h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

After having waited in London for an extra three hours in order to avoid the peak travel fee (the lady at the ticket desk when my friend and I bought our tickets told us that if we hadn't caught a train before 16:00 we would have to wait until 19:00), my friend and I boarded the service as stated above.

Shortly after leaving London St Pancras station, I heard the ticket collector enter our carriage and ask for tickets to be produced.

Having to stand in the train corridor is something I have experienced often, and as such it is something I have come to accept and will not complain about. However, I do draw the line when it comes to obnoxious and patronising ticket collectors.

The ticket collector concerned (A Mr Dave Fieldman, according to his name badge) worked his way through the carriage I was occupying, and I heard some of the comments he was making to other passengers. These included, among others, the question "Do you realise this is the grown-up's train?".

When he reached my friend and I, he was very impudent when asking for my ticket, and snatched it out of my hand. He was very patronising and overly officious when he attempted to tell us that our tickets were not valid for this journey.
Of course, having previously been informed that the 19:00 train was the first train which we were entitled to board after 16:00, and currently being on board the 19:00 service, I had cause to dispute this claim: I informed him that all the information we had so far been given had indicated to us that we were entitled to be on that train at that time. Instead of explaining the reason for his differing opinion on the matter, he tutted at me, and muttered something under his breath. After studying the ticket inordinately carefully he scribbled on it and then shoved it back at me, saying that my ticket wasn't valid for the 19:00 service, and that this was the 19:00 service, and asking which bit I did not understand.
I responded with the fact that the lady who had sold me the ticket hadn't told me that 19:00 wasn't included in her definition of "until 19:00". He responded with a flippant, and I must say, somewhat weak "Well I bet she didn't say that it was", and then stormed off, no doubt to patronise and insult some other paying customers of Midland Mainline.

I am very annoyed at being treated like this by a member of your staff after paying a not inconsiderable sum of money to you for the privilege.

I would like to make it clear that following this event, I will be investigating alternative travel arrangements when making future bookings- rail ticket prices are far too high to justify the kind of treatment described above.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this email. I hope that the employee concerned may receive (at least) a verbal reprimand in order to reduce the risk of other paying customers being treated in such a fashion.




As usual, I'll post any response I recieve

TK[1]

Well said that man.

I wonder if they will bother to reply?

I also wonder if it might have been worth mentioning the fact that you were planning to post this complaint on an internet site, where a potentially very high number of people might see it and learn for themselves what rude and unhelpful staff are employed by this company?

Oh dear, I'm getting one of their trains back up to Leicester tomorrow, I hope Mr Evil-Ticket-Man isn't going to be on it...

I'll probably be on a Midland Mainline train later this week too, though I think perhaps I'll use Central Trains and change at Birmingham instead

Will be interested to see what response you get, if any

I got an automated response informing me that the I will recieve a response "within 20 days". We'll see

TK[1]

Good luck with it

Had similar problems when we took the train through to Edinburgh. No ticket officer at the station we left from in Croy, so we got sheap day returns from the machine and found out when we got there that it was only a day return if you travelled off peak So we had to hang about the station for ages. Ticket people are only nice to you if you pretend to be scottish

Gah, stupid trains...

That's only because they're scared...

TK[1]

The response:

"Thank you for your email of 31 March 2005. I was sorry to hear about the problems you faced on your journey and I apologise for the inconvenience this caused.

Being polite to customers and treating them with respect is vital to us, so I was particularly disappointed to hear your comments.

We have taken your complaint very seriously and sent a copy of your letter to the manager responsible for this member of staff. In these circumstances the usual process is for the manager to interview the member of staff and discuss the situation in detail. The outcome of this can vary from a simple coaching session to disciplinary action. I'm sure you'll understand that we can't disclose the outcome as it's confidential to that individual. You can rest assured though that they now fully understand their impact in these situations.

Once again, please accept my apologies for the disappointing level of service provided by Midland Mainline and for the problems this caused you.
Despite your recent experience, I hope you will use our services in the future."

Noncommital, but that's not surprising. A little disappointed that I don't have any evidence that the incident is even going to be brought up with the man concerned. But at least they didn't try to tell me it's my fault. Not sure if I should follow it up and ask for an apology directly from the bloke concerned... I'm not really that bothered, but in terms of principle...

What do you all think?

TK[1]

To actually get a letter back is quite impressive , looks like they are doing something about it at least, even if an unknown amount. I'm not sure they would get you a written letter of apology from the person concerned though

I feel like writing one to Sainsbury's now for being rude to me for taking a voucher that said 'please redeem at any checkout' to the checkout instead of customer services

Go for it. I would.

TK[1]