First Bus - Update
Many of you will have purchased First bus tickets prior to the Covid-19 outbreak which you will no longer require. We have been in touch directly with First Bus to ask the question on your behalf with regards to potential refund or roll-overs. This is the response in full.
“We fully appreciate that ticket holders are subject to the same restrictions on non-essential travel as the rest of us, and that the facilities at the University are now largely locked down. We do however continue to operate a reduced service for those that need it, and any partially used tickets are non-refundable in line with our Trading Terms. Unfortunately we are not able to freeze or ‘roll-over’ these tickets. Those with queries about tickets that have not been activated should contact our support team at mticket-support@firstgroup.com (7am – 10pm, 7 days a week).
These are unprecedented times for all of us, and we need to ensure that we are able to ride out the acute financial challenge that we in the bus industry face as our patronage dwindles to a small fraction of normal levels. Doing so will ensure that we can continue to serve the University when the crisis passes, and we look forward to resuming normal operations in the future, whatever normal may look like and whenever that may be.”
We know this is not the answer you guys were looking for. We asked First what students could do if they were unhappy with the response, and they said to contact the mticket team on the email above, or you can call 03300 947 577 to investigate your options. We are ensuring the University continue to investigate more medium and long-term solutions to the bind we find ourselves in with a bus monopoly.
Safety Net Policy
We're still working incredibly hard on communicating your views to senior management about your academic achievement and no-detriment/safety-net polices. There is a policy in progress and we have been kept abreast of the developments and our input has been sought. We expect and hope this policy to be communicated to you this week, and when it is we will be gathering questions from you all and getting answers from senior management so you can be reassured about the impact of Covid-19 on your academic achievement