Favourite Customers

[TheManBehind]

On a perusal through my office and veritable collection of old documents, I was surprised to discover that I'd managed to keep just about every thank you card and commendation I was given in my time at SWT/SWR. A further rummage through led me to discover my favourite piece of correspondence from a customer - having been received a year or so after I became productive on the railway, and that (honestly) has inspired me since, even after leaving first-line customer service.

So I'm wondering, rail professionals (and professionals of other industries!) - who were your favourite customers? The ones that left you with the warm-and-fuzzies, or reminded you why you chose a career in the railway?

Letter text:

I imagine you get numerous letters of complaint to your department. This letter is hopefully something different and I apologise for taking so long to get it to you. I would like to say a very heartfelt thank you to this wonderful young man who is a total credit to your organisation. Here is why:

I had had a terrible evening on Tuesday 17th September. I had a miserable and emotional telephone call with my very frustrated, angry and recently bereaved 82 year old mother demanding the repatriation of my recently deceased father's car. She had asked me to take it away only weeks before to sell on her behalf, now she wanted it back, urgently. It was a miserable night, so to prove a point and help her I immediately drove the car from home in Bedfordshire to Farnham in Surrey. I left home after 10pm in the hope of depositing the car on her drive and catching the last train towards home leaving Farnham at 23:24. Ridiculous, maybe, but theoretically possible by the timetables.

After leaving the car on her drive and being given a lift to Farnham Station way past my unhappy sister's bedtime, I stood on the platform, sheltering from the pouring rain and felt satisfied my mission was accomplished. It was only then the reality of my new situation suddenly dawned. I had left home in such a rush, I had left with no wallet and no cash!!

I boarded your train and immediately caught sight of [The Man Behind]. I explained by [sic] predicament to him, and he turned a disastrous evening into a positive triumph for himself and your company. His calm, reassuring and sensitive manner have since created open mouthed wonder in the faces of the many friends I have related this story to since. We had no idea the things he did were even possible.

[The Man Behind] reassured me. He issued an "Unpaid Fare Notice" to Waterloo and asked me to stay near him when we changed at Woking Station. [He] confirmed he had now arranged a taxi to take me from Waterloo to Euston station, free of charge! Unbelievable! There was no ticket desk open at Waterloo to help me, so I boarded the last train via Tring at 01:34, and got lucky as no inspector came to me. Finally I got the last taxi from Tring Station to home, which I paid for while he waited at my front door, and I was home.

[The Man Behind] made the impossible possible that night, both practically and with his easy manner, compassion and knowledge of his job. He deserves the highest praise, and I would love that he gains some recognition for the superb way he did his job that night. Thank you, [The Man Behind], and thank you South West Trains.

All in, the chap was really rather lovely despite the awful situation, and it was a pleasure to get him home - an ethos I know a lot of my colleagues have as well. There have been a few occasions where leaving the industry has been on my mind, but this interaction with a customer is frankly what brings me back.

 

[LowLevel]

I received, folded and written on a paper bag that had been used to hold a Pumpkin croissant no less, a letter from a chap from Brazil who had had some minor issue with a ticket that I sorted out for him and then passed the time of day with him for a few minute, handed to me as we passed on the platform on his way out.

It explained that he was on his way to meet his wife and daughter to see their other daughter in a stage show in Sheffield, and that it was the first time they had met as a family for some leisure time since his son had passed away aged 19 a few months before and that he appreciated my kindness in resolving his problem and stopping to chat afterwards.

I was extremely touched that he took the time to write with whatever materials he had.

To be fair I've had what some might find to be a surprising number of letters from railway passengers and it is a strong reminder that what can seem a fairly menial job is worthwhile, and that most people are actually nice, even if nice people sometimes have bad days.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I was quite surprised after a woman whos ticket I had asked for replied "Oh my God, its you!". Apparently many years previously she was on my train with a group of her friends on their way to her hen night. I had offered to take a group photo of them and had posed for selfies. It transpired she had been impressed with the group photo but had never had the chance to thank me. Happily shes still married, perhaps its not only chimney sweeps who are lucky.

 

[styles]

It's a nice reminder to send compliments when you experience service going above and beyond.

