"John Turner" wrote:

My wife and I run a small model shop where we are totally reliant on the
good will of our customers. We've been doing that for almost twenty years,
but not many customers come back if you treat them with contempt, so we have
to treat them well.


My experience of model railway shops was that they were almost all run
by eccentrics who were decidedly hostile to people. It didn't seem to
prevent them from prospering.

However, times have probably changed since then.

;-)

"Brimstone" wrote:

But there again, running a model shop you're meeting only those people who
*want* to be there and are induging in their hobby (unless they're buying a
prezzie or somesuch). On that basis I would suggest that you will almost
always be dealing with people who are pleasant and polite.

That's very true. Having worked in a hotel in Torquay (no, not THAT
hotel!) I found the customers extremely pleasant because they were
(almost) all having a good holiday. Later, working in a hi-fi shop, I
found that people enjoyed choosing and buying equipment, and only
became difficult when things went wrong - although experience told me
that these were the best opportunities to give exceptional customer
service and thereby ensure long term customer loyalty.

In my printing business, customers were rarely difficult - except
sometimes when I insisted on being paid. But working behind the
counter in my own Post Office was a real experience.

Now that pensions and allowances are paid directly into people's bank
accounts, most Post Office transactions are distress purchases.
No-one wants to have to buy stamps or tax their car. The result is
unhappy customers, and no amount of politeness and charm will cheer
them up. Believe me, I tried!

I suspect rail customers are much the same.

The fares cost a lot of money by European standards. The trains are
often packed to the seams and beyond. Having to travel with "those
dreadful people" as Stephen Norris so accurately put it, is stressful
in itself. No wonder rail passengers are such a glum lot. No-one
wants to be there, and it shows.

The staff cannot do much to change this. The fares, the overcrowded
trains and the inevitable delays mean that whatever rail staff do, the
passengers remain miserable. There is no tangible reward for being
nice to such people. Couple this with having to deal with fare
evaders and other various antisocial behaviour, and the job would test
the patience of anyone.

However, there does seem to be a significant proportion of rail staff
who appear to take delight in making the passenger's lot even more
unpleasant than it already is. There is no possible excuse for this,
other than the fact that the people who work on the railways include
many who would not find work in other sectors of the economy.

"Uncle Fester" wrote in message
enews.net...
Tom Haliax wrote


You dull ****. Transport staff are going to be in the front line
throughout their working day. They don't have a choice - you do.
Now **** off and grow up.

With that kind of childish attitude and lack of respect, you are
surely
one
of the idiots the OP was referring to.


Work on public transport long enough and respect for travellers goes
down the drain.

I think it's time for you to find a different job - preferably where you
have no chance of meeting me on my travels.


I'd be happy to turf you off a train.

"Uncle Fester" wrote in message
enews.net...
Tom Haliax wrote


You dull ****. Transport staff are going to be in the front line
throughout their working day. They don't have a choice - you do.
Now **** off and grow up.

With that kind of childish attitude and lack of respect, you are
surely
one
of the idiots the OP was referring to.


Work on public transport long enough and respect for travellers goes
down the drain.

I think it's time for you to find a different job - preferably where you
have no chance of meeting me on my travels.


I'd be happy to turf you off a train.

Treat people as you would like to be treated yourself and make your job
easier. If you choose to work with the travelling public do yourself a
favour and learn how to deal with passengers in a professional manner.
Otherwise change your job. Yes please please change your job.

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 12:28:14 +0100, "Ian Harper"
wrote:

With the exception of the gentlemen at Paddington, and the driver of the
Maidenhead bound FGWL train, it's hardly surprising that some people have a
perception of customer-facing staff in the rail industry as often having a
very crappy, unhelpful attitude [1].

Arrived into Ealing at 0220.


[1] And I do think that perhaps some of that wouldn't happen if they
actually had the correct information themselves. I don't understand how
they can tell people things that are just blatently wrong though - bizzare!

It possible that each of the staff, bar the FGW TM, were passing the
information they have been told in good faith. Often I feel that the
chain of communication lets down the front line staff. For example the
platform bloke at Slough might well have been informed by his control
that there was to be a stopping train forward. The subsequent lack of
appear of this service was probably due to a change by control, rather
then the platform staff setting out to lie to customers. What would he
have gained from this, since the passengers would only come back and
complain at him?

There needs to be a balance between keeping passengers informed as
they agree plans which subsequently might be changed, or not telling
them anything until the plans have been confirmed as to speak. This
being a planned blockage the timetables should have been agreed in
advance and distributed to the front line staff, but once something
had gone wrong FGWL control would have been working on the fly to put
into place an alterative plan to get passengers home. How well and
accurately this is communicated to the front staff could be
questionable. Certainly the printed replacement timetables for this
weekend at Reading and Swindon weren't available until Friday, and
this isn't uncommon.

