Bad Communication, Bad Personality

PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY   01/03/18

James Bosley, Planning Technician 
Clinton County Planning Department 

[ Note: I'm posting a copy of this email on my blog.]

The bus never showed up.

Today I arrived at the CCPT bus stop ten minutes early to catch the 4 PM Lyon Mountain bus for a quick trip to the mall.  Another person was also waiting but his destination was way beyond the mall.  After 25 minutes in the cold another bus pulled in.  We asked the driver if the Lyon Mountain bus was delayed.

She rudely told us that service was closed down, that we should know because it was "in the news." She acted as if it was our fault for not following "the news" every minute to catch the announcement.  Her attitude: Not my problem.  I could still get to the mall but I didn't know how the other person was going to get home.

Plattsburgh City operates a mailing list that anyone can join to get the latest official announcements.  I went to the CCPT website and I didn't see any option to join a similar list.  The last update posted on the home page referred to buses back in December not running due to cold weather.  Like "the news" I don't check the CCPT site every day.  Even if I did there was no mention of the Lyon Mountain service being shut down.

It shouldn't be hard for the county to set up its own email alert list.  I do check my email every day but not "the news," whatever that's supposed to mean.

Another suggestion: customer relations training for the drivers.  This wasn't the first time I've been treated rudely even though I don't "act up" like some drivers.  Maybe I would get more respect by being rude instead of polite.  So much for being reasonable.

So if you decided to properly serve the public with an email alert list please put my address first.



UPDATE: James Bosley replied to my complaint..  Excerpting his email he wrote: "I am hopeful we will be able to review camera footage from the bus and see how the driver handled that situation, and do some coaching/retraining if necessary."

Regarding the bus cancellation he wrote: "I tried to get an announcement posted on the CCPT website, but I have to go through our IT department and they are not always available to do the posting right away. I hope to have direct access to the CCPT website later this year. We have a Facebook page for CCPT now and I make posts anytime we are concerned about the weather or have to shut down a route due to lack of buses. The radio and television news media have been great about getting our cancellation notices out recently."