The 'issues' with the Glasgow service are related to a partnership project we are about to participate in. The decision to remove it from the website as soon as possible was taken because there weren't yet any bookings, so if there was a good time to postpone the facility, this was it - in my experience such services don't receive many far-advanced bookings - and therefore no need for cancellations or refunds. We have not cancelled any booked customer's journey since we began operation.
I'm a little confused as to the comment on 'constant changes' - from the start it was made clear that the initial timetable would be revised from the start of December to reflect the facilities that people were actually using, and this is exactly what has happened - this is that revision, and other than the Glasgow service, nothing else has been changed a second time. The stops at Keighley, Skipton and Carlisle were part of the Glasgow service, hence their removal. The only change to the information on the EMA website will be removing the Glasgow journey.
There are two services from the 1 December changes, Liverpool to EMA, and Wolverhampton to Bradford, connecting at EMA. This is exactly the core of the original service, with only the Trans-Pennine and Liverpool to Birmingham sections, which were under-used, and only incidental for operational reasons of having contractors based in Birmingham and Liverpool anyway, removed. The remaining, bulk, of the intial network, was amended to speed up journey times on the sections being well used, and re-timed to reflect winter flight timetables at EMA.
The changes to the stops have, in the main, been improvements, mainly relocating to either formal bus stations or stops with better local facilities - I don't really see how that is customer un-friendly, and the changes were notified well in advance.
A few facilities disappeared from the booking engine before the end of November, because there seemed little point in advertising a poorly used facility that wouldn't exist after that date.
It also seems rather odd to criticise changes to the website bearing in mind how vocal many of your comments were about the old design!
I'm equally confused as to remarks on being unable to book through journeys on to Skylink - the facility has been available on the booking engine since the day it was announced, and still is. Incidentally, NCT's travel enquiry service wouldn't have been able to answer any questions about our operation, yes, perhaps because the information hadn't filtered down just an few hours after agreeing the facility with NCT, but mainly because we are acting as an agent for their service, and not the other way around.
We have previously discussed the issue of the launch, and whilst accepting some of you have very different opinions, we are getting through to the people we wanted to reach, and that is, surely, the point? As for poorly organised, you are entitled to your opinion, but, to me, all that matters, is that customers are able to book online without a problem, their bus turns up, and they have a safe and comfortable journey, and that is precisely what has happened on every occasion someone has travelled with us.
I also note your comment asking if any forum member has travelled, but I have mentioned this before - of all the comments made, I don't recall a single one enquiring about the service itself. Fair point on Facebook and the user group, but the opportunity to join and comment is open, I can't force people to take part! I guess most customers prefer to email or telephone rather than post in public and wait for a reply - in any case, if you understood who the vast majority of our customers were, you would probably understand why they would be unlikely to comment in such places. That doesn't mean that the opportunity shouldn't be there.
I am sorry if you took my comment about a 'small forum' to be an insult, my remark was in response to the claim made in that posting, and not meant in any way to be offensive. I don't have any issue with the forum whatsoever, you are perfectly entitled to your opinions, but it is a little depressing that every comment is followed by a barrage of criticism, and rarely a question or suggestion, especially as I have made the effort to answer every one of your points rather than taking the route of crying to a moderator for comments to be removed, and in the full knowledge that few, if any, of you, ever intend to use the service regardless of any assurance I give.
