There is a dispatcher named Ray that lies at his convenience. He sends me on long and difficult trips and when I called him to ask him to change the trip...well here is how it went.
Sue.."Hi Ray, this is Sue, could you please change this share ride, it is too long and hard on me?"
Ray.. "No, it is set up in the mornings and I can't change it"
Sue... "Yes you can Ray, this trip is hard on my hips, the ride is too long and it hurts"
Ray, "This is a share ride program and I can't change it"
Sue..."Yes you can, I know it is a share ride and I don't mind a share ride, but this trip is too long and hard on me and it is all they way at the end of Osborne Place, it is a long and bumpy trip and too hard on me. Yes you can change the trip Ray"
Ray...."I could, but I wont"
Sue..."Pause......Pause......Pause....
Ray...."Hello....Hello
Sue.... hang up
I was so beside myself that I could not speak. This ride is approximately 45 minutes from my home to the share ride then to my work. I called to complain to the person that I thought was and advocate I told him what had happened, he called Ray and Ray told him that I always call there and demand things and when I don't get my way I hang up on them.....(mind you this is the first time I have ever spoke to Ray on the phone) I have always had a good standing with Access and Ray discredited me with his lies, now he sends me on this trip every time he works days, for about 3 weeks I was going just to a share ride around the corner then to work, I thought, what is going on, I asked a driver and he said that Ray was on nights and many drivers disliked him, but this mourning (December 14, 2009) I had the trip again, I asked the driver if Ray was on dispatch this morning and he said yes. Ray is mad at me for trying to turn him in and now he is retaliating against me and there policy says that a person can not retaliate. Another Lie, Ray will send me on ridiculous trips just because he is mad at me.
Drivers have told me stories about Ray and the things Ray makes them do against the consumers, like leaving them and making them call for another trip when not necessary. I asked other drivers what they thought about my long trip and they all say the same thing, that they did not understand the trip but they had to do it as instructed.
Access Paratransit offers to provide transportation to diabled individuals. It's not that easy though. When you need a ride somewhere, you have to call them up on the phone, only the day right before you need the ride. Then one of the things that they ask you is if you want them to call you when they are out in front of your place. They take your number down and say that they will call you when the driver arricves. When the driver arrived to pick me up, he did not do the call out. Then I missed my ride. I called up Customer DisService and they informed me that the driver does not have to actually do that call out if he or she does not want to. I said: Then why do you even ask people if they want a call out if it cant be depended on? There is one more thing to point out here. The drivers are hourly employees. They are not paid per passenger that they pick up. So they commonly look for reasons NOT to provide a ride. This is a poor work ethic and the company just allows it to continue. If the driver finds a reason not to pick someone up then he or she does not have to work. They can just driver around all day and get paid to not have to do anything if they can look for reasons not to do a ride. So they never call people out and this keeps happening to me.
Access Services Reviews
There is a dispatcher named Ray that lies at his convenience. He sends me on long and difficult trips and when I called him to ask him to change the trip...well here is how it went.
Sue.."Hi Ray, this is Sue, could you please change this share ride, it is too long and hard on me?"
Ray.. "No, it is set up in the mornings and I can't change it"
Sue... "Yes you can Ray, this trip is hard on my hips, the ride is too long and it hurts"
Ray, "This is a share ride program and I can't change it"
Sue..."Yes you can, I know it is a share ride and I don't mind a share ride, but this trip is too long and hard on me and it is all they way at the end of Osborne Place, it is a long and bumpy trip and too hard on me. Yes you can change the trip Ray"
Ray...."I could, but I wont"
Sue..."Pause......Pause......Pause....
Ray...."Hello....Hello
Sue.... hang up
I was so beside myself that I could not speak. This ride is approximately 45 minutes from my home to the share ride then to my work. I called to complain to the person that I thought was and advocate I told him what had happened, he called Ray and Ray told him that I always call there and demand things and when I don't get my way I hang up on them.....(mind you this is the first time I have ever spoke to Ray on the phone) I have always had a good standing with Access and Ray discredited me with his lies, now he sends me on this trip every time he works days, for about 3 weeks I was going just to a share ride around the corner then to work, I thought, what is going on, I asked a driver and he said that Ray was on nights and many drivers disliked him, but this mourning (December 14, 2009) I had the trip again, I asked the driver if Ray was on dispatch this morning and he said yes. Ray is mad at me for trying to turn him in and now he is retaliating against me and there policy says that a person can not retaliate. Another Lie, Ray will send me on ridiculous trips just because he is mad at me.
Drivers have told me stories about Ray and the things Ray makes them do against the consumers, like leaving them and making them call for another trip when not necessary. I asked other drivers what they thought about my long trip and they all say the same thing, that they did not understand the trip but they had to do it as instructed.
Sue, North Hills, Ca
Access Paratransit offers to provide transportation to diabled individuals. It's not that easy though. When you need a ride somewhere, you have to call them up on the phone, only the day right before you need the ride. Then one of the things that they ask you is if you want them to call you when they are out in front of your place. They take your number down and say that they will call you when the driver arricves. When the driver arrived to pick me up, he did not do the call out. Then I missed my ride. I called up Customer DisService and they informed me that the driver does not have to actually do that call out if he or she does not want to. I said: Then why do you even ask people if they want a call out if it cant be depended on? There is one more thing to point out here. The drivers are hourly employees. They are not paid per passenger that they pick up. So they commonly look for reasons NOT to provide a ride. This is a poor work ethic and the company just allows it to continue. If the driver finds a reason not to pick someone up then he or she does not have to work. They can just driver around all day and get paid to not have to do anything if they can look for reasons not to do a ride. So they never call people out and this keeps happening to me.