Dial-A-Ride SUCKS. CALL ME. Especially until B's car gets sorted out, I'm around, because having to drive her to work means I'm not available to take work assignments of my own -- it's okay, whatever I earned she'd pay out in rentals, it washes. So, CALL ME.
Totally agreed! How can they get away with such blatant discrimination? How can they make rules and not tell you them? Surely they should issue you with some kind of change of contract?
I think that they get away with making rules and not telling them because so many of their clients ARE elderly. No one takes old people's complaints seriously. Because honestly, if an old person says, "You never told me X!", what's the automatic response?
"Of course I told you! You just don't REMEMBER."
I'm a headache because I'm relatively young for one of their clients, clear-headed and quite articulate. The same routine doesn't work as well on me.
These people are funded and paid to help, right? It sounds like they are really being nit-picky and unnecessarily un-cooperative. I'd offer help, but it's a long drive from OH!
Yep. Greater Hartford Transit District DAR--at least in Connecticut--is a quasi-municipal corporation funded by at least three grants. I believe it also falls under the purview of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, the Federal Department of Aging and the Older Americans Act. You'd never know it, though.
They are being nitpicky and uncooperative--largely because they know they can get away with it. Too many people think that anyone who's old or disabled is automatically too dumb to know if he or she is being treated without respect.
Good grief, are they stupid? When the service users are elederly and disabled people it's hardly some kind of big shock to think they might have sudden health emergencies. Sure it's a pain to have cancellations on short notice, but that's just the reality of the situation. It's like becoming a doctor and then complaining about all those sick people that keep showing up.
Or do you think you're booking rides and then cancelling just to mess with them?
Or do you think you're booking rides and then cancelling just to mess with them?
That really seems to be what they think. The letter says that "No Shows and Late Cancellations are both costly and time consuming" and that "this in turn affects other passengers and has a significant impact on the overall operation."
I happen to know that it takes the dispatcher about two minutes to call the driver on the radio and tell him or her an hour or more before the driver is scheduled to arrive that X ride is canceled.
I also know that when a ride is canceled, the first thing that a dispatcher does is ask the driver to pick up people who have been stranded or excess passengers that another driver won't reach in time. In other words, THE WORK GOES ON. DAR uses cancellations to get more work done.
But according to the letter, those who cancel are just being inconsiderate and costing the business money. Uh...riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
I don't know what advice to give you in regards to most of this idiocy, but DAR's website says,
"In the event of bad weather, residents are encouraged to use good judgment and reschedule non-essential trips."
So if you have to cancel because of bad weather, you can point out that you are just following DAR policy and thus shouldn't be penalized for it. Shouldn't being the operative word.
Comments 16
Reply
Reply
Reply
These folks need some disabled people ON THEIR BOARD. Who RUNS this thing? Who makes the rules?
Reply
Bastards.
Reply
"Of course I told you! You just don't REMEMBER."
I'm a headache because I'm relatively young for one of their clients, clear-headed and quite articulate. The same routine doesn't work as well on me.
Reply
Reply
Reply
They are being nitpicky and uncooperative--largely because they know they can get away with it. Too many people think that anyone who's old or disabled is automatically too dumb to know if he or she is being treated without respect.
Reply
Or do you think you're booking rides and then cancelling just to mess with them?
Reply
That really seems to be what they think. The letter says that "No Shows and Late Cancellations are both costly and time consuming" and that "this in turn affects other passengers and has a significant impact on the overall operation."
I happen to know that it takes the dispatcher about two minutes to call the driver on the radio and tell him or her an hour or more before the driver is scheduled to arrive that X ride is canceled.
I also know that when a ride is canceled, the first thing that a dispatcher does is ask the driver to pick up people who have been stranded or excess passengers that another driver won't reach in time. In other words, THE WORK GOES ON. DAR uses cancellations to get more work done.
But according to the letter, those who cancel are just being inconsiderate and costing the business money. Uh...riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Reply
"In the event of bad weather, residents are encouraged to use good judgment and reschedule non-essential trips."
So if you have to cancel because of bad weather, you can point out that you are just following DAR policy and thus shouldn't be penalized for it. Shouldn't being the operative word.
Reply
Leave a comment