Is priv really worth all the extra hassle of folk asking stupid questions every five minutes?
Hi,
I'm not really answering your question, but might be recalibrating your expectations, perhaps.
I rarely get asked stupid questions, generally sensible questions where the screens are unclear. At most locations, I am able to answer them, but at times have to refer the customer to another source of information (platform staff, ticket office, nationalrail.co.uk, etc.). At one station, I always turn my phone on so I can use the National Rail app to help customers, as platform staff all hide away if there's no train in the platform.
I have quite a few positive interactions with passengers, though. A week or two ago, I was chuffed when a couple thanked me as I left my driving cab and commented on how smooth the ride was! They asked for directions to their destination (which is a large tourist attraction very near the station) so I gave directions. I saw them ten minutes later around the corner and they commented to me about how nice the views were. I commented that I had never actually been to this tourist attraction, but mean to go. The lady told me that I should and joked that she would keep an eye out for me whenever she gets the train and if she sees me, she'll ask if I've been yet! It was a nice, friendly, interaction.
This morning, I was speaking to a passenger. He checked with me "This is tain is the first one to XXX, isn't it?" pointing at the train opposite mine. I said that I didn't think so and thought it was mine, but he told me the guard told him the train on platform 1. The guards usually know more than me so I told him to board that one, and I'd give him a shout if I was first out. He commented that he hasn't taken the train for years but they were longer and cleaner than he remembered (despite being the same 1980s stock!). As it happened, I was the first out, so I gave him a shout and he hopped over to mine. He asked if I knew roughly when we would arrive so I told him, and he joked about that leaving him with enough drinking time!
Another time while passing, a colleague and I ended up speaking to a long distance business commuter who was working on his laptop. He volunteered to us that he hears other passengers complaining about the service, but he really enjoys it - he said he always sat on this quiet table, the service was reliable and was a good place to work. It was nice to hear.
But most of the time, we don't really talk. If I'm entering a cab, I tend to say hello as I'm walking past, because I've frequently had passengers say hello to me first, which doesn't quite seem right.
I do admit, however, a couple of weeks ago, I had a passenger come to my cab window to ask me how to get to an obscure station on another TOC with no direct service, and I had to leave him on the platform after recommending several times to ask at the ticket office or visit nationalrail.co.uk.
Only once have I ever had an irate passenger - I was getting out of my cab having clearly just arrived at a very busy London terminus and when I explained that I've just arrived and I could check the screens with her, she decided to take her frustrations out on me. But it's the exception rather than the rule.
Anyway, it doesn't really answer your question, but I just thought it might be interesting for you and others to hear these experiences.