Re: Country(link?) - try walking instead

["Switched On" <yaropolk@hotmail.com>]

Jack <bd107@tsn.cc> wrote in message
news:EvUR3.53$yi3.1045@nsw.nnrp.telstra.net...
> Where I work is not the issue....  I amnot involved in Customer Relations
at
> all.. which is probably a  good thing..But I do get tired of people
bitching
> about the service countrylink provides, when they have no fact nor
> understanding as to why the service was delayed..
> People here who write about Countrylink think they can have a free swing
> without having to produce facts to back their arguments...

It seems to me that when a customer pays for a ticket to get to Sydney from
(say) Brisbane, on a particular day, with particular conditions (such as
departure time and arrival time, first class or economy etc) attached, he
can reasonably expect a certain level of service regardless for his money.
If you were to travel by train to Sydney from Brisbane and pay your full
first class fare, you would be better off travelling by plane. Not only do
you get there quickly, you generally depart on-time and arrive on-time. You
receive a complete meal as part of your fare and you don't have to leave
your seat to get it. The stewards and stewardesses are always courteous and
they are constantly travelling (just like Countrylink staff.) It is not
cheaper to run an aircraft as compared to a train, actually quite the
reverse because you have much higher fuel, maintenance and infrastructure
costs (airport terminals are not cheap.)

No passenger should be expected to sympathise or understand the reasons for
any sort of problems for delay or lack of service - especially not at the
prices CountryLink charges for their services.

I am not trying to bag CountryLink staff or anyone personally, I am just
trying to put it in perspective. The alternatives to CountryLink are far
better value for money!

> >If you do work for Countrylink, why not ask nicely and find out what the
> >complaint is about. I do hope that if you are employed by Countrylink
that
> >one of the powers to be reads your reply's and calls you in for a little
> >word about customer etiquette.
>
> The people  in this forum are not customers, they are fair game when they
> whine without lookin for the reasons behind their problem, or more to the
> point the problem they percieve....

I have been a CountryLink customer a number of times, and each time I have
been dissappointed with the service given the amount paid for it. But you
are right, it's not any one person at fault, and no one is suggesting that
there is.. the problem is that CountryLink is weighed down by a history of a
public service mentality in a sea of commercialisation. There is in
motivation within the organization for lifting the game because there is no
incentive.

Just wait until it's bought out by Amtrak or someone like that... we are
talking major staff shedding and hiring (churn), harder timetables, (maybe
not cheaper fares) but certainly improved customer service.

The private operators do not go easy on their staff like the old Australian
public service railways did. They a big companies who play the game hard and
fast.

> I dont know where U work Gavin, but I am sure unreasonable complaints by
> your customers, if you are in that sort of industry, would be met with
same
> sort of attitiude that I display to unreasonable complaints.... If people
> have genuine complaints, where Countrylink is responsible, they are
treated

"The customer is always right" - even if they are wrong. Have you ever been
to MacDonalds and dropped your dinner tray accidentally and all your meal
falls on the floor before you even get a chance to eat it? What happens?
They give you a whole new meal gratis and clean up after you... even if it's
your fault. And the result is that MacDonalds pulls in more customers,
builds more stores and makes more money.

> Queensland: Perfect One day
> Beautiful the next
> And wet for the other 363 days of the year

NSW.. traffic jam one day... traffic jam the next...