Thursday, January 19, 2012

Still suck you know

As you may or may not have noticed I have been a little quite on my ranting about Southeastern.
Its not that they have finally pulled their fingers out and are providing a decent service. Hell has not frozen over there are no flying pigs so that hasn't happened.
I have changed jobs which means I don't have to commute everyday.
Yesterday I did commute though and was quickly reminded why I set this blog up.

Travelling from Ashford to London Bridge now costs an amazing £49.30 return fu**ing hell I just want to sit in a seat not buy the whole thing. There are adverts for taking you car on the Eurostar to Calais for £45 that's a car and possibly 5 people in it going under the channel. I am thinking of getting 4 people together and hiring a limo to take me to work it would be cheaper.

The train got me into work no problem it was the getting home that was fun.
I got into London Bridge that was a little bit more packed than usual to see my train has changed platforms. Alarm bells started to ring. Don't panic count to 10 I told myself.
Standing on the platform looking at the board with my train on it due to arrive in the next 2 minutes my phone rings and its my good mate Andy asking where I am "standing on platform 2 waiting" "you will be waiting a while" he said "all the lines out of Cannon street are shafted" I count to 20.
There was no news form the useful guards at London Bridge the train was on time according to the board but not here. Finally they said I am sorry but the trains out of Cannon street are a bit delayed as the signals are broken. Please wait on platform 2 till you die of boredom of give up and go back to work. The main entrance was closed for safety so if you were at Cannon street and we told you to go to London Bridge tough luck my friend I count to 30.

Andy turned up a while later with a sheen of sweat on his head after running to London Bridge to meet me. He was told to make his way to Cannon street by the staff there we hang around bitching about Southeastern to pass the time.
48 minutes late the train turns up on platform 1 not even the platform we were waiting at. So we rush along the crowded platform to get on and nearly get stampeded on by all the people getting off. I think the whole of Cannon street squeezed on to get to London Bridge and wait for hours for nothing to happen.
We go on the train and sat down, where did we sit? In the same place Andy was sitting in before the fucktards told him to go to London Bridge. The moral of the story is we wait for any kind of info from the crap guards at the station when it finally comes don't believe it the twats are making it up.

When we get to Ashford the train guard comes on and announces he is sorry for any inconvenience but the train is terminating here. If you wanted to get home to Ramsgate tough titty get off. The only reason he did this is because its the end of his shift and he would get home late. What about everyone else getting home late suck it up and do your job!

i have now filled out my delay repay and I will let you know how they stiff me out of that payment.

Nick Not missing Southeastern

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Hottest day of the year since records and time began

Last night I got to Cannon street and guess what all the trains into Kent were cancelled. Any announcements no any idea when they will be moving again. Nope that would be remotely useful to the hot and sweaty commuters. I gave up turned round and went down into the depths of hell (or the London underground as it’s known).   The Tube was free as the rail service was all cocked up.  So me and my intrepid travel buddy Andy made our way to St Pancras for the HS1.
When we got there we demanded a free upgrade as we bought a ticket of southeastern to get us home and again they were failing to do so. Why should we have to shell out £5 for their incompetence? The poor lady selling the tickets said we cannot do that we are not allowed. “That’s not good enough” was Andy’s response. “I can get the manager you can talk to him”. The call went out for Tony Ellis the train line manager at St Pancras and guess what he was not there. He chose the time when angry commuters were turning up at the station to go off and see how things were running at Stratford station. His job is to support the passengers and staff. How can he possibly do that if he is not there?

£5 later we were on the train heading home to get in 20 minutes later than we would have if the service was any good. To upset me some more that Southeastern PR machine stepped into high gear. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-13935739 “Commuters forcing Southeastern train doors cause delays” The gist of it is on the hottest day of the year so far a train stopped outside Dartford for 3 hours. 

After three hours the people opened the doors and went along the tracks to get some water and stop themselves from dying. If you locked a dog in a car on a summers day for three hours without a window open the RSPCA would be called. So maybe we should stop Southeastern from keeping any people for 5 years they obviously cannot look after them properly. The other thing is how bad is the line that having one train rail turned off in Dartford breaks every bloody train coming in and out of London.

I have my complaint form and will update the blog if I get any response from SouthEastern gobshites 

Nick.

