Vega Baga Bus Service disgraceful incident

Hi All
I wanted to let you know about an incident that happened some 3 months ago with the above named bus service. I have held back from writing about this as I was hoping to also post a response from the bus company but to date there has been none.

The incident happened when the bus in question was travelling back from carrefour to quesada and instead of proceeding on its normal route, the driver stopped before entering the quesada arches and told everyone to get off. Passengers were mortified and after much objection and discussion the driver insisted he was late and was not going any further so he put the passengers off the bus.

Among those pasengers was my dad (78 years old), a blind lady, (regular users of the service on quesada will know this lady as a regular traveller) and also a heavily pregnant young woman.

It was baking hot when they got of the bus at dinner time and the two ladies had to get as far as harrys bar at the top of quesada while my dad had to get up to his place near the quesada club. A long walk for the fittest of people. Added to this they were all carrying shopping having just come from carrefour.

The two ladies mentioned, made their way to the taxi rank opposite the don carlos, my dad didnt as in his experience he has never seen a taxi there and didnt want to wait around in that heat , he did explain this to the two ladies and then off he went and walked back to his villa.

When he got back he weighed his shopping bags as a matter of interest ( cause he was knackered by then) and they weighed around 5kilos each (remember hes 78) . For the next two days my dad, normally fit and strong was unable to open his hands or even uncurl his fingers such was the result of carrying the heavy bags over that distance.

Anyway he got over that quickly enough but he was so incensed at how they had been treated by the driver, especially the way in which the driver just dismissed the concerns that any right thinking person would have for the obvious limitations placed upon the two women mentioned, that he wrote to the director of the vega baga bus company with a complaint ( in english and spanish) in order to establish why this had happened and to stop it from happening again, after all if the driver got away with it once and nobody brought it to the bus comanys attention, would he continue to do this as a matter of course?

To date the bus company have not replied to my dads complaint, we are hopeful they still might.

I would be interested to learn if anyone else has had this experience with the company and if so what did you do about it? Also can our council representives do anything to prevent this type of thing happening again.

The bus service on quesada is inadequate to begin with and unless there has been any improvement to the service since this incident ( which im not waware of) does this mean vega baga bus drivers can just do what they like without any repercussions and if so does this further mean that non driving residents and visitors to the area are simply at the mercy of the bus drivers mood on the day????

kind regards

Debra

Quesada

I blame Dot

Commented marko in Quesada 2013-06-29 11:54:20 UTC

Oh Yes
could it be she was the bus driver ??? The plot thickens

Commented we love it here in Quesada 2013-06-29 15:40:35 UTC

I didn't know that there were any buses that went up as far as the Country Club. What times do they 'normally' run to Carrefour and back. Many thanks.

Commented AnneDC in Quesada 2013-06-29 16:16:19 UTC

I think there is one bus from the country club at 09:45 to torrevieja which returns at 13:30ish. Not a lot of time to do anything. Any political parties out there that offer an improvement in the service will have my vote .

Commented marko in Quesada 2013-06-29 19:40:08 UTC

Re the bus service
the good news is that Hananeras shopping mall have now started a shuttle bus service to attract back the shoppers they are loosing to the new La Zenia shopping mall. The service now runs very regualrly across the day throughout the summer months and it does come to quesada but im not sure exactly what days or locations on quesada. I read about this in the free papers so ill have a look and see if i can see anything online.

In the meantime I suppose its use it or loose it, I understand the service is waiting to see what kind of demand it gets before deciding upon any extended service. So if it proves viable we could tell the vega bag a to stick it .

That said, getting back to quesada to torre bus service (vega baga) I guess the rojales council dont want people going to town and spending . This way they can ensure shoppers keep their spending within the rojales jurusdiction?

Debra

Commented we love it here in Quesada 2013-06-29 21:02:21 UTC

TA DAAAAAA

and just like that here it is

Habaneras Shopping Mall Free Bus Service

.

From the 1st June to the 15th September 2013, the Habaneras Shopping Centre will offer a free bus service with 22 seats that will cover various routes throughout the Vega Baja region. The bus will collect and return visitors from nearby hotels (La Finca Golf, Doña Montse, P. Guardamar, La Laguna, Mil Palmeras, La Zenia, Masa y Cabo Cervera), housing developments and the beaches of Torrevieja and surrounding areas to the shopping centre, completely free of charge.

With various routes spread over several days of the week, the center will be within reach of each and every one of the locals and tourists visiting the area.

