More crap National Rail stuff and a “Yay” for good service, elsewhere.
Ok, so if you read my previous rant, you’ll know I’m not terribly impressed with the way National Rail goes about its business.
Yesterday I had need to change a ticket booking due to a sick child. Rather than simply drive to the train station, I thought I’d call National Rail enquiries. After all, why waste a trip?
“Hello,” I said, “I wonder if you can help me.” And wonder, I did. “I need to change the outward date of an Advance ticket. Can you tell me what I need to do?”
“Yes,” came the positive, if somewhat disinterested voice at the other end, “you need to visit your local ticket office.”
“Ok, thank you.”
So visit it, I did, only to be told that in order to change the ticket I must first get a refund, and then buy a new one. The refund can only be obtained from the place where it was purchased. Therefore I should check the “how to” instructions online.
For various reasons, I decided not to do this. “How about if I just buy another single, instead? The return is £38. How much is it one way?”
“£37.”
Ah.
“What if I travel at a different time?”
“Well, then it goes down to £15.”
“I’ll have one of those, then, please.”
“There you are, sir. For future reference, you might want to take anything National Rail Enquiries tells you witha pinch of salt. They’re not actually National Rail staff – it’s a BT call centre and they’re always getting things wrong.”
“Right. Thank you.”
And fuck you once again, National Rail. You are a bloody disgrace.
BUT
Onto some news about good customer service…
I have an Acer Aspire One netbook. I’ve had it since about a week after they came out, and love it love it love it! It goes everywhere, Acer and me. Wherever I go, it goes, too. There’s always it and me.
Imagine how devastated I was then, when it refused to boot last week. Devastated, I tell you.
I’m pretty IT-literate, and I quickly determined it was not due to a dead battery, or my inability to recite the Lords Prayer in Welsh while tap-dancing on a trained mule.
I logged onto the Acer website and reported the fault online (luckily I had previously registered the machine, and it remembered all my details). I received clear isntructions on what to do, so I followed them, and the following day (last Friday) my machine was collected from my house by a courier.
I received an email when the machine arrived at Acer Accident and Emergency, and another when it was dispatched back to me. Acer will have received it Monday. It arrived back with me today (Wednesday), safe and sound, and feeling better after its little adventure.
See, National Rail – that’s customer fucking service!
Buy Acer – they’ll do right by you.