 



Friday, May 6, 2011

State the obvious and not really give any info



At Cannon street this morning the announcer told us we were 10 minutes late.  This was due to 3 minutes stuck outside Orpington and 2 minutes delay in the Tonbridge area.
Ok so that’s 5 minutes covered where were the other 5 then?
Did they just disappear in the tear in the fabric of space and time around London Bridge?
He probably thinks that he is doing a fantastic job for Southeastern, informing the customer regularly of what is happening to their service. Sits back with a cup of tea and a smug grin and thinks that will make their lives better. I have follow procedure 345 in the keep everyone happy manual.

Well not really you just stated the bleeding obvious really; we know we were delayed at Orpington. We do this journey every day and when the train stops for no reason we notice, (oh that’s a new garden or warehouse I am staring at).
Just for a laugh why not have a go at telling us why.  And don’t use the “a car crashed into a bridge” one I have heard that so many times.
I think the reason is not stated because they don’t really know. They are surprised as us when a train turns up on time.

Nick.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Cannon Street has new gates lets use them for no reason.

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Thursday, April 7, 2011

According to my wife I can argue with Southeastern about anything. She is right


So I had a little trip from London to Ebbsfleet the other evening. I usually go from London to Ashford but I was meeting in Bluewater so I thought I will get the fast train to Ebbsfleet and get the bus from there. I looked on the Southeastern website for info and this is what it said

UPGRADE + HS – this is shown on a supplement ticket and must be accompanied by a Southeastern ticket that is not valid on high speed services. Please note Earlybird ticket holders are not eligable for a high speed upgrade.

So I thought alright must be valid as there are no other trains that got to Ebbsfleet apart from the High Speed so you can just have a normal ticket to Ebbsfleet to upgrade.
I bought my upgrade at St Pancras, just missed the train (the law of sod strikes again) and sat around for the next 18 minute journey to Ebbsfleet.
I jumped on the next train and sat back for my quick journey. The guard or "onboard assistant" as he announced himself came around checked my ticket punched a hole in it and even looked at my original ticket.
I jumped off at Ebbsfleet the new concrete jungle in Gravesend don't know why they renamed it. Was Gravesend not glamorous enough. I put my ticket into the machine and it just spat it out and didn't open up  the gates. I showed it to one of the 2 guards (not sure what official name they have but I shall call them "gate inspector team twat officers" or Gitto's) . The Gitto looked at my ticket and said can I see your original ticket. I showed him my monthly ticket and he said "that says Ashford, you will need to go to Ashford its not valid" at this point my blood started to boil, Me "That is not what your website says and it wasn't pointed out by the onboard assistant! ". Gitto "I am only going on what our training says sir, it says you have to have a valid ticket to the destination to get an upgrade" . Me "Well I am only going on what your website says!"  Gitto "I am sorry sir you will have to buy a full ticket" Me "no I wont" at this point getting out phone to show him the website. Me "what must I do I look on the site I get my ticket checked on the train and at the end of my journey you tell me I have the wrong ticket, What else can I DO YOU TELL ME!" at this point starting to get agitated . Gitto opens the gate and walks with me to a counter and hands me a complaint form "I am letting you through sir and giving you a complaint form."  ME "you can bet I am going to use it" and off I saunter with a bit of a spring in my step. In my youth I would do a lot to avoid confrontation but now days it makes me feel alive.  Southeastern Tut tut etc. 

Nick.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

What the Delay repay means to us.

This is a mail sent to Roger Gale from Mike Gibson from Southeastern to outline what the Delay Repay compensation means to us poor sods who use the rail to get to work.
You will notice that they hope to have it up and running by summer, I will not hold my breath waiting for it to happen. Also I bet it when it happens, us poor plebs who use the service wont be told. It will just slip through quietly.  I plan to use it every time I can as i hope every one will.


Delay – Repay” compensation
Following the announcement last week that Southeastern was to introduce a “delay – repay” compensation scheme, you may have been approached by local rail users asking if the scheme applied to train cancellations. I accordingly thought that a short note outlining how the scheme works might be helpful in dealing with any constituency enquiries.
  • The scheme is based on the principle of compensating passengers for a delay in the journey to their final destination of 30 minutes or more. A delay of 30 minutes or more will entitle the passenger to 50% of the single fare, a delay of one hour or more, to 100% of the single fare. So assuming the passenger’s train is cancelled and the next service to their final destination is not for 30 minutes then compensation would apply.
  • However should there be another train to that destination, say, 10 or 15 minutes later, and the delay was below 30 minutes, then it would not.
  • In the event of a cancellation leading to a missed connection, then again, assuming the delay in arriving at the final destination is 30 minutes or more, then compensation would also apply.
  • The deciding factor for compensation is a delay of 30 minutes or more in the journey to the passenger’s final destination.
Introducing the scheme requires amendments to our Passengers’ Charter and we are statutorily required to consult with Passenger Focus and London TravelWatch before doing so. Discussions are currently underway and we expect to have the scheme up and running by the summer.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Dispatches

