Here Comes The Flood (Updated)
Some time ago, you may remember, I was somewhat stranded in Manchester by a combination of a tree, a deadly storm, and an impressive display of incompetence from the good people at the National Express. If you haven’t read the previous account then you can either do so now and come back, or you can simply read the version I sent to the National Express here:
I usually travel between Leeds and Manchester by train. On Thursday said train was not running, because an entire tree had blown onto the rails. Network Rail said perhaps I could phone you. So I did. I phoned you (I think it was on 08705 808080) at about quarter to five in the afternoon, and was reassured several times on the phone that there was "a regular service" running with "no dignificant [sic] delays". So I booked a ticket, number FFY97447, for the 18:20 coach from Manchester Central to Leeds. I arrived at the coach station at about ten past six, waited for forty minutes or so, and then the coach that was supposed to arrive at five past three pulled in, somewhere in the region of four hours late. I later found out the motorways had been closed since mid-afternoon. I don't know if you lied to me or if you're just incompetent, but the fact is that I was then stranded in Manchester overnight. Had I been told initially that the coaches were not running reliably then I would have been able to make other plans and been less stranded.
This is the reply I got back:
Jan 31, 2007 1:43 PM Dear Mr Taylor Thank you for your email. I was sorry to hear of the delay on your service with us to Leeds recently. On that day in question we did experience exceptionally severe weather conditions with gale force winds and driving rain. As a direct result many rail and coach services were cancelled and those that did run were subjected to strict speed restrictions for safety reasons. I am sorry if you received any incorrect information from our staff, I hope you'll appreciate that National Express is unable to accept liability for delays caused by severe weather conditions. In situations of this nature, we do advise passengers to contact the 24 hour control centre emergency number which is printed with the tickets. The control centre can then advise the passenger on the most appropriate action to take or arrange for alternative means of transportation to their ticketed destination. Once again, thank you for taking the trouble to contact us, as customer comments are used as a basis to improve our standard of service and provides us with invaluable feedback. I do hope that this will not deter you from travelling with us again in the future. If you have any other queries regarding this matter please don't hesitate to contact me directly on 0121 XXX XXXX and I will be happy to talk to you. Yours sincerely N Customer Liaison Executive
That wasn’t really satisfactory to me. You know, because he basically didn’t do anything. Hell, he didn’t even apologise.
Jan 31, 2007 2:47 PM So let me get this straight so there's no confusion. You're saying that as my delay was caused by bad weather I'm not eligible even for a refund of the ticket price? Only when I phoned up to check on the service levels available the storms had been raging for two hours and your coaches were already running at least an hour and a half late, and I was explicitly and repeatedly told that the service was running as normal. I don't blame you for the delays themselves, because obviously I don't expect you to be able to see into the future, but I DO blame you for the huge discrepancy between what I was told was happening and what was in actual fact happening and what had in actual fact been happening for at least an hour. I DO expect you to be able to see into the PRESENT. You lied to me and took my money under false pretences. That is an act of fraud. Is my £4 really that important to you? Andrew Taylor
I may have perhaps overstated the culpability of the National Express there, but I was trying to make a point. Apparently it didn’t take, because about a week later I got this:
Feb 7, 2007 2:06 PM Dear Mr Taylor Thank you for your email. I am very sorry to learn of your dissatisfaction with my previous response. Having reviewed our past correspondence, I find there is little I can usefully add to my previous comments about the disruptions you experienced when travelling with us recently. Please though allow me to reiterate my earlier apologies, as well as offer my reassurance that we do appreciate the difficulties caused in such situations. We really make every effort to ensure our service operates as planned. It is always a concern to us when our customers remain dissatisfied. Having noted your comments, I feel that a further gesture on our part would be appropriate. I have pleasure in enclosing an E Coach Travel Voucher to the value of £ 5.00 which I hope will go some way towards restoring your confidence in the service we provide. To use your voucher, simply visit www.nationalexpress.com/book (don't forget to log in or register) Voucher Number:XXXX-XXXXX-XX Security Code:XXXXXXXXXX If you do not have access to the Internet, please call 0121 XXX XXXX and one of our Customer Relations Advisors will be pleased to help you. Once again, my apologies. Here at National Express, we value your custom and hope that, despite your present sentiments, you will choose to travel with us again in the future. Yours sincerely N Customer Liaison Executive
He says “once again, my apologies”, but he doesn’t actually say what he’s apologising for and in any case him apologising “again” is like me travelling by National Express “again” – impossible. And furthermore, I’m not going to sit here and accept a £5 voucher from him. That is an insult to my intelligence.
