FGW queries Which? Survey

[whole diary]

[bobm]

From Swindon Advertiser.

First Great Western has questioned a survey which revealed that customers were unhappy with the service they were getting.
 
The train company which operates through Swindon did poorly in a customer satisfaction survey carried out by the magazine Which? with a score of 48 per cent.
 
For the first time, Which? surveyed train passengers to find out what they thought of the train companies they used.
 
The Which? survey painted a mixed picture of the service provided by the train companies, with some passengers experiencing overcrowding, erratic punctuality and poor value for money. Survey satisfaction scores ranged from 64 per cent for top-rated company Virgin Trains to 40 per cent for bottom-ranked Southeastern.
 
Which? asked passengers about key issues of train travel, including punctuality, cleanliness, room for passengers, catering and value for money.
 
Separately, Which? also asked members of its Which? Connect panel what they thought of their train journeys between November 2011 and January 2012.
 
Which? received responses relating to 1,844 journeys.

Punctuality and cleanliness were vital for passengers to be content with their travel experience.
 
Beyond that, factors such as good staff or poor food could sway people to feel more or less positive about their journey, with First Great Western coming bottom of the pack for food despite all their services providing food.
 
A spokesman for First Great Western said: ^We have got a couple of issues with the survey.
 
^First we are going to be looking at the results and the methodology of the survey.
 
^We will take on board its results and make any changes that might be needed.

^We have many issues with the survey itself.

^Only 500 people were used whereas the national rail survey takes 200,000 travellers and they survey people who they know travel regularly.
 
^More than 82 per cent of our customers were happy with our service.^

The results of the survey came just months after it was announced that First Great Western had decided to end its south west franchise three years earlier than expected.
 
Swindon Council recently hosted a public consultation event to gauge what rail users wanted from the next train operator.
 

[broadgage]

I feel that surveys carried by or on behalf of FGW^▸ (First Great Western), and other TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) are very biased in the way that that questions are asked/worded, so as to ensure good answers.

A typical question might be "are you satisfied with the food and/drink that you have purchased on this journey" Most customers would answer yes to such a question, since if they know (perhaps from previous experience) that they are unlikely to find the offer satisfactory, they would not purchase.
A more honest question would be "do you feel that FGW offer suitable and sufficient refreshment facilities" And the question should be asked of ALL passengers not just those who have purchased food or drink.

I have never seen any of the following questions.
Do you feel that our trains have enough luggage apace
Do you find the seat spacing/legroom sufficient
Do think that the train is long enough
Do you prefer facing seats at tables, or bus style without tables.

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

Broadguage is quite right and I also agree with FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s comments. 500 is not a large sample compared with 200,000 and it depends how these 50  respondants were selected. I generally respect the conclusions of Which? but in this case I think its the old story of "Lies, Dammned Lies and Statistics". As a now retired former public sector accountant I learnt over many years to treat any set of statistics with great suspicion.

[LiskeardRich]

There was one reviewer on which, that stated how poor Virgin were on his wifes regular commute from Cheltenham to Paddington...enough said really that passengers dont know which TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) they are travelling with

[JayMac]

It does amaze me though that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) will trumpet their National Passenger Survey customer satisfaction score.

A business that leaves nearly 1 in 5 of its customers not satisfied is definitely not something to shout about. That would see some serious action being taken by the business if it were a High Street retailer who was leaving nearly 20% of its customers unhappy.