So did you catch dispatches on channel 4
Richard Wilson was traveling the country to see how shocking the rail service is in this country.
I am disappointed that he didn't say "I don't believe it!!" not once I say it myself at least once a month when I buy a ticket.
There were outraged people talking about how much it costs to get to Manchester from London etc.
I think it focused a bit to much on the easy target of how much it costs to use these crappy trains and not enough on the shoddy service we receive for the huge outlay.

There was a guy Chris who was discussing the SouthEastern performance on how the fairs have risen 13% and the service has got worse and they were insulting people by offering them a £20 Marks and Spencer voucher.
Well I am really insulted not to even get the insulting voucher. I have been complaining for months and have only received two emails which are the same patronising bullshit that they send out all the time. With the according to the passengers charter we don't owe you shit now pissoff! phrased slightly differently but that's the general gist of it.

Nick

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Helpful staff at London Bridge

Monday night I was working a bit late.
I got to London Bridge to get the 6:50 train to Ashford, and surprise surprise it was late.
There was no real info about what was going on, as per usual.
Not even an announcement on the 190 decibel speakers they have at London Bridge.
( I would hate to live in one of the flats around there, hearing the drab dull voice of someone saying the blah blah to blah blah is ready to depart on platform 5 in a really loud tinny voice would drive me slowly mad. I think I would get a sniper rifle and take out those speakers at night. Mind you I wouldn't be at the mercy of total waste of time Southeastern.)
The info ( I use the term loosely ) board just had it expected at 6:58 that time came and went no train ah well it should be here soon. I wandered off and had a stroll around looking at the other sad faces standing around waiting to get out of their own little hell. By the time I got back to the board the train had disappeared. Gone like it was never there. Did I go into a coma and miss it I thought. Followed by mother f^&kers they have done it again.
I went off to find one of the helpful guards that hang around to ask where my train went? did it take a wrong turn and get lost?
The very enlightening answer I received was "Err well the 7:19 will be along soon".
What kind of answer is that I ask you. Absolutely bloody useless.
Still on the 7:19 I got to meet some fellow blogger complainers of the Southeastern kind.
i am terribly sorry I have forgotten your name. Comment and I will update if you want to be name checked,
Maybe we should come up for a name for a group of unsatisfied Southeastern commuters.
A gripe of commuters, A Clea of commuters Ideas on a postcard please.

Nick.

Friday, January 21, 2011

82.04% Are they having a laugh.

So now it is the 21st day in January and the closest I have had to getting into a station on time is 3 minutes late. Last night the train I rushed to the station to get was 15 minutes late into the station.
Luckily I couldn't be arsed to stroll far up the platform because the train that turned up was only 4 carriages long not the usual 12. So it was a little cramped on the train. It finally strolled into Ashford like a teenager being taken to the shops by his mum, 28 minutes late.
So how did they come up with the 82.04% figure for trains on time. Last year was appalling as it had the snow in February and the snow in December. which basically made those two months were a no go so how did they manage to get the rest of the year on time?

One of the little tricks they have used is to implement the emergency timetable. This means that the figures for all the trains that would have been cancelled on a normal timetable are not counted.
The other is that they fast link is used even though it's on its own track and is brand new.
There is no accountability for anything when running a rail franchise. They get the government subsidy even if they do nothing they get that. They could change all the trains with those handle push trains and make us pump our arms into work put the price up and still get a subsidy.
There should be some kind of accountability, train later that 30 minutes you can get a refund. 15 minutes late you can get a free ride on the fast train.

I am also pissed off with the complete bullshit explanations' that are sprouted as the train is only 8 carriages due to there being 4 carriages short. WTF thats not an excuse that is stating the f%*king obvious.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Start as you mean to go on.

