… SBS Transit. And it took three days for my e-mail to be answered.
Their reply to my query is:
Our Ref :ICFMS/2006/06/0529
Dear Ms Joanne
We refer to your feedback which we received on 19 June 2006.
2 We are sorry to learn of your uncomfortable ride while using our service.
3 Please allow us to explain that our buses go through regular preventive maintenance programme, once every 2 to 3 weeks. During the preventive maintenance programme, our Service Centre staff would check the various functions of the bus, including the aircon system, and rectify any defect that is detected before our buses are dispatched on the road. However we do apologise for any hiccups in between checks.
4 Nevertheless we will remind all our bus captains to ensure that our buses are in good condition before deploying them on service.
5 Thank you for writing to us.
Regards
Sumini Giman
Corporate Communications
SBS Transit Ltd
It’s interesting that I never complained about any uncomfortable ride in my e-mail, but it was assumed.
Furthermore, on making that assumption, Ms Sumini Giman (I assume she’s a she) did not bother to investigate further as to what was wrong with the airconditioning system.
To me, this shows that
- my email was not read properly
- SBS Transit is not interested in improving their service
Looking closely at the reply, there’s nothing that says that the airconditioning receives any special attention.
Furthermore, it does not answer the question I raised: When is the airconditioning system cleaned and when it is overhauled?
Just because the airconditioning system functions, is it an adequately cleaned airconditioning system?
Two to three weeks for a maintenence is rather vague. Is it two weeks or three weeks? Are there buses that are not attended to for more than three weeks? Do some slip through the cracks?
I spoke to the guy that comes to clean my airconditioner once in three months. He recommends washing my airconditioner’s air filter once a month. Once a month for an airconditioner that is not used more than an average of 4 hours a day, where the windows and doors are closed when the unit is working.
Compare the stress made on bus airconditioning systems to the one I have at home. Is “once every 2 to 3 weeks” good enough?
this is not entirely related, but i recently emailed SingPost to ask them: when i remail letters and say “return to sender”, do they really get returned to sender?
NO REPLY.
(bloody singpost)