I once wrote to Southeastern to thank the driver of a DOO service for the way he'd handled an incident. He got quite a bit of abuse from other customers who were delayed, even though the reason for the delay was nothing to do with him (train hit an object that vandals had placed on the track).
For some reason they treated my letter as a delay repay claim and sent me some vouchers. I have no idea if the driver ever received my feedback but I hope he did. Part of the reason for writing was the attitude of the other customers, I thought some good feedback would help them to deal with any complaints fairly.
I sent in praise to GA after getting stuck in a lift with one of my mates. I found it quite funny-we fortunately weren't stuck for long, but he definitely did not! One of the dispatchers and the station manager came over to us and made sure we were ok, both as a result of the situation and onward journey as we'd missed our train. I wrote in firstly praising the staff and secondly asking if I could claim delay Repay, and secondly how to do it with Oyster and the fact the train wasn't delayed.
They sent me vouchers, apologised and said they'd pass on my feedback to the staff concerned, which I really hope they did.
Sadly I've heard quite a few stories of times where deserving praise has been sent in and the staff concerned have heard nothing. I remember a Northern guard a few years ago, during their dispute-not that I'm cynical...? Telling me a regular passenger had written in when something had gone wrong, praising her. Next time they met, the passenger asked if she'd heard anything, which she hadn't. The following time the passenger even showed her the letter, and Northern's reply. Still nothing had been shared formally.
Social Media is a good way to do it, I've been thanked more than once when I've praised that way, and been told it's on a wall in the depot.
