'Interesting' Thameslink customer service attitude

[DasLunatic]

Strange. Whenever I go to London, I arrive at the station for 0905, sometimes to catch the 0912 stopper (arriving at 1014), but mostly for the 0930 express (arriving 1017). The express is often well-loaded, but the stoppers either side (0912 vice Ipswich and 0933 vice Clacton) are about 1/3 loaded. It must be one of the only cases where the express is loaded more than the stopper.

 

[Tetchytyke]

For example, people turn up heading to places north from Watford, there is an xx:41 off-peak that gets to Milton Keynes 40 minutes later, or the xx:03 of the next hour which takes 20 minutes and gets to Milton Keynes about the same time.

I'd agree with you, but we're talking about London Midland. Given the train in the platform is liable to be cancelled for no apparent reason, I wouldn't rely on a hypothetical later train actually running. It's happened to me too often where I've let the stopper go only for the fast to be binned, meaning I end up on the stopper 30 minutes later.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....To those in Customer service roles, what questions to you find REALLY annoying?

More conversations than questions really....

"How much is it to get to Scotland?"
"Any particular station in Scotland?"
"Is there more than one?"
"Yes, there are quite a few"
"Oh, I don't know. Which one is best?"

"How much is it to go from Manchester to London?"
"Do you know when are you planning to travel?"
"Sometime next month"
"Can you be more specific?"
"I don't really know, probably Wednesday to Wednesday?"
"Erm... okay..."
"Tuesday night if it's cheaper I guess..."
"Right. Do you have a preferred time to travel?"
"No, not really, whenever's cheapest"

"Single to Bolton"
"£4.30 please"
[passenger places money on counter, I issue ticket]
"Has it gone up? It's normally two pounds something"
"Two pounds something?"
"Yes..... I've got a Railcard"

"WA67RP"
"I'm sorry?"
"I'm going to WA67RP"
"I see"
"How much is it?"
"I have no idea, do you know what the nearest station is?"
"No, they just gave me that postcode"

"What time is the first train to Manchester?"
"About five thirty"
"Oh no I don't want to go that early, have you got something around nine"

"Swinton please"
"Swinton Manchester?"
"Is there another one?"
"Yes. In Yorkshire"
"Why would I want to go there?"

"Return please"
"Where to?"
"I'm coming back here"
"Yes, but where are you going to?"

"Liverpool Return"
"It's a bus replacement service today because of engineering works"
"I want the train"
"There is no train, it's a bus replacement service today"
"Only a bus?"
"Yes"
"Okay, how much is it?"
"Twelve pounds forty"
"What platform is it from?"

What time is the next train to (location) .... does that stop at (location)? When people are asking where they want to go it would be much simpler asking for the destination they are actually trying to get to, example would be a London Euston service but they're trying to get to Milton Keynes.

"When is the next train to St Albans?"
"Two fifty four"
"Single to Radlett"
"Ah, you won't want to get the fifty four then, two fifty eight Luton service for Radlett"
"Does the fifty four not stop at Radlett?"
"No, two fifty eight for Radlett"
"So why did you tell me two fifty four?"

....Having a group of 10-15 people who can hear exactly what you're saying... but ask the exact same question as the person in front of them anyway....

I don't mind the same question as such, they might be in earshot but not paying attention, it's when they say "Same question really", I feel so tempted to reply "Same answer really".

Indeed, there is a certain stigma attached to waiting for a later, but faster train...

Today I had, maybe, a dozen people each say they'd rather wait for the later train (which arrives five minutes later) because it's a quicker journey. I tend to go for the one that arrives soonest.

 

[jon0844]

To be fair, some of the first questions (Scotland, cheapest fares to Manchester etc) are fair questions you might expect people to ask on here. More a case of a time and the place than totally silly questions.

Sent from my HUAWEI GRA-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[hairyhandedfool]

To be fair, some of the first questions (Scotland, cheapest fares to Manchester etc) are fair questions you might expect people to ask on here. More a case of a time and the place than totally silly questions....

The initial question might be fair, but the rest of the conversation? I've heard it numerous times, and in some cases from the very same people not grasping that we need more information to work from. That gets quite frustrating.

On this forum, you can spend all day looking for fares, in a ticket office, the person at the back of the queue is supposed to be at the front inside five minutes.

 

[jon0844]

Hence why I said time and the place.

 

[Haywain]

The express is often well-loaded, but the stoppers either side (0912 vice Ipswich and 0933 vice Clacton) are about 1/3 loaded.

It's quite common for expresses to be more heavily loaded than stopping trains, particularly on certain routes around London where there is no fare differential. Reading to Paddington might be a case in point.

As an aside I would point out that the word "vice" has, in railway usage at least, the meaning "instead of" and not "from" which is what I guess you intended. I hope you don't take offence at me pointing this out, as that is not the intention.

 

[DasLunatic]

As an aside I would point out that the word "vice" has, in railway usage at least, the meaning "instead of" and not "from" which is what I guess you intended. I hope you don't take offence at me pointing this out, as that is not the intention.

That's quite alright. Cheers for pointing it out

 

[Wookiee]

"Single to Bolton"
"£4.30 please"
[passenger places money on counter, I issue ticket]
"Has it gone up? It's normally two pounds something"
"Two pounds something?"
"Yes..... I've got a Railcard"

"What time is the first train to Manchester?"
"About five thirty"
"Oh no I don't want to go that early, have you got something around nine"

"Swinton please"
"Swinton Manchester?"
"Is there another one?"
"Yes. In Yorkshire"
"Why would I want to go there?"

Had a good chuckle at those.

 

[DelayRepay]

I have posted this before, I was next in line at the ticket office queue. The customer in front of me was given his first tickets but hesitated before leaving the window. The clerk asked if there was anything else, to which the customer responded 'yes, can I pay my electricity bill here?'!

 

[district]

I get frustrated when I answer a question and the customer does the complete opposite thing to what I've advised them. It's nearly up there with when I answer them, then they ask my colleague the same thing.

 

[maniacmartin]

"Liverpool Return"
"It's a bus replacement service today because of engineering works"
"I want the train"
"There is no train, it's a bus replacement service today"
"Only a bus?"
"Yes"
"Okay, how much is it?"
"Twelve pounds forty"
"What platform is it from?".

Perhaps the train was replaced with a pacer