National Express coach terminating short of original destination - tough

I booked a National Express coach from London Victoria to Swanage some time ago for next Wednesday night. Yesterday, I was advised that due to roadworks the coach would be terminating at Wareham.

On calling National Express they confirmed that they have no obligation to get me to the original destination where the circumstances are outside their control and they have given me appropriate notice.

I fully appreciate that the roadworks mean they can't get their coach through and it isn't as if I paid that much for the ticket but seems a bit tough to terminate in Wareham and expect people to make their own arrangements for onward travel. Does this happen a lot?

I would imagine that changing the coach to a smaller bus for the last part of the journey would not be a material cost for them but, of course, it wouldn't be free whereas stopping short is accepted practice.

(b) Cancellation before Service has begun: If we cancel or withdraw a Service before it has commenced, and you do have a place reserved on it, our liability will be at our option to:-

(i) make suitable alternative arrangements to carry you to your destination on another Coach, or other mode of transport as we consider appropriate and if you have reserved a seat and the reserve a seat option is not available on the alternative transport refund your seat reservation fee; or

(ii) cancel the Ticket, and allow you to claim a refund of the full amount of the fare and any seat reservation fee if no portion of the Ticket has been used, or, if the outward part of a return Ticket has been used, 50% of the fare and any seat reservation fee for the return Journey. To obtain a refund you must comply with Condition 10 below.

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It does seem unfortunate that unlicensed express coach services are not subject to the same consumer regulation as trains.

I would make a formal complaint to National Express, if you have not already done so. Also refer the matter to Bus Users UK - although they are not a regulatory body and have no statutory powers to intervene, they could support you to reach a satisfactory outcome.

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/help/contact

https://bususers.org/passengers/complaints/

Mega bus did this to me for no apparent reason. Some days before my booked travel on specific London to Newcastle service, they emailed and simply automatically refunded ticket price, and I had extreme difficulty getting them to just pit me on the next available service! The price of which had shot up since my original booking on earlier cancelled one. My emails and phoen calls were dismissed and it took me to Manchester Shudehill booking office to be able to negotiate with a person luckily I was nearby to it!

A few years ago I had an extremely cheap (£1 or £3) ticket booked on a Megabus route which then got withdrawn around 2 weeks prior to travel due to lack of use - originally they just offered to refund me (minus 50p booking fee!), I wasn't happy particularly as an alternative Megabus route was available for this journey so I sent a follow up email and a few days later got I an offer of being rebooked on the alternative route for no extra, or a train if preferred, and £50 compensation for the inconvenience. I was extremely surprised to say the least!