I got the Eurostar with a family member in a wheelchair and was pretty surprised to see they had a single person coordinating all of the accessible travel, directing staff to platforms, dealing with cancellations, etc. It's a busy terminal for accessible travel and the staff member was trying her best to keep things flowing but you could tell she was stressed, especially when delays etc were happening and staff had to be last minute reassigned to other platforms/passengers.

I wrote to Eurostar, mainly to compliment the staff member, but also trying to subtly point out that she was probably overworked. They have a second counter available for accessibility staff to use, but it was empty, so everybody was crammed into quite a small space really.

Hilariously, this is a trip where, having realised we hadn't put a bag back on the back of her wheelchair, I dashed back through passport control to 'landside', then back again through passport control without even speaking to anybody. Top security there. Once I'd passed through 2x border control points in each direction without being stopped, a customer assistance colleague asked me what I was doing. Think they were a bit miffed that nobody even stopped me in either direction, from either border force. I didn't bother writing in about that.

 

[Travelmonkey]

it's nice to be nice, I gave the chap in the ticket office at my local station a retirement card as he's leaving soon. although I do tend to tweet the praise of guards that go above and beyond and are due dillagent within their roles.

 

[Chriso]

I met a lovely RPI today on the North Downs line and had a great little chat before departing at Guildford. Really left a good impression. I should also add I was impressed everyone had a ticket

To all you railway staff you are appreciated

 

[enginedin]

All in, the chap was really rather lovely despite the awful situation, and it was a pleasure to get him home - an ethos I know a lot of my colleagues have as well. There have been a few occasions where leaving the industry has been on my mind, but this interaction with a customer is frankly what brings me back.

you're definitely one of the nice ones!

Two questions come to mind:

- did you get any kind of formal "corporate" thank you?
- was there ever any kind of comeback when SWT realised you'd approved a free taxi?! (and would anyone have ever realised you'd done that before, or did you have a budget to authorise a certain level of taxi expenditure without approval?)

 

[185143]

I suspect some TOCs are better than others at passing praise back.

I've certainly spoken to traincrew who've had people say they're going to write in, fully believed them, and heard nothing. I've also been in that position myself so can well believe them sadly. That of course being said, I'm sure if someone writes in and says "the guy with a beard on the platform" then it is almost certainly impossible to identify who it was if all of the staff on shift are male with beards!

On the other side of the coin, I wrote in to LNER about a couple of catering staff one night when I'd had a dreadful evening travelling until that point. Bumped into one of them again a few days later and he thanked me for it, which particularly impressed me given it was literally two or three days later.

I sent praise into ScotRail once and another ScotRail employee I know, who knew what had caused me to do it, sent me a screenshot of part of a circular sent out which had staff praise included, to point out my message.

 

[Krokodil]

Favourite passenger at my depot is a woman who works in a local biscuit factory. Bags of broken ones frequently end up in the messroom. Can't beat food as a reward!

 

[LowLevel]

Favourite passenger at my depot is a woman who works in a local biscuit factory. Bags of broken ones frequently end up in the messroom. Can't beat food as a reward!

Funnily enough I know a station where the staff often enjoy a Sunday lunch from a nice lady who works in a carvery and brings them some leftovers on her way home! Nothing dodgy about it, she always pays for a ticket etc - just a nice person.

We used to have a chap travel from Boston a few times a week who on producing his ticket would without fail also supply the guard with 2 Kit Kat Chunkys, one to pass on to the driver. Not seen him for some years.

There was also a chap from Duffield who was a retired worker from Derby works who used to go and do his shopping in Belper - on a hot day when you picked him back up coming back down the hill he would bring you a cold bottle of pop from the shop.

 

[johnnychips]

Glad you posted this thread. It inspired me to contact Northern about a fantastic guard who kept all the passengers informed about the points problems etc at Sheffield on Saturday. Hope she gets the message.

 

[Bald Rick]

I’ve had a few thank you letters etc over the years and it is the best feeling. I always make sure that great work by an individual or team is acknowledged, and not just for those in customer facing roles.

 

[Horizon22]

I suspect some TOCs are better than others at passing praise back.

I've certainly spoken to traincrew who've had people say they're going to write in, fully believed them, and heard nothing. I've also been in that position myself so can well believe them sadly. That of course being said, I'm sure if someone writes in and says "the guy with a beard on the platform" then it is almost certainly impossible to identify who it was if all of the staff on shift are male with beards!

