ChiefPlanner
Established Member
Family and friends dip into LM - and they seem really humane , honest and occasionally funny (not to mention dedicated by hanging on past their hours when major disrouption strikes)
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T.O.C On Twitter
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trainophile
Established Member
Twitter seems to be down at the moment, have tried on both computer and phone. Wondering if it's the same for everyone? (Edit: It's back 
)
I was about to say that I now follow a couple of posters on there who go by the handle of "RaildisruptionsUK" or something like that (can't check atm). They seem to know everything that's going on with all the network, and their reports appear to be bang up to the minute. I was wondering whether they are "official".
It does mean I get about 20 new tweets every five minutes at peak times, but reading them all gives an nationwide overview, and is actually quite interesting even when I'm not personally affected.
Secondly, I agree with whoever commented on LM's sense of humour. Some very witty handover comments, always make me smile.
)I was about to say that I now follow a couple of posters on there who go by the handle of "RaildisruptionsUK" or something like that (can't check atm). They seem to know everything that's going on with all the network, and their reports appear to be bang up to the minute. I was wondering whether they are "official".
It does mean I get about 20 new tweets every five minutes at peak times, but reading them all gives an nationwide overview, and is actually quite interesting even when I'm not personally affected.
Secondly, I agree with whoever commented on LM's sense of humour. Some very witty handover comments, always make me smile.
DelayRepay
Established Member
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I follow FCC who I use for my commute to work each day. Useful if there's major disruption you would think, except that sometimes the tweeters don't have any more information that the station staff, which is usually very little.
Also, they receive daily tweets about trains with broken heating and promise to get it fixed...but the same tweets arrive the following day and the day after. At one point they were even encouraging people to tweet them details of trains without heating. But still we get cold trains. I understand the stock is old, knackered and belongs in a scrapyard rather than on a mainline railway but why do they pretend they're going to fix the problem? Would be better to be honest and reply "Our trains are broken. Sorry. Wear a thicker coat tomorrow".
Also, they receive daily tweets about trains with broken heating and promise to get it fixed...but the same tweets arrive the following day and the day after. At one point they were even encouraging people to tweet them details of trains without heating. But still we get cold trains. I understand the stock is old, knackered and belongs in a scrapyard rather than on a mainline railway but why do they pretend they're going to fix the problem? Would be better to be honest and reply "Our trains are broken. Sorry. Wear a thicker coat tomorrow".
Unfortunately for them social media is the future, and you'll see customers increasingly judging companies by their use of social media as the years go on.
One day a business-to-public company will only be "respectable" if it engages using social media - in much the same way as we're mildly shocked if a company doesn't have a website in 2013.
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They are not official - it's a young lad in Scotland who copy-pastes everything from Scotrail sites and Live Departures. The information is often incorrect and misleading.
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That's David Whitley, their head of marketing. He's no longer one of their tweeters as of a couple of days ago!
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trainophile
Established Member
hock: Why ever not? Is it something political or just that he's moved on to other duties? Hope he didn't get told off for his amusing tweets.
I can't speak for David, but I don't think there was anything sinister about his move.
I believe he may be concentrating on other things now.
trainophile
Established Member
I can't speak for David, but I don't think there was anything sinister about his move.
I believe he may be concentrating on other things now.
Sounds like you know him quite well. If so give him my regards please, and tell him I will miss his tweets!
Qwerty133
Established Member
He was tweeted in addition to his main job at LM and twitter has now passed completely over to the more appropriate Customer Relations department full time.
trainophile
Established Member
dvboy
Established Member
But not when mobile.
The issue I have with social media is that its a shallow way to deal with customers. The customer tweets and they get platitudes or a scripted answer which they dole out like sweets before moving on to the next poor sucker. Its not like a real job is it? On the front line, having angry and violent customers right in your face ready to smack you if you don't deal with their problem there and then.
I also don't agree with the way companies scan personal twitter pages looking for non hashtagged quotes of their name and then barge into your conversation. Recently a friend of mine tweeted to her friends that she was unable to do any work because the computers were down and a telephone engineers was coming out to fix it. Within minutes some nosey parker from BT was barging into that conversation wanting to know what was wrong, the ref number etc.
I also don't agree with the way companies scan personal twitter pages looking for non hashtagged quotes of their name and then barge into your conversation. Recently a friend of mine tweeted to her friends that she was unable to do any work because the computers were down and a telephone engineers was coming out to fix it. Within minutes some nosey parker from BT was barging into that conversation wanting to know what was wrong, the ref number etc.
It is not shallow if you use it to actually solve customer service issues. You could apply your above statement to anything the TOC does - I could easily be reading the same thing about staff handling disruption at a station!
If it's so rubbish, why do more and more people follow TOC Twitter accounts, and why do they handle more and more enquiries on a month-by-month basis?
Sometimes that is exactly the point. Far better to deal with an angry, chuntering customer thumping away on an iPhone than have the same person snarling at a booking office window.
You also assume that TOC Twitter staff are there just to "react" to issues as they happen - they aren't in many cases. They also gather data on reporting tools that tell the business just what their customers think in some considerable detail - at least, the good ones do that!
It is not immediately obvious, but just reading a TOC Twitter page and having a couple of interactions with them isn't even scratching the surface to be honest. There's a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes beyond someone tapping words back to a customer on Twitter.
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I know of three TOCs that believe this to be the case.
An expression of dissatisfaction on Twitter is not a complaint according to the ORR. Stats are king...!
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The station Twitter accounts are staffed by station staff who have other duties to perform (selling tickets etc) - they can be a little sporadic and rely on someone who has the interest and passion to drive the account forward.