Lack of timely accurate information to the front line staff will
eventually led to de-motivation, as they bear the brunt of the
passenger frustration, while having little control over the situation.

Of course the travelling public should not need to understand this
behind the scenes politics.

Duncan

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 13:21:55 GMT, Tom Haliax wrote in
, seen in uk.railway:

[...]
Treat people as you would like to be treated yourself and make your job
easier.

Wouldn't it be nice if that worked?

I think that most people start each day trying to do that, but it
doesn't take all that long to get worn down.

That's all of us, not just staff. I'm pretty sure that the ignorant
gits I deal with, both staff and public, don't wake up in the morning
and think "Today I am going to be an ignorant ******* for the Hell of
it".

--
Ross, Lincoln, UK

We're *not* afraid
http://www.werenotafraid.com

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 09:52:38 +0100, Ian F. wrote in
, seen in uk.railway:
"John Turner" wrote in message
. ..

My wife and I run a small model shop where we are totally reliant on the
good will of our customers. We've been doing that for almost twenty
years, but not many customers come back if you treat them with contempt,
so we have to treat them well.

The difference is that bus drivers, TOC staff et al know full well that we
*have* to use their services

No you don't, any more than you *have* to use Woolworths, a company
which IMX wouldn't know what customer service was if it was tied to a
wet fish and slapped around their face.

And yet they don't seem to have any problems making a profit despite
the lack of service and huge amount of competition in their field.

Nor indeed do any of the other companies who the railway industry was
supposed to take lessons in service from and whose service ethic is
nothing more than words in their publicity.


- we can't take our business elsewhere at a
similar cost - so they can treat us with as much derision, contempt and
sneering bad-attitude as they like and we are powerless to do anything about
it. [...]

Mm. You might find life is a lot less stressful if you remove the chip
from your shoulder. It's evidently weighing you down a lot.

--
Ross, Lincoln, UK

We're *not* afraid
http://www.werenotafraid.com

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 21:18:41 +0100, Ross
wrote:

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 09:52:38 +0100, Ian F. wrote in
, seen in uk.railway:
"John Turner" wrote in message
. ..

My wife and I run a small model shop where we are totally reliant on the
good will of our customers. We've been doing that for almost twenty
years, but not many customers come back if you treat them with contempt,
so we have to treat them well.

The difference is that bus drivers, TOC staff et al know full well that we
*have* to use their services

No you don't, any more than you *have* to use Woolworths, a company
which IMX wouldn't know what customer service was if it was tied to a
wet fish and slapped around their face.

A shockingly false analogy.

Woolworths has no monopoly.

In the main, TOCs *do* have a monopoly. Certainly, for my journey to
work, I can catch a Southern train, or I can take about three hours
travelling on multiple buses. Since I don't propose to spen a quarter
of the day commuting, I have no option.

--
James Farrar

September's coming soon

James Farrar wrote:
On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 21:18:41 +0100, Ross
wrote:

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 09:52:38 +0100, Ian F. wrote in
, seen in uk.railway:
"John Turner" wrote in message
. ..

My wife and I run a small model shop where we are totally reliant
on the good will of our customers. We've been doing that for
almost twenty years, but not many customers come back if you treat
them with contempt, so we have to treat them well.

The difference is that bus drivers, TOC staff et al know full well
that we *have* to use their services

No you don't, any more than you *have* to use Woolworths, a company
which IMX wouldn't know what customer service was if it was tied to a
wet fish and slapped around their face.

A shockingly false analogy.

Woolworths has no monopoly.

In the main, TOCs *do* have a monopoly. Certainly, for my journey to
work, I can catch a Southern train, or I can take about three hours
travelling on multiple buses. Since I don't propose to spen a quarter
of the day commuting, I have no option.

Why not use Southern's main competitor?

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 20:27:40 +0000 (UTC), "Brimstone"
wrote:

James Farrar wrote:
On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 21:18:41 +0100, Ross
wrote:

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 09:52:38 +0100, Ian F. wrote in
, seen in uk.railway:
"John Turner" wrote in message
. ..

My wife and I run a small model shop where we are totally reliant
on the good will of our customers. We've been doing that for
almost twenty years, but not many customers come back if you treat
them with contempt, so we have to treat them well.

The difference is that bus drivers, TOC staff et al know full well
that we *have* to use their services

No you don't, any more than you *have* to use Woolworths, a company
which IMX wouldn't know what customer service was if it was tied to a
wet fish and slapped around their face.

A shockingly false analogy.

Woolworths has no monopoly.

In the main, TOCs *do* have a monopoly. Certainly, for my journey to
work, I can catch a Southern train, or I can take about three hours
travelling on multiple buses. Since I don't propose to spen a quarter
of the day commuting, I have no option.

Why not use Southern's main competitor?

Which would be what?

--
James Farrar

September's coming soon