Jonathan Stott wrote:
M J Forbes wrote:

"Ian F." wrote in message
...

Mrs. Ian: "Can I have a ticket to Boundary Zone 3 please?"
Ticket office woman: "No, sorry - I'm on my break."

Doesn't surprise me at all. Having lived in that area during the
university years, and having revisited recently, it seems that
despite the superb refurb/rebuild of what was once an awful station,
Silverlink & NR can't be bothered to endure the employment procedure
to find "customer-facing" staff that actually enjoy working with
strangers.

At least at my local station they have the politeness to shut the
window
and put a notice up to tell you to use the machine.

Or even arrange a relief booking clerk (or insert this week's title) while
the person takes their break.

In message , Piccadilly Pilot
writes
Jonathan Stott wrote:
M J Forbes wrote:

"Ian F." wrote in message
...

Mrs. Ian: "Can I have a ticket to Boundary Zone 3 please?"
Ticket office woman: "No, sorry - I'm on my break."

Doesn't surprise me at all. Having lived in that area during the
university years, and having revisited recently, it seems that
despite the superb refurb/rebuild of what was once an awful station,
Silverlink & NR can't be bothered to endure the employment procedure
to find "customer-facing" staff that actually enjoy working with
strangers.

At least at my local station they have the politeness to shut the
window
and put a notice up to tell you to use the machine.

Or even arrange a relief booking clerk (or insert this week's title) while
the person takes their break.

Er...If they are eating sandwiches and drinking tea, why can't they
serve and eat at the same time?
And be paid a 'work-through lunch hour' of course.

Mike

"M. J. Powell" wrote in message
...
In message , Piccadilly Pilot
writes
Jonathan Stott wrote:
M J Forbes wrote:

"Ian F." wrote in message
...

Mrs. Ian: "Can I have a ticket to Boundary Zone 3 please?"
Ticket office woman: "No, sorry - I'm on my break."

Doesn't surprise me at all. Having lived in that area during the
university years, and having revisited recently, it seems that
despite the superb refurb/rebuild of what was once an awful station,
Silverlink & NR can't be bothered to endure the employment procedure
to find "customer-facing" staff that actually enjoy working with
strangers.

At least at my local station they have the politeness to shut the
window
and put a notice up to tell you to use the machine.

Or even arrange a relief booking clerk (or insert this week's title)
while
the person takes their break.

Er...If they are eating sandwiches and drinking tea, why can't they
serve and eat at the same time?
And be paid a 'work-through lunch hour' of course.


That would be a personal choice, the only time I've done was as a signalman
in a singlemanned box. But then the timetable was such that it was quite
feasible.

As a "customer" I wouldn't want to feel that I had interrupted someone's
meal break. Besides which, we all need a break during and eight hour shift.
So much depends on local variables.

It's possible of course that the staff in this particular booking office had
asked for arrangements to be made for them to have a proper break, even if
that simply meant closing the window for half an hour, which had been
declined and they were making a protest.

"Piccadilly Pilot" wrote in message
...

It's possible of course that the staff in this particular booking office
had
asked for arrangements to be made for them to have a proper break, even if
that simply meant closing the window for half an hour, which had been
declined and they were making a protest.

Sheer bloody-mindedness, if you ask me. It would have been just a tiny tad
more effort to have sold my other half a ticket rather than telling her
'no'. Then, you have a happy customer and the revenue from the sale. If I
treated my clients like that, I wouldn't have any!

Ian

Ian F. wrote:
"Piccadilly Pilot" wrote in message
...

It's possible of course that the staff in this particular booking
office had asked for arrangements to be made for them to have a
proper break, even if that simply meant closing the window for half
an hour, which had been declined and they were making a protest.

Sheer bloody-mindedness, if you ask me. It would have been just a
tiny tad more effort to have sold my other half a ticket rather than
telling her 'no'. Then, you have a happy customer and the revenue
from the sale. If I treated my clients like that, I wouldn't have any!


From a narrow self-interested point of view it may well appear that way.
Since neither of us know the reason why the booking clerk behaved in the
manner described neither of us are in a position to make judgements are we?

"Piccadilly Pilot" wrote in message
...

From a narrow self-interested point of view it may well appear that way.
Since neither of us know the reason why the booking clerk behaved in the
manner described neither of us are in a position to make judgements are
we?

Whatever. It's just that *I* know what *I'd* have done if I'd been her,
whatever time of day it was!

Ian

In article ,
Piccadilly Pilot wrote:
From a narrow self-interested point of view it may well appear that way.
Since neither of us know the reason why the booking clerk behaved in the
manner described neither of us are in a position to make judgements are
we?

This is uk.railway. :-))
Sentence first - followed, possibly, by the trial.

--
__ __ __ __ __ ___ _____________________________________________
|__||__)/ __/ \|\ ||_ | / Acorn StrongArm Risc_PC
| || \\__/\__/| \||__ | /...Internet access for all Acorn RISC machines
___________________________/

In article , David H Wild
wrote:

In article ,
Piccadilly Pilot wrote:
From a narrow self-interested point of view it may well appear that way.
Since neither of us know the reason why the booking clerk behaved in the
manner described neither of us are in a position to make judgements are
we?

This is uk.railway. :-))
Sentence first - followed, possibly, by the trial.

Any defence of the accused is, of course, superfluous.

Sam

On Mon, 6 Sep 2004 13:15:38 +0000 (UTC), "Piccadilly Pilot"
wrote:

It's possible of course that the staff in this particular booking office had
asked for arrangements to be made for them to have a proper break, even if
that simply meant closing the window for half an hour, which had been
declined and they were making a protest.

Quite possibly - though I think a handwritten notice stating "Closed
for lunch" would have done the trick...

Neil

--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
To e-mail use neil at the above domain

On Mon, 06 Sep 2004 20:11:16 GMT someone who may be
(Neil Williams) wrote this:-

Quite possibly - though I think a handwritten notice stating "Closed
for lunch" would have done the trick...

Agreed. Any annoyance the public feel can usually be rapidly
diminished by explaining what is going on.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E
I will always explain revoked keys, unless the UK government
prevents me using the RIP Act 2000.