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Making Complaints: A Constructive Approach

In the spirit of our slogan “It’s our RIDE. Let’s make it work!” RAP suggests registering complaints about RIDE service not only by telling the T of the problems we’re experiencing, but also by suggesting solutions or asking questions that could lead to solutions. We find that this approach works to everyone’s advantage: Both the T and fellow consumers reap the benefits of our expertise as RIDE users. And those of us making complaints become active participants and problems-solvers.

Here are a number of examples of complaints made in this way. If you have examples of constructive complaints that you’d like to share with us, please let us know! We would also like to hear if, by making constructive complaints, THE RIDE has made any policy or system changes that you are aware of.

example 1 | example 2 | how to send us an example complaint

Example No. 1

(Adapted from a complaint made by a RAP member to the MBTA Office of Transportation Access and a RIDE vendor)

Complaint: THE RIDE did not show up at my requested pickup location.

Description: THE RIDE dropped me off appropriately at my destination, the John F. Kennedy Library in Dorchester. I was scheduled to be picked up at the library two hours later, but no RIDE ever showed up. While I was waiting out front, the library closed for the evening. I had no cell phone, so the night security guard patched through a call to his supervisor, who in turn called THE RIDE. A dispatcher told the supervisor that the customer was a “no-show,” although the supervisor knew better. The dispatcher also told the supervisor that it would be “hours” before a van could be sent.

Customer’s Presentation to the MBTA: I wrote to the vendor and to Mr. Rizzo at the MBTA Office of Transportation Access (OTA), describing the incident and the inconvenience and danger it caused me. In addition, suspecting that the driver who never showed up had been misinformed as to my pickup location, I asked what street address the driver had been given.

In response to my letter, I was told that, true to my suspicions, the driver had been given the wrong address (s/he had been given the address for the MBTA bus stop in the heart of the UMass campus, a long distance away). This gave me the opportunity to inform the OTA that the address for the John F. Kennedy Library listed in its system was incorrect. As a result, the OTA fixed the information.

From now on, all RIDE users who travel to and from the John F. Kennedy Library will benefit from my having asked about the source of my RIDE problem.

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Example No. 2

(Adapted from a complaint made by a RAP member to the MBTA Office of Transportation Access and a RIDE vendor)

Complaint: Trips scheduled too close together, leaving me almost no time at my intermediate destination.

Description: On a day that I had appointments at several locations, my rides were scheduled so close together that I barely had any time at one of my destinations (the driver delivered me there one minute after he was due to pick me up for my next trip!). The driver agreed to give me four minutes to take care of my business before we left for my next destination.

Problems: What happened to me reflects several problems in the reservation system:

• Trip-length data is not made available to reservationists or riders, even though that information is in vendors’ computers.
• Customers are required to make reservations in terms of pickup times rather than the times they would like to be dropped off.
• Schedulers often schedule riders to be picked up later than they’ve asked to be picked up.

Possible solutions:

• Make trip-length data (for different times of the day and different days of the week) available to reservationists and riders.
• Allow trips starting elsewhere than the customer’s home to be scheduled either by the desired drop-off or pickup time.
• If a scheduling problem emerges, as it did for me, notify the passenger the night before and offer the passenger at least two choices, giving a time (perhaps 10 p.m.) by which a default option will be finalized unless the passenger contacts the vendor. Giving the passenger the option to make other choices could prevent many problems.
• Formulate a policy for situations like the one I ran into: For instance, a policy might be instituted whereby a driver would be required to give passengers a minimum of 10 or 15 minutes (rather than a mere 4 minutes) at their intermediate destinations.

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To send us examples of constructive complaints that you have made

e-mail us at: ;
call us at: 617-277-0080 (messages only) ;
snail-mail us at: RIDE Advocacy Project, c/o Boston Self Help Center, 1534 Tremont Street, Roxbury Crossing, MA 02120-2929.

Or use our online form to send us a message.

Remember, we would also like to hear if THE RIDE has made any policy or system changes because of constructive complaints you have made.

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