Latest from Southeastern Trains

I got a reply from the company - A Frances Kennedy (male or female? I went with ‘Dear Mr Kennedy’).

Here is my response.

Dear Mr Kennedy,

Thank you for your reply, and for the sections of text you cut and pasted from your website/customer charter.

Firstly, can you confirm that you have no intention of refunding my rail tickets?

I do not, as you suggest, consider myself to have been discriminated against with regard to the refunds. I believe that I was not given the relevant information at the correct time. This is not discrimination, this is poor customer service.

As I state in the ‘comments’ form I was forced to complete, when I purchased the ticket from a train based ticket seller (guard?), I asked him if I would be able to get a refund. He said,

“Oh yes.”

What he did not say was,

“Oh yes, but be sure to retain your ticket. Especially do not put it into the machines at the station we are about to pull into.”

Back in February, when I paid £2780 for my Gold Card Season Ticket, I did not receive a copy of the season ticket policy. I specifically remember having a light hearted conversation with the ticket seller at Marden, where I asked him if I get a special leather wallet or any other benefits having spent so much money. He said ‘No’. He said that I was lucky to get the last blue plastic wallet in the station.

I also visited your website (http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk) soon after purchasing the season ticket, and was unable to find any information about the benefits and restrictions of the ticket. I am not saying that your website does not have this information; I am saying that I, with 10 years of working in the internet and new media industries, could not find the information.

With regard to the limit you impose on refunds in a twelve month period. Had I left my ticket at home, rather than at work, I would have been able to buy a return rather than two singles. Therefore I would not have exceeded this ridiculous limit. Having said that, I have yet to try and get a refund on the third ticket I bought recently when, for the second time, I forgot my ticket, because I still harbour some ludicrous hope that your company might part with some cash.

In your letter you also express sorrow that I have ‘experienced some uncomfortable journeys’.
If by this you mean squatting on the floor of the carriage, then yes I have experienced this – however these ‘experiences’ make up a good 50% of my return journeys. Does this constitute the ‘normal circumstances’ you refer to?

I absolutely dread the winter, when passenger numbers will no doubt rise, as fewer people are on holiday, and I will be forced to sit on the floor for an even greater proportion of my journeys – with the added bonus that the floor will probably be wet and muddy.

By the way, are you aware that some passengers are bringing small folding stools with them on you trains? If I hadn’t seen this, I’d have a hard time believing that this happens because it sounds like a joke.

You state that there is a ‘large demand’ for first class seats on the trains. I would suggest that this demand simply indicates that the more wealthy passengers are prepared to pay the extra £1000 to ensure they get a seat. If there were enough seats in the first place, this demand would evaporate – especially as I cannot see any real difference between first class and cattle class seats, other than a grubby antimacassar and a different pattern on the upholstery. Your company has in effect created the demand for first class by running a service that does not provide seats for regular travellers.
I am not wealthy (I had to get a loan to pay for my season ticket), so I am unable to pay this premium simply to get a seat.

You state that the conductor can ‘de-classify’ first class seats if the train is very overcrowded. Two things here.
1) I have never seen a conductor on the London Bridge to Marden train prior to getting past Tonbridge. Never.
2) I doubt he would be able to move through the train, because of the overcrowding.

I suggest that you put the decision to de-classify the seats into the hands of the passengers. This way the conductor can a) move around the train - less over crowding see and b) if he finds people in first class seats when there are empty standard class seats, he can impose a fine. I will not charge Southeastern for my consultancy services on this occasion.

I do not consider my complaint to have been satisfactorily resolved.

To be clear I would like;
a) a refund on the three tickets I have purchased – two of which you have the receipts for.
b) a commitment that you will provide the service you are charging such a huge sum of money for, rather than drawing your customers’ attention to the fact that your passenger charter does not actually guarantee a seat (however, your charter does state that no passenger should be expect to stand for a journey of more than 20 minutes. The first leg of my journey is 30 minutes, after which I still do not get a seat)

Yours sincerely

etc etc

Written by exmonkey on June 21st, 2007 with 8 comments.
Read more articles on General.