Rachel Elnaugh isn’t happy with her automated response from East Midlands Trains customer service
Former Dragon Rachel Elnaugh booked a discounted First Class ticket on East Midlands Trains only to find that she couldn’t use the First Class lounge. It seems her First Class…wasn’t really First Class when it came down to it.
She tells on her blog how she complained to EMT – only to receive a bland automatically-generated customer service email. You know the kind that begin ‘Dear Rachel Elnaugh’ and end ‘I hope you find this information useful’.
From a business perspective, selling ‘First Class’ tickets that skimp on the first class benefits and leave customers with a bad taste in their mouths isn’t a great move.
Failing to communicate properly with the resulting unhappy customer is an even worse move. Businesses seem to forget that by the time a customer is into complaint mode, they are hyper-sensitive to the quality of customer service.
It follows logically that if there’s one place to invest in the best communication skills it’s the customer service people who deal with complaints.
Perhaps it’s the ‘monopoly’ mentality of rail franchise holders that makes them think they can ignore the public’s desire for good customer service. The reality is that falling customer satisfaction levels is one compelling reason for DfT to withdraw a franchise.
Meantime, in the absence of a genuine listening ear, people – like Rachel – will continue to resort to social media to air their frustration. You’ve been warned!
Err… thanks Gerry
I like you man.. I mean, I really like what your doing.. lets not let them fuck us in a new and wholly and totally unfair manner.