Back to School (again!)
It's very quiet at the moment in the coach yard as it's still the Easter break for most of our schools. It's strange to think that for the past 12 months, it's been like this. I speak for all the drivers and team at Elite when I say we really do miss the sounds of the students chatter on our buses, so much so that we can't wait for the school holidays to be over!
As we've previously mentioned, we have really taken on board our customer's feedback and made a few tweaks here and there, moved an office and not forgetting made it even easier to book with us across all our services. Our Home to School Transportation customers have fed back that it would be nice to have an availability to book 'ad-hoc passes' for students who may come home with their child occasionally - and we agree!
We have added a '24 hour Pass' option to our service starting with immediate effect. Customers who order this pass will be allowed to travel on our Home to School Transportation service within a 24 hour period. We are asking our customers to contact the office 48 hours before the date of travel and prior to booking this service online. We have to do this to ensure there's a space on the vehicle for the additional child on your selected day. (We definitely don't want to be leaving anyone behind either!)
We're a family run business, and one thing we do know is that sometimes our children have to stay behind late at school - it could be for that all important football match, the dreaded detention or even just to do a bit of study in the library. It can be problematic for working parents juggling work commitments with picking up the kids from these events after school (we definitely know this!).
We already run a subscription service for students who regularly stay late, but we wanted to open this service up so those who find the need to stay a bit longer on a less frequent basis can do with ease. So, we've also introduced a new 'ad-hoc' Late Bus Service pass as well for students who attend Cheadle Hulme School.
We run a late bus from CHS departing at 5.15pm daily during term time and now students can purchase a pass to use this service whenever it is needed - without signing up for a whole term's commitment. We do ask for 24 hours notice where possible along with payment so we can ensure our driver's know they're collecting your child too.
Finally, we wanted to make our service simple to use and complimentary to our customer's busy lives - so we've added the passes to our new online shop on the new website too so you really can be organised on the go.
As always, Nigel - our Home to School Transportation Manager, is on hand if you have any queries or want to get authorisation for a pass for the new services.
Enjoy the rest of the holidays and we look forward to welcoming the students back on board next week!
Best wishes