Great Western Coffee Shop

FYI - I contacted GWR and asked for the date of the next Meet The Manager session at Paddington.  This is on 1st December between 16:00 and 19:00

That's brave!  :D

Even braver if they'd picked a Friday!

With thanks to you for providing the information, NickB, I've now added it to the Coffee Shop forum calendar.  :)

Finishing just in time to wave off the 19.03!

Are these open for anyone to attend? Or do you have to book?

Where in Paddington will it be?

Usually just turn up and harangue. Likely to either have a desk set up or floor walking the concourse.

I haven't heard otherwise (nor seen any promo materials) so I presume that this is still going ahead tomorrow.

Can't wait. 😍

Unlikely to be tomorrow. Thursday maybe...

Oops. Getting ahead of myself. It's the excitement... 😀

I'm sure the managers are excited too!  ;)

Hahahaha - no one showed up!!! What a bunch of jokers. I give up.

Perhaps they are coming by train !

......well the trains can't be relied upon to turn up, so why should the management be any different?

GWR reply to a tweet asking about the MtM session due to take place this evening:

Hi, there was scheduled to be one yes but it appears it didn't take place. -Andy

https://twitter.com/BeboDebo73/status/804437089429389313

It was suggested to me that I contact customer services to ask when the next session will be....  So I guess I'll hear back by 2023.

I'm quoting the text of that tweet exchange in full here, purely for the record:


That's a rather pathetic performance by Great Western Railway, in my opinion.  :o

Contemptuous.

It's what comes of cosy arrangements with the DfT. Customer Service targets and commitments are now missing from current agreements. Not compelled to hold MtM. Not compelled to have a Customer Panel. Not compelled to start Delay Repay. Instead the DfT rewarded an operator that walked away from their franchise with extensions and then management contracts. First Group have become complacent when it comes to customer service.

I just hope the powers that be remember this when it comes to retendering time. I, for one, will be responding to any consultation with, "Anyone but First Group."

GWR customer service is no longer worthy of the name.

Nice of them to reiterate the obvious for you!  ::)

  ......just had this via GWR help Twitter.....Hi Neil. I've been informed that it did take place. It ran from 16:00 to 17:45. Although it had to be cut short due to a Network Rail Manager having to attend another event in Reading. Lewis

Err

- I thought it was a GWR "Meet the Manager" - or have I missed something?

- Aren't events usually arranged well in advance so they don't conflict and people can attend where they should or find a stand-in?

I wonder what the more important event in Reading was? 

Clearly it was under resourced. Just illustrates the contempt in which GWR holds its customers  (as if that was in doubt!)

Lies. 

I was there at 17.45 and spoke to the station manager.  He told me, as he told the raging man in front of me, that the session was cancelled because no-one from GWR turned up. 

As I would have carefully explained to GWR had someone bothered to attend, for once all of my gripes and moans are about the company, not the trains.   Issues such as not advertising the session in the first place, non-existent response from customer services, contempt for their own seat reservation practices and car parking issues.  This debacle just proves my point.

Was this a public tweet? Can't seem to find it.

I find that it is often the Network Rail managers who handle these events badly.  GWR/FGW are at least trained in the platitudes needed to speak to the public.  The one I went to last (which was quite a while ago) had the NR chap sending out clear vibes that we didn't understand how difficult his job was and that he had much more important things to do than talk to passengers. 

A NR manager being double booked just illustrates this point.  Are these people not  experts in forward planning (don't answer that)

Hi just wanted to add that the GWR Station Manager was there at 17.00 as I was on my way home.  He had just spoken to a lady who was not very happy as her 8 coach train on the 1706 had been replaced by a 3 coach turbo.

Looks like there is quite a bit of confusion as to what did or did not take place !

PS Yes as per my name I do work for GWR

Welcome to the forum, TM ... it does indeed sound like there is some confusion.

Advertised from 16:00 to 19:00, but reported earlier in this thread to have run from 16:00 to 17:45.   I do quite a  number of trade shows and the last hour in the day is often quieter - but I would have thought that for evening commuters the last hour would have been really busy ... and the lack of a manager after 18:00 (if indeed it ended at 17:45) wouldn't have been clever.

Hmm....there were several staff (and another from NR) surrounding a drinks trolley in the middle of the concourse when I passed through to catch the 1649 to Oxford last night. Obviously don't know how long they stayed there though.

....until the drinks ran out

I tweeted, GWR replied via a private DM, crafty eh?  ;)

10/10 for telling you what was already known and nothing else!

Its official - GWR have managed to run an entire year without customer engagement that didn't fit into 140 characters.

