blog @ pebbl

It is a sad state of affairs when common sense does not prevail, unfortunately that is exactly what happened when travelling back from a weekend break in Prague. What had been a nice birthday celebration was unexpectedly scarred by a strange company policy — and one individual who enforced said policy — that left us with a very stressful, costly and tiring journey home. From now on I will quite happily pay triple the cost of any National Express ticket, just to avoid getting in that ridiculously petty situation again.

No one expects the Flanders Pigeon Murderer

If you are planning to purchase anything to bring back from holiday, and part of your journey will be travelling with National Express, I urge you to think twice. Because it seems that if it is not "soft" you will be forced to place it in the hold. They seem to think that a handbag or rucksack, carrying absolutely anything under the sun, is safer than a light, well packed, mainly cardboard and polystyrene box.

Quite how any of these items can cause a problem if placed under a seat, I have no idea... But I am pretty certain — if we are talking hypothetical-worse-case-scenarios, which we obviously are — I would prefer a singular light box pouncing towards me, than a bag that would more than likely break open in a cascade of sharp, powdered or liquid contents.

Next time — if there is a next time, which I really do not see how there can be — all I would need do is take my fragile purchase out of its obvious box and place it in a spare rucksack or carrier bag; as this is precisely what other people were allowed to take on board without any stringent "safety checks".

Four candles?

Perhaps we could have avoided this baffling problem if: for one, we had foreseen it (no other form of transport has had a problem be it train, plane, or bus... I have even carried a rolled carpet on a bus before); and two, we had contacted National Express prior to boarding and requested a note of permission — as their luggage terms state. However, in my opinion, this would have made for a further mockery of their "it could be dangerous" excuse.

At the end of the day I get the feeling that this was a case of our "driver" following the rules to a letter, when applying a bit of common sense would have been more sensible. And if that is not the case, and he would have likely applied this logic to everyone; no excuses! Then perhaps National Express should realise they need to be as accommodating as the other forms of transport, to avoid catching weary travellers off-guard. Especially when they do not draw attention to this unexpected policy in any of their advertising, nor on their tickets.

Why do I think common sense should have overridden their one-size-fits-all luggage terms?

1. The journey we are talking about is from Heathrow (HRW) to Woking (WOK), it takes all of 30 minutes.
2. The coach had about ten people on it — a pessimistic much-less-than-half-full — and only one stop before Woking, where it terminates.
3. The box was easy to hold under one arm, and could have sat pretty much anywhere, the floor, my lap, under the seat, in a cordoned-off area at the back surrounded by warning stickers and bi-weekly safety announcements.
4. It was late, the penultimate service, and the ticket office was now closed.
5. It was obvious, being at an airport, that this box had just flown from a destination without incident.

The Norwegian Blue... what's wrong with it?

It has been a while since I have encountered such illogical thinking, and for that matter rudeness. However, I should have twigged something was odd when ours was the only coach to have people standing around waiting — whilst the driver sat in the back ignoring us until two minutes before scheduled departure time. His demeanour was moody and abrupt, with no pleasantries. All I can guess is either this person really does not take his company's ethos to heart, a supposedly friendly and professional transport service, or he cannot stand his job. It might even be that National Express are not giving their drivers enough time for breaks, which would make anyone moody. If that is the case however, then there is even more of a reason not to travel with them.

In the end we were forced to take a Taxi, which was rather costly... but at least the driver was friendly and got us home.