FRIDAY 20TH JUNE 2008 - TRAVEL TO COLCHESTER FROM CLACTON ON SEA

Dear Sirs,

I would like to voice my complaint against a member of your Office staff

based at Clacton Town railway station.

I went to the ticket office to buy my return ticket to Colchester at

8.11am today. The train leaves the station at 8.15am to Colchester. I

was of course in a hurry to catch this train but the young boy at the

ticket desk was busy giving time details to a member of the public that

was not travelling today. I of course interupted their conversation as

I needed to purchase my ticket. I explained to the young boy that I

needed to catch my train and his reply was "WELL, YOU SHOULD HAVE GOT

HERE EARLIER"!!!

I cannot begin to tell you how angry I was. Firstly, what right has he

to tell me to get there eariler when, I had to wait 40 minutes extra at

Thorpe Le Soken station yesterday evening when once again the trains

were delayed. Not only did myself and all other commuters have a hell

of a week last week with the rail disruptions but to get this kind of

cheek, especially from a young up-start that has just fallen out of his

cradle, is a dreadful way to treat customers. There was no sorry,

nothing. I was not in the least bit rude, just panicked at missing my

train.

Yes, there are occasions when people do have to rush to catch their

trains. We of course all have different reasons for this, such as

traffic jams etc. and NO-ONE should have to account to railway staff for

arriving late at the station. Perhaps this young man should try

travelling to work by train himself, perhaps then he would think twice

about being late or delayed.

All in all, I am appalled. I have been travelling to Colchester to work

for 3 years now and have had to suffer many many distruptions and

delays. Of course, I have met many people that also travel the same

route and I cannot begin to tell you the ill feeling that the travellers

are feeling right now. Many, including myself are of the mind to find

work closer to home. All in all, we are sick of it. You now have

enforcement officers in service. Could someone please explain then why

it is that these officers all seem to work in a team of at least a dozen

each time? As a customer, yes I would like to know. Everyone is

complaining that they find their prescence intimidating and sometimes

rude. Why do we never see them in pairs? And where are they when there

is trouble and fighting going on within our carriages? No, they are

never around and were nowhere to be seen during last weeks distruptions.

Funny that!!

All in all, I have just about had enough. I am not going to sit back

anymore, I will stand up and have my say. It's time that National

Express took a good hard look at how to make their customers, happy,

comfortable and on time on their journeys instead of treating us like we

are worthless nothings. Afterall, it is the customers that keep the

railway staff in their jobs, no? We not only suffer the delay, but we

have to account to our employers for arriving late, or not at all and

many people as we all know have lost their jobs because of train delays.

I work for a law company in Colchester and let me tell you of the horror

stories that we suffer when your trains are delayed. We of course have

many Court cases being heard on behalf of our clients and on numerous

occasions, matters at Court have been adjourned or delayed due to our

client's, staff, solicitors and barristers unable to attend as they are

stuck at stations or on trains in East Anglia. You could not comprehend

the extra amount of time, money and tax payers money is lost throughout

the year due to train delays. My company of course, is just one of many

companies throughout the country that have suffered at the hands of

these delays and we just have to accept that this is the kind of service

that commuters should expect from National Express as there is nothing

positive to tell us otherwise but hey, just keep putting the fares up

for a service that isn't a service!!

I hope that this E-mail does get read and not scrapped and put in the

bin (as I would have like to have put that your young member of staff)

at Clacton Station this morning. A courtesy reply would be nice.

Miss

Comment On This

How dare a member of staff talk to a fare paying passenger in this way!!

What an absolutely unacceptable way to be spoken to by someone who should have been trained to be polite, courteous and respectful and who should also be able to prioritise his workload - THIS MEANS SERVING PASSENGERS WHO ARE LATE FIRST!! This member of staff should be called in for re-training or a disciplinary. Next time take a note of his name and all us passengers will be able to keep an eye on his behaviour towards passengers!! I don't think the chairman of the company would approve of ANY member of his staff talking to a passenger in this way and as such I would be inclined to write a letter of complaint straight to the top so it cannot be ignored or swept under the carpet. If there was an alternative method of travel this could mean the difference between losing a customer but as they run a monopoly this is maybe why they feel untouchable??? Passengers deserve better!!