So this morning was my first day back at work after a nice relaxing Christmas/New Year break.
The first shock I had was the cost of my ticket. I have to put up with a 13% increase. So the service will be at least 13% better wont it. Hahaha.

Then the fun started. My train the 6:57 was delayed by 7 minutes according to the mechanical woman announcement the next train into London was the 7:22 and that was cancelled. a couple of other trains appeared on the board then my train just disappeared from the list. WTF were my words. I strolled off up the platform to find a hi vis wearing womble to find out what was going on. They are hard to find when anything goes wrong they scurry off to their hole very quickly. "Where is my train?" response "Err not sure we seem to have lost it, I think that one there might be it" How the F$*k can you loose a  train. I put it down over there and it seems to have fallen down the back of the sofa..... Good to see that the communication that they were talking about on the news is working. Finally a train pulled in. It was my train, that surprised not just me but the guards running the platforms as well. It finally got into London 28 minutes late. Then on the way home I was delayed another 20 minutes. I dont think they are 82% on time in my book so far this year for me its been 100% delayed, Fail!!!!!

I wrote a complaint on the contact us thing at southeastern shysters web site I doubt I will get a response but I am going to fill one out each time I am delayed and reference each complaint I have filled out.
One thing I would like is to get hold of  Charles Horton's mobile number. I would ring him every time his trains were delayed and ask him if I have pissed him off as much as he pisses me off every day.

Nick

Thursday, December 16, 2010

The Twelfth day of Christmas Southeastern

So I think you might have seen this but if you didnt it is worth mentioning again and again.
I thought I was clever setting up a blog to rant at Southeastern but I take my hat off to Adam Helal of St Leonard's. Who created a version of the Christmas carol The Twelve Days of Christmas in a protest at the service we get. Then had a flashmob singing it at Charring Cross.
Also he is showing great restraint in not using any swear words. I would have.
If SouthEastern do not read our complaint letters they might listen to a complaint song.

Here is hoping that when the cold snap hits later this week we can survive it.
Nick

Monday, December 6, 2010

Bob and None the hope of a service from Southeastern.

So it's amazing now that the snow has melted and it's just a bit cold the trains are back to normal service, e.g. we arrived at Cannon Street 10 minutes late. No apologies or explanation just a really long talk about being careful on the platform as it could be slippery.

Last week there was what can only be described as an epic fail by Southeastern to provide any service information or just anything really. Even the news managed to get a Southeastern Spokesperson (general liar) on to grill her about how they can call themselves a service. Sarah Boundy was here name and Polly Evans the busty new anchor from South East Tonight did a pretty good job of not taking her flannelling bullshit. Here is a link to the clip

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11916142

Sarah Boundys main message was that we hope that we are giving a better service. We hope that the website is better.
We hope that we give good value for money and you have No Hope of getting any money back from us thought the thieving bastards.

The main word here is Hope!!! I don't want to get a train and Hope!! that I will make it to the f&*king destination, I want to get there. I don't want to get to the station and Hope!! that the train advertised is going to be there I want it to be there. It is not an unreasonable request you bunch of fuktards!

She was bangin on about the website being nice to look at. It doesn't work and is not fit for purpose but it looks all nice. When she was being questioned over refunds she kept referring to the customers charter on refunds. Why would they give refunds that is almost like taking responsibility for you actions and as its everyone else's fault be it Networkrail, bombader who make the trains or the gods.

If the amount of ranting I have seen on the web is to go by Southeastern have majorly failed to impress anyone.
The journey home was not even on time. I got to Cannon Street ready for the 5:45 to get home only to find that the train was delayed by 45 minutes. So it will get in later than the 6:08. Useless there was not even a bit of snow it was just a little bit cold.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Liar Liar pants on Fire

So this morning I awoke to a bit more snow hanging around. Its not so bad I thought. I have seen krispy kreme donut with a deeper coating of sugar than the amount of snow I am looking at. Before going to the station I will have a quick look on the website to see what is happening. They wouldn’t lie on the website would they? it will show in real time where the trains are. Well it does but it’s a work of fiction depending on where you are. I put in Ashford and it showed that it was on time. I was going to take it at face value but that would have been silly so I had a deeper rummage.


My advice is if you want to see were your train is don’t put in the station you are at but put in the next smallest station up the line.

