WH Smith Go Backwards
I’m a subscriber to The Times and get vouchers to pay for my paper.
Where I live there are two shops that take them and I usually use them, when I’m staying in for the morning. Or I might use the supermarket, when I do an early morning shop.
But when I travel by train, I usually pick my paper up at the station to read on the journey.
Until earlier this week, I just went into the WH Smith picked up the paper and put the voucher in the box.
They’ve now removed the boxes and expect you to use the self service machines. It’s a pain, so now they won’t get my custom.
Usually, when I go to the station, I don’t pass a paper shop that takes vouchers. So today, I’ll have to walk the other way to the shop that does, before I go to St. Pancras.
I can’t help feeling that lots of people will forgo their morning newspaper or buy it elsewhere.
The Overground Wins The Passengers’ Votes
I like the London Overground and believe that it has helped to improve the part of London where I live. I’ve heard stories of people getting their first job because it enables them to get reliably to a job out of the area they live.
But don’t just believe me, read this report. Here’s an extract.
The London Overground has trounced the competition in a survey of passenger satisfaction.
Overall, users had an 89 per cent satisfaction rate with the service, a survey conducted by independent rail watchdog Passenger Focus showed.
This compares with 82 per cent for all operators in London and the south east and 83 per cent across the national network.
Let’s hope the Overground works its magic on Tottenham, Walthamstow and Enfield, as it expands next year.
Bank Regulator Says Bank IT Systems Are Antiquated
This article from the BBC, tells how a senior regulator thinks that the IT systems of UK banks are antiquated. Here’s the jist.
A regulator from the Bank of England has told the inquiry into Northern Ireland’s banking system that he is a “very long way” from being able to say that UK banks have robust IT systems.
The Prudential Regulation Authority, should publish an on-line list of all the computer failures, that we could all see. After all, you wouldn’t want to transfer your account to a bank with a crap computer system, would you?
RBS Tries A New Line In Customer Service
I love this story, from the Edinburgh Evening News.
For RBS customers, it’s Christmas.
But obviously, only in Edinburgh!
They would never have tried such a stunt to get new customers in Glasgow!
It’s All A Bit Of A Doddle!
Many of those of my generation remember British Rail’s Red Star Parcels service with affection.
If you wanted to get a parcel from say Ipswich to London, you’d go to their office at Ipswich station, deliver the parcel and pay your fee, and it would be on the next train to London. The consignee would then go to Liverpool Street and collect the parcel later.
It worked well and was probably quicker than anything today, except for a courier taking a hig speed form of transport.
I remember in one instance, our McClaren baby buggy broke in about 1972. They told us to send it by Red Star to Derby, which we did. They repaired it and sent it back by another train the same afternoon.
Does anybody offer such customer service today?
Red Star is now long gone, but I was interested to see that Network Rail is introducing a parcel sending and receiving service called Doddle.
I doubt it would help me, as there isn’t a main line station close to my house. Unless it grows to use large Overground or Underground stations like Dalston Junction. After all, they could use the Ticket Office, when it closes.
But it would be an ideal service for those that pass through such a station on their way to or from work.
Will we see the like of Red Star again? I doubt it will come back everywhere, but on fully-crewed trains, it might return, as how else would you be able to get something really important from say Liverpool to London in under three hours.
Whoever thoght of the name; Doddle, deserves at least an OBE. But I suspect the man backing the scheme; Lloyd Dorfman, who might have thought of the name wouldn’t accept it, as he already has a CBE.
A Warm Welcome In Irun
Michael Portillo’s documentary on travelling by train from Bordeaux to Bilbao gave me the impression that finding your way from the French to Spanish railways systems is easy.
So I went into the station at Irun and asked if I could buy a ticket to France. I didn’t get an answer from the guy in the ticket office, but I heard him swear under his breath. Railwaymen the world over tend to be cherry souls, who are usually willing to help, but this oaf was by a long way the worst I had met. He made the staff at Osnabruck, when I was abandoned by Deutsche Bahn, seem to be some of the best customer service people, I’d ever encountered.
