Rude/miserable station staff - Newport

paulfoel · 4 Jul 2016

Apart from my previous post about the completely useless lady in the ticket office....

Find the staff at Newport to be a complete nightmare. Always trying to be awkward and always miserable. Someone needs to tell them that the rail users are they're customers.

I get my season ticket once a month (which you can't get from machine). I go into the station via the back entrance (car park end for those who know it) but ask to go through to the ticket office. Usually no problem. Today I needed to go to the toilet.

So the guy, after letting me through, shouts "Oi the ticket office is that way!". I explain that I need to use the loo and then will be off and he says "No way matey, you ain't using the toilet without a ticket".

Completely rude, completely pointless and awkward. I catch the train every day from newport, sometimes the gates are manned sometimes its just open so I don't know what his issue is.

Not the first time I've been called "Oi" or "mate" or "Butti" by staff at the station. Not expecting US style over the top dramatics but general politeness and appreciation of who is the customer would not go amiss at Newport. No wonder people choose not to use the train at times....

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theironroad · 4 Jul 2016

Oh dear. After the last thread, I'm beginning to wonder where the problem lies.

Westnat · 4 Jul 2016

I use Newport station regularly, and don't recognise it from the way you describe it. I've never had any problems with the staff in the ticket office and have never found the station staff to be rude or unfriendly. Mate or 'Butti' is pretty much normal 'speak' in Newport and I'm as guilty as anyone....

paulfoel · 4 Jul 2016

theironroad said:
Oh dear. After the last thread, I'm beginning to wonder where the problem lies.

thanks for that. Very useful post.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Westnat said:
I use Newport station regularly, and don't recognise it from the way you describe it. I've never had any problems with the staff in the ticket office and have never found the station staff to be rude or unfriendly. Mate or 'Butti' is pretty much normal 'speak' in Newport and I'm as guilty as anyone....

As a local also I know the lingo lol

But "Oi butti" or "Oi mate" is not how you address a customer.

OwlMan · 4 Jul 2016

paulfoel said:
I get my season ticket once a month (which you can't get from machine). I go into the station via the back entrance (car park end for those who know it) but ask to go through to the ticket office. Usually no problem. Today I needed to go to the toilet.

So the guy, after letting me through, shouts "Oi the ticket office is that way!". I explain that I need to use the loo and then will be off and he says "No way matey, you ain't using the toilet without a ticket".

So you ask to be let through to go to the ticket office, and then head off in a different direction (towards the loo) onto the platform, instead of going over the bridge. and then wonder why he calls you back

Westnat · 4 Jul 2016

paulfoel said:
thanks for that. Very useful post.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

As a local also I know the lingo lol

But "Oi butti" or "Oi mate" is not how you address a customer.

You didn't say he said 'Oi butti' or 'Oi mate', and I didn't realise you were a customer, I was under the impression you'd pretended to want to buy a season ticket in order to use the toilet on the platform.

paulfoel · 4 Jul 2016

Like I said, if they had 24/7 security on the gate then maybe I can see their point but it seems to be whenever they decide or have staff - other times anyone can just walk in.

Did the guy really think I was now going to sneak onto a train - I'd have got nabbed on the train with no ticket?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Westnat said:
You didn't say he said 'Oi butti' or 'Oi mate', and I didn't realise you were a customer, I was under the impression you'd pretended to want to buy a season ticket in order to use the toilet on the platform.

No I was just using the toilet on my way to the ticket office.

Bellbell · 4 Jul 2016

Can you really not see why he was calling you back? You asked to be let through the barriers and then went in a completely different direction. Can you honestly, hand on heart, not see what the issue was? Ticket evasion is a massive issue in South Wales. It doesn't matter whether you buy a ticket every hour, you're 'just' a passenger in that it's hard for staff to remember every face they see, so the frequency with which you buy a ticket makes no odds to whether or not suspicious behaviour would be called out.

