I think I mentioned this a few posts ago, but I can’t be arsed checking so in brief: I went to London a couple of weekends back and was sold a train ticket that circumvented the need to transfer onto a bus because of engineering work. Because of the change in rail networks involved, my ticket cost an extra tenner. Only, I found out just before the trip that my (non-refundeable/exchangeable) ticket was going to see me on a bus anyway as the train service I was meant to change on to didn’t exist.
So – I had a word with a chap at the station and he gave me a form to fill out and post off to Northern (from whom I bought the ticket), which I duly did. A week or so later and I got a reply:
“… it would appear that your comments do not relate to our services … I have passed your correspondence on to the appropriate company … GNER”
Five days later and GNER – the rail network I should have travelled the whole way with, but couldn’t due to the engineering works – sent me the following:
“The points you raise concern issues outside of our area of responsibility and your case has therefore been forwarded to … WAGN”
WAGN are the network who supposedly had the train running down lines that had been torn up for repair. Three days later:
“We can only answer comments which relate directly to our areas of responsibility … forwarded your correspondence to … National Rail Enquiries Service”
I have used this phrase before and once more I employ it:
FOR ****’S SAKE.
But that’s the issue – they’re *not* forwarding it on the the relevant people. They’re forwarding it on to people who still don’t care!
I am with SFG – at least it hasn’t disappeared into a black hole. Yet. And you are getting responses within a couple of days of being told it has been passed on. Just a shame they are bloody useless responses!
I just wonder how many funky coloured letters I’ll get before it gets forwarded back to Northern…?
I’m impressed. At least they are forwarding it on to the relivent people. More to the point it is getting there and they are responding… Not like the good old days of apathy when complaints were chucked directly in to the bin….
Remember the old BR ads from the late 80s tag line ‘We’re getting there’…?
We’re still waiting…..
SFG
People like me, in other words.
The thing is, they have targets for how quickly they respond to a complaint, but nobody monitors whether or not it was resolved. Having all these different rail companies make for a very convenient (for them) complaints merry-go-round.
Woah, and the phrase ‘passing the buck’ would be a tad too relevant to this situation!
Then ‘they’ wonder why people don’t use public transport more often…