See the picture


The question is how can the train be on time everywhere before and after a station but be Delayed at the station. According to the Southeastern spokesman on the radio the site is a great improvement on last year where they had a text based single page of information. I don’t care if its written in pink on a pink background with flashing animation. If it’s wrong there is no point to it. You cannot defend it by saying its better looking than last year but don’t believe what it’s telling you we are just making that up.


If you haven’t seen this http://railfail.epetitions.net/ fill it in.

It a petition “Southeastern Rail should putting all fares down, not up!”

It’s by a site that is like mine but much more of a professional and less ranty than mine.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Snow stops play already! FFS

So this Monday morning I was delayed for a foot numbingly 40 minutes getting into work.
The reason for this delay was due to inclement weather. FFS (For F*&ks Sake) this is England its all inclement weather with 4 days of sun a year.

Standing there looking at the announcement board it said "Please look at Timetables" or "works of fiction" as I like to call them. The automated announcement did kindly tell us every minute that the 6.57 is 10 minutes late at 7.07 just in case maths is not your strong point. It did get tricky when we got to 7.10 I had to think hard then. There was no real information until the natives started to get restless, when the next lot of commuters turned up on the platform to see us all standing around looking cold and pissed off more than usual.
There was an announcement that due to the inclement weather there are problems with the signalling in the Ashford area and engineers are working hard to rectify the problem.

So I took pictures of the blizzard that managed to bring Southeastern to a standstill.
Its not exactly heavy is it. I am so glad they are putting up the costs to maintain and upgrade the rail network.
Oh no that's what has been happening for the last 10 years. So when are we going to start seeing any improvements? not in my lifetime I think you bunch thieving mother fluffers.

Nick.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Dick Turpin is alive and running Southeastern.

So the fare rises for January are published in the press today. Last year the average rise for the commuter was 1.2% except for Southeastern which managed to get away with 8%.
The reason for this bigger than national average rise, was that we were paying for the new fast train service. OK now it’s up and running why are we still paying extra for it? Should it not be paying for itself?
Another thing the new line which was built for the train has been sold off to some Canadian consortium.
Where is my cut then? Huuu I part paid for it I was one of the original backers like one of the Dragons I want my cut… I knew I should have said “im out” when they put the fares up.

So what sort of rise are they going to give us this year 8% maybe 9% to really give me some pain? No they are going big this time they are looking at 12.7% are they taking the piss. There is always news about a double dip recession well I believe Southeastern are trying their best to create it in my household.

I think these prices are being hiked to pay for the lack of people on the high speed train. The HST has been shortened by 3 carriages because there are not as many people on it as Southeastern thought and who can blame them. I don’t use it as I feel like I am being ripped of already without paying an extra £1,000 per year + tube ride for the privilege.

The problem is what can you do about it. I am not using the trains for pleasure rides I am using it to get to work. The other option is to drive which at the cost of travel for me going to be over £100 per week it is looking to be the cheaper option even with my planet killer car and the price of petrol. I this what you want in these times of green-ey-ness-ness? Is me to kill baby seals with my car, because that is what I am considering doing Southeastern and it’s your fault.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Mojave Desert

Did you know that Britain has been as dry as the Mojave Desert?
No well it’s the only explanation that I can think of as to why Southeastern have been so consistently shite this week.
The first rains in a thousand years have completely codsed up the rail system.
It is Thursday any I have not yet this week been on a train that isn’t late.
On Wednesday they even cancelled the morning train due to the biblical floods we have been having. Or that they could be bothered why give a service when you have a monopoly that is subsidised and well you customers are not likely to go anywhere else.
This is England the only place damper in winter is Ireland for fecks sake.
When a Southeastern guard was asked why the trains are so bad his brilliant explanation was “well it is winter” is it? That crept up on us I didn’t see that coming. Did we have this winter thing last year?

This week we were warned by some government committee that the trains in 2014 are going to be overcrowded and provide a terrible service. I think southeastern are ahead of their time. It’s the first target they have beaten without fudging the figures.
Maybe they should change the company tagline to something like.
Don’t wait until 2014 for your crap rail service. Travel with Southeastern and get it now.”
Guess what this mornings train in was over 10 minutes late so only one more train to make a perfect score for the week.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

This morning's rant is brought to you by the letter R for "retards".

It is not strictly a Southeastern problem as its about the retards at London bridge. But I am willing to blame them as it's like wearing a Nazi uniform they are all tarred with the same brush.

