Nuisance Tweeters

[dk1]

Greater Anglia seems to have a problem with what appears to be a disgruntled commuter. Spends large parts of the day rubbishing their tweets (which are a bit too frequent in my opinion) and complaining about filthy, late or short-formed trains. Now everyone has the right to reply but this person going by the name GA complaints is a real pest & a hopeless speller.

Just wondered what can be done & is this a problem for other TOCs?

 

[yorkie]

Can't they just block him?

 

[ralphchadkirk]

What can be done? Perhaps just ignore him?

 

[HST Power]

Surely they can block him. I have seen 'colourful' language on the Twitter accounts of various train operating companies, and they are often responded to with a polite but firm request to stop it or be blocked!

 

[87015]

Can't they just block him?

Yes. Regardless of any content that is always an option. Perhaps they acknowledge he has a point about GA? Current short forms on GE don't look good with those 317s sitting pretty...

 

[90sWereBetter]

It wouldn't be a certain (former) forum member whose username is the colour of Prince Harry's hair, would it?

 

[dk1]

It wouldn't be a certain (former) forum member whose username is the colour of Prince Harry's hair, would it?

You may have something there Sherlock

 

[EM2]

I don't think it's him. But GA do have a hard core of whingers.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Have a read of the bilge being tweeted by @Delayed_Again tonight!

 

[christopher]

The Delayed_Again tweeter is constantly moaning about them and is now calling for Abellio to be sacked!

However I can guarantee that if GA were to get new trains tomorrow they would complain about the cost.

 

[jon0844]

Abellio gets sacked... Then what?

Tomorrow the staff turn up in a new uniform and it's business as usual.

Sounds like a total loser that can't be taken seriously. I've ranted about plenty of things but if you want to be taken seriously, you'll have to also acknowledge the positive things and also take at least some time to listen to what your told if someone explains the reasons (and indeed who is to blame, which probably isn't the TOC in many cases).

 

[TheEdge]

I do love to read the anti-GA ones, if I didn't work for GA I would lay into some of them, they are just so inane and wrong.

Must say my favourite regular one (@Delayed_Again loves this one) is to attack both NXEA and GA while simultaneously praising c2c and demanding they get the franchise. I honestly wonder if any of them know who holds the c2c franchise.

 

[richw]

Really annoys me, people going on twitter to moan under a pseudonym. Personally I use Twitter, but would never make a complaint through that medium as it just looks half hearted, and how can you provide enough info for the company to investigate in 160 characters. It also makes you look attention seeking in the public.
If I need to make a complaint it will be done privately by email or post, although I normally cant be bothered unless something major has happened, it isn't worth the effort.
I have however praised good service through Twitter, as I feel companies don't recognise their staff enough so if they've done something good lets publically recognise them for that good service. Having worked in Customer service all my working life it really annoys me when a customer has gone to an effort to contact head office to recognise someone going an extra mile and the staff concerned never hear about it.

 

[EM2]

Many TOCs have one or two followers like this, @SparkyInTheUK for FCC, @ThyKingdomCome5 for Southern, @RecklessRik for FGW etc.
Thing is, they could do something constructive, like join the local rail user group (or set one up) and that way are more likely to get things changed.

 

[bb21]

Trolls exist everywhere. They can't be avoided.

The best way to deal with them is not to give them the attention they crave. Most of them are capable of making themselves look like a tit without any outside help.

 

[jon0844]

When they're ignored they tend to get worse though, to try harder to get people to rise to their goading.

 

[Manchester77]

140 characters richw! And once you've put their @name too you don't have much space

 

[richw]

140 characters richw! And once you've put their @name too you don't have much space

I just look for it to go red and delete some if I go over, knew it was about that.
@FGW doesn't waste too much space, but many companies names do.

 

[theboywho]

Presumably, it would be considered unwise to remind the aforementioned 'tweeter' that the operator is a private company and that (s)he is more than welcome to stop using the services if they are so poor.

 

[richw]

Presumably, it would be considered unwise to remind the aforementioned 'tweeter' that the operator is a private company and that (s)he is more than welcome to stop using the services if they are so poor.

Maybe RailForum members could start a feed and do this.

 

[jon0844]

It's tempting to enter into a discussion with some of these people but you then get in to silly arguments as they won't back down, or perhaps they do backtrack but then move the goalposts and start a new rant.

And of course you'll be accused of working for the business(es) you defend or being a sheep / having your eyes closed to what's really going on etc.

Best to bite your lip and let these idiots believe what they want to believe.

 

[richw]

Indeed, although when they are criticising staff who are doing their job correctly someone needs to take a stand against them, as they could potentially be classed as defamation of character.
There was a recent Tweet complaining that a member of staff was sitting in standard wearing a coat, and using a mobile phone. Any one half educated should be able to tell that member of staff was almost certainly off duty. The TOC replied they will investigate. What they needed to say is something that staff are permitted to use a train to get home after their shifts, and are therefore not working and are entitled to wear a coat, use their phone etc to avoid opening a massive can of worms.

 

[Roverman]

Employers are wimps. They need to tell it straight to troll tweeters.

 

[causton]

Employers are wimps. They need to tell it straight to troll tweeters.

Once I did send a reply to a troll and then the TOC sent me a direct message saying something along the lines of "We wish we could say that!"

Believe the latest one I replied to was something about someone implying they should train gateline staff to drive trains just in case a driver goes sick... yes, really!

 

[jon0844]

A TOC would probably regret calling out certain Tweeters, as they'll change the game and twist things until they get their magic quote they can go public with by using it out of context or whatever.

It's no different to the protestors that carry nice expensive DSLRs and go out to goad the police and hope to get the perfect shot for their blog or the newspapers, showing police brutality.

But, a TOC could be a bit more clever and just make a statement that makes it clear that, for example, staff can travel on trains when off duty - but will always give up their seat if needed by someone else. That then educates people and makes the troll look stupid. In fact, others who follow the TOC might even choose to engage with the troll independently (even if that's probably a bad move).