Letter of Complain to South West Trains
"Thirdly,
the letter of complaint. Verdict? Very eloquent, very convincing, very
English. Somewhere between a rant and a self-effacing apology. We shall
awaken the Arab in you one day and you will learn how to rage with
impunity. I think you should blog the letter, it makes for a great
read." --- Dear Sir or Madam,
This isn’t the first time I have had trouble with South West Trains’ ticket machines. While I understand and appreciate that this was a new machine, recently installed at Surbiton station, I have also been ripped off on several occasions by the machines at my own local station, New Malden. Never mind the fact that these machines are frequently out of order, or are exact-change only, or aren’t accepting any notes, the ticket machine by the southbound platform has swallowed my money with no explanation on several occasions. I have mentioned this to the staff at New Malden station more than once, but they have never really seemed interested – indeed, have been merely relieved when I’ve said “look, I’ve only lost 50p, I’m not after a refund, I just thought you should know so you can fix the machine” rather than getting angry and demanding a refund.
The
worst of these occasions was about two months ago when I was attempting
to travel to Nottingham. I arrived at New Malden station with enough
change in my pocket for a single to Vauxhall, and a pound note just in
case both machines were eccentrically refusing to accept my money –
readily prepared, due to my previous, annoying experiences with these
machines.
I
arrived at the station in good time for my train, and pressed the
appropriate buttons for my travelcard to get me to St Pancras. I began
entering my money. One pound coin, two pound coins. Three pound coins.
And: nothing. The machine didn’t register the money, but nor did it
reappear at the bottom. The machine had eaten my money. So, realising
that this machine was up to its old money-swallowing tricks (and why
was it still in operation?), I moved to the other machine, by the
ticket office. The other machine wasn’t accepting notes, and notes were
the only money I had left, because the machine had eaten my coins.
So,
I turned to the ticket office. Only one window was open, and due to
both machines being unusable in one fashion or another, there was an
enormous queue. I queued for as long as I could, but eventually I had
to leave the queue and catch my train – my return to Nottingham wasn’t
an open return.
Arriving
at Vauxhall station, I walked up to the man at the barriers to explain
why I hadn’t been able to buy a ticket. He didn’t even listen to what I
had to say, and just said “That’s no excuse, that’ll be a £20 fine”.
I
explained the whole situation, and his response was “you should have
bought a permit to travel.” I told him the permit to travel machine
wasn’t working. He didn’t believe me.
I
refused to pay, pointing out that I’d had no reasonable opportunity to
buy a ticket, and that my journey had already cost me three pounds as
it was. He said “ok, but I just need to see your ID. I need a bank card
for ID.”
So I showed
him my bank card, he handed me a form, and then let me on my way. I
kept saying “so I can go now?” and he said “yes, you can go.” He was
already ignoring me and dealing with another customer. Thanking him for
his understanding, I went to the tube station and bought myself a
travelcard.
It was only on the tube, while I was hurrying to catch my Nottingham train, that I realised that he’d lied to me. The form he had handed me was a fine, and the bank card that he needed ‘for ID’ he had used for the fine.
I couldn’t quite believe it – I was incensed and angry to have been hoodwinked and lied to in such a way. My sense of injustice and raged increased when I was queuing to pick up my Nottingham ticket at St Pancras station: there was a girl behind me who had also arrived at Vauxhall station without a ticket, but had gone to the female ticket checker rather than the man. She was boasting to her friend, on her mobile phone, how she hadn’t bothered to buy a ticket, but had shown the woman her friend’s Oyster Card (not that Oyster cards are valid on South West Trains – incidentally, why aren’t they valid on South West Trains? You have no idea how difficult and expensive this makes my life. Well, you probably do. That’s probably the point) and she’d just been waved through.My rant is coming to an end. You see, I’m a very mild-mannered person, and hate the complaint culture that has developed in this country. This is the first letter of complaint I have ever written, and I have written it because the lack of help I received at Surbiton on Saturday was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
So, here is what I am demanding:
1) The money I am owed from the machine in Surbiton station, from Saturday, and an apology for the lack of help or assistance from your member of staff.
2) An explanation as to why your members of staff are either unable or unwilling to turn off a ticket machine, or at least place a note on it explaining that it is likely to swallow your money, if a member of the public has the good grace to come and inform them of this.
3) The return of the three pounds that was lost in the New Malden ticket machine a few months ago – I’ll overlook the other money I have lost in that machine over the months and years – and a refund on the £20 fine I was tricked into paying by your rude and aggressive member of staff at Vauxhall station, and an explanation as to why I was made to suffer this behaviour when a girl who went to another member of staff – and who had no actual excuse or reason for her lack of ticket – was simply waved through the barriers with a smile. What is the reason for this inconsistency? The only thing I can think of is that your ‘revenue inspectors’ have a quota of fines they have to get for the day/week, and so will be reasonable/unreasonable depending on how many people they’ve managed to fine, or what kind of mood they were in when they got up that morning. This is unprofessional and unacceptable.
Thank you for reading this letter. I must say that the overall standard of your service has improved over the past year or so, and the new and refurbished trains are a great improvement on the old ones (with the obvious exception of the incessant and intrusive instructions and information that are continuously parroted by the eerie robot voice). But I cannot continue to use your services while the issues raised above remain unanswered.
I look forward to promptly receiving your thorough and comprehensive response to the issues I have raised.
Yours sincerely,
New Malden
