If all 15 days of strike action announced by unions at Dublin Bus and scheduled to take place between now and the end of October go ahead, holders of monthly and annual travel passes will be in line for refunds of more €104 each.
However, no one will be permitted to claim any refunds until the dispute is resolved. With no resolution in sight, many regular users of the service are likely to be left substantially out of pocket with no recompense forthcoming from Dublin Bus.
The company is insisting it will only process refunds at its headquarters on Dublin’s O’Connell St, which is likely to inconvenience many users of the service who do not pass through the city centre as part of their normal commute.
Regular bus users with monthly and annual travel passes are entitled to a refund of €5.50 for each day Dublin Bus does not operate. To date, four full days of service have been missed, with 15 more days of strikes planned between now and the end of October.
The company has defended its decision to not issue refunds until the end of the strike and said it would not be feasible to process refunds electronically.
A spokeswoman said Dublin Bus would only begin issuing refunds when the strike is over to “ensure (customers) are refunded the full amount for all days owed to them at the one time”.
She said it was “in no way our intention to inconvenience our customers in any way especially after this period of industrial action which we are aware has caused them significant disruption”.
She said when a refund is issued directly onto a Leap Card, it goes onto the e-purse facility on the card. “We find the majority of customers who have monthly and annual products on their Leap Cards are in the TaxSaver scheme and don’t use the e-purse facility on their card, ie using travel credit to pay a Leap Card fare for their journey. These customers prefer to be refunded in cash.”
She said the only way in which cash refunds could be processed was at its headquarters.
Customers who have bought tickets for Dublin Bus Sightseeing Tours and Airlink can contact +353 1 7033028 or email info@dublinsightseeing.ie to receive a refund or to reschedule a tour.
