Car parking with Ringgo / APCOA Connect

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

I suspect APCOA^▸ (Car parking company used at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - controlled stations in the area) will be moving to the new company across all their car parks once this is sorted out....

[Mookiemoo]

Can u say that in English, Mookiemoo? "same different"??!!

Same difference though to the punter....

Auto correct on iphone kicked in

[Bristol Traveler]

Sorry to post from anther forum but this is one of those great responses to customer services.... hope he made her smile at the very least.

bruno Dalbiez | March 10, 2011 at 11:48 am

Copy of my email to Jane Jones, Customer Relations at FGW^▸ (First Great Western), (Jane.Jones@firstgroup.com) in response to her reply to me today. I suggest that we all literally flood the in-boxes of the 4 top Execs at FGW with our messages of protests, to offer them a tangible experience of the magnitude of their customers^ dissatisfaction. Their email addresses are in one of my previous posts^.
Dear Jane Jones,
Thank you for your prompt reply. I am surprised (well only half surprised really^) that you do not seem to understand that the issue is not RATIONAL, but EMOTIONAL, like all customer satisfaction and customer loyalty issues are^.So your reply does not address the real issue at all. We, customers of RingGo are NOT interested in the logical (or not) reasons why you, FGW, have made your decision! We are not even attached to RingGo as a brand! What we ARE (passionately) attached to, is our own COMFORT, THE REASSURING FEELING THAT WE CURRENTLY ENJOY A TRUSTWORTHY, CONSISTENTLY RELIABLE AND POSITIVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE WHEN WE PARK OUR CARS ON A BUSY MORNING, USING RINGO. So are you surprised that we are up in arms when you unilaterally and arbitrarily decide that you are going to change for a supplier who is unknown to some, and has actually provided a mediocre customer experience to others ? The following comparison might help express more clearly what I mean:

Imagine the following scenario: YOU, Jane, have been going to the same Hair salon for several years, and are literally delighted with both the person who cuts and styles your hair, and with the products (s)he uses. Every time, your hair looks magnificent, thick, shiny, silky, absolutely gorgeous! One day upon arriving for your appointment, the salon owner informs you that from now on, your hair will be done by a different person, and using different products. When you rightfully ask why, he says: ^The change is being made because of contract changes proposed by Goldilox, the provider of the products, which is currently contracted by our mother company to supply all our salons^. He adds : ^Following a competitive tender process to ensure best value for money, and to avoid additional costs for our customers, CRAP will be offering similar products, and because Val, who was doing your hair so far, has not been trained to use the new products, your hair will be done by Alex, from now on; she is the preferred stylist of Mrs Ramsbottom, and she cuts as well as Val^ How would you react ? Honestly ?

So please, FGW, don^t have the arrogance or the stupidity of thinking that you know better than your customers, what they want and need. Are you not HEARING what over 14 THOUSAND of your customers are shouting to you?? In the last few days, close to 7 HUNDRED busy people have taken the time and energy to write to you, some directly, and most via the Blog on http://theyellowlines.wordpress.com/ . Even more extraordinary, more and more of us are NOW WRITING TO OUR MP^▸ (Member of Parliament)^s !!!! Isn^t this a sufficiently clear hint that there might be something slightly wrong with FGW^s decision ?
Wake up ! You no longer live in a world where corporates used to decide unilaterally what was good for their customers !

You have a golden opportunity to positively impress thousands of your customers, by simply, VERY simply and inexpensively, putting THEIR needs before yours.
Will you have the courage and intelligence to do it? Or will you waste the opportunity and reinforce your image of a slightly old fashioned enterprise with mediocre quality of customer experience?
Yours,

[ChrisB]

I'm not sure FGW^▸ (First Great Western) can tell APCOA^▸ (Car parking company used at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - controlled stations in the area) who to contract as supplier of these services?

[argg]

Have I missed something here?  Do we KNOW that the service will be any worse using the new subcontractor?  Are the underlying parking charges going up?

It appears to me that the major complaint is paying 20p for an 0845 number.  Even if you bought a single session every day for a year that would be an extra ^73 - less than a full tank of petrol these days.  In reality it will be a lot less for most otherwise they'd be purchasing a parking season permit and get further cost reductions.

So you can't use the same number for every car park in the country?  So what?  A nice touch but not the end of the world if its not there

I agree the communication of information has been appalling but what else do you expect from FGW^▸ (First Great Western)/APCOA^▸ (Car parking company used at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - controlled stations in the area)?

My complaint would be with APCOA about the extortionate cost of parking on what amounts to an unmonitored and unsecure piece of waste ground.  But like the quality of the service we get on the trains which diminishes as the prices inevitably go up each year, we grumble to ourselves but get on with it because what else can we do?

Very happy to be told I've missed the point and to be enlightened but it seems to be a lot of fuss about very little

[Bristol Traveler]

I think people are making a fuss because they are annoyed about how badly they are being treated by FGW^▸ (First Great Western). They implement a service which works and change it without giving any reasons apart from "commercial". The 0845 number I think shows what the change is going to bring, higher prices or rather the lack of care about raising prices on an already expensive service.

All in all it looks a bit mucky. I think FGW have been telling or have been told some "economies of truth" according to these two statements from RingGo

http://www.ringgo.co.uk/APCOA

http://www.ringgo.co.uk/apcoa_second_statement_.html

If I was them I'd be worried about monday when it is meant to roll out. I doubt many penalty tickets are going to be issued that day...

