Stagecoach/Provincial > Reviews > Stagecoach - Now you've got me on my soapbox

Author's product rating:   

Quality of Rooms	Terrible
Customer service	average
Frequency of bus / buses	Poor
Value for money	Average
Reliability	Average

Advantages:	None
Disadvantages:	Too many too mention

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Haven't spotted a North West bit for Stagecoach, so hope you don't mind if I dump my opnion here.

1. Stagecoach are contraversial in Manchester. One of their services serving Ashton was suspended for a few weeks by our GMPTE for trying to make passengers go on the Stagecoach buses rather than the Dennis bus companies vehicles that were also on that route.

2. The 192 bus service which is a very popular route had another bus operator making the poor misguided attempt to offer some competition for this route. Stagecoach flooded the route with 192's lowered their weekly bus passes to the same price etc as UK Bus. It got that bad that there were that many 192's queuing up at Piccadilly Gardens that us other mortals couldn't see our own buses and they couldn't get in to the Road to pick us non 192 users up. This was reported as well in the Mcr Evening News, of course it was denied, but us bus users grumbled about it every day and aired our views to the inspectors.

3. If any bus wants to compete on the 203 service from Stockport, Reddish to Manchester feel welcome please!!!!! we could do with a few more buses in the morning and at night.

4. They've just put our weekly bus passes up to £7, they put the notices up on the buses with maybe 3 days notice. The amount of angry people paying for their megariders thinking they were still £6.70 on Monday who didn't know it had gone, couldn't be counted. And, it was a particularly grumpy driver on my bus that morning. From memory we had 2 fare increases in 2000, wonder how many more for 2001, and fuel has gone down in price so far this year!!

5. Lack of leg room - The new low level buses have leg room, far less seats but are better for people like me who are 5ft 10. The one I got on this morning was an R reg and it had narrow gaps between all the seats except for the back seat, which was where I'd sat after moving seats twice because I couldnt get my knees in. 14 miles a day on buses with your knees squashed up is not comfy.

Does everyone else have the trouble with them.

Bev