Appalling P13 service.

[apbremer]

Three times in the past two weeks I have tried to use the wretched P13 bus and each time I have been let down, twice in Lordship Lane towards Streatham, and just now at 4pm or so at West Dulwich station eastbound, in pouring rain as children were waiting on leaving school. Each time I was expected to wait at least 35 mins for a scheduled 15 mins service, but ending up walking. Complaints to TFL and Abellio (should be LastBellIo) are ignored. What to do??

[Dog duck]

Try not complaining on the forum?

[apbremer]

What a silly message, Dog duck. Perhaps pressure from EDF readers might conceivably produce a reaction when all other avenues certainly do not!

[moondancer]

no one believes this, but last summer I encountered 3!!! P13 southbound on Whateley Road. Today I was at the bus stop at NCR outside the Coop funeral place and dismal chemist, 14 mins until the next one, an abysmal service, carrying shopping, pouring rain, we live in an affluent area of a major world city and cannot get home in a civilised manner??

with regular reliable, not packed to the gills bus? And why do they not wait a few mins at Sainsbuy DKH, ? how many times do we have to turn out of the store when the bus has just left, and a long cold wait until the next one ??

[moondancer]

Dog duck Wrote:

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> Try not complaining on the forum?

why would you even post this ???

[rendelharris]

moondancer Wrote:

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how many times do we have to turn

> out of the store when the bus has just left, and a

> long cold wait until the next one ??

I agree the service is terrible on that route, but the TfL bus app is pretty accurate, so if you keep an eye on the next arrival as you shop it should make it easier to be there when it arrives. In no way excuses the service though.

[uncleglen]

These kind of threads make me cross because it is OBVIOUS why the P13 is erratic. The amount of traffic on its route is phenomenal all hours of the day. If you think about where the P13 has to travel and the probability of it getting stuck somewhere is high you would not need to post this. I used the P13 every day when there was a lot less traffic on its route in 1994 and it was brilliant.

[moondancer]

1994 was a long time ago, no it isn't OBVIOUS, be as cross as you want, this is a sub standard service.

[KidKruger]

not wanting an argument here - but I don't think the P13 went down Whateley Rd in 1994.

Must have been a different route (and therefore potentially different traffic issues to contend with than nowadays ?)

[apbremer]

If it is a congestion problem why does the P4 from Brixton to Lewisham provide an incomparably better service? No, the answer is that Abellio does not really care what their customers think.

[dbboy]

I think the word you're looking for is erratic.

[JohnL]

I complain on trustpilot these days. More likely to get a positive reaction.

Abellio only have reviews for their Scottish services though and they're awful.

[almost peckham]

At any point in time half the P13 fleet is stuck somewhere on Avondale Rise. It's a fact, I tell you.

[Flux capacitor]

I would have to agree with you complaining to the company seems to have little or no effect. The bus companies want to just profit and not deal with real issues. Perhaps contact the counsellor who represents east dulwich. They in turn could put you in contact with the relative Authority it's a bit long winded but it does produce results.

[Penguin68]

I would have to agree with you complaining to the company seems to have little or no effect.

When I complained that I had seen a P13 driver force an ambulance (on blues and twos) to back up to let him pass (he wouldn't move) I got an immediate and full response from the company, so they are sensitive to some things. Scheduling problems may be another issue. I travel part of the way of the P13 from time to time, and hold-ups and problems on the routes I see have recently been terrible. I can bypass these to avoid them (as can Uber drivers with Waze) - but buses rather have to follow a fixed route, unless formally diverted!

[Bic Basher]

If only the P4 and P13 could be re-routed via Court Lane (the P4 at one time did go through Court Lane), the reliability would improve.

However we're stuck with the buses down Dulwich Common which cause a lot of the issues with both buses.