Train talk hots up
I don’t know if you’ve been following my saga with the railways but I received a response from one company and I’ll now name it – Arriva and they were good. All right, you might say – this is just a standard response and form letter but at least it is a response:
Thank you for your e-mail in which you bring to our attention the situation that occurred between our member of staff and yourself at the barrier on L**** station.
Please accept my apologies for the way you were spoken to on this occasion. All our staff receive customer service training however it would appear that on this occasion our staff member may not have given you the standard of service customers have come to expect from Arriva staff. In order to avoid a situation such as this reoccurring I have passed your e-mail to the manager of L**** station who will investigate the issue and take appropriate action.
Again please accept my sincere apologies for the incident which caused you to contact us on this occasion and if I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
… followed by extensive contact details. The other company, the one which laid one bus on for three trainloads of passengers, has tried the old “ignore the customer” routine so I’ve sent a second letter, a bit more forceful this time:
Dear Sir/Madam
On Monday, I sent a letter [attached] to both you and to Arriva, North Wales. While Arriva promptly replied [Contact Reference No.******], explaining exactly what they undertook to do and what they had done already on the matter, your company have extended no such courtesy so far.
So allow me to restate the situation, assuming that your company are concerned about their customers.
I have since determined, having asked various staff, that the breakdown between M**** and L****, which caused the 8.12 a.m. service from H**** to L**** to be cancelled, resulted in a request for buses. The staff inform me that in fact only one bus was ordered and this went to L**** first.
Now, as it takes 40 minutes for that bus to visit the other stations and then to us, small wonder it got to us about 9.10 a.m. This took about half the passengers from the 8.12 train, shovelled in like cattle but of course, people were arriving from other trains by now – you know exactly how many. This resulted in a mass of people from the roadside, in the shelter, back through the station through-course, out to the platform and up the stairs to the walkway, with more joining every time a train came.
The second bus arrived for passengers at 10.05 a.m., at which point three ladies and I decided to pay for a taxi to L**** station, where the Arriva incident occurred, which they have now dealt with.
On the platform at H**** today, I asked various passengers I know from regular travel what they thought – i.e., what was the most infuriating aspect and all said it was not the breakdown – that happens every time there’s the wrong kind of rain or sunshine or else involving H**** station – but the putting on of one bus for trainloads of people.
That was the issue.
I’d like this matter addressed please and would like it to be done amicably. If nothing occurs, the first port of call after that will be to send the whole caboodle to Metro and then to Private Eye and the Mail.
Yours sincerely,
James Higham
As well as that, I’ll “out” them here on this blog if they fail to respond.
Meanwhile, I apologize to readers but I’m currently deeply involved in a work related matter and things are at a critical stage. Please forgive my erratic posting and unforgivable lack of visiting.
Filed under: Society & human issues
Arriva now belongs to Deutsche Bahn so you are already the beneficiary of German efficiency and customer service.
Have you ever had a go at ordering a number of buses with less than a days notice?
Bus companies do have buses lying arond doing nothing. It takes time to get hold of a driver get them to the bus and then get from the depot to the location.
How many people like you had ago at this member of staff! after about 10 people having a pop at you even the best person can lose it.
Modern passenger exspect a lot more service but at a lower price. I guess I would say if you dont like it then dont use it, simple as.
GR – as Arriva said, they select their staff carefully and they train them in these sorts of situations. There are set ways to respond and the types of complaints or pressure are usually the same.
Being currently in the area of customer service myself, there are set phrases which one delivers under pressure. This man made it personal with a personal remark which, by the way, was unjustified, as Arriva have conceded. It was not a hoodie or malcontent he was dealing with, he’d seen me many times before and we’d even spoken, so he had a good idea.
There was no excuse, especially as he had younger staff members present whom he was instructing. This one won’t wash, GR.
Regarding the buses, breakdowns are a regular event with this other train company. Every day it breaks down at the end furthest from me – the station announcements speak of it. They run buses constantly and have access to them.
Also, buses are not taxis and the wet weather should not have affected it. It was very poor management on the part of this company.
What this company does at the same time is threaten passengers about what they can and cannot do on the platform. So one arrives on the platform to an announcement of, “It is an offence to …” and, “… offenders may be prosecuted.” On the train, notices give you a range of offences you can be prosecuted for.
Over the top of this comes an announcement that their shop has a range of hot and cold food. Actually, there is no hot food.
Piss poor customer service.
Service at a lower price? What a joke – the fares are going up and up and up but the service remains bad for the price. Plus the rush hour trap now of offpeak contracting in hours without customers knowing it.
GR – if your criticisms were valid, I’d admit that.