Hi looking for a bit of advice.

Last week I was travelling on a first West Yorkshire bus in Leeds. I was sat at the back on the top floor of the double decker bus. When it arrived at my stop I stood up and made my way toward the exit. When I got to the bottom of the stairs the driver closed the doors so I shouted "hold on" to make him aware I wanted to get off. He opened the doors again then as I walked past him he said, in a very angry tone, "take your time! I've been sat here for ages!"

To which i replied "you have cameras and mirrors upstairs to see people getting off, don't you use them?" He got very defensive and angry and started to swear at me and tell me not to get funny with him. So I got off the bus and walked away. I proceeded into Tesco to get myself a sandwich and I heard someone shouting behind me saying "oi you'd better watch your mouth" and a few other profanities then I felt a tap on my back, then another one.

I turned around and he'd only got off his bus and left it unattended to follow me into Tesco and continue having a go. He told me not to ever walk away from him again. I told him to back off unless he wanted to risk losing his job to which he shouted "don't threaten me with my job I'll come for you after work you xxxxxxxxxxxx".

I had to ask the Tesco staff to get him away from me and they intervened and he finally left me alone and went back to his unattended bus.

I have called the company to complain but they didn't seem interested. What should my next steps be?

Hi crush

Welcome to CAG

Write a Formal Letter of Complaint, mark it as such. Explain what's happened (bus driver wouldn't wait for you to get off, then swore at you, then proceeded to follow you into Tesco's whilst leaving bus attended. Tesco staff intervened to pull him away), how they have let you down (not professional, threatened you and poor customer service) and what you want them to do.

You could co into Tesco's to get some statements, you could locate CCTV that's recorded the incident and you could lodge a complaint with the police. It's a pretty serious matter as far as his job goes.

Send it via:-

http://www.wymetro.com/contactmetro/ComplaintForm/

Hi

Why not email a complaint via this link.

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/leeds/help_contact/contact_us/

Just happen to mention that you have posted your issue in the public domain and see what they say

Have you given us an accurate account of what really happened?

If so then the driver needs to be heavily punished, however I fail to believe that just because you said: "you have cameras and mirrors upstairs to see people getting off, don't you use them?", he lost it completely to the point of following you into Tesco (full of cameras) to abuse you.

Did you swear at him?

Did you make any unacceptable comment?

I ask this because, while you can make a complaint, the driver could have a new bus with cameras and audio recording.

If you have said or done something over the top (know what I mean), he might take action himself, possibly backed up by witnesses on his bus at the time.

Think very carefully about what you said or did, some people really don't like being addressed abusively or worst and some words are practically illegal.

Buses have had cameras and sound for a very long time, years infact.

Whatever the circumstances or provaction, the bus driver should have called the police, not taken matters into his own hands.

Have you given us an accurate account of what really happened?

If so then the driver needs to be heavily punished, however I fail to believe that just because you said: "you have cameras and mirrors upstairs to see people getting off, don't you use them?", he lost it completely to the point of following you into Tesco (full of cameras) to abuse you.

Did you swear at him?

Did you make any unacceptable comment?

I ask this because, while you can make a complaint, the driver could have a new bus with cameras and audio recording.

If you have said or done something over the top (know what I mean), he might take action himself, possibly backed up by witnesses on his bus at the time.

Think very carefully about what you said or did, some people really don't like being addressed abusively or worst and some words are practically illegal.

True, but if something illegal was done or said by the op, would the police not take action?

The driver might well lose his job if a complaint is made, but the op could end up being in a lot of trouble IF (and only IF) there's more to his side of the story.

Many times I witnessed people seriously abusing bus drivers, punching and kicking the cab and threatening them with death.

When arrested they would give a completely different story.

As you say CCTV is on board buses, there is external CCTV too.

It can be very stressful being a bus driver in major cities due to the traffic and number of services they drive during the day. So this sort of behaviour does not surprise me and perhaps the driver needs help.

