the buses as well as on our ferries.
As a holder of a Waiheke monthly pass, the cost of the pass purely relates to the ferry service. The entitlement to free bus travel on both Waiheke Island and on Stagecoach buses in central Auckland is provided as an additional benefit by Fullers at no cost to our customers. As such, the cost of the Waiheke monthly pass is exactly the same irrespective of whether or not you choose to use any of the aforementioned bus services.
As a consequence of this, I am afraid that Fullers are not able to provide any form of refund for services lost due to the bus strike, as no monies have changed hands in terms of provision of this service.
We are sorry that we are not able to help you further with this, but I'm sure that you can appreciate that we are not in a position to refund something for which we have not take payment.
Yours sincerely,
Lynda Heard, Office Administrator, Fullers Group Limited

All good and well, but the fearful question now is: how long will it be before Fullers withdraws that "benefit" and in effect will increase its monthly pass price by offloading any bus travel costs on the pass holder?