It does depend - sometimes it is through the contact centre which might be external to the day-to-day running of the TOC or even outsourced. And then these don't always filter down to the local depot/station management. Complaints on the other hand...

 

[Undiscovered]

It does depend - sometimes it is through the contact centre which might be external to the day-to-day running of the TOC or even outsourced. And then these don't always filter down to the local depot/station management. Complaints on the other hand...

Second this.
I've had loads of people who thanked me for their help, my assistance, and going above and beyond. All going to write in and say how good I am.

Never heard anything.

The fare dodger, who I called a fare dodger?

Please explain.

 

[Krokodil]

Second this.
I've had loads of people who thanked me for their help, my assistance, and going above and beyond. All going to write in and say how good I am.

Never heard anything.

The fare dodger, who I called a fare dodger?

Please explain.

Yup. Even seen the tweets and the replies from the TOC promising that it would be passed on. Tumbleweed.

Someone makes a nonsense complaint (apparently walking off to give someone more time to look for their ticket makes them "feel like a criminal")? Called in.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I’ve had many positive tweets passed onto me by my managers over the years, coupled with a well done message. Sometimes it’s nice to know that you are doing something right.

 

[AndrewP]

I strongly advocate making compliments formally to any customer facing role as it can make a difference to what is often a very difficult and under appreciated role.

What is interesting is that when you do send praise, you often get a personal response rather than the automated responses for complaints which suggests they are much rarer probably due to people not taking the time to say thanks!

I can't think when I last had a bad staff experience on the railways - LNER and Cross Country have particularly good staff in my experience

 

[Rover]

As parcels supervisor at Sheffield a lady's diary was found and handed to me, I located her address and sent it to her by post. I received a reply of thanks by letter with a recommendation I read 'The Life of Daniel Foe', " I think you'll find it interesting" she wrote. I did, I got a copy from my local library, and it was, interesting. She was a member of the "Daniel Foe Society". I'd no idea there was one, soon after I read "Robinson Crusoe"!

 

[Undiscovered]

I strongly advocate making compliments formally to any customer facing role as it can make a difference to what is often a very difficult and under appreciated role.

What is interesting is that when you do send praise, you often get a personal response rather than the automated responses for complaints which suggests they are much rarer probably due to people not taking the time to say thanks!

I can't think when I last had a bad staff experience on the railways - LNER and Cross Country have particularly good staff in my experience

You can strongly advocate as much as you want. Doesn't make a difference.
Praise gets lost in the ether, or never given.

Please explains always finding their mark.

 

[jamesst]

You can strongly advocate as much as you want. Doesn't make a difference.
Praise gets lost in the ether, or never given.

Please explains always finding their mark.

Spot on

 

[WAB]

You can strongly advocate as much as you want. Doesn't make a difference.
Praise gets lost in the ether, or never given.

Please explains always finding their mark.

I think it depends on your managers; where I am, praise regularly makes its way back to the frontline.

 

[trebor79]

I wrote to EMT a few years ago in praise of the guard and driver when they evacuated the train at Spalding one night because they thought it was on fire (it wasn't something wrong with one of the engineers and lots of black smoke pouring out the exhaust).
Absolutely freezing night so they opened up a mess room in the station building and got us all taxis organised kin not that much time at all considering, and made sure the elderly were taken care of first.
EMT said they'd passed the email on and that it was nice to be told when things have gone right as bloody of the letters they get are, naturally, complaints.

 

[Narrowgauge725]

I do like the hand drawn ones!

 

[LowLevel]

I sent in a thanks to WMR regarding how well their train crew had managed a situation when their train was involved in a fatality. I received what was obviously a personal response back thanking me for the letter, saying what a nice thing it was to read despite the sad circumstances and that not only were they sending it on to the staff involved they were also putting it in their staff magazine.

Certainly I've received plenty of nice feedback both directly from customer relations/control and my manager at our place.

 

[bearhugger]

Second this.
I've had loads of people who thanked me for their help, my assistance, and going above and beyond. All going to write in and say how good I am.

Never heard anything.

The fare dodger, who I called a fare dodger?

Please explain.

You can strongly advocate as much as you want. Doesn't make a difference.
Praise gets lost in the ether, or never given.