The bus routes and times are as follows:

Monday Hotel Service
Hotel La Finca-Hotel Doña Monse: Departure 11:00 Return 16:00
Hotel P. Guardamar-Hotel La Laguna. Departure 12:00 Return 17:00
Hotel Mil Palmeras-Hotel La Zenia. Departure 13:00 Return 18:00
Hotel Masa-Hotel Cabo Cervera. Departure 14:00 Return 19:00

Wednesday North Torrevieja Service
Stops in: Rojales (Avda. Vega Baja. Bus stop Caja Rural)- Benijofar (Avda. Federico García Lorca. Bus stop)- Ciudad Quesada (Avda. Naciones. Bus stop) - Guardamar (calle Molivent. Bus Station).
Departure from Rojales: 11:00-12:00-13:00-17:00-18:00-19:00-20:00
Return from Habaneras: 12:30-13:30-17:30-18:30-19:30-20:30

Fridays and Saturdays Urban Route Through Torrevieja
Stops: La Mata (Plaza Perfecta Rodríguez. Bus stop)-Urbanización Cabo Cervera (Avda. Españoles. Bus stop)-Playa de Los Locos (Avda. Alfredo Nobel. Bus stop in front of 222 restaurant)-Bus station-“Eras de la Sal”.
Departure from La Mata 11:00-12:00-13:00
Return from Habaneras 12:30-13:30

Fridays and Saturdays Orihuela Costa Beach Route
Stops: Campoamor (Hotel Montepiedra)-Cabo Roig (N-332)-La Zenia (Consum)-Playa Flamenca (Mercadona)-Rocío del Mar (Hotel Torrejoven).
Departure from Campoamor 17:00-18:00-19:00-20:00
Return from Habaneras 17:30-18:30-19:30-20:30

Regards Debra

Commented we love it here in Quesada 2013-06-29 21:14:49 UTC

Hi Anne
provided the drivers in the mood the bus actually goes right up as far as harrys bar (official route) another post has given the times so hopefully this is helpful to you. If not try the new habaneras free service?

regards Debra

Commented we love it here in Quesada 2013-06-29 21:37:07 UTC

Thanks - my son and his girlfriend are coming out to stay in my house (off the Airport Road) next week and won't be hiring a car so I thought I would try and find out if there is an easy way for them to get to Torrevieja :-)

Commented AnneDC in Quesada 2013-06-29 22:06:55 UTC

Oh well hopefully Ann they have 2 choices now and with the habaneras shuttle on the wednesdays running up till 8.30pm they could make good day of it even if they have to get a taxi from Torre to habneras for a few euros? as opposed to the 30 euros it would cost to do the full journey by taxi.

Enjoy your week with them !

Debra

Commented we love it here in Quesada 2013-06-30 10:41:34 UTC

Debra,
Wouldn't it be nice if Quesada had a regular circular bus service between Quesada,Torrevieja, La Mata, Guardamar and Rojales.

Commented marko in Quesada 2013-06-30 11:22:21 UTC

Marko it would be wonderful. I have long since wondered wy we have this problem? My parents have had their villa on quesada for some ten years and originally the bus service was fine. Ive had my place 7 years and in that time ive seen the bus service deteriorate.
My uderstanding although this is not first hand info, is that, the good bus service was owned and operated by two brothers who sadly had a fall out and since their fall out the problems with reinstating the bus service have been unresolvable?

I was speaking to the owner of a small bus company in La Zenia recently and we discussed how a shuttle or mini bus service on quesada would be so great for the residents and for who ever owned the business as well. (great earner)

she explained that the prospect of the council,giving out taxi licences in spain is as rare as finding rocking horses pooh and the likely hood of a non spaniard qualifying for a license to operate is zero.

Personaly I think this is a real shame and a great diservice to the area and would like to see a way to move matters forward.

I am a driver, but there are ocasions when I would love to go into Torre or the surrounding areas without the car, espically if there is an invitation to partake in a little vino !

Do we have the name of our local council representative so that we can maybe get some help with this item ?

onward and upward

Debra

Commented we love it here in Quesada 2013-06-30 16:27:52 UTC

That's the thing about Quesada. I haven't a clue about who represents us and yet La Marina has its own councillor and they still moan. Perhaps we should ask Jeff, with Dot as his assistant to come over.... If only we could have a Noddy train type thing that just goes from area to area

Commented marko in Quesada 2013-06-30 16:44:47 UTC

Marko
while I appreciate your humour I must say that we will never be taken seriously with your suggestion of "Dot the Destroyer" as the assistant. With regards to the La Marina residents moaning about their council rep im afraid thats the way of the world in that you cant please all the people all of the time, its simply human nature and we must live with that.

That said I really would like to think we could get some leverage in our quest for some sort of regular bus service for the immediate area.

We should ask Jeff if he could point us in the right direction and he may be more than willing to assist given that your are including La Marina in your catchement area for the proposed service.

In the meantime for anyone other than Debra and Marko reading this post, if you could tell us who our Quesada rep is that would be a great help thank you

kind regards

Debra

Commented we love it here in Quesada 2013-06-30 17:09:37 UTC

Marko
Ive looked it up and apparently Mr Derek Monks is our councillor for Foreign Residents. Ive asked for contact details so hopefully thats a start?

regards

Debra

Commented we love it here in Quesada 2013-06-30 17:36:36 UTC

Thanks Debra, I do have a dry sense of humor and therefore apologise if I've made light of the Dot thing. As for the bus thing, as with Europe in general, there are too many officials telling you what you can't do and not many saying 'give it a go'

Commented marko in Quesada 2013-06-30 18:43:27 UTC

lets hope we can change their minds Marko. Im not saying it will be easy but nothinhg worth having ever is........ and if it makes life easier and more enjoyable for locals then im prepared to support any attempts at making it real !!!!

Have a good evening

Debra

Commented we love it here in Quesada 2013-06-30 19:11:05 UTC