Silly mistake-potential SWT prosecution

[Flamingo]

I've heard of cases being prepared for prosecution, and the person responding with the letter they received from customer Services apologising for the rude RPI when asked for their side.

To be fair, some managers do respond with "That's fine", a lot of the time they do bin the complaint without troubling us.

 

[DelayRepay]

To be fair, some managers do respond with "That's fine", a lot of the time they do bin the complaint without troubling us.

If I was the manager I would respond as follows:

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your letter. I note that you boarded a train without a valid ticket and were unhappy that the Guard asked you to purchase a ticket to continue your journey.

I agree with your assertion that they guard's actions were incorrect. I have spoken to the guard and reminded him that should a similar situation occur in future he should arrange for an RPI to meet the train. The RPI will take your details and pass the matter to our Prosecution department.

In order to rectify the situation, I have forwarded your original letter to the Prosecutions Manager who will be in contact in due course.

We strive to provide a high level of service to all our fare paying customers, and I am sorry that on this occasion we let them down. Once again I would like to thank you for highlighting this and giving us the opportunity to rectify the matter.

 

[Flamingo]

That's good! I'm going to steal that, (with your permission!).

 

[hassaanhc]

That's good! I'm going to steal that, (with your permission!).

Me too

Imagine the PR fallout from such a reply though... :P

 

[jon0844]

Imagine the PR fallout from such a reply though... :P

The people who would get outraged by that are probably not people you'd particularly care about though - or have the same sense of entitlement as the passenger, and therefore probably need to be taken down a peg or two as well.

But, sadly, no company will risk it anyway. Mind you, nobody knows how often someone is told something they don't want to hear because I'd expect the majority won't go the media in order to save face. They might even lie to their friends and family that they got an apology/compensation/staff sacked when they didn't get anything.

 

[DelayRepay]

That's good! I'm going to steal that, (with your permission!).

Permission granted!

 

[LateThanNever]

I expect to hear something. I'm not worried, I've dealt with similar. The annoying thing is when one sees them again and they say "I got a grovelling apology from your MD about you, I'm surprised you still have a job", instead of them being told they were lucky not to be taken to court.

But the point still stands, giving a warning (which I always do) is a waste of breath in most cases, my favourite was the guy who said "If that was true there would be posters up in Paddington at the platforms". What can you do with somebody like that?

I agree wholehartedly. I'm afraid the management is again suspect. They should be much more supportive. Indeed they should be supportive whatever you do (whilst 'secretly advising' you if they disagree). This really is the basics of management. I'm really sorry if this doesn't happen. For all the jokes about 'Worst' it suggests that all is not well. How vey disturbing.

 

[Tom B]

It's a shame that there isn't a robust response to such non-complaints, just as there isn't often a robust response when something has actually gone wrong. I presume it is easier for a generic letter to be photocopied and sent out rather than spending time on the merits of each individual complaint.

 

[Greenback]

I would like to see such letters being issued, and I would like to see management support front line staff a lot more.

But I won't hold my breath. It isn't going to happen anytime soon.

 

[Matt Taylor]

(The complaint hasn't hit my in-tray -yet!)

I've been asked for my name etc when dealing with similar situations, not had a single complaint against me yet though!

Penalty Fare Warnings should be issued where appropriate, part of the SWT Penalty Fares agreement is that we are expected to issue penalty fare warnings at a specific ratio to number of tickets issued. I program it into the machine at the start of the shift and issue them as I go along.

 

[Flamingo]

I've been asked for my name etc when dealing with similar situations, not had a single complaint against me yet though!

Penalty Fare Warnings should be issued where appropriate, part of the SWT Penalty Fares agreement is that we are expected to issue penalty fare warnings at a specific ratio to number of tickets issued. I program it into the machine at the start of the shift and issue them as I go along.

I've never heard anything about them except on this site. Some stock has Pf warnings printed on them, but it seems to depend on which depot, not everybody is issued with it - South Wales isn't, presumably because it is not a PF area.

 

[Busaholic]

I would like to see such letters being issued, and I would like to see management support front line staff a lot more.

But I won't hold my breath. It isn't going to happen anytime soon.

The magazine 'Private Eye' had a stock response when getting spurious letters/libel threats from highly-paid solicitors representing important people who had been mentioned in an unflattering way in the magazine: 'I refer you to Pressdram vs Arkell', Pressdram being the magazine's publishers and Arkell being a long-forgotten bod who had recourse to the solicitors. When P.E. received the letter threatening hell and damnation they just replied in two succunct words, the second being 'off' and the first containing one more letter. Surprising how that was almost always the end of the matter unless some really unscrupulous individual like Robert Maxwell or 'Jams' Goldsmith was paying the briefs.

 

[lou777]

Just an update- received a letter yesterday asking for an £80 payment. After reading horror stories on here I feel very lucky.. It certainly teaches you a lesson! Thanks to all for your help and advice

 

[Flamingo]

Thanks for coming back to us, glad you're pleased with the outcome. ??????

 

[Greenback]

Thank you for the update. I hope you won't find yourself in the same position again, the consequences could be far more severe.