Please explains always finding their mark.

I've found a few times that sending praise via Twitter/X to Trans Pennine & Northern that it finds its way to the employee fairly quickly.

 

[ainsworth74]

I like to think that I must be a favourite customer, I'm always well behaved and have a valid ticket

More seriously I do try and send it odds and ends of good stuff that I benefit from. Though sometimes I'm a little cryptic. For instance I've not infrequently benefits from discretion during disruption (but not serious enough to warrant ticket acceptance) whereby say an XC guard will allow me to travel with them from Darlington to Leeds even though I have a TPE ticket. XC management might not be a fan of that so I'll end up sending a twitter message along the lines of "Big thank you to the guard of xxxx service from Darlington to Leeds who really helped me out with a sticky connection issue this evening. Please pass that on to their manager as they deserve some recognition for their customer service."

I had a couple with LNER as well. One was where this first class host got an earful off one disgruntled passenger so I sent a message into LNER saying they'd been really welcoming and friendly plus had managed to deal with some quite argumentative passengers with care and skill. Hopefully that made it to them and made them feel a bit better.

My favourite though was a service coming into Darlington. I was in first class again and I'd gotten up to go to the loo before leaving the train but had unknowingly left my car keys on the table. In the couple of minutes between going to the toilet and realising I'd left my keys they had vanished. This member of staff saw me looking panicked and then told me that they'd been picked up and taken to the buffet.

Now, on an HST or 225 this wouldn't have been an issue as the buffet is next to first class. But this was an Azuma (which were still brand new at the time) so it was halfway through standard class. The pair of us set off down the train having to fight through the people trying to get off the train. So the crew member jumps off and tells me to stay on for now as he tries to tell the platform staff to give us a minute. He's unsuccessful in this so jumps back on the train and as we finally make it to the buffet we can start to hear whistles going for the train to be dispatched. I'm stood in the vestibule of the carriage next to the buffet (so the gangway and it's doors are open but between us) and he races up to the buffet shouting "Keys! Keys! Keys!", the fella in the buffet hands him the keys, he then throws the keys through the gangway connection to me, I grab them and leap out of the closing train door onto the platform. We then look at each other through the window of the closed and locked train door smiling and laughing at the ridiculousness that's just occurred.

I sent a message to LNER thanking him to high heaven for that performance as he really did go above and beyond trying to get me reunited with my keys. I really hope that got through to him.

 

[AndrewP]

You can strongly advocate as much as you want. Doesn't make a difference.
Praise gets lost in the ether, or never given.

Please explains always finding their mark.

So you would rather nobody even makes an effort to say thank you or call out good practice?

Bizarre!!!!!

 

[Bald Rick]

I had a couple with LNER as well. One was where this first class host got an earful off one disgruntled passenger so I sent a message into LNER saying they'd been really welcoming and friendly plus had managed to deal with some quite argumentative passengers with care and skill. Hopefully that made it to them and made them feel a bit better

Yes I’ve done exactly the same in similar circumstances, sent a note to senior management and I know it got through to the individual who not only sucked up a load of nonsense from a self important passenger but also handled himself with aplomb.

 

[Mcc1989]

An example from my previous job before I joined the railway. I worked as an Ambulance Service call handler. One day a call came in from a mother who was taking her pregnant daughter to hospital, but the daughter's waters broke enroute so she had pulled over into a layby in the middle of nowhere. She wasn't really sure where they were, so I was able to get her to describe what she saw in terms of nearby buildings, signs etc and pinpoint her location before then giving her the usual triage/care instructions over the phone. Baby came out, surprisingly quickly, and then the ambulance crews turned up.

To my complete surprise, a box turned up at my house (via HQ), containing a load of M&S sweet and savoury treats, along with an email passed onto me by my management from the new mum thanking me for my professionalism, care and for keeping them calm along with a photo of the healthy baby. I was completely humbled, a tad emotional, and it's something I'll always remember. That, and another letter from a cardiac arrest survivor thanking me for my help were probably the only highlights in what was a very thankless job.

 

[Undiscovered]

So you would rather nobody even makes an effort to say thank you or call out good practice?

Bizarre!!!!!

You can make the effort, and you can feel all warm and happy that you've sent your praises out to me.

I can count on the fingers of my dining table how many compliments I've received in my career.