Not only is the Arcadia Transit fixed route system the most unreliable bus system ever invented,…read morebut this company has the most horrific customer service I have ever seen.
RIDERS BEWEAR!!!
Let me break it down for you:
1.) Like most other transportation systems, you have to deal with the late buses, or, on rare occasions, one that doesn't show. However, this system takes it up a notch. If it doesn't show and you decide to politely ask the next driver why it did not show, all they give is attitude. And then say something like, "maybe that person didn't show up for work today." This very thing happened to me about a month ago, and when I asked why they didn't have a cover for that person, the driver just said that the company doesn't do that. So basically if someone doesn't show up for their shift you get screwed and the company doesn't care.
2.) If there is ever construction going on along any of the routes, don't count on being picked up at all. And if you do manage to wave down a bus you'll get nothing but attitude. So much so that they make you feel like you've done something wrong. Furthermore, It is common courtesy for any bus service to plan, map out and notify the public about any temporary changes. A.T. doesn't even do that. They tell no one, and they just send their drivers out and make them find their own way around.
3.) to make matters worse, if you call to complain or ask questions over the phone, you are greeted with the same horse turd attitude given by the drivers. That is if you can find a working number. Sure the website gives you a number to call, but it brings you to another company all together. They have the managers number on there but she never answers the phone. If you really wanna get through you gotta call the number on the side of the bus. This morning for example, I was at the bus stop at exactly 7:35am waiting for the bus that is suppose to come at 7:45. IT NEVER SHOWED UP!!! So I called the only number that works to ask where it was. After putting me on hold the guy over the phone, some jerk named Ariel, told me that he spoke with the driver and the driver claimed to have passed by that stop already at exactly 7:45. I told Ariel that no bus came by here. Then, in a tone that sounded like he thought I was lying, he tells me this: "Well he had to have come by because that stop marks the beginning of his shift. Pissed off, I yelled at him and hung up. Later around 5pm I was trying to get home and the bus, which comes at 5:14, just speeds passed me without picking me up. AGAIN I called, and spoke with some guy named Brian. After being on hold yet again, became back and confirmed that there was nothing he could do the bus already passed. I demanded that the driver turn around and pick me up (his fault after all), but they refused. The. He just said your best option was to wait until the next bus that was to come in an hour. HELL NO. Not in 95 degree weather!!!
4.) Finally, as if that wasn't the straw that broke the camels back. They don't a crap about their customers. Not one little bit. My family and I were going out one Saturday morning a few weeks ago. We got at the bus stop at 9am it was suppose to pass around 9:20 ish but it never showed. The only bus that was in sight was a dial a ride bus. So we waited for the next one. When it came, around 10am the driver said that she was going on break and couldn't possible take us to our destination. We tried to reason with her but wouldn't budge. She told us that the next bus will for sure be able to take us. So again we waited. At around 10:20am a third bus came but this driver claimed he was going back to the station because it was the end of his route. And after giving us attitude (making us feel like worthless trash) he told us we would have to wait for the next one. After he left, and about 10 minutes of trying to call, we finally reached a customer service member where she checked into it and said that she would send on out to us in a few minutes, and guess what, no bus came. I called avian, and got the same girl and she said that there won't be one coming until after 11:30am and that we had to wait. I asked what about the bus you said was going to be there for us. She claimed she never said that. To throw more salt onto the fire, the girl wouldn't let me explain the situation. She kept cutting me off. By this time it was after 11 we had been out it 90 something degree heat and we had gotten nowhere. My girl has sever asthma, I'm prone to heat stroke. We can't Handel being out in this heat. Do they care though? NO!!! So long story short we didn't get to go anywhere and just went on home.
So if you ever are considering taking this particular mode of transportation think twice. Do you want to go through the same hell me and others on this yelp page have had to go through? I'll leave it up to you.