While this incident is not acceptable, it appears that the driver did not carry out a physical assault and you would have to consider whether it is worth pursuing. The driver could lose their job and they may have family relying on their wages. Once they lose their job for such conduct, it might be difficult for them to get another job. So while you have the right to complain, you should perhaps think of the consequences.

It could just be a one-off bad day for the driver. If they repeat this behaviour, it won't be too long before they are out a job.

While the driver may have had an off day, if nothing is done, will he have another? By tackling this behaviour now it may assist in the future.

As the bus has CCTV (usually with sound) that can be examined but I also feel the OP could go back to Tesco and see if they would be willing to back up the statements made and possibly provide the store CCTV (if available)

While I would not want anyone to lose their job over this perhaps the driver could apologise for his actions and take some extra training in anger management.

This guy may have had the mother of all days and the OPs comment just made his day worse

It's also against their Health & Safety training, if threatened don't leave the safety of their 'cab', call the police etc. So he has endangered himself.

First has serious procedures to follow governing their conduct.

By leaving the cab AND the bus he has violated all of those if your story is true.

If he broke all those rules then he is putting other people and himself at risk. Think what would happen if you were a violent person and had a knife. Imn sure his family would prefer him to be alive then the alternative.

Complain to their CEO if your story is accurate.

ALL their buses have external and internal CCTV

I'd also be specific about swear words used by the driver, so as to paint a clearer picture of events. Saying he swore doesn't say much. If you can quote actual language it would be more convincing.

First has serious procedures to follow governing their conduct.

 

By leaving the cab AND the bus he has violated all of those if your story is true.

If he broke all those rules then he is putting other people and himself at risk. Think what would happen if you were a violent person and had a knife. Imn sure his family would prefer him to be alive then the alternative.

 

Complain to their CEO if your story is accurate.

 

ALL their buses have external and internal CCTV

Totally agree with SabreSheep comment.

I used to work for London Transport as a Clippie, the Drivers (OPO & RM) were not allowed to leave their Cab under any circumstances. (Unless it was serious inc breakdowns, accidents etc).

So for this Driver to leave his cab & in fact his Bus to chase after you, is a serious breach indeed.

All buses now have CCTV & so will prove your "incident" with this driver, if it is as you have stated.

Yes your complaint, could cause this Driver to loose his job, but he should never have left his Bus, whether he was having a bad day or not!

A Bus driver is expected to remain professional at all times & not to be chasing after passengers, to give them abuse.

If he's done it once whose to say he won't do it again?

What have you REALLY said to the driver to make him so mad?

Assuming we have a honest version of events, what if next time he has a "bad day" he physically assaults someone? Its all very well saying think about his family, but what about the safety of the general public?

As I said, it depends on if the posters version of events is true.

I'm a bus driver in Brighton and we get abuse all the time from passengers, however if this version of events is true then the driver's behaviour was totally unacceptable.

We are told down here in a confrontation not to leave our cab. I can't speak for First but our buses also don't have sound on the CCTV, although that will most likely be changing soon. It does sounds like someone with an attitude problem and if he didn't see you get up then saying hold on is a perfectly fair point. The stairs are one of the worst blind spots from the cab as there is very little camera coverage (We have a monitor in the cab) as are the front seats upstairs which are invisible to the driver and the seats directly behind the stairs.

Best to make sure your complaint is absolutely accurate and make sure you put your complaint in writing. Make it clear what the next thing will be if you don't get a satisfactory reply, and please note they cannot tell you what the outcome of any disciplinary action was. (It's First Group. I know how much they just love disciplining drivers)

To the ppl allegedly saying he might of used a swear word at the bus driver (oh noes call the police). You can swear as you want to the driver, once he leaves the bus unattended all the way inside a Tesco store then what you said to him doesn't matter to be honest. The bus company doesn't want someone like that in their employment anyway, words shouldn't result in that behaviour.