How much time and other resources do disputes cost people?

[some bloke]

Perhaps it would sometimes be useful for people involved in disputes to say how much time they are spending on them - or report other aspects which can be quantified.

The results might be striking, individually or together. Maybe it could help in arguments for compensation.

There's irony if someone is entitled to Delay Repay, then has to be on the phone for an hour trying to sort it out.

In a recent discussion someone recounted how he and his son drove to a station to take pictures, following inadequate opportunity to pay and a subsequent penalty fare.

It is clear that after being wrongly charged money or threatened with prosecution, people can spend a lot of time corresponding with companies, obtaining advice and so on; and also clear that positive results may only come after a lot of input by others.

There are many effects which are very hard to quantify, such as how worried someone is, or how long for. But there are some things, like petrol money as above, or time clearly spent on the case, which are easier.

Maybe mentioning such things to companies during discussions with them could sometimes change responses. It may be that even at an early stage it is easy to lose track of how much time one is spending.

Perhaps company staff might think, for example, "if this gets to court, we're going to look ridiculous for arguing over a £3 fare, if we turn out to be in the wrong and they say it's cost them x hours dealing with it". Or the true cost of delays, as in the first example above, might become more apparent.

 

[Hadders]

I'm no cheerleader tickets to for GTR but I've claimed Delay Repay on over 40 occasions since the shambles started. While the majority are straightforward London Terminals there are a number to other destinations and some of these made using combinations of tickets.

Every claim except one has been paid within a couple of weeks with one exception which GTR rejected claiming that the train wasn't late by more than 15 minutes (the journey was Newport South Wales - Stevenage with a combination of tickets). I resubmitted the claim with further explanation and it was approved within 48 hours.

 

[timbo58]

Perhaps company staff might think, for example, "if this gets to court, we're going to look ridiculous for arguing over a £3 fare, if we turn out to be in the wrong and they say it's cost them x hours dealing with it". Or the true cost of delays, as in the first example above, might become more apparent.

I doubt this to be fair, after working within a prosecutions team many years ago only a senior manager will take a view on the company getting VFM from staff time wasted in pursuing what is unlikely to provide a 'return' in court - as in what is likely to succeed for the TOC and have the costs awarded against the defendant.

Staff are generally paid a salary regardless of how many successful prosecutions they deliver, in fact most of the time RP teams are simply doing random ticket checks to ensure that company policy is fairly uniform and that potential 'leakage' areas and persons reported to them as potential serial offenders are investigated.

The boss of my RP team would usually tell new RPIs he really didn't care how much the fare was being avoided as long as the evidence there was 'intent' was robust - as those who had 'only' avoided 99p worth of fare had almost certainly done so multiple times.

IME the courts didn't care as to the value of fare either, presumably for similar reasons.

 

[yorkie]

Perhaps it would sometimes be useful for people involved in disputes to say how much time they are spending on them...

I spend a fair bit of time providing assistance to customers who have been incorrectly treated, and not just on this forum.

People may turn to their retailer in the event of a dispute, and a good retailer will help them where appropriate. For example, I am aware of numerous instances of retailers being incorrectly implicated by several train companies, for example they may blame the retailer for errors in the data, or they may simply be incapable of checking if a ticket is valid or not and just state that it isn't valid for a variety of reasons.

I had the 'pleasure; of encountering a particularly notorious individual who has been known to strongly object to valid tickets if he doesn't like them, whose incorrect charges I had successfully helped other people to appeal . When he objected to my valid ticket, I chose to pay him so that I could get the complaint properly logged and escalated. It took me hours of escalating the matter up to the very top before I got an apology, refund and acceptance that I was correct all along. But of course he's still out there as nothing much is done about such individuals.

Poor treatment of passengers occurs far too regularly; there are insufficient safeguards to prevent it, and no effective deterrent.

Dealing with customer services departments is often a very tiresome experience, as you have to deal with junior people who literally make things up and refuse to accept the actual rues, terms and conditions.

I can't see things changing for the better any time soon.

 

[Bantamzen]

I work for a public sector body, that among other things handles some very complex, sensitive disputes. And I can honestly say that there is a right way and a wrong way to handle them on both sides.

From an organisational point of view it is viral to remain professional, stick to the details of the dispute and give clear & concise responses. Additionally being responsive to queries, and being flexible when additional information is provided in reviewing and possibly changing a decision. Above all though it is important that staff don't take disputes personally, no matter what the provocation. Being polite, empathetic but also professional will help them to come to a resolution.

For complainants it is important to more or less then same. Keep complaints to the facts, don't get emotional, or make alligations you can't substantiate. No matter how angry or upset someone might be, keeping a complaint polite and treating people with respect will go a long way in speeding up dispute resolution.

People on both sides of a dispute need to remember that they are both human. Mistakes can and do happen, processes fail, things go wrong. Just so long as people understand this and react accordingly then resolutions can and do happen.