Dont buy the Sun.

Dont buy the Sun.
Hillsborough Justice campaign - Remember the 96.

Sunday 23 September 2007

Cry Havoc and let loose the Dogs Of War

Round one of Case 3459162 :

Excerpt from Nickson to TransPennine Customer Services Department:

"I definitely DO NOT want a letter that tells me you are very sorry and that you are constantly striving to improve your services. I want you to DO something. Despite your Train Manager's disgraceful rudeness, the real problem is overcrowding on this service, and you have to avenues of ACTION that you can take, namely policy and number of coaches at peak/seasonal times."

Excerpt from reply to Nickson from TransPennine:

"We are currently experiencing high volumes of customer contact due to the

RECENT severe weather conditions. We will respond to your email as quickly
as we can, but please be aware that we may be unable to respond as quickly
as we would like to. Should your enquiry be in relation to customer service
disruptions, please check our website for information"

Weather summary for Hull Region from 17 to 23 September, from the BBC:

Monday 17 September 2007 to Sunday 23 September 2007

dark cloud above sea

“Cooler and increasingly unsettled.”

Monday night will see the showers fading thanks to a transient ridge of high pressure. Under clear skies it will be a chilly night with a risk of patchy frost in the north. The clear skies bode well for Tuesday which is likely to be the driest and sunniest day this week.

The remainder of the week will be increasingly influenced by low pressure. A band of rain will sweep from north to south on Wednesday, however southern England is likely to stay dry until after dark.

This front will then clear from southern UK on Thursday to be followed by breezy conditions and mixture of sunny spells and showers.



3 comments:

JoeyMac said...

Mind you, Toronto calls in the army to clear the streets in weather conditions similar to that...
Also, to help your cause, Anna and i have decided to boycott TransPennine until they resolve this matter.

Grasshopper said...

I've been fighting with Irving Oil all week. It's a long story but suffice to say that the repeated confrontations have resulted in: 1) my using the self-title of "Dr." far more than I do in my normal life; 2) my being given a $50 credit to my account so that my experiences will not "leave a bad taste in my mouth"; 3) my subsequently telling a customer service representative to F___ OFF! and hanging the phone up on him; 4) our plan to have someone come in and rip out the hot water heater whose rental from Irving was transferred to us automatically when we purchased the house.

I honestly thought that Irving Oil hired the most incompetent, frustratingly smug "customer service" representatives I'd ever encountered...but I see now that the Irving representatives who REALLY excel at frustrating their customers are promoted and sent to England to work for TransPennine.

MJN said...

I think customer service people all go to the same school. ONe of the reasons I'm not really hopeful of getting any sense out of these people is the letter below, which effectively says:

1. We are not going to do anything
2. It's not our fault, anyway
3. Our statistics show we are always on-time.

This letter was sent to me in June when I first started complaining about this service.

GRASSHOPPER, I think all these customer service reps - JobCentre PLus, Irving, TRanspennine Express all work in the same gleaming office block somewhere on the plains outside Ulan Bator.

Joey MAC - Different subject, but YOu HAVE to send some photos of Felix.


Dear Mr Nickson

Thank you for contacting us. Please accept my apologies for the recent
delays that you have experienced on the course of your regular journeys
between Hull and Leeds. TransPennine Express is working hard to provide a
reliable and punctual service and I am sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Over half of all delays that our customers suffered are a result of factors
outside our direct control. TransPennine Express does work closely with its
rail industry partners, such as Network Rail, to seek improvements and
reduce delays where possible for the convenience of our customers.

I can also assure you that we are doing everything possible to reduce
delays that are within our control. As you are aware our new fleet of 185
class desiro trains are now fully operational. The new units boast speeds
of up to 100 MPH and will increase fleet reliability, which will improve
punctuality and minimise delays to our customers.

I apologise for the inconveneience caused to you on Friday 15 June. As you
are aware, the delays were as a result of the major flooding that occured
throughout the region which decimated our services to Hull and other
destinations. We do liasies with othe Train operating Companies and Network
Rail to ensure that other problems on the line can be kept to a minimum,
bur unfortunately there are times when this is not possible.

We do offer compensation to holders of season tickets that are valid for a
period of one month or longer. Our Passengers Charter explains that
compensation is payable in the form of a discount that may be offered upon
the renewal of your ticket. The level of discount that is available at any
given time is based on independently audited figures for the punctuality
and reliability of our services, including those on the route of your daily
journey. A new set of figures is compiled and published for every four-week
period. The discount is based on the figures for the twelve months leading
up to the period prior to the one in which you renew your ticket.

The punctuality figure shows the percentage of trains that have arrived at
their destination within ten minutes of the scheduled time and the
reliability figure shows the percentage of trains that have run as opposed
to those that have been cancelled. A target has been set for each of these
two performance indicators, by the Department For Transport and a discount
may be triggered when we fail to achieve our target in either or both
categories.

When a discount is available it will automatically be deducted from the
price you pay when you renew your ticket. Details of our current
performance figures, including the prevailing discount, are available at
the station where you purchase your ticket and are also published at every
TransPennine Express station.

Yours sincerely

Jackie Priest
Customer Relations Advisor