How you were addressed sounds like a matter of perception. I can kind of see why people don't always like being addressed in the casual way people from South Wales use but it wouldn't have been anything personal.

As for the barriers, I'm not really sure what your argument is there. Are you suggesting that since the barriers are not in use 24/7 they should never be in use? I can't think of a single station I work through where the barriers are 24/7.

Is it possible that you've had one or two bad experiences at Newport and are now tarring all staff with the same brush?

Bodiddly · 4 Jul 2016

You certainly cannot take it personally and as stated you walked in a completely different direction to the ticket office, what did you expect to happen? Station staff have to put up with no end of grief and find themselves in various sticky situations. I can understand you feeling miffed as your experience is very personal to you but it is just another situation for someone at work dealing with very different instances. I don't deal directly with our 'customers' but in the odd occasions when I do, I can see why being gateline or despatch can be quite a tricky job with a strong need for patience and tongue biting.
People need to sometimes look at the bigger picture before reacting.

PeterC · 4 Jul 2016

I have never worked on the railway and know nothing of local dialect in Newport but I have run front of house security at some major music events. If somebody was admitted to the ticketed area claiming a legitimate need to visit some part of the venue and headed off away from their supposed destination they would quite definitely be called back.

hairyhandedfool · 4 Jul 2016

paulfoel said:
....Find the staff at Newport to be a complete nightmare. Always trying to be awkward and always miserable. Someone needs to tell them that the rail users are they're customers.

I get my season ticket once a month (which you can't get from machine). I go into the station via the back entrance (car park end for those who know it) but ask to go through to the ticket office. Usually no problem. Today I needed to go to the toilet.

So the guy, after letting me through, shouts "Oi the ticket office is that way!". I explain that I need to use the loo and then will be off and he says "No way matey, you ain't using the toilet without a ticket".

Completely rude, completely pointless and awkward. I catch the train every day from newport, sometimes the gates are manned sometimes its just open so I don't know what his issue is....

I'm not massively familiar with Newport station, though I have been there a couple of times.

You say you come in from, what I believe is, the long stay carpark, ask to go through the ticket barriers (without showing a valid ticket) to get to the ticket office, over the footbridge on the opposite side of the station, and then head away from the footbridge and straight to a platform "to use the toilet".

Perhaps, to aid your passage in future, you could maybe, say that you need to go to the ticket office to renew your monthly ticket, but you'd like to visit the toilet first. The member of staff might then be a bit more understanding, and "less rude".

Try to look at it from the revenue person's point of view, and then maybe you'll realise just how much your actions might make you look like a fare evader.

Llanigraham · 4 Jul 2016

Perhaps you would prefer to be addressed as "Sir" in a sarcastic manner?
Get over it.
You asked to go to the Ticket Office and then went in the opposite direction without telling them why. I consider they were doing their job correctly and it was you at fault.

SWTCommuter · 4 Jul 2016

Perhaps you should consider renewing your season ticket before the old one runs out. Then you wouldn't need to ask to be let through the barriers.

The rules are explained here:
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/season_tickets.aspx

Spankthemonkey · 4 Jul 2016

You ever been to Newport? I'd be miserable if i had to work there too!

Carntyne · 4 Jul 2016

Sounds like the staff were completely in the right here.

HowardGWR · 4 Jul 2016

Carntyne said:
Sounds like the staff were completely in the right here.

Except for the reported over-familiar adress to the OP. Pax should be addressed as 'sir' or madam', or no address at all (if chips on shoulders about servility are carried). If staff feel they are are behaving like servants, by using deferential terms, that is because, actually, they are servants. That's the job.

Llanigraham · 4 Jul 2016

HowardGWR said:
Except for the reported over-familiar adress to the OP. Pax should be addressed as 'sir' or madam', or no address at all (if chips on shoulders about servility are carried). If staff feel they are are behaving like servants, by using deferential terms, that is because, actually, they are servants. That's the job.

Really?
Do you call everyone you don't know Sir or Madam? I very much doubt it!!