[ChrisB]

All in all it looks a bit mucky. I think FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have been telling or have been told some "economies of truth" according to these two statements from RingGo

http://www.ringgo.co.uk/APCOA

http://www.ringgo.co.uk/apcoa_second_statement_.html

From the first statement, it appears that this is rather important....

" We have formally sought clarification from them [FGW] but fully understand that they may have been misled."

Over both 'increased costs' and putting the sub-contract out to re-tender ity seems! It looks as though APCOA have been economical with the truth to FGW (and possibly Network Rail too) over these points.

A lack of due diligence by APCOA on how secure Mirada (their new sub-contractor) is on card processing. Ditto on FGW about askling these questions of APCOA.....FGW is dealing with Joe Public and ought to realise that they need confidence in the process.

But fionally, I also suspect that this may well be RingGo's largest contract. They're beiginning to sound too desparate to keep this contract by whatever means possible.

Whereas, everything being equal, and they're not far off, it IS a simple commercial decision over which too much fuss is definitely being made.

If I were APCOA/FGW, I would be looking to change to a geographic number ASAP, and giving Mirada 3 months to get class 1 Visa acceptancem, and if they fail, I'm sure RingGo would have them back.

However, it also might be the case - as RingGo state in the second statement, that after getting re-quotes from RingGo on a lower price, the only way that APCOA could seriously lower the costs / increase the profit on this was to pass on to the customer higher charges in the form of 08451 calls. Some people can be charged well in excess of 20p per call on 08451 numbers.

As RingGo state " We have formally sought clarification from them but fully understand that they may have been misled. "

I think this may well be the case. If so, FGW need to come out and say so. And change supplier from APCOA.....

[Ollie]

This is an updated version of what customer services are dishing out.

Thank you for your xxx of xxx. I appreciate you are concerned that the RingGo service will no longer be available at our station car parks and I am pleased to have this chance to explain our position.

The change is being made because of contract changes proposed by Cobalt, the provider of RingGo, which is currently contracted by APCOA^▸ (Car parking company used at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - controlled stations in the area) to provide cashless payment systems at First Great Western Stations. We supported APCOA when they decided not to accept these changes.

Following a competitive tender process to ensure best value for money, and to avoid additional costs for our customers, APCOA will be offering a similar system, APCOA Connect, from 14 March. This system is already the preferred choice of several Local Authorities, Network Rail, and is equally as secure and easy to use.

You will need to register your details with them the first time you park (by calling 0845 122 8008), or you can register now on APCOA^s website through the following link www.apcoa.co.uk/connect . After this, you can carry on paying for your parking, as efficiently as you have always done.

There will be no additional car park charges for customers using the new service, and you will still receive the discount offered to customers who pay by phone rather than by cash. We also appreciate that there has been some concern over the use of an 0845 number. This  will be changed to a geographic number, in approximately 4 weeks.  Payment statements and VAT^▸ (Value Added Tax) receipts will still be available through the APCOA Connect website.

[ChrisB]

I am still concerned about this paragraph....

Following a competitive tender process to ensure best value for money, and to avoid additional costs for our customers, APCOA^▸ (Car parking company used at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - controlled stations in the area) will be offering a similar system, APCOA Connect, from 14 March. This system is already the preferred choice of several Local Authorities, Network Rail, and is equally as secure and easy to use.

RingGo state quite categorically that there was no competitive tenering process. JUst a request to re-quote for their services, which they did. Twice, I think. So the 'additional costs' weren't coming from them.

'Equally Secure'.....the new sub-contractor doesn't appear in VIsa's Group 1 list of approved card processors - so their system isn't seen as secure as RingGo's parent.

I'm about to draw these discrepancies to FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s attention.

I did ask about the specific situation at Oxford, which is different to most, with the discount code on the platform to get station rates, but just got a standard reply back rather than having my question answered. That is just so lazy....so I'll be asking again.

Good to hear about the demise of the 0845 numbers though - it does show that they're belatedly listening to their customers. It would be even better if they actually learned this lesson, and consulted their Customer Panel in advance rather than us always fighting a rearguard action though.

[Ollie]

Have an additional paragraph on the data security side of things.

I can also confirm that the company that store and manage the credit card payments for APCOA^▸ (Car parking company used at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - controlled stations in the area) Connect are Level 1 PCI DSS compliant. The registration page of APCOA Connect will be updated shortly (if not already) to include a brief statement that the card data is stored to this standard (which I am advised matches that of Cobalt). You should therefore be able to register your details without concern for security.

[ChrisB]

Hmmm - so why aren't they listed with the other Level 1 companies on VISA's website?

[Ollie]

Mirada and Cobalt both use the same company for credit card data storage and management.

[ChrisB]

Is that why Cobalt are listed and Mirada not?

[Bristol Traveler]

Hmmm - so why aren't they listed with the other Level 1 companies on VISA's website?

Exactly.... the other thing not being addressed is this from RingGo's statement

Their published terms and conditions contain no constraints whatsoever on their use of data (http://www.apcoaconnect.com/termsconditions.php). So, for example, they could use stored payment card details to pay fines that they themselves think are reasonable given their enforcement observations.  There is no arbitrator.  There is no hint of a Chinese wall.  If this proceeds then APCOA^▸ (Car parking company used at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - controlled stations in the area) will have been handed the right to levy fines when APCOA's system for avoiding fines is at fault.

Happy that they're getting rid of 0845 ( at least until the heat blows over and they reintroduce it) but still think this isn't very clever of FGW^▸ (First Great Western). It it isn't broke.....

[Mookiemoo]

And of course every one knows parking fines generally can't be enforced - they can threaten you with court, Graham White solicitors will send you increasingly abusive letters

But they give up in the end if you don't pay