Dear First Buses

dear local bus company,

i have been sympathetic to your stike action as long as i can.  now that it's over, i have a few things to say to you.

first off, you have a monopoly in this town.  you already charge us, your customers, more than we would pay anywhere else in the country.  and yet you strike for more money?  and put us at an inconvenience by your lack of service?  that hardly seems to be targeting the right group.

secondly, you are never on schedule, even when you are supposedly running on schedule.  i cannot tell you how many times i've waited half an hour or more for a bus that is supposed to come every ten minutes, just to see three go back literally bumper to bumper in the opposite direction.  what the hell?

thirdly, why do you think it's okay to leave people standing at the bus stop, when they are obviously waiting for you?  under the shelter, at the curb, tickets out... and you whizz on by.  even after making eye contact.  at 10pm.  with only one other bus due after that.  not cool, driver.  really, not cool.

fourth, why do you cut the only fare i use (a student day pass) with no warning?  i bought it one day;  the next day i ask for it and am told you don't sell them.  what the hell?  i just bought one yesterday, and no one mentioned they were being discontinued.  no signs on buses.  no notice on the website.  nothing.  now i have to pay full fare, or buy a weekly/monthly/yearly pass?  give me a break.  you suck.

luckily for me, i don't often need you.  and believe me, i won't be giving you any of my money any more than i absolutely have to.  you have lost this occasional customer.  i hope that's the outcome you were hoping for with your strike action.

sincerely,
on my own two feet

(No, I didn't really send this letter.  But I have written to them on three different occasions about three different issues.  And I never heard back.  They did, however, thanks to major pressure from the two local universities' student unions, bring back the student day pass.  But the running on time is worse than ever.)