"Write to the Top"

[craigindaville.livejournal.com]

Has anyone had luck using the "Write to the Top" feature with the MBTA? I had a disturbing experience with a bus driver on the 89 the other week, and wrote a complaint to the superintendent using that service. It's nearing two weeks with no response, so I was wondering whether it was worth it to keep waiting or instead find another responsible party to notify.

Thanks in advance!

PS- the situation in question was complicated, but basically a bus driver threatened a passenger to a fight when he got very justifiably mouthy. The driver wouldn't turn the AC on on one of those 90+ degree days two weeks ago, and when the passenger complained loudly the driver said "Why don't you come up here and make me, if you're such a big guy!" before finally turning it on. That's the *very* condensed version.

Comments

[docorion.livejournal.com]

Short version: yes. I complained about the Red Line and the manager of the said Red Line called me a few days later. Key points: my letter was politely worded, stated facts, and requested a response. If you feel your letter covered all of that, I recommend you write again, requesting a response. Consider also calling the hotline (numbers here (http://mbta.com/customer_support/contact/)).

[craigindaville.livejournal.com]

Mine was more or less politely worded. And gave a complete rundown of the situation, much more than I'm giving here (including past interactions with this particular driver that didn't rise to the level of complaining, but added to the overall picture).

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

Was the AC working on the bus?

I'm not justifying the driver's behavior, but it's not like the AC on those buses is notoriously reliable.

[craigindaville.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was working fine. In fact, it was working fine for the ten minutes we sat in the bay at Sullivan, before the driver decided to turn the engine off and walk away for five minutes for no reason. The bus became as packed as possible, and since you can't open windows on the buses these days it was sweltering. The AC eventually came back on, but not after the driver threatened the passenger who asked him to turn it on.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I wrote to the 77 bus person last year and received a reply the next day. Some Top-ers may be more responsive than others.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I did, maybe 2 years ago. The bus I bitched about began to run on time a touch more frequently. Miracles did not occur, bells did not ring.

[ominousspectre.livejournal.com]

Is this a driver on the morning shift? Every morning I plan to write a complaint about them and then I remember that as rude and weird as they are, they're the only 89 bus driver who's consistently followed the 89 schedule when I need to leave for work. While it's not OK, it's the only reason I haven't complained (otherwise, I'd have to get up 25 minutes earlier to take a different bus just to be sure I got to work on time).

[ominousspectre.livejournal.com]

Also, to answer your question, the only time I wrote a complaint, it was about the 89 bus (in the fall) because the driver was pulling up to the berth to leave 5 or 6 minutes behind schedule. Two days after I wrote it, they switched the driver. Which makes me wonder if they just switch drivers around so that people who write complaints don't have to deal with them anymore.

[thespian.livejournal.com]

maybe; though I suspect that some drivers are just better at keeping to schedule than others...so they move those drivers to bus routes that are harder when there are complaints, and move drivers with issues to...I dunno. the 77, which runs so frequently it's not usually an issue? Evenings on the 90, when it only does one trip an hour? Something like that.

[pushupstairs.livejournal.com]

when I lived in Somerville (about 2.5 years ago now), I "wrote to the top" about something with the 89 or 101 at least once a month. I usually got a response within 24-48. I can't remember an instance where I didn't any response. Not sure if the same person is running the Charlestown Garage now as was then, maybe it's someone new.

[slomotionwalter.livejournal.com]

I've written about several different routes, and I nearly always get a response, though at times it does take up to three weeks. A lot of times I get the response right after I give up on ever receiving one.

[craigindaville.livejournal.com]

Thanks- I'll give it another week and see what happens.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

what type of response do you normally get? form letter? actual human written response?

[slomotionwalter.livejournal.com]

The responses are usually actual human written responses. I complained once about a driver being extremely aggressive and nearly hitting cars several times. The response said that the driver had been spoken to and was being sent to defensive driving training and asked me to write again if there were any further problems.

[cos]

Ask on mbta ?

[dilllll.livejournal.com]

I just tried it out (yesterday), and received a response from an MBTA supervisor the next day (today).

[magickcat.livejournal.com]

It varies.
I haven't had luck.
I have had several issues with them, not the least of which was being physically assaulted on a crowded bus by the driver for not "looking disabled enough" to be sitting in the "disabled priority" seating (which I have the TAP card for) and winding up in the hospital as a result...
I called, I wrote. They did nothing at all.
Good luck.