Not a lot to report on my journies this week. Didn't travel over the weekend - Never do. Monday was Bank Holiday so didn't go in thn either and other than some poor woman getting a full cup off coffee over her as she got on at Peterborough yesterday morning, bugger all has happened.

However there is one thing that's happened today that has pissed me right off about GNER and their idea of rewarding their most loyal customers. Before I go hurling accusations towards GNER I'll set the scene and then let fly.

Last March I took the misses and 2 rug rats on the train to Londinium so we could meet up with a mate of mine and his family and take a trip to the Natural History Museum. I booked the tickets about a week in advance but even that was farciful. Perhaps it was an omen, I don't know. I won't go into detail other than to say GNER counter staff don't always know their arse from their elbow and it took a call to National Rail Enquiries to book the tickets.

Now here's the deal they said was going to work out cheapest -
1. Purchase a family railcard for £20.
2. Purchase tickets with 1/3 off.
Semmed a bit odd but the guy on the phone assured me it was the cheapest deal available and it had the added benefit of giving us 1/3 off ALL future rail tickets (excluding my season ticket of course).

That sets the scene nicely for todays story. Me and the missus are off to see a gig in't smoke tomorrow night. Knowing that I had a family rail card and a valid season ticket for P'boro to Kings Cross (which aparently entitles you to some discounts off tickets purchased for people traveling with you) I was confident of getting some money off the full price. Ha fucking Ha. Fat chance with GNER at the helm. Turns out the Family railcard is only valid if a child is traveling with you. It also turns out my season ticket is only good for discounts off tickets booked at least 3 days in advance.

Now I ask you. What good is that? A family railcard I can't use unless I take one or more children and the season ticket (which costs me £5500 per year) entitles me to zero discount on tickets bought wiithin 3 days of the date of travel. I now sort of suspect I didn't need a railcard last time I traveled and might have been miss sold the damn thing. Can't see when I'm going to use it again as we ususally go by car everywhere. As one of GNER's most frequent traveller I also feel gutted that they can't find it within themselves to reward their most loyal customers in a similar way to Airlines and their frequent flyers etc.

There are few benefits with GNER and those that there are aren't really worth having. 4 free upgrades to 1st class (one way only), £20 of buffet vouchers, Discounts off additional tickets (GNER Trains only and only if booked well in advance) and that's about it really. No doubt next time I get stuck somewhere for 3 hours I'll tell you what their policy is re compensation for season ticket holders in such circumstances.

I knwo I slag GNER off but whilst their idea of good customer service is sadly lacking, I'm going to say it hear just so I can look back and remind myself that the one thing GNER do do quite well is get you from A to B usually on-time. There. I said it and I'll even go a little further - Overall their trains are actually quite good. They're usually clean, on time and staffed by some great personalities (If you ever meet or hear Geodie Shauns announcements you'll know what I mean).

Christ this has been a long post. Off now to live my life for a bit.

Had to go to Illford today from Liverpool Lime St and got a glimps of the other side of the commuting coin. Made me realsie just how good the GNER trains are in comparison to a lot of other opperators.

I caught the 10.42am One service from LL. As we got on, another service pulled in on the opposite platform though god knows where from. I'm telling you this thing was rammed like a cattle truck. And at 10.30 in the morning too.

Not only that the One trains are not what I would call a shining example of cleanliness. I watched and imagined how 60 years ago, the Nazis forcably rammed people against their will into cattle trucks. Here these people were willingly doing much the same. God only knows what it's like at 8.30.

Used my first upgfrade of the year and Sat in first class wih an old freind tonight. What a differance.
Free tea coffee, juice, nespaper and buscuit, reclinging seat, curtains. Needless to say I ruined the whole atmosphere with 2 cans of stella and the odd swear word.

Didn't go in to the office yesterday so didn't get the train. I'm told there weren't any problems though.

No probs this morning either. In fact it was a lot quieter than usual but that's probably people taking a long weekend with the Bank Holiday and all.

Whilst I usually get to the station on my Scooter, I had to take the car this morning. Can't really go to a big meeting in my usual bikers jacket can I. Staggered to find parking at P'boro station is now £5.50 per day. Not a bad little earner if you consider they have 2 huge car parks which are invariably full from 8.30am each day.

Still not heard anything about my lost boots or my complaint to GNER. Exceptional Customer Services are not words I would use in connection with GNER. More like 'Shambolly Bollox' or perhaps 'Bear Minimum'.

Finally I see the top 4 men at Network Rail (the people who run the track network) are to share a £1.1million bonus. Why? Meeting targets of course. What targets? Well there was reduce the number of broken rails, reduce the number of trains passing red danger signals. punctuality improved from 83.6% to 86.4%. Not bad for a company which has lost £232million. Let not forget the other 32,000 network rail employees who get a £954 bonus. That's another £30million to add to this years losses.

