Stagecoach Manchester

[Raawwwrrr!]

RE: Stagecoach Manchester and Wigan

(03/06/2017 19:58)Dentonian Wrote:  On arriving back from a day in Huddersfield/Halifax - where First's fares illustrate why Dereg has failed the bus passengers of GM so badly - I came out of Picc Station in time to catch 19260 on the 205. I noticed that MagicBus Megarider fares have REDUCED to £8, and with the windows telling would be customers that DaySavers are £3.50 and most significantly, Single fares a flat £1.50, I would love it if someone with legal training boarding a Magic Bus on a "normal" route, insisted on paying £1.50 for the full journey, as that is the price being advertised.

I can partially answer this as I have recently just completed an Advertising and Brand Management degree which concerned a similar issue and complaints to the ASA.

Technically Stagecoach would be in their legal right.
The side window displays do correctly say "magic dayrider, 1 week magic rider" implying the tickets can only be used on advertised magic bus services. The only services advertised as magicbus services by timetable and stagecoach themselves are the 141/142 and 143.

However, the front window is a little different, if the vehicle has the large "Magic bus" window sticker and the "Single £1.50" in the corner, there is actually no comma, so could be grammatically read as "Magic Bus single £1.50". The only difference here would be that the bus doesn't have the "magic bus" branding but does have the "Single £1.50", this isn't advertised as a 'from' price, and therefore the fare could be applied, However as the customer can access a farechart and the price on the ticket machine, Stagecoach legally don't have to adhere to it, the same way a shop doesn't have to give an item which is wrongly priced at that cost if all POS concerned doesn't match up with the price. (For example if signage states an item is £7, but the till says £10, the shop has the legal right to still charge £10, the same would apply here with bus fares).

The only buses that shouldn't have this top deck window branding are branded for the 141, which would also imply the single for the 141 is £1.50 and doesn't concern any other routes.

The fact that the bus states "Brought to you by stagecoach" also implies that "Magic Bus" doesn't concern the bus it's self, but is merely route branding.