When my train got to London bridge the announcer said "I am sorry but a passenger has been taken ill and this train will be stuck here for a while. if you want to make alternate arrangements to get to Cannon Street I suggest you do." So I get my coat and bag and get off.
At this point there was a train on the other platform with its doors open. Standing by this train was a fucktard in his bright yellow tabard blowing his whistle. He cannot be blowing it for the train I have just got off can he. I point at him "this one or that one?" he just blows his whistle and behind me the doors on the train shut and it moves off. "What The F&*k" it was the fastest I have seen a train leave a platform just because I was not on it.
When questioned the fucktard says I was blowing my whistle I couldn't be any clearer. Well you might have started by not standing next to another train with its doors open. Or maybe even used that white and black paddle you wave around like a fly swatter, to point at the leaving train. I am astounded by the quality of customer service and the staff that are in the employee of the railways.
Rant over.

Nick.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Power of attraction

So last night I saw the power of attraction in work. Andy my train buddy and me were stuck in London trying to get home when all the trains were cancelled from Cannon Street. At Cannon Street I knew things were going to go bad when I got close to the station its was very crowded on the streets and there were flashing blues lights of two police cars sitting outside.
No one was being allowed inside the station people were starting to spill out onto the street, there was a lonely guard standing there telling people they were not coming in. No other info as to why all the trains were cancelled the boards had no info just a single train that was classed as on time even though it was 10 minutes past when it should have arrived. I think the coppers were there to stop it kicking off.
I still haven’t found out what happened! Anyone got any ideas, was it because the builders from the commonwealth games have taken over running the railway? I think it might do a better job than the muppets who run it now.
So we took a trip on the hell express or underground as its known, which didn’t go smoothly first tube was a circle line until we got on it then it changed to going to Barking only. Jump off wait for next etc. Andy was grumbling with me by this point about how crap it all is etc. We finally got to St Pancras went into the MS shop there to get a beer to take on the train. The guard would not let us on the train with our ticket he told us we need to get an upgrade Buggers. No free travel just because the service is useless. I bet you are wondering where the power of attraction is coming in well, Andy was muttering about how crap everything is. At this point he opened his can of beer and it was off Nightmare!!! Now if he could just attract the lottery numbers as well as he attracted the crap beer he would be onto a winner.

Nick.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Customer satisfaction 2

I managed to get a customer satisfaction survey on my train in this morning. So my paranoia was unjustified and SouthEastern are not watching me, unless they read my blog and realised I was on to them. I will keep my eye on any of the SouthEastern Stasi (revenue enforcement officers to give them their official name) who watch me for too long. If I disappear on the way to work would someone please come looking for me.

Anyway I had these 4 sheets of A4 stapled together in front of me. This is it I am going to tell you MoFo's what I really think of you!. A quick flit through revealed that there was nowhere to leave other comments it was just a multiple choice. I rummaged through my bag for a pen and began. I only had a blue pen with me not very subversive, so I am now packing a red pen in my bag just in case I get another survey, I will show you!.

The usual of little relevance questions followed "blah blah train cleanliness" blah helpfulness of staff, how safe do you feel" etc. But there was this gem which had me laughing at SouthEastern's delusional state. "Thinking of any journeys where there has been disruption. How do you feel SouthEastern solved the problem. " they had the usual options "very well" "not very" etc but these best option was. "No disruptions encountered" are you friggin joking is this option for people travelling for the first time without their mum for one stop on a off peak train, that's the only way you might travel on SouthEastern without any disruption.

Nick.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Customer Satisfaction

I don't know if I am paranoid or Southeastern are just watching me, or some other higher government agency that reports on people who cause and spread the word of dissatisfaction, But yesterday when I was working from home those buggers at Southeastern came round with a customer satisfaction survey.

My travel buddy Andy was on the rain and had a big red pen to write down his dissatisfaction about the cost, the time keeping and (so bad they are worth repeating) the cost and time keeping.
I am upset that I didn't get my chance to vent on one of their papers. So I thought they are a progressive company they will have an online version on the web site. Will they foock...

But I did find this little gem of info on the site.
On Wednesday 15 September 2060 services were scheduled to operate of which 2040 ran.
We aim to run all our trains on time, however there are times when this isn't possible. On this day 96% of services ran within 5 minutes of schedule.


So when they are creating the statistics they don't massage the figures much but they also do not include the cancelled trains in the on time statistics. Worthy of a government poll those figures are.