Destination Oblivion (National Express)

Member Name: partyspice

Product:	National Express
Date:	19/02/01 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap with food n drink

Disadvantages: Dangerous coach driver!

I love travelling. Me and my partner travel to many places in the UK just to get away from the usual run-of-the-mill stuff we do day in day out. I usually drive and I honestly don't mind that.

However just before Christmas we decided to get to the Dome in London before it closed, which incidentally was quite enjoyable. Now this was about the time of the train problems and getting through London in a car and then parking was going to be expensive, so we decided to go by National Express as they also did a very good day return offer.

I have travelled on National Express before I hasten to add, although many moons ago, and I do remember them to be a decent coach company with friendly staff and various amenities available on the coach and at the stopping points. Noticing other opinions most folks seem to have a good experience of travelling with National Express.

Journey down to London not to bad at all. Good day at the Dome too.

Then....

Yikes! I look back and wonder what we did to offend the creator of the universe to be subject to a journey that can be only be described as being driven by Beelzebub on a joy ride to Hell! Coming home was the terrifying bit!

Don't get me wrong! The coach was fine and dandy and the hostess friendly and there serving drinks and food (at good prices). Good stuff that. It was the driver - well I think he was the driver - he sat at the front of the coach behind the steering wheel and well - he sat there... but not doing the things I expected a coach driver for a national company should do...

The law is strict on mobile phone users driving and using their mobile phones. It really annoys me when I see people driving with their head tucked trying to hold a phone or driving with one hand - perhaps they all have automatic gear changes?! Anyway - the same applies to coach drivers in my book and his phone was constantly on the go and everytime he leaned across to get it the coa
ch couldn't quite decide which lane to go in. When he dialed out he was looking at his phone - the road was of not much concern for him at that point...

In addition, it was raining pretty hard - it was getting dark - visibility was not the best I had seen (we were one seat from the front) and yet the driver had the must have been into reading chassis numbers because he drove incredibly close to the vehicles in his path.

I am not a nervous driver. On the occasions I am driven I like to feel safe at least. This was not one of those occasions and rather than relaxing I was glued to the view of possible carnage through the wind screen. We were both quite stressed when we got off the coach and relief welcomed us as we stepped on to terra firma.

National Express have got a good record and I am not slating them for the service they provide or the way they do it. We did complain to them and the response was very null and void. All it takes is one lousy driver to have an accident through answering a mobile phone or driving to fast in adverse conditions and the reputation of the company would be shot to pieces by everyone, especially the media...

It has made us think twice now about travelling with National Express again... I'd rather drive

Summary: