General Chat

Ours run until March 2013 and they are already renewing them. OH had a form to re-apply on line, sent out alphabetically. I didn't receive one. We both have the same initial if they only use one. I waited a couple of weeks then sent an e mail to the Borough Council where they were originally sent from.

I forgot that last year responsibilty passed to County councils. Anyway my e mail was forwarded to the correct person. Had an e mail from her this morning to say that they don't seem to have a record for me. She also said that in the transition some records have not reached them. I had to send my current pass number and date of birth and she will do further checks. If they can't find a record I will have to go and apply again (to the local library apparently) and get another photo taken. All this hassle because of somebody's incompetence. Very aggravating.

My worry is that, if I lived alone I would not have been aware that they were sending out forms to re-apply and therefore would not have realised until my current pass ran out.

OK 26 people have viewed this, hopefully it will have helped at least some of them with advance information as the renewal will probably be the same shambles everywhere.

Hi Ann ,
That happened to me a couple of years ago
i didn't know it had to be renewed , until the bus driver told me.
:-)
i got it renewed and was told that i didn't have to have it renewed anymore
Hazelx

Nothing to add, but thinking that OH isn't even going to apply for his first one - not enough buses to make it worth the effort!

But you're right about living alone people falling through the gap - there could even be an eligible person living with a non-eligible person who also wouldn't realise.

I think they should give us who do not use them a little voucher etc!!!!!!! The pigs might fly.

I have never been able to use them as stop is too far away for me to walk even before I did the dying duck act!!

Do they still give taxi credits to those who can't use the bus? They used to I'm sure in this area.

I suspect some people will start to ask questions when it gets close to renewal date, ours seem to have started early as renewal isn't due until March. However it used to be organised by District/Borough councils which was a comparitively small area compared to the area covered by the County Council. So, probably the same nymber of staff coping with ten times the number of passes.

I do appreciate how fortunate we are being five minutes (on a good day) away from the bus that runs every 10-15 minutes to either Cheltenham or Gloucester, including passing the hospital for when I need to pick up hearing aid batteries.

I applied for mine on line months ago. I only use the bus once a week and catch it in town. There is a small scrolling sign on the bus stop which advised to go on line and update the bus pass if it ran out in March 2013.

The only problem for a couple was that it only accepted one email address per customer. Whilst entering the information on line it stopped then requested me to ring a number. I did this and was told to ring after November 1st. I told him that I had just been instructed on line to ring this number. He immediately apologised, said that was different and that my new card together with the same photo would appear in the post within 5 days, which it did.-jl

Obviously all areas are different Janet I haven't seen any notification as yet on bus stops or anywhere else. I assume that there was other provision for those who did not go on line? My OH had three options, send by post, go on line or order by phone.

What systems are used when using a bus pass?

Ours (Central Essex) used to be, until a few weeks ago, that you waved the pass at the driver and he issued you with a ticket (that didn't have any destination on it).

Now there is a scanning system that you have to put your pass against. No ticket is issued.

We have a scanning system, place pass on machine in front of driver and tell the destination, he/she then prints a ticket which shows the destination.

Annin Glos..

Get your local bus company up on your PC as you maybe able to do it online..

I did mine online late February and got mine within a couple of days.

Hi Ann
Those of us lucky enough to live in London have them until March 2015 thanks to Boris.
Funnily enough I was on a train to Victoria yesterday when a group of people were discussing renewal of the passes they were using.

Agree with you about people living on their own.

Take care
Von

We have the scanning system here in West Midlands but no ticket is issued.


My OH had a letter saying to renew either by post or on line this year, we did renew on line and had an email back confirming the renewal.

As you say Ann if you had lived alone you wouldn't have known that they had lost your info.

Sue in Leeds,

I can't renew on line until they have either found my details or I have re-registered. Not heard back from them yet.