Bromley boy · 4 Jul 2016

HowardGWR said:
Except for the reported over-familiar adress to the OP. Pax should be addressed as 'sir' or madam', or no address at all (if chips on shoulders about servility are carried). If staff feel they are are behaving like servants, by using deferential terms, that is because, actually, they are servants. That's the job.

You won't get far in most situations, or life in general, if you go around with that attitude! Do you believe staff who serve you in shops are also your servants?

Rail staff are there to perform specific roles which, depending on grade, may include serving tickets/assisting customers. This does not imply they are dogsbodies or "servants" but professional customer facing staff. They are also human beings who have stressful jobs, take a great deal of abuse and deserve to be treated with respect. In all my years of commuting before joining the railway I found that if I approached rail staff with respect and courtesy invariably they would respond in kind.

I don't personally like being addressed as "sir", I find it obsequious and I certainly would not address passengers in that manner.

I often wonder if the posters on this thread and others who enjoy sticking the boot in ever stop to think that the common denominator in these "poor service" situations they encounter is themselves.

On the railway, as in most walks of life, if you want to get the best out of people, it helps if you are respectful and polite to them. If you look down your nose at them, expect the same to come back the other way!

HH · 4 Jul 2016

I don't think many ladies want to be called a Madam...

Flamingo · 4 Jul 2016

paulfoel said:
Did the guy really think I was now going to sneak onto a train - I'd have got nabbed on the train with no ticket? .

That is exactly what he thought, as it was a reasonable conclusion given your behaviour. And even if you had been "nabbed" on the train, the trains on platform 4 go to enough unmanned stations that the on-train staff can do nothing about it - I have dealt with enough people going to Severn Tunnel Junction or Filton Abbey Woods from Newport with no ticket and no intention of buying one.

Of course, he could have told you to go around by the public road to the ticket office. And just might, next time.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

HowardGWR said:
Except for the reported over-familiar adress to the OP. Pax should be addressed as 'sir' or madam', or no address at all (if chips on shoulders about servility are carried). If staff feel they are are behaving like servants, by using deferential terms, that is because, actually, they are servants. That's the job.

A few observations:
1. Rail staff of all grades are responsible for safety, above all. Safety instructions to the public may have to be delivered in a manner that mean they will be noticed and obeyed. This means they are orders, and depending on the circumstances may be delivered as such. (There is a large amount of legislation and case law to back this up.)
2. Rail staff are also responsible for the comfort of ALL passengers. This may involve giving instructions to passengers that again, might need to be delivered in a manner that means they will be taken seriously and obeyed.
3. Customers should if possible be addressed respectfully (at first). Whether that respect continues may depend on the Customer and their behaviour.
4. A servant is somebody who is employed by a master. Buying a railway ticket to travel on a train does NOT put you in a position of being anybody's master. Get over yourself.

HowardGWR · 4 Jul 2016

Flamingo said:
That is exactly what he thought, as it was a reasonable conclusion given your behaviour. And even if you had been "nabbed" on the train, the trains on platform 4 go to enough unmanned stations that the on-train staff can do nothing about it - I have dealt with enough people going to Severn Tunnel Junction or Filton Abbey Woods from Newport with no ticket and no intention of buying one.

Of course, he could have told you to go around by the public road to the ticket office. And just might, next time.

Yes that would be reasonable. It would have helped if the OP had shewn the TI his (outdated) season ticket and explained his intended direction.

On the replies to my opinion, yes I do address strangers as sir or madam. I did offer the idea of not using a form of address at all. 'Miss' is OK if a young woman (usually taken as a compliment, as intended).

'May I ask where you are going please?' would also have been acceptable. 'Mate' and such is totally unacceptable from a company servant.

Flamingo · 4 Jul 2016

HowardGWR said:
Yes that would be reasonable. It would have helped if the OP had shewn the TI his (outdated) season ticket and explained his intended direction.

On the replies to my opinion, yes I do address strangers as sir or madam. I did offer the idea of not using a form of adress at all. 'Miss' is OK if a young woman (usually taken as a compliment, as intended).