If (and from my viewpoint its a big if) the advice is correct, and tangible and the customer is satisfied then yes there is a place for social media in providing another way for customers to communicate. However I am aware of situations where a customer has not been happy with the response from store staff, taken to Twitter, telling half truths and conning the Twitter Team into investigating the complaint again and sending 'please explain' emails to overworked store staff who can do without the extra work.
I am also painfully aware of poorly trained staff playing 'keyboard hero' banging out replies that make chocolate teapots look useful which end up with the customer standing in the store yelling 'Well they said it was ok on Twitter'.
If data is being gathered and used to improve the service rather than just have the staff sat around waiting for the tweets to come in then thats good to hear. As someone who has to find the time each week to analyse our NPS results I don't envy them there!
I am also painfully aware of poorly trained staff playing 'keyboard hero' banging out replies that make chocolate teapots look useful which end up with the customer standing in the store yelling 'Well they said it was ok on Twitter'.
If data is being gathered and used to improve the service rather than just have the staff sat around waiting for the tweets to come in then thats good to hear. As someone who has to find the time each week to analyse our NPS results I don't envy them there!
It's also amusing when LM and VT get into a bit of banter with each other, makes some nice light hearted twitter reading!
trainophile
Established Member
Although I perhaps wouldn't put it quite so bluntly, I tend to agree with the principle here. Unless there are off-duty medical professionals on board the train, or the passenger has fallen awkwardly and may have broken a bone, surely the best course of action would be to get them off the train and into an ambulance as soon as possible?
I would have thought if possible this is what they would have done. I dont know the specifics of what happened nor would I divulge it if I did. Im sure if they could have got the person off the train onto the platform they would have.
How true! If the tweets from customers were recognised by the DFT and ORR then the pathetic failures of GA Abelio would be instantly recognised and they would be sacked WEF!
This e mail just about sums up their abysmal failure!
What!! Are you for real?? Are you a passenger on GA??
If the passenger has collapsed, it's usually best to leave them where they are until medical help arrives. You can't just drag people off trains and plop them on a platform!
trainophile
Established Member
Are you an employee of GA?
I thought the email was quite witty. Someone getting it off their chest before they burst a blood vessel
.No it doesn't. It's a fairly aggressive email written by a plainly sarcastic and quite pathetic individual, with some unnecessary ad hominem attacks thrown in for good measure. It is neither constructive nor reasonable regardless of how justified his complaints are.
trainophile
Established Member
Granted, but it depends on the nature of "ill". There seems to be a lot of passengers being taken ill on trains recently. I wouldn't want to trivialise the matter, but surely they are not all having heart attacks.
If I was feeling so ill that I might need medical help, I don't think I'd get on a train in the first place. Unless of course I was on my way to a doctor or hospital appointment.
A young woman of about 20 boarded the (horribly overcrowded due presumably to relocating rugby fans the previous day) ATW Sprinter that I was on on Sunday. She immediately said "I feel sick" as she sat down on her suitcase, and looked as white as a sheet. I spent the whole time she was on there expecting her to throw up in the packed vestibule. Why on earth she decided to travel in that state I cannot imagine.
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tsr
Established Member
As someone who, like others, has spent a reasonable length of time (30mins+) in a deep level Tube tunnel in stifling heat on a rammed peak-hours train - because of a passenger ill on a train, otherwise I wouldn't mention it! - can I please emphasise the importance of trainophile's post (directly above)?
Passengers ill on trains will sometimes cause the line to effectively be blocked whilst they are assisted. Ambulance services and indeed first-aiders have to take every precaution in dealing with illness - sometimes "just" stabilisation of a single casualty, but one recent incident at London Bridge led to a chemical alert and a major multi-agency response. This can cause a train to be at a stand for a considerable time. The symptoms may be serious, even if the illness actually turns out not to be. The knock-on ill effects on other passengers on trains stuck due to congestion or a line block, including stress and heat exhaustion, can sometimes be truly dangerous and horrible. If you know you are ill, especially if whatever your symptoms are could be signs that you could cause a mess, please don't travel. Staff will be more than happy to assist you on the platform - via a help-point if need be.
Passengers ill on trains will sometimes cause the line to effectively be blocked whilst they are assisted. Ambulance services and indeed first-aiders have to take every precaution in dealing with illness - sometimes "just" stabilisation of a single casualty, but one recent incident at London Bridge led to a chemical alert and a major multi-agency response. This can cause a train to be at a stand for a considerable time. The symptoms may be serious, even if the illness actually turns out not to be. The knock-on ill effects on other passengers on trains stuck due to congestion or a line block, including stress and heat exhaustion, can sometimes be truly dangerous and horrible. If you know you are ill, especially if whatever your symptoms are could be signs that you could cause a mess, please don't travel. Staff will be more than happy to assist you on the platform - via a help-point if need be.
Are you an employee of GA?
I thought the email was quite witty. Someone getting it off their chest before they burst a blood vessel
Considering it was insulting the intelligence of some of my collegues I didn't think it was funny. Anyway I'm going to cease commenting on it otherwise I might say something that I shouldn't.
EM2
Established Member
I'm pretty sure I've had dealings with ginger on Twitter. The writing style is very familiar.
87015
Established Member
Go on, do tell tell what messroom you inhabit where nobody ever bitches or insults another member of staff...
Back on topic a bit, the Christmas argument between GA and c2c twitter bods over ticket acceptance certainly showed what shouldn't be done on a public feed http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=76957&highlight=benfleet Dave1987 would no doubt work out that was no fault of GA and all c2c issues aswell though
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