[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Ticket Machines on Melbourne Trams



jdennis@acslink.net.au (John Dennis) wrote:

>So tell me, when I make a sudden decision to take a tram to the city,
>how do I purchase a ticket if I don't have enough coins.

Answer  #1:  Don't make these sudden decisions.

Answer #2:  Go to your local milk bar in Mitcham and buy enough (say
one 2hour/one daily) ticket and keep with you at all times, so that
you can  safely make these sudden decisions <g!>

As a person who deals with the general public every day, I (and
probably every other person in business) realise that you have to give
the public what they want when they want it.  Businesses that try to
"train their customers" usually end up losing their customers to a
more customer-driven business.  

I say this because one of the lines that really grated on me was one
of the apologists for the new system saying "Well the travelling
public needs to be educated into realising that they just can't get on
a tram and expect to be able to buy whatever ticket they want....."

Why not, if that's what the *customer* wants?

All in all, I agree with you.  I live in East Melbourne and there is
no-one selling Metcards here.  One convenience store/deli/milk bar in
Hotham Street applied to sell Metcards, but was told that because he
wasn't directly on a tram route, he couldn't sell them.

AFAIK, the city or Richmond (15 minutes walk in either direction) is
the closest place to buy a ticket.  I don't like to carry much
"shrapnel"  in my pocket because it's uncomfortable and the $2 coins
seem to be able to burrow escape hatches in my pockets; I carry
credit, not debit cards.

Net result nowadays: I walk into town or take the car and park on a
meter or in a large car park near my destination.  Public transport no
longer meets my needs or expectations (isn't that what *marketing* as
opposed to selling is all about?).

Regards

Yuri