Seat reservation problems

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

Many thanks for posting that update here, Ollie. 

[Ollie]

A new email address is available for bulk reservations for season ticket holders. Please use GWRreservations@GWR.com

[johoare]

Thanks for that Ollie 

[Sixty3Closure]

 Not been having much success using that email address. Is there still a backlog?

[Ollie]

Unfortunately so, I'm off work this week so not in a position to check where it's up to at the moment.

[NickB]

Seems to be a problem with seat reservations not actually making it to the trains as well.  3 out of 5 of the past mornings have been the good old bunfight.

[JAD801]

Hi Ollie, is there still a backlog? My reservations run out today and I've had no response to any emails to extend my booking.

[Ollie]

Unfortunately so, if you private message me the email address you sent from, I'll check where it is in the queue.

[TaplowGreen]

I've been  waiting a month for a response to a simple enquiry so I wouldn't hold your breath.

[LiskeardRich]

Hopefully they are a bit quicker than they were in the summer. I sent an email in May, by the time they replied at the end of August I'd forgotten why I'd emailed them, and they didn't include the original message to help me out 
I would advise against holding your breath though whilst you wait.

[JayMac]

That 'five working days' aim in the Passenger Charter is not worth the paper it's written on. In my experience it has rarely, if ever, been met.

On the one occasion an issue I raised by phone was dealt with to my satisfaction there and then the same day, I was subsequently threatened with prosecution and told the person dealing with my complaint had been wholly wrong resolving the issue. The follow ups over subsequent months, right up to director level, continued to err, both legally and morally. Eventually the original goodwill gesture was reinstated, after I threatened escalation to Transport Focus and the press. That, however, was with no acknowledgement that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) were ever in the  wrong.

I never received the reinstated goodwill gesture though. I gave up. GWR's woeful, shoddy, inept Customer Services are just not worth bothering with anymore. It doesn't surprise me to learn that one of their better, if not best, employees is leaving to take up a different role with the company - about as far away from Customer Service as one can get.  

And no, this wasn't another Paddington gateline issue. Those continue to happen despite the two years worth of promises and platitudes from Customer Services, Paddington's Station Manager, the Customer Services Senior Manager and Mark Hopwood himself. Mr Hopwood even made promises to my MP^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post - a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London, depending on context) that weren't met, when I involved her in the matter.

In short, when dealing with GWR Customer Services, don't hold your breath.

[NickB]

With the end of the year coming up when a large number of annual season tickets will expire (including my own) I was wondering how this will work. Can I book seats through to February now, even though my ticket isn't valid for the whole duration, or do reservations require a live ticket for the whole length??

[NickB]

Given the remarks above I had already marked 'crap response times' as topic No.47 to discuss at meet the manager at Paddington next Thursday - Which, incidentally, is still not mentioned in the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) website (which only covers dates in July). Ironically this was the topic of my most recent memo to GWR customer services. Last month.

[ChrisB]

With the end of the year coming up when a large number of annual season tickets will expire (including my own) I was wondering how this will work. Can I book seats through to February now, even though my ticket isn't valid for the whole duration, or do reservations require a live ticket for the whole length??

I suspect the latter, simply because you might change your mind about buying. If a lot started doing that....hmm. But I'm sure Ollie will know for sure.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hi Ollie, is there still a backlog? My reservations run out today and I've had no response to any emails to extend my booking.

Unfortunately so, if you private message me the email address you sent from, I'll check where it is in the queue.

Firstly, may I offer you a warm welcome to the Coffee Shop forum, JAD801. 

Secondly, thank you to Ollie for replying here. 

However, I am rather concerned at the implication that our new member JAD801 apparently had to resort to contacting Great Western Railway via this forum, as the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) 'official channels' seem to be so bunged up?