Feb 7, 2007 3:21 PM Thankyou for the e-voucher, but it doesn't really help me unless I choose to travel with National Express in the future, which I currently don't plan to. I also notice that it probably costs you practically nothing to give away such a voucher and that it would be very hard for me to use it without giving you more of my money. In fact, since you have kept £4 of my money in exchange for this voucher, what I effectively have here is a £1 discount -- which is pretty useless, you must admit. What I would like would be a cash refund of the money I paid you, and some reason to believe that you will fix whatever system caused this problem in the first place. Any "gestures" you choose to make should be on top of that refund, not instead of it. Andrew Taylor
Perhaps abraisive, but I think fair and, in the circumstances, polite. N (obviously I’ve trimmed most of his name, which is a shame because it’s brilliant) was in many ways less polite as he didn’t reply. About a fortnight later I sent him this:
Feb 20, 2007 12:25 AMIt's been a week now, and you've failed to reply to my email.
I really don't want to have to take this further for the sake of four measly little pounds, but please don't imagine that will stop me. You lied to me and now you're refusing to refund my money, or even to admit guilt. I'm not going to stand for it and if you think you can make me go away by ignoring me then you are sorely mistaken. Andrew
Perhaps less polite than the last one, but again, given the circumstances I think more than civil.
Feb 21, 2007 9:41 AM Dear Mr Taylor Thank you for your most recent E-mail. I'm sorry that you are still disappointed with the way in which I've responded to your complaint. I have reviewed your file with my manager. As it states in the terms and conditions we are not liable for exceptional weather conditions. Therefore I cannot agree that we should offer any further reimbursement. Thank you for taking the time and trouble to contact us again. We welcome all feedback, good and bad, and your views will help us to make some real improvements for the future. Yours sincerely N Customer Liaison Executive
The thing that really pisses me off about this email is that this means that two of these monkeys have read my emails now and apparently neither of them have understood my complaint. Christ, it’s like dealing with Verizon trying to have a conversation with these people…
Feb 21, 2007 10:52 AM I do not expect you to take responsibility for adverse weather conditions. I know that the storms that day came as a big surprise and I would not expect a full service to be running. That's why I phoned up to check first. I am not complaining about the cancellation itself. My complaint is that when I phoned your information line specifically to ask what services were running I was categorically, explicitly, and repeatedly told that the service was running as normal. It was purely based on this misinformation that I purchased a ticket. Later on I learned that when I phoned up the coaches were already at least an hour behind schedule. Had your customer service representative bothered to check the information I had asked for then he would have known that the service was severely disrupted and told me this, and had he told me this then I would not have bought the ticket in the first place. Your information line misinformed me when the correct information was readily available. How can you possibly think that is acceptable? Andrew
I haven’t heard from them since. I’ve just sent this:
Feb 28, 2007 9:23 PMI can't help but notice another week has passed in which you have not bothered to reply to me, even to reiterate your well-rehearsed but irrelevant little spiel about how you don't accept liability for exceptional weather conditions or to confirm that my emails are getting through to you.
I'm not going to type it out again, so please read the message below and reply to me. Thankyou, Andrew Taylor
I’m getting less polite now. I fully appreciate that. This is because my respect for N and his cabal of morons is diminishing with every passing day. Honestly, I can see no good reason to be polite other than as a selfish means of increasing my odds of getting a useful response out of them.
I’ll keep you posted whenever I get a reply, or when I send them something, or when I contact newspapers or Watchdog, both of whom will naturally be very interested in running a story about a battle for stakes so high they could buy two beers.
To me, the fact the stakes are so low makes it more interesting. If they were higher I could understand them being very reluctant to pay out, but for the sake of four pounds, surely my custom in the future is worth more? I only have to travel with them once and they earn that back. They’re being petty and, well, stupid, and it’s all in the name of keeping me from having £4. I bet N has earned more than that just by typing replies to me and chatting with his apparently equally dim manager.
That should be my money. Hell, that is my money. It will become their money the day they travel backwards in time and deliver me safely and promptly to Leeds a month ago.
I think it’s safe to assume that’s not going to happen.
Update
I’ve just got another email from N:
Mar 6, 2007 11:08 AM Dear Mr Taylor I am writing further to your recent e-mail and have also read the entries on your blog. It is obvious you feel strongly about this matter and I have no wish to turn your refund request into a lengthy debate. I stand by what I have said in previous correspondence but in a genuine attempt to draw this to a close I have arranged for the amount of £ 4 to be credited to your card. Yours sincerely N Customer Liaison Executive
I’m not going to pretend I’m entirely satisfied, because of course he’s still refusing to acknowledge that the National Express has done anything worse than failing to predict the weather, but I have at least got my paltry sum of money back.
I’m also slightly unsure whether I should be concerned that the National Express has apparently taken to looking up people who complain to them on Google in case they’re blogging the correspondence, because I’m certain I didn’t tell him about this website.
Still, it appears that that (pending the money actually landing in my account and assuming I can’t be bothered explaining to the National Express for a fifth time the difference between a delay caused by a storm and a delay caused by an information line lying about it) is that, aside from to say that the moral of the sroty is clear – don’t take no for an answer – and to remind you that if you’re planning a trip by National Express, I have a £5 e-voucher going for a very reasonable rate.