Re: Country(link?) - try walking instead

[Rod Gayford <rjaygee@smartchat.net.au>]

Having followed this thread with interest I think I can safely say that the only
reason Country Link gets away with such appalling service is that it is mainly
passengered by concession fare paying passengers who may whinge about the
service whilst on the train but do not follow up the complaint. On the Nth Coast
service most of the dole recipients are too stoned out of their mind to remember
to complain. The majority of passengers in first class are pensioners who have
paid the supplement to travel first class on a concession. The occasional full
fare paying first class traveler is probably a rail fan who doesn't mind the
service, or if a normal traveler is so appalled he/she never tries the service
again. As I said in an earlier posting, these type of clients vote with their
feet and go by air.

My view is that Country Link has no idea of its market. The only service they
are really competing with is the buses. If that is their competition then really
compete with them. Get rid of first class and the sleepers, convert them to
economy and if necessary push the seats a bit closer to fit more passengers. Get
rid of the buffet and replace it with vending machines and only charge $25 to
Brisbane. Less crew, less overheads and probable profit. I am convinced by a
number of postings that the service cannot be improved due to the primitive
state of the track on the North Coast.

Cheers
Rod Gayford

Switched On wrote:

> Thommo <mjthom@hdc.com.au> wrote in message
> news:uQVR3.14$8N2.715@vic.nntp.telstra.net...
> > Isn't this just typical in the world we live in, we can all point the
> finger
> > at one another and relieve our frustration's, but  the finger should be
> > pointed at the real issue of cost cutting and treating us "the people" as
> > fictitious micro chips, we'll all have one embedded in us soon. (Here pass
> > your head through the phone scanner press 1 to scan, press 2 for bookings
> > Press 15---- sorry sir you have reached the wrong department, you know
> what
> > I mean. )These bloody profit driven multi-national  companys and
> governments
> > want to have a good hard look at themselves and come back to reality
> instead
> > of trying to replicate us as machines. Its all very well to make profits
> but
> > when they are in there in their extremes and cutbacks still continue start
> > chopping "from the top" and give the real workers back their jobs on the
> > coalface.
>
> Unfortunately, if you don't make a profit in some way, even if your "client"
> is the government who is paying you to deliver a community service of some
> kind, then your organization is seriously in the poo. It's not political,
> it's just reality.
>
> In the case of this thread, CountryLink is trying to deliver a level of
> service which is less than what it should be (for whatever reasons.)
> Regardless of if it's anyone's fault or not, the simple fact is that if they
> want to survive, they have to lift their game, otherwise they're in line for
> the wooden spoon.
>
> That doesn't mean their staff have to be machines (quite the opposite), but
> all it means is they have to invest in what is important - customer service.
> It doesn't even take that much money or staff cuts or anything - just a
> change in attitude and teamwork. You don't have to lose your personality to
> become good at what you do and be recognized for it. It's about a change of
> culture.
>
> A