Nothing to report really. Trains have run and arrived on time over the last couple of days. The 07.00 to Kings Cross was running 15 minutes late this morning but my 07.20 was fine. Only other thing of minor note is that until this evening,tickets haven't been inspected but that happens from time to time.

I did find an old Asian lady in my rerserved seat yesterday evening, but as there were plenty of seats available, I behaved like a gentleman and made her move. Not really. I got the guard to do it.

Oh before I forget, on the way home tonight I sat next to the most delightful young lady from Cheshire. Unfortunately for her, she got Kings Cross mixed up with St Pancrass on got on the 17.50 only to find it didn't go to Nottingham until after we'd set off. Once again I went into perfect Gentleman mode and offered the benefit of my rail travel experience. Struck up quite a conversation because of it and I have to say I was quite taken by the time we arrived in Tinsel Town(Peterborough). Before anyone starts commenting I toild the enemy all about her too.

Finally a short note to say I've not heard a word from GNER about my complaint re their pathetic excuse of a lost property (non)service.

Wrote to GNER customer service yesterday to thank them for their efforts to return my lost property (Not). Don't expect a reply but I might just put a complaint in to the rail passengers council and see what happens.

No probs on the 7.20am Tinsel Town (Peterborough) to Kings Cross this morning though I did have the misfortune to sit opposite 2 very pretty, but very dizzy young dolly birds who proceeded to use the carraige as a salon. I say misfortune for whilst they were good eye candy and entertainment for about 5 minutes, the remaining 45 of the 50 minute journey were spent dodging the frequent bursts on a can of Vidal Sassoons finest and most pungent hairspray and listening to what can only be described as agressive drival ( whilst they looked the part, the poor loves were a bit on the rough side to say the least). Anyhow I suvived the journey and got thoughly soaked on the walk into the office.

Caught my usual 17.20 GNER home. Train was back to front for some reason. First class at front, 2nd at back. For those that don't know it's usually the other way round for North bound trains.
Other than that an uneventful journey

I've been thinking about doing one of these things for sometime but mainly because I couln't be arsed, didn't bother. Today however was differant and if most (can't expect all) goes to plan, i'll keep posting.

What's started it off is GNER or more precisely their idea of what constitutes good customer service. Before I continue, I'll appologies for my poor spelling and grammer.

I live in Perterborough and work in London. What I intend to write about is my experience as a commuter on GNER train between Peterborough and Kings Cross. I've started this thing becase the more I travel, the more I experience the pathetic excuses GNER call customer services.

Whilst I don't exactly experience bad service from GNER everyday or even every week, other than my fellow commuters, I probably experience more than most. It's got to the point where I realise that they give not a jot about the me and the £5000 I spend with them each year. So why should I give a jot about them? Why don't I just post the reality on the web for all to see. So here it is.

Don't expect too much. This is my first attempt at blogging so it could all go tits up before I've even started. Also 3 days out of 5 are uneventful so I'll only post what I see or expirience.

To get me started I'll start off with today, May 19th 2006: -

Caught my usual 7.20am from Peterborough and it arrived and left on time.

Caught my usual 5.20pm train home. Had an exrta bag with me today because following an office clear out, we found a box of samples sent in from advertisers and potential suppliers. Within these samples were 2 pairs of steel toecapped work boots in my size. So I had em in a bag quicker than John Prescott can swing a punch.

Got to Kings Cross, onto the train and popped my bag of boots in the rack abvove my seat. Train left and arrived on time, I got off, train pulled out. What a Tit! Left mi new boots on the train. Bollocks, totaly my fault.

'No worries', thought I, ' If I report the loss now they can contact the train (they can do this these days) or they can ring through to the next stop (Newark) and have them returned to peterbough.' IF ONLY IT WERE THAT EASY.

GNER'S POLICY ON LOST PROPERTY IS THAT CUSTOMERS HAVE TO COLLECT THE ITEMS FROM THE STATION AT WHICH IT IS FOUND. I ask ya. What fucking good is that? I live in Peterborough and the boots are in Newark.

In fact that's what I asked the bloke to whom I'd reported the loss. Whilst he wasn't too keen on the language (I was smiling as I said it, honest), he said it was because GNER had lost so much lost property returning stuff to the nearest station to the customers home address, they changed the policy so that the customer had to collect the goods from the station at which they were found.

Now I'm not too fussed about a pair of free boots, but what if they had been a pair of boots I'd just paid £200 for. From a customer services point of view, wouldn't it make sense for GNER to simply pop the item on the next train to stop at Peterborough and I collect them the next day? Apparnetly not. It seem s GNER think it's better for me to drive 1 hour to Newark, 1 hour back, spend £15 or so on petrol and contribute just a little bit more towards global warming. Apparently that a lot simlar and more convenient than poping them on the next train to p'boro.

As a customer who uses GNER nearly every working day and spends £5000 a year with them, I expect a bit more. Eventaully I told them to do what they like with the boots.

Only one word for that kind of service - SHITE

TALK TO YA SOON

FENTYKE