TPE and ATW acting incorrectly: incompetence or are they lying?

[185]

Currently watching a pair of rejected Virgin complaints forwarded to Transport Focus.

1 - Overcharging - VT's TVM programmed wrongly - VT refused to refund the difference
2 - VT's Booking office queue of 25 minutes lead to missed train - denied responsibility

It does seem this is across the board at several operators- reject everything, even when it's blatantly obviously the TOCs fault.

I wonder if it's worth telling the transport select committee chair.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Currently watching a pair of rejected Virgin complaints forwarded to Transport Focus.

1 - Overcharging - VT's TVM programmed wrongly - VT refused to refund the difference
2 - VT's Booking office queue of 25 minutes lead to missed train - denied responsibility

It does seem this is across the board at several operators- reject everything, even when it's blatantly obviously the TOCs fault.

I wonder if it's worth telling the transport select committee chair.

What is the amount in controversy in either case? For the overcharging, surely it would be relatively simple to do a chargeback on the card you used (or alternatively a S75 claim if the amount was >£100)?

 

[Bletchleyite]

A chargeback doesn't negate the debt. VT could quite legitimately pursue a Court case to reclaim it. S75 is different as the card company ends up paying that and may *or may not* manage to get it back.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

A chargeback doesn't negate the debt. VT could quite legitimately pursue a Court case to reclaim it. S75 is different as the card company ends up paying that and may *or may not* manage to get it back.

The debt to whom? A partial chargeback is also possible. Ultimately if VT are refusing to refund an amount, taking it all away from them is a good way to get them to take the matter seriously.

 

[furlong]

2 - VT's Booking office queue of 25 minutes lead to missed train - denied responsibility

Did you actually ask to board the train and buy your ticket at the next opportunity? That's what should have happened, so I can understand reluctance to pay out unless you tried and a member of staff incorrectly prevented you from doing so - any delay could otherwise be considered of your own making.

 

[krus_aragon]

And if you're told "no, you can't board", do you then rejoin the back of the 25 minute queue? I can picture many choosing to stick it out in the middle of the queue rather than risk their position. :/

 

[185]

Did you actually ask to board the train and buy your ticket at the next opportunity? That's what should have happened, so I can understand reluctance to pay out unless you tried and a member of staff incorrectly prevented you from doing so - any delay could otherwise be considered of your own making.

I wasn't the customer(s). From what I gather, denied boarding didn't happen, but the (non TVM) ticket could have been sold by floorwalkers and gateline staff but wasn't.

 

[island]

I do not think there can be any grounds for a claim of compensation for a booking office queue being too long? You don’t have a contract with the company whilst you’re in the queue, and it’s not a tort or other legal wrong. Just a fact of life that sometimes one needs to wait.

 

[185]

I do not think there can be any grounds for a claim of compensation for a booking office queue being too long? You don’t have a contract with the company whilst you’re in the queue, and it’s not a tort or other legal wrong. Just a fact of life that sometimes one needs to wait.

VT's customer charter states a desire to serve passengers within 5 minutes. With just a third of windows open at 1pm on a weekday, the desk-based ticket issuing system in meltdown, and the queue stretching onto the concourse leading to a 25-30 minute wait for customers - whilst I agree the company has no 'absolute' obligation, it is my view they are acting unreasonably and should have better managed the situation. They had the tools there to put matters right - mobile ticketing devices should have been used to queuebust, but their management told them not to. Shall see what the outcome of this is.

 

[gray1404]

Does TPE customer relations come under the outsourced First Group contract to Capita? If it does then it might be of interest that Capita are using an employment agency to recruit staff who only consider unemployed people who have undertaken a customer service course with them (whatever their background and qualifications.) End result is they probably end up with long term unemployed from various backgrounds who have done a short customer service course instead of people actively looking for a customer service role, including those already in roles looking to move to a different employer.

This is just a dreadful state of affairs. I meet a friend of a friend recently in the pub as part of a wider group of company. He claimed to be working for a train company in customer service. However he appeared to know nothing about trains, ticketing or railways. When I pushed him and asked which company he worked for because I assume your contract is outsourced and you work for a call centre company rather then a train company directly, he said Capita and their client was TPE. I believe he said he was based in Runcorn or thereabouts.

 

[gray1404]

My personal view is that if ques for the booking office are excessive, passengers should not be prevented from boarding their service (if they have allowed a reasonable amount of time to buy a ticket) and should be able to buy at the next available opportunity without penalty. However, I could never see a TOC allowing this as standard (I know it might happen occasionally).

There are also too many valid delay repay claims being rejected first time, when the TOC has all the required information and evidence (e.g. tickets). For me I would always dispute it as a matter of principle but I know, and so do the TOCs, that many people won't bother (most don't even bother claiming) and rely on this. There is no actual incentive for them TOCs to get a claim right first time (i.e. no penalty) except for perhaps additional staff time when a claim is looked at again. I also believe customers should be compensated an additional £5 or £10 if their claim is not dealt with within 28 days as some passengers (e.g. those of Northern) should not have to be waiting months for what is theirs but that would require some serious change. I believe Scotrail have something like this for customer service responses.

 

[Haywain]

My personal view is that if ques for the booking office are excessive, passengers should not be prevented from boarding their service (if they have allowed a reasonable amount of time to buy a ticket) and should be able to buy at the next available opportunity without penalty. However, I could never see a TOC allowing this as standard (I know it might happen occasionally).

When I was at what is now LNER, we would always allow passengers to join trains without tickets if there was a fault with the retail systems but it is a fact of life that some times just get busy, like Friday evenings for long distance operators, and at such times it was simply a matter of getting people served as quickly as possible. However, it very rarely got to queuing for as much as the 25 minutes mentioned in this thread.