I then looked around for a helpful notice, that might say you took a taxi to the nearest French station and it would cost you so many euros. But there was nothing!
I had noticed taxis outside, but was reluctant to take one, as they would probably charge a British tourist a hundred euros to go a couple of kilometres.
In the end, I walked into the town and asaked a couple of teenage girls, if they could help a lost traveller. After all, I did hope that they had learned some English.
They had and told me to walk to the Metro station with the blue sign, from where I could get a train to Hendaya. I knew that I could get a train from Hendaye, as the French call it, to Biarritz.
nPower Says Sorry
I’m leaving nPower after three years to go to OVO Energy. This is mainly because I want to try out one of these new energy suppliers and see how easy it is to swap from one supplier to another.
I will save myself just over a hundred pounds a year, although the price changes announced by the Government may mean that this figure changes.
Today though, I received an apology from nPower for bad service. Here’s the start of it.
We look after 5.4 million customer accounts in the UK. Our aim is to make sure everyone has the best possible experience as an npower customer.
However, we’ve let many of you down recently in the overall levels of customer service we’ve been providing. We apologise unreservedly. We promise that if you have been impacted by the billing system problems we’ve had, you will not lose out financially as a direct result.
It goes on to give a good explanation of their problems.
I should say though, that I’ve not had one negative issue with the company.
So even if prices aren’t as low as we’d like, the customer service of one of the Big Six power companies is doing things properly.
A Silly Mistake Whilst Shopping
I needed to buy something from a well-known company.
However, because what I wanted was a little off the web site, in that I needed a special part, I ordered it by telephone.
The money was deducted from my credit card and I knew delivery would take a couple of weeks.
Yesterday, as I still hadn’t had the product, I phoned the company and they said the courier had been unable to deliver my goods.
It then turned out that two digits in my address had been reversed in the address used in their computer system. But the credit card details had obviously been entered correctly.
This to me says, that companies need to get their on-line businesses as comprehensive as possible.
For instance, with this special order, they need a form, where you enter your details and your requirements, so hopefully these go straight into the company’s system. Even, if it’s just a cut and paste.
Customer Service – First Great Western Style
Yesterday, as I said in this post, I missed my 09:07 train to Exeter, due to problems on the Metropolitan line.
I knew that to get to Exeter, I would have to get another ticket for the next train, which was the 10:07. One of their staff said to go to the ticket office and see what they would do.
I did and went to the First Class window, where after explaining the problem, they checked thoroughly and then endorsed my out of time ticket for travel on the 10:07. I should say, that I expected to have to buy another ticket and was at my politest. As there wasn’t a queue full of angry passengers, just a couple of anxious ones, this might have helped.
But it does go counter to the sort of Jobsworth behaviour reported on programmes such as Watchdog.
Coming back, there was a Travelling Chef on the train. And I ordered this smoked salmon salad.
A Salad From The Travelling Chef
Note the French dressing in a little bottle, with all the ingredients and allergy information on the outside. That is a good idea, that should be copied more often.
I also had two complimentary glasses of wine.
And how much did the salad cost? – Just nine pounds! As it was served at my seat, I think that was good value.
I asked if you could buy the meals in Standard Class. Apparently, you can and you get it in a plastic box with plastic cutlery.
So it would appear that the discrimination is in the service!
nPower’s Job Losses
There is a story today about job losses at nPower.
I have just left the company after good service for three years.
I read about Ovo and moved there mainly because they would save me over a hundred pounds a year, as I wouldn’t have to pay the Green Levy.
Since their customer service has been very good, something I couldn’t complain about for nPower.
The biggest difference though, is that the literature and web site of Ovo is a lot better than nPower. As I said in this post, I have a single A4 sheet of paper, which summarises everything. It’s only a small point, but it just shows how large companies don’t think.
Perhaps this is why nPower is getting rid of so many expensive customer support staff.
After all in a few years time, virtually all of us will be managing our energy suppliers through the Internet. So support is all about design of the web site.
It would be interesting to see a league table of the ratings of web sites of energy companies!
The Anonymous Widower 