21 days on and the East Midlands Trains pathetic (& clearly standard script) response finally rolls into the station:
Ref: 177620
Dear Rachel Elnaugh
Thank you for your email of 22 May 2009.
I was sorry to hear that you were unhappy with the policy regarding our
First Class Lounges and I apologise for the inconvenience this caused.
Due to spacing restrictions the decision has been made to limit access to
the first class Lounges to First Anytime, First Plus Breakfast, First Plus
Parking, First Inclusive and First Class season ticket holders.
Holders of discounted First Class tickets will not be allowed access to the
lounges.
I hope you find this explanation useful, if there is anything else that I
can help you with please feel free to get in touch.
Kind regards
Donna Sallis
Customer Relations Officer
Tel: 08457 125 678 (Option 5, then 3)
Fax: 01332 263894
Email: getintouch@eastmidlandstrains.co.uk
Wasn't really worth them bothering was it?
PLEASE GOD let Virgin win the contract next time it's up for grabs.
Rachel
Showing posts with label East Midlands Trains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label East Midlands Trains. Show all posts
Friday, 12 June 2009
Friday, 22 May 2009
Criminally bad customer service!
Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know I was nearly arrested at Leicester Railway Station today.
My crime? Refusing to pay a £5 supplement to use the First Class lounge.
The story: our (very old and outdated) East Midlands Train had been terminated on its way to Chesterfield due to engineering problems - which meant a whole hour's wait at Leicester. I had important emails that HAD to be sent and I needed to have someplace to utilise that hour - but my advance 1st class ticket apparently did not qualify me to use the lounge.
Now I accept that if I had arrived an hour early for my train or maybe wanted to dally in there and drink all the free coffee for a while I should be made to pay.
BUT THE ONE HOUR DELAY WAS THEIR FAULT!
To add insult to injury, when I refused to pay and went in (bear in mind the place was completely empty apart from one man) the receptionist called the police and two officers duly arrived to apprehend me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I explained the situation and invited them to arrest me, pointing out the publicity that action might incur, they then backed down and called the station manager who proceeded to give me a good old talking to about rules and regulations and people 'having to do their job properly'.
No problem says I, let me happily pay your £5 - in return for which I will Blog and Tweet about your crap customer service to the whole world.
So much for the East Midlands Train Service 'Passenger Charter' !!!
The problem of course lies in the staff training. So much time is clearly spent teaching them about rules, policies and procedures that they forget to tell them the REAL reason they are there: TO GIVE EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE.
Shame on you Stagecoach, you have started to abuse your monopoly - because I have no other choice than to continue to use your shoddy, uncaring and downright rude crappy service.
My crime? Refusing to pay a £5 supplement to use the First Class lounge.
The story: our (very old and outdated) East Midlands Train had been terminated on its way to Chesterfield due to engineering problems - which meant a whole hour's wait at Leicester. I had important emails that HAD to be sent and I needed to have someplace to utilise that hour - but my advance 1st class ticket apparently did not qualify me to use the lounge.
Now I accept that if I had arrived an hour early for my train or maybe wanted to dally in there and drink all the free coffee for a while I should be made to pay.
BUT THE ONE HOUR DELAY WAS THEIR FAULT!
To add insult to injury, when I refused to pay and went in (bear in mind the place was completely empty apart from one man) the receptionist called the police and two officers duly arrived to apprehend me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I explained the situation and invited them to arrest me, pointing out the publicity that action might incur, they then backed down and called the station manager who proceeded to give me a good old talking to about rules and regulations and people 'having to do their job properly'.
No problem says I, let me happily pay your £5 - in return for which I will Blog and Tweet about your crap customer service to the whole world.
So much for the East Midlands Train Service 'Passenger Charter' !!!
The problem of course lies in the staff training. So much time is clearly spent teaching them about rules, policies and procedures that they forget to tell them the REAL reason they are there: TO GIVE EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE.
Shame on you Stagecoach, you have started to abuse your monopoly - because I have no other choice than to continue to use your shoddy, uncaring and downright rude crappy service.
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