Blog - Delay Caused by Making Cycle Reservations (2010-01-27)

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Delay Caused by Making Cycle Reservations (2010-01-27)

Category: Rants. Posted: 2010-02-07 17:53:14 GMT.

E-mail from me to First Great Western (2010-01-27 19:01
On 28th December, I travelled from Paddington to Langley. Knowing that the staff at the ticket office in Slough have problems making cycle reservations, I decided to try buying my train tickets for a return journey from Langley to Stroud from Paddington station. Having just missed a train, I had about 25 minutes to wait for the next Langley train.

There was no queue at the ticket office, but it took 3 counter staff over half-an-hour to make the cycle reservations. When FGW counter staff have had problems making reservations in the past, at least there has been the excuse that the reservations were for journeys on other train companies' trains. In this case, the whole journey was on the FGW network, so any problems making the reservations are totally within your control.

I therefore expect to receive a refund for the 30-minute delay as if the delay had been caused by a late-running, or cancelled, train.

I hope to hear from you soon.

E-mail from First Great Western to me (2010-02-02 23:49)
Thank you for your email of 27 January 2010. I was very concerned to hear that three of our colleagues didn't provide you with the service you expected when you tried to made cycle reservations at London Paddington on 28 December.

We expect everyone representing our company to be as helpful as possible at all times. There are times when we can't meet every single request, but we will always aim to offer the highest level of customer service and to try and find ways of making your journey as easy and pleasant as possible. I know you expected us to make these reservations much quicker and I am sorry that we let you down. I have reported your comments and you can be assured this will be followed up.

I note your reference to compensation and I can appreciate why you feel this is appropriate. However, in line with our Passengers (sic) Charter we do not award compensation against staff complaints. We feel that to do so would give our customer's (sic) the wrong message; it would seem that we almost expect this to happen and are prepared to pay out, when in fact this is not the case and we feel it is much more appropriate to ensure that action is taken to prevent a recurrence. I hope I have reassured you that the standard of service you experienced is not acceptable and that we will do everything necessary to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Thank you again for bringing your experience to my attention. I do hope that future journeys with us will be trouble-free.

I hope to hear from you very soon.

E-mail from me to FGW (2010-02-06 16:10)
Thank-you for your e-mail. As you are probably aware, I have tried 3 times to make cycle reservations at FGW stations, it has taken over half-an-hour each time (including one occasion, when the person serving me was unable to make the reservations at all).

I had felt that the staff serving me had been let down by a computer system that isn't fit for purpose, rather than not being trained properly. Whatever the reason, this is something that you need to address quickly.

I have just read your Passenger's (sic) Charter, but can't find any reference to refunds. Perhaps the full version of the Passenger's (sic) Charter isn't available on your website. Anyway, having read your e-mail, I am amazed by the warped logic that First Great Western uses. Any company that employs humans must expect mistakes to be made, and when mistakes are made, it's how that company deals with complaints that gives a good or bad impression of that company. Refusing to pay compensation when staff make mistakes just gives the impression that FGW doesn't care what its employees do, because there is no comeback for customers.

The members of staff who have tried to make the reservations for me in the past have been helpful, and attempted to give a very professional service. Your reply to my e-mail has shown the opposite.

I hope that you will reconsider your position.

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