'May I ask where you are going please?' would also have been acceptable. 'Mate' and such is totally unnaceptable from a company servant.

I refer the Honourable Gentleman to my previous answer...

HSTfan!!! · 4 Jul 2016

If you feel so strongly about it why would you not escalate it through the proper channels rather than just slagging people off in a public forum?
As others have said what did you expect...?

Michael.Y · 4 Jul 2016

HowardGWR said:
'Mate' and such is totally unacceptable from a company servant.

Would you like a tug of the forelock as well?

PeterC · 4 Jul 2016

Perhaps you would prefer to be addressed as "Sir" in a sarcastic manner?

The trick is to sound like a sergeant at Sandhurst putting the officer cadets in their place.

LowLevel · 4 Jul 2016

As someone who actually works as a train guard on everything from long distance services at peak times full of people in suits to Saturday night vomit comets and survives on my wits...

Some routes I work calling people 'sir or madam' is liable to get you thumped. I can quite believe that issue exists around Newport. Mate, bud, boss, duck and pal are the order of the day and hands off, easy banter and conversation at their level will see you through your shift in one piece in the former North Notts coalfield. Try calling a scruffy lad on the Oranjeboom 'sir' and see how many microseconds it is before you get accused of taking the Mick. I try and get a mix between jovial barman and friendly bouncer depending on the circumstances.

On the other hand if I'm taking a load of professionals into work in Manchester polite conversation, friendly manner and swift efficiency are the order of the day.

On the other hand if I'm throwing someone off a train you might even call me aggressive on occasion, and in an emergency I leave no room for debate.

I have a perfect record (customer service and safety) with no upheld complaints through my career so I'm going to assume my experience qualifies me to comment.

Also by the way I'm a servant of the company (in the oldest terms) and a customer service professional (in the new) - none of that requires me to act like a maitre'd in a 5 star restaurant on my Sprinter. I know what it does require though and what makes good customer service, and that's a) What counts and b) makes me a professional. What makes me more than that is keeping it together when it all goes wrong, whether that's dealing with a group of lads kicking lumps out of each other and terrifying their fellow passengers or keeping everything together when there's a dead person under the train and a distraught driver to care for.

Llanigraham · 4 Jul 2016

HowardGWR said:
On the replies to my opinion, yes I do address strangers as sir or madam. I did offer the idea of not using a form of address at all. 'Miss' is OK if a young woman (usually taken as a compliment, as intended).

'May I ask where you are going please?' would also have been acceptable. 'Mate' and such is totally unacceptable from a company servant.

If you called me Sir I would consider you to be patronising, rude and probably sarcastic. Therefore I would ignore you.
I suggest that you are VERY out of touch, especially about the Welsh and their ways of speaking to people.

XC90 · 4 Jul 2016

Ovaries

387star · 4 Jul 2016

Spankthemonkey said:
You ever been to Newport? I'd be miserable if i had to work there too!

theironroad · 4 Jul 2016

HowardGWR said:
Except for the reported over-familiar adress to the OP. Pax should be addressed as 'sir' or madam', or no address at all (if chips on shoulders about servility are carried). If staff feel they are are behaving like servants, by using deferential terms, that is because, actually, they are servants. That's the job.

You, Sir have encapsulated well everything that it is wrong with this country right now. That the dispossessed servants must cow tow to their wealthy 'do you know who I am masters.

Unfortunately, a recent referendum has highlighted these issues in the UK, a Uk that is still riven with inequality on various benchmarks with 'class' being near top of the list.

You, Sir, are a disgrace. You expect an equal human being (being paid minimum wage) to bend his knee and doff his cap to your every whim. The person in the original post was allowed through the barriers to go to the ticket office, not to wander around the station and potentially fare evade.

Yes, there is a relationship here between a passenger and a person employed to work for the railway, but your servant analogy is way off the mark.

Rude/miserable station staff - Newport

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