Great Western Coffee Shop

From my inbox :

Dear Ms Primarolo (the MP , not me obviously.....)

Thank you for your letter of 6 July 2007 in reply to my letter about the National Passengers Survey (NPS). I am sorry that you have been receiving a number of complaints about our services. We are determined to improve and we have a number of actions in place as a result of customer feedback.

Bristol Temple Meads customers accounted for 3.3% of the sample of customers (101 weighted) and Bristol Parkway 0.8% (24 weighted).

Areas in which we saw improvement increases at Bristol Temple Meads were station cleanliness, connections with public transport, personal security and overall environment, however dissatisfaction remains with helpfulness and availability of staff and the Station Manager is aware of this and all staff are going through a two day customer service training course. We expect staff to be helpful and friendly at all times and I am disappointed that staff at Bristol Temple Meads were found wanting on the latest survey. We will address this, and have identified the need for extra staff at stations to direct and support customers during times of disruption.

Areas in which we saw improvement at Bristol Parkway were cleanliness, personal security and helpfulness of staff. Dissatisfaction remains around connections with other transport and car parking and we will be building a major extension of the car park at Parkway and our Transport Integration Manager is working on a new range of integrated tickets and travelcards for use on buses and trains, as well as looking at the potential for increasing cycle usage - possibly with a cycle hire service.

Punctuality and reliability of our services following the December 2006 timetable change was poor and the NPS survey results reflected this, but we continue to invest in improvements and this has seen an improvement in customer satisfaction, and I hope the December 2007 timetable will continue that improvement trend.

We welcome feedback from customers to help us improve, and I would be happy for you to pass on my contact address should your constituents wish to contact me directly with ideas for improvements.

Thank you once again for your letter.

Yours sincerely

Glenda Lamont

Customer Services Director
First Great Western Milford House 1 Milford Street Swindon SN1 1 HL 01793 499400

Hi,

What does Glenda Lamont mean by 'sample of customers'?

Has FGW arbitarily asked a group of customers for their opinions? How does this relate to the total number customers, regular customers, season ticket holders and those who could be bothered to answer the questions posed?

All too often, statistics remind me of what Disraeli is alleged to have said, from The Times dated 27 July, 1895,

"I think Lord Beaconsfield said that there were three degrees of veracity---viz., lies, d---d lies, and statistics."

The quote from Glenda Lamont that service was poor in December and has improved is hardly a positive endorsement of FGW efforts. It is like saying that the service has improved from totally unnacceptable to unacceptable. It is hard to accept that any aspect of the service has improved in the past 6 months. I commute daily from BPW to Reading at peak time and the problems that existed 12 months ago, and 6 months ago still exist.

My personal measure of quality of service is the amount of compensation (rail warrants) that FGW provide to me as a gesture of goodwill. From April to July it has exceeded the previous 18 months.