Virgin caught short over stoke station toilet row

[Edders23]

From stoke sentinel

'We'll have to start urinating on the taxi rank wall...' - Cabbies stage protest after being BARRED from Stoke Station toilets

Taxi drivers have staged a protest outside Stoke-on-Trent's main railway station - in a row over where they can go to the toilet.

They say a new station official told them they could no longer use the toilets on the two platforms beyond the ticket barriers - and instead directed them to the loos at the nearby North Stafford Hotel.
But the cabbies say this is not a solution and argue the railway station should provide toilets as they pay £300-a-year for a taxi permit to operate from there.

Now Virgin Trains - which operates the station - has apologised over the issue.

I think they have a point taxis pay big fees for the right to work major stations so they should at least be allowed to use the loos

 

[krus_aragon]

In a similar manner, on market day a lot of traders wander over to Colwyn Bay station and ask to use the toilets beyond the barriers. (There are public toilets in the nearby shopping centre, open from 8am, but the station's a bit nearer.)

 

[Ken H]

I am sure there is a bog standard solution to this that will leave everyone flushd with success at the convenience of it.

 

[DarloRich]

why does the price of a permit allow them to use the station facilities that are for paying passengers not third party businesses touting for trade?

 

[eastdyke]

why does the price of a permit allow them to use the station facilities that are for paying passengers not third party businesses touting for trade?

I assume that it is in the interests of Virgin (and of their paying customers) that the Taxi Rank operates as efficiently as possible?
Anyway the 'new' staff person seems to have had a rash of common sense.
From the original (un)quoted link
https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/well-start-urinating-taxi-rank-2240809

Here's what Virgin Trains has to say:
After being approached by StokeonTrentLive, Virgin Trains has apologised for 'confusion' regarding the toilet rules.
A spokesman said: “We’re sorry for the confusion. Taxi drivers will continue to have the same use of the station facilities as before.”

 

[whhistle]

Basically:

"Virgin had a bit of negative news on this, time to give an empty apology that we don't really mean and bury it as quick as possible, making the 'station official' look like a plonker and probably give them cause not to make any changes in the future, and possibly damage their confidence in their ability to do their job... the job that Virgin have tested them as qualified to do"

 

[eastdyke]

Basically:

"Virgin had a bit of negative news on this, time to give an empty apology that we don't really mean and bury it as quick as possible, making the 'station official' look like a plonker and probably give them cause not to make any changes in the future, and possibly damage their confidence in their ability to do their job... the job that Virgin have tested them as qualified to do"

If, on reflection, Virgin do want to exclude Taxi drivers from the toilets and continue to rake £27,000 a year for not a lot, then at permit renewal time the £300 pa that each driver pays simply 'excludes use of the toilets'.

 

[Mugby]

The taxi rank and the toilets at Stoke are at opposite ends of Platform 1 and it's quite some distance between the two. I'm surprised the taxi drivers are happy to leave their cabs unattended for the amount of time it takes to use the toilet.

Why not provide them with one of those circular plastic urinals which are used in London?

 

[Edders23]

I am sure there is a bog standard solution to this that will leave everyone flushd with success at the convenience of it.

as basil brush would say bum bum

 

[Bertie the bus]

Basically:

"Virgin had a bit of negative news on this, time to give an empty apology that we don't really mean and bury it as quick as possible, making the 'station official' look like a plonker and probably give them cause not to make any changes in the future, and possibly damage their confidence in their ability to do their job... the job that Virgin have tested them as qualified to do"

If an employee makes an incorrect decision it is perfectly right and proper for his/her manager to overrule that decision. If they feel undermined and their confidence is damaged they shouldn’t have made the stupid decision in the first place.

 

[FQTV]

In the era of See It, Say It, Sort It, I'd have thought that the regular use of a station facility such as this by a steady stream of (effectively) registered users should be seen as very useful for all sorts of reasons.

 

[LowLevel]

At Leicester there used to be a taxi driver's toilet (in the clock tower in the porte cochere) which was an absolutely disgusting hovel. They just let them through the barriers now.

It's the same at pretty much every station I've ever come across - just let em in.

 

[Ken H]

If an employee makes an incorrect decision it is perfectly right and proper for his/her manager to overrule that decision. If they feel undermined and their confidence is damaged they shouldn’t have made the stupid decision in the first place.

The correct managerial response is to support him in public, but to discuss his error with him in private. Then issue some statement like 'we have reviewed this issue and have changed our policy to allow the use of the toilets by taxi drivers who are registered station users' or some such

 

[Starmill]

Why not provide them with one of those circular plastic urinals which are used in London?

I'm not sure where to begin with the problems with this. What facilities for women were you thinking of providing? And what about for hand washing?

Particularly when both are available and in relatively good condition a few metres away in the railway station.

 

[greyman42]

The taxi rank and the toilets at Stoke are at opposite ends of Platform 1 and it's quite some distance between the two. I'm surprised the taxi drivers are happy to leave their cabs unattended for the amount of time it takes to use the toilet.

If they are desperate to use the toilet then they have no choice.

 

[eastdyke]

I'm not sure where to begin with the problems with this. What facilities for women were you thinking of providing? And what about for hand washing?
Particularly when both are available and in relatively good condition a few metres away in the railway station.

Didn't you know? it's the taxi driver way of getting the punter to say 'keep the change'

 

[Mordac]

I'm not sure where to begin with the problems with this. What facilities for women were you thinking of providing? And what about for hand washing?

Particularly when both are available and in relatively good condition a few metres away in the railway station.

Hand sanitizer dispenser outside?

 

[Clip]

I think they have a point taxis pay big fees for the right to work major stations so they should at least be allowed to use the loos

£300 a year is not a lot of money - I bet some of them can make that in a good day from being on the station

"Virgin had a bit of negative news on this, time to give an empty apology that we don't really mean and bury it as quick as possible, making the 'station official' look like a plonker and probably give them cause not to make any changes in the future, and possibly damage their confidence in their ability to do their job... the job that Virgin have tested them as qualified to do"

Pretty much so.