This morning, I set off on a journey into the depths of County Durham with my mum. I identified a duo ticket as the best value option for our trip, and so set out to buy one. However, it has been far from straightforward.
One the first leg of our journey, when I asked for a duo ticket the driver looked at me blankly. Then he explained that he didn't know how to issue such a ticket and told us to get on and just sort it out on our next bus. We planned to do that but were very surprised to find the same driver taking us down to Darlington - again he just waved us on. However, for our journey onwards from Darlington, we did have a new driver. When we requested a duo ticket he was again confused, explaining that apparently the drivers had not been informed of the new ticket at all. He had to radio in to work out how to issue the ticket, and even they weren't sure, so it ended up taking a few minutes for him to find it manually. He was (rightly) livid about the fact a new type of ticket had been launched and promoted but not properly explained to drivers. And I agree - the fact both drivers didn't know about the ticket at all suggests the problem is with the company, not the drivers.
We haven't yet begun our journey back to Newcastle, but I am not expecting it to be hassle free. If I scan the ticket, I expect the drivers will question my mum (because she won't have her own) and vice versa. Hopefully they'll understand but I doubt it given the woeful communication drivers seem to have been given. I'll come back and given an update on the return leg to let you know either way.
Has anyone else attempted to buy and/or use one of these duo tickets?