Great Western Coffee Shop

Hi just a quick query about emailing FGW.

Should I always expect an autoresponse with a reference when I email them on the email address they give, fgwfeedback[at]firstgroup.com?

I emailed them once last week and got an autoresponse within two minutes with a case reference number.   When I emailed them twice this weekend I got no autoresponse to either email, so I am wondering if that is normal?

I need to resolve something with them soon, so if email is not working I need to know.

Five working days for a response from a human is FGW's target, but the don't always hit that. So if you emailed (say) Monday last week you would only just be at five working days today.

If the matter is of some urgency then you can of course call Customer Services on 08457 000 125 or              01752 675640.

Hi thanks for the info.

There seems to be no rhyme or reason to whether you get confirmation of an email sent to FGW.  I resent my two emails, and one got a confirmation, one did not, and trying again with different IPs or different email addresses also got no confirmation.  So I don't know if their system is overloaded, malfunctioning, filtering by IP, filtering by keyword, filtering by email address or name, or just plain rubbish.

Trading Standards told me to write them Recorded Delivery and suggested talking to Passenger Focus, an entity I'd never heard of.   Passenger Focus turned out to be irrelevant but told me two useful facts.   Customer service phone calls to rail companies seem to get little response, whereas written complaints are handled by a different, dedicated team who are supposed to take it seriously.   Secondly, Passenger Focus told me typical written response time in reality would be about 20 days.

Weirdly, Passenger Focus are not proactive.   They say they can't just send FGW or the Trainline a constructive email highlighting a general issue on the website that could be improved to avoid future aggravation.   They have to wait till a customer has had a complaint rejected by a rail company before they can do whatever they do, or don't do.

Standardsingle ... you inspired me to come up with a list of all the possible people you could ask / complain / report things too and I had no less that 22 on my list. Some of them would be horrified to be included (preferring not to speak with passengers directly), some of them are for very particular types of issues, and some are very limited in what they can do.

ACoRP
ATOC
BTP
Booking Office / Enquiry Office
DfT
Fellow Passengers
First, Plymouth
Immediate Rail Staff
Information desks
Local Rail User's Group
Manager at Plymouth
National Rail
Network Rail
ORR
Passenger Focus
Press and media
The Coffee Shop and other fora
Tourist Information
Travel Agent
Your Customer Panel member
Your MP
Your subsidising authority

And then I read back though you message and found you had Yet Another - Trading Standards.

I'm not sure that "rights and redress" is quite the place to put it - but would a sticky thread be useful to let people know which of these various bodies is best for what topic, and how to get in touch with each?   Do I see any volunteers to start such a thread?

I'm afraid Trading Standards are no longer interested in 'Trading Standards' for the consumer. You now have to call Consumer Direct, following recent experience.

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/businesssupportandadvice/tradingstandards.htm

Super idea, this is a very confusing and frustrating field.  Maybe if you just start the thread as people add to it the original post can be updated with contact details for these entitities?   It could help to hear people's feedback on how useful or receptive these entities are.

Yes, Trading Standards are passing themselves off as Consumer Direct now, but everyone still calls them Trading Standards, not least of all because that is what they actually do, apply and enforce Standards.   I have found them very helpful.  Usually in the first instance they advise you of your rights and tell you to write to the company CEO raising the exact issue, or category of issue, that Trading Standards have identified for you.

Also, on the original topic of this thread, I did ultimately get replies by email to each issue I raised by email with FGW, but sometimes several days later, and often without any initial acknowledgement of receipt of my email to them.   So if it is serious, do what Trading Standards advised, write a physical letter to the CEO and send it Recorded Delivery (costs just ^1.40 at time of writing).

Also, advertising on websites is, from March of this year, covered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and it is free to complain to them, you just send them evidence of the advertising and state what you think is the problem with it, but the response is not likely to be rapid.   But it can lead to ads being modified and a judgement against the advertiser being made public for all to see.

Just a PS, for more discussion of Trading Standards and so on, see this other thread:
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=8620.0