Hi Phil.  I've always had perfectly good service from Virgin.net, completely reliable service, but they have now decided to pass their non fibre optic customers to TalkTalk so I'm being migrated there.  TalkTalk seem to have a lot of negative press about customer service but I guess it's always the case that if you don't have any problems with the service then you never need to contact the Customer Services team and you're a happy contented customer.

The customer service from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) is probably the worst I have ever received.  It's a shame as I have travelled by train for about half a century, even belonging to a railway club at secondary school which involved travelling all over the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) - to Crewe, York, Scotland, so many places, but I am now loathe to give any more money to FGW so will not travel by train again.  This might sound like an over-reaction but I just can't tolerate bad service.  I'm looking forward to some travelling on the SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) in France this summer though.

I hope that my experience of complaining to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) may benefit some other users and save them some time.  I have found the following to be the case:-

*  Emails sent to FGW frequently receive no response but you can try them on fgwfeedback@firstgroup.com

*  It is probably better to phone Customer Services on 0345 7000125 - at least they then have to talk to you

*  They will give you a case reference number.  If you don't have any success in getting your issue resolved then...

*  Email Jason Ness, Customer Relations Manager  -  Jason.Ness@firstgroup.com quoting the case reference number, he probably won't reply so also copy it to the MD  MarkHopwood.FGW-MD@firstgroup.com so when you send a chaser email at least his MD will see that he hasn't responded

*  If you don't get anywhere with Jason Ness then complain to Customer Focus advice@passengerfocus.org.uk.  They are more helpful.

*  Be aware that the Customer Services people you speak to on the phone are based in India.  In my case they sent a number of emails to Jason Ness who is based in Plymouth but didn't receive a response to any of them.

Good luck.

Thanks very much.  My understanding is that the forty day limit applies following payment of the ^10 fee.  I have not been able to pay this as they say they will contact me to take my payment when they have downloaded the footage.  I have offered to pay but they are not interested in taking payment.

I am going to write to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) asap.  I guess that Mark Hopwood, Managing Director, is as good a person to write to as any.  I'll send it by recorded delivery.

It may be that FGW will not take kindly to being threatened with legal action and might just delete my CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) footage but that is a chance I must take.

Thank you.  I found Jason Ness' email address on his Twitter account so have just emailed him.  From Twitter I can see that he is travelling by train today but from the posts he seems like an amiable helpful type of fellow so I'm optimistic that I might obtain a response to my direct approach.  I think I will open a Twitter account as perhaps asking questions in this public domain will at least get some response.  Jason certainly seems very responsive on Twitter.

Following a car accident in a station car park I have been trying to obtain CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) footage from FGW^▸ (First Great Western).  I first phoned FGW (0345 7000125) on 4th November to log the request.  They told me on the 11th November that they have the footage but need to download it.  They said when they have done this they will phone me to take the ^10 fee for providing it.  I have phoned them twelve times in all and always get the response that it is in hand and they will contact me shortly.  As it has been over two months now I'm keen to resolve the issue.

The Helpdesk told me that the case is under 'specialised review' by the Customer Relations Manager Jason Ness, although the next FGW person I spoke to wasn't familiar with this term and said it was 'under investigation'.

I've also emailed Mark Hopwood several times but have only received one response from him signed off by Nicole Black.  She said she would respond asap but never has.

I'm hoping that members of this forum might be able to give me an idea of how I get this matter resolved.  Is anyone familiar with the FGW 'specialised review' process, i.e. what triggers it and how long it might take?  Is there anyone in the Customer Service area that might be able to help me?  Elsewhere on this forum a member said to copy complaint emails to Moir Lockhead who is Head of First Group.  Would this be a good idea?  Perhaps the complaints route might be the best way forward?

There must be a way of getting some progress but it has eluded me until now.   

He might read his emails but he doesn't reply to any of mine!  I once had a reply from his email address but signed off by Nicole Black of Customer Relations.  She said she would get back to me asap but never has.

However much discussion there is about the most appropriate name to describe things I suggest we all really know that we should use words like 'train', 'footbridge'. 'platform'.  It's just common sense isn't it?  I guess the people responsible for sign policy could ask a representative portion of the general public for the best words to use - a bit like they do in that naff Countdown programme to see how many people chose which answer!

Thanks for your feedback.  I can clarify that I had just pulled up outside the station.  I was definitely stationary - my automatic gearbox was in park.  The taxi reversed into me.  A few seconds after the collision myself and my passenger and the taxi driver all got out of our vehicles.  So we would all feature in the footage.  It all happened eleven days ago.

I assumed that the CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) would be downloaded at a central CCTV centre rather than at the station.  I really don't know.  I have had another look on the web and found that ^10 is the maximum that organisations can charge for providing information held on individuals (with some exceptions) under the Data Protection Act.  My concern now is that they might just delay the matter until the CCTV is no longer available.  It would clearly cost more than ^10 to provide the footage, especially if it is held on a DVR at the railway station. 

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have taken all the incident details from me on Friday but said they would phone me back to take the ^10 payment.  I thought that this delay would be whilst they checked that they had the footage - but perhaps it's a delaying tactic. 

Thanks for the welcome Chris.  An update - My insurance company had no response from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) so they phoned the Head Office.  They found that they could obtain the CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) footage by paying just a ^10 fee.  However, they advised me that it would take about a month to raise a cheque and obtain the CCTV (seems a ridiculous timeframe!) so I phoned FGW myself and will pay the ^10 over the phone when they ring back to say they have located the footage.

It is good news that FGW will release CCTV (by post on a DVD) and it only costs ^10.  Some companies will not release CCTV at all - due to the Data Protection Act I believe.  So if any forum members get their car bumped in the car park or whatever just phone FGW head office.  I guess it would help if you have some idea of time that the incident happened.  I am in the process of getting onboard cameras for my car.  Only costs about ^50 and it would have provided the necessary evidence if I had them when the incident happened!

Thanks.  I'm optimistic that CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) download will supplied as the station staff who were very helpful said that the procedure was for my insurer to submit a written request.  Sounds like it has been done before.  Fingers crossed.  It would just be nice to have confirmation that this shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for your reply.  What are TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) and BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) please?

A taxi reversed into my car by the taxi rank at Weston-Super-Mare station and denied he was liable saying I drove into him.  The area is covered by CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) and my insurance company have submitted a written request (to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Head Office I think) eight days ago for the CCTV footage to be downloaded and supplied to them.  In a recent phone call to my insurer they said that some companies have a policy of not releasing CCTV.  At the moment they are still waiting for a response to the request.

Does anybody know please if FGW have a policy on release of CCTV and how long it might generally take?  I'd also be interested to know what it would cost - although my insurer will cover this.

Thanks in advance.  Cheers.  Bruce.