FGW complaint query.

[DJC_158]

hello all,

my friend regularly travels from Trowbridge- southampton central by train and on many occasions has been unable to get a seat due to overcrowding. after the last trip it was decided to voice a complaint to them after having to stand up until salisbury with heavy luggage.

Once the email was sent a response was sent which seemed like one of the standard automated emails was sent saying that they were sorry for the inconvenience caused and that they had passed it on to the FGW customer relations team who would respond directly-

nothing else has been received on this-

so i was just wondering what your opinions are on this and wondered whether any of you have had any similar problems.

would have thought it would have been appropriate to respond to this email as they specified they would get back. this email was sent on the 6th jan 2008

any help appreciated
dan

 

[Meld]

I would have thought that it would be more than appropriate to get back in touch - 3 weeks does seem to be a little excessive, even if this is the most overworked section of FGW

 

[djw1981]

FSR have a standard 7 days from receipt to reply. This would seem a bit tight, but GNER used to reply within 2 weeks, so 3 is a bit long.

Also, surely if one is standing, the weight of luggage does not matter since you sit it on the floor?

 

[Metroland]

Conditions of carriage don't include getting a seat, so I doubt if they will do much more than just acknowledge it. Should there be more carriages on the train? Well, that's a whole other story.

 

[scb201]

Wel it appears to be 2 carriages on most services, and if saturday is anything to go by, we left about 20 people on the platform at Romsey and abot 200 at Southampton.

 

[devon_metro]

Moan at the DfT who control who gets all of the new shiny carriages they have promised.

 

[DJC_158]

thanks for the replies,
will check to see if anything does come, but it may well be that they are just going to acknowledge it.

 

[richa2002]

Ugh, bring back loco-hauled trains or at least decent sized trains instead of the 2 and 3 car nonsense we are presented with these days.

 

[Gizmogle]

You're more likely to get a decent response if you complain by snail mail than email in my experience.

 

[djw1981]

But........snail mail is post?????

 

[class 313]

But........snail mail is post?????

I was about to say :-?

 

[Nick W]

You're more likely to get a decent response if you complain by snail mail than post in my experience.

Very true, although I've known train companies to ignore snail mail.

Cheers Notwork Fail and None!

 

[Gizmogle]

But........snail mail is post?????

Typo.

 

[Techniquest]

I had to stand Taunton to Bristol TM once. Moaned at Virgin. They offered me to send my ticket in for a 5% refund.

Writing to the TOCs is always a better way to complain. Just looks like you've made the effort and they seem to take more notice. I love writing in by hand to them when I need to complain as it gives me a chance to have a good rant at them about it. Helps take out the anger.

 

[Metroland]

You know, I'm not sure that moaning and complaining achieves very much. Take the media for example. People have written into 'points of view' for years, yet we have more trash TV and bad language on TV because it mainly gets ratings. With regard to standing, I have a film in the 1940s of overcrowding on the tube, and they were talking about overcrowding then and staggering working hours...