Whoop!

On a more serious note I continue to remind GWR about how important Meet The Manager sessions are (sorry, were).  I believe that a session was held in Oxford this year, but aside from that it has been very disappointing.

None planned apparently.....clearly Hopwood is not the only invisible man working for GWR!

Just had an update from GWR - almost 3 months on, still no plans for Meet the Manager sessions at Paddington, Reading etc.

It seems rather odd that legions of managers can be spared to attend back slapping award ceremonies and glug champagne, but apparently none can be spared to meet customers in this way.

An interesting illustration of GWRs priorities, and its attitude to engaging with its customers, especially in a time of such dire service levels, when increased communication/explanation is so much more important.

..............is Mark Hopwood's middle name "Nero"?

These were being discussed only last week as to being relaunched, so your contact might have better news in a week or so. Check the minutes of the Didcot Passenger Panel when they get loaded to the website as I've asked for my question/answer about them to be added

Any news on a date yet?

I'm hearing the 10th...






... of never.

Well I asked the question again and got this most helpful answer - if you want a laugh, try the link!!!



Hi there are no sessions currently planned this page will be updated as and when we have something concrete

https://www.gwr.com/help-and-support/meet-the-manager

The new franchise apparently only requires 6 a year....and they're using them where most impact will be felt, so where large scale works are taking place, rather than simply to take queries, where various other options are available for this - website contact form, various social media etc.

Well, that was the plan when I asked at the Didcot Panel meeting.

"We hold Meet the Manager sessions throughout the year, where you can tell us what you think, and hear our latest news"............................or not.

Wouldn't it be refreshing if GWR did more than the bare minimum, and tried to set an example to the rest of the industry, rather than being satisfied with being perceived as being towards the bottom of the barrel by its customers?*

How about a session for the long suffering Cotswold Line customers whose "service" at the moment is little more than a disgrace?

(*Notwithstanding all the prestigious awards they've won, obviously)  ::)

Well.........they've actually already held one, in Charlbury  :P ::)

And I'm sure they probably will hold others in excess too. One likely in Oxford for the summer blockade I'm hearing, and I believe there is one likely around the Bristol works at some stage?

Was the Charlbury one advertised in advance?

As I understand it, over 6 months ago a GWR manager attended a meeting of Charlbury Town Council to give elected members an update on operational matters relating to Charlbury station.

I've no idea how/if GWR publicised it.

Members of the public could attend as observers only, which (if this is the meeting to which ChrisB refers) seems to fall some way short of what GWR themselves describe as a Meet the Manager session.

The local MP, Robert Courts, organised it, and publicised it through Charlbury Town Council, the Charlbury Town website & various mailing lists. Very well attended, both by commuters, users & high-level GWR management, it was well received, and all points were heard & made.

And recent - within the last two months or so, certainly when the service was extremely poor. And the public were well involved, so I suspect not what you heard about on the grapevine 

OK it's good that this happened but this was an event initiated and organised by the MP, rather than a "Meet the Manager" session held by GWR.

Frankly, so what? It really doesn't matter, does it? GWR Managers met the public.

Frankly, yes it really does matter if GWR are not proactively arranging "Meet the Manager" sessions as they advertise on their website and are only attending meetings if summoned by an MP.

It's consistent with the overall invisibility of GWRs management & appalling standard of customer communication.

Look, with the recent revelation on this forum of the cull of management at GWR there wont be any managers to meet which leaves just two options, Meet the Directors or Meet the Frontline, and I bet it won't be Meet the Directors so it will have to be Meet the Frontline and the we will get THE TRUTH.

.....now here's a novel idea!

https://twitter.com/SW_Help/status/991620067958894593?s=19

Positively received by passengers judging from the replies!

Stop Press!!!  GwR Announce Meet The Manager Sessions

Some dates have been added to the Gwr website if anyone cares to have a look. Your enthusiasm to do so may be dampened when I tell you that most of the dates are now in the past.  That’s right, newly announced sessions for w/c 21st May. 

And also, none of them are anywhere near Paddington - Oxford is the closest they have chosen to go to the commuter hub and terminus.  I will however award marks for holding the sessions at evening peak (albeit in the past)

Please note for the cynics amongst you that I do check the Gwr website almost daily for invites to such events so I don’t believe that I missed these ‘forthcoming’ events.

From https://www.gwr.com/help-and-support/meet-the-manager


As they are all North Cotswold line, perhaps they were publicised in good time on the North Cotswold line - at the CLPG AGM for example?  Little point in publicising a Charlbury event to Severn Beach commuters