Archived Topic
Topic ID 331
15/11/2004 by Spotty Dog
Rail Discounts
Hi, new to forum but have been reading for a while. I apologise before I start about the length of this (to be quite frank) RANT!!!!
Went to renew my monthly travelcard recently, and the nice lady at Hertford East let me know that "One" (Mmm, very Bhuddist!) are now no longer automatically giving the 5% discount to season tickets (monthly and annual) incurred by train delays, and I now need to apply for it myself.
Ok, so called customer services today and spoke to another very nice lady. She informed me that the new customer service charter that has been introduced means that everytime the train I am on is delayed, I get a refund:
- delayed by 30 mins to 59 mins: 50% of the cost of my journey
- delayed by over 60 mins: 100% of the cost of my journey.
To get this, I need to fill in a form EVERY TIME, and send it in to "One" (Ommm, keep calm.....). I will then get nice travel vouchers that I can use when renewing rail tickets.
I think this is outrageous. Bearing in mind that the trains are now stuffed full by Ware that everyone onwards gets no seat at all; we have some of the worst rail stock on the whole of the system; and ..... well, for those of you subjected to the mysery of rail transportation, I am sure you know the rest!!!!!!
My questions for everyone are:
1) New customer service charter???? Does anyone remember this being advertised?
2) Anyone else aware of this new cynical attempt (allegedly!) at revenue retention by One?
3) 30 minutes from when? The timetable times, or the times that the trains depart in the morning due to the "Leaf timetable" random departure time generator?
4) What can we do about it?
Suggestion - there is one possible thing we could do of course:
Everytime anyone is delayed, post a message on this board detailing the details of the delay. We can then all claim for the discount! Now, THAT is customer service!!!!! (How are they going to prove that there weren't 4,500 people on the 18:24 from LS to HE?????)
But that would be bad wouldn't it?!!!!
0 replies
Archived Replies
Reply ID 2321
15/11/2004 by CityBird
Great idea. This is outrageous had you not posted this I certainly wouldn't have known. Will definitely submit a claim for last Wednesday - no service from Liverpool Street when I left work early to catch the 16.35.
Reply ID 2324
15/11/2004 by carlos fandango
so how do they propose you get a form when there are no guards to hand them out and the stations are desserted half the time.
Reply ID 2328
15/11/2004 by jez_p
quote:
Originally posted by carlos fandango
so how do they propose you get a form when there are no guards to hand them out and the stations are desserted half the time.
for WAGN you can just fill in their online feedback form - They call it customer feedback but if you give them feedback they usually reply saying "We are sorry your journey was pants but we can't give you any compensation because you weren't delayed for over 1 hour"
As far as I know the new charter only applies to One Railway.
It just goes to show that National Express group is ignoring what is left of WAGN because it is likely to get swallowed up by Thameslink in 2 years time [V]
Reply ID 2330
15/11/2004 by CityBird
The One web site is out of date too!
Reply ID 2333
15/11/2004 by Spotty Dog
Forgot to say the form is being posted to me. I then have to post it back in the event of a delay to get my vouchers. Top technology.
The ONE website - very out of date! Apparently the lucky people in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex are getting a "delicious" new menu, including the ever popular great british breakfast. Maybe 'one' customer services director Andrew MacPherson should travel on our trains and note the "delicious" menu we often find under and our seats.
I guess you have to laugh really?
Reply ID 2355
16/11/2004 by carlos fandango
if i wasn't paying these jokers 2 and a half grand a year i would.
Reply ID 2359
16/11/2004 by CityBird
I picked up a claim form this morning from Broxbourne, but I had to go to the counter and ask for one as there were none on display. Definitely a revenue retention scheme in progress. I feel a letter to the rail regulator coming on. Afterall when you buy an annual ticket you have to give your name and address - why therefore haven't they written to all season ticket holders? There is only one conclusion to draw - they are ripping us off and hoping we won't notice.
Reply ID 2360
16/11/2004 by carlos fandango
but then even when you have an annual card they are under no obligation to provide you with a service...according to their terms and conditions.
Reply ID 2364
17/11/2004 by Chicks
Has anyone noticed how in recent weeks that most days the trains from HE are delayed by a few minutes but we are NEVER given any explanation as to why.
Also its very irritating when there are problems anyway on the network that the HE trains seem to regularly be cancelled.
[:(!]
Reply ID 2365
17/11/2004 by Spotty Dog
Do the HE trains get cancelled more than others? It seems that the Enfield Town and Chingford ones get cancelled just as much. The operators don't seem to be able to deal with branch lines....
What is more irritating is when delays occur, the Stansted Express still manages to run. Considering the majority of the users of that train are one-offs who have paid less for a flight to some weird destination than we have for a journey to Herford, I cannot see why they get priority service. Guess it comes down to revenue again (i.e. ONE get paid shed loads to run that service)
Reply ID 2366
17/11/2004 by Kate
quote:
Originally posted by Chicks
Has anyone noticed how in recent weeks that most days the trains from HE are delayed by a few minutes but we are NEVER given any explanation as to why.
The same has been happening on the Hertford North line. Trains are now usually running at least 5 minutes late in the mornings by the time they reach Finsbury Park, but with no explanation - not to mention an apology. They've even got extra journey time built into the time-table at the moment due to the 'leaves on the line' time-table being in force.
Reply ID 2370
17/11/2004 by CityBird
I gave up on the HE branch line because as previously said any problems and the service gets axed leaving you stranded. I drive to Broxbourne everyday, I see a lot of my Hertford friends and neighbours there. It's a real shame that branch lines aren't managed effectively.
Reply ID 2372
18/11/2004 by Spotty Dog
OK, I am in danger of becoming obsessed by this now!
Got the delay claim form in the post, along with the passenger charter. The charter is a work of genius!
Under the section "public performance measures", I am informed that services are monitored for punctuality and reliability. Trains are "punctual" if they arrive within 5 minutes of advertised time.
Under the section "compensation", I read details of how I can claim if trains are more than 30 minutes late.
So, all trains can now arrive between 6 and 29 minutes late, and the "public performance measure" would show 0% punctuality. But I cannot claim anything. (I wish our business could agree SLAs with customers like that!)
Your earlier "obligation" post is spot on Carlos!
I feel an email to One coming on. Should anyone else be as obsessed as me with this subject, the address is:
customer dot services at onerailway dot com
They will acknowledge emails within 5 working days, and answer them in 15 working days. I'll let you know the outcome!
I'm off for some anger management counselling now.......
CityBird - Out of interest, is the ticket from Broxbourne plus the parking cheaper than the ticket from Hertford?
Reply ID 2375
18/11/2004 by carlos fandango
I once complained to WAGN about over running engineering work meaning that the early trains to London were replaced by a bus one Monday morning. There had been no warning and no publication beforehand that work would be going on at all.To make matters worse the station staff were hiding in the ticket office with the shutters down!
The response from WAGN was basically if you don't like it travel a different way. It really made me long for the good old days of British Rail!
Reply ID 2380
19/11/2004 by CityBird
My last annual season ticket bought in April from Broxbourne to London cost £1592, parking at Broxbourne costs around £450 a year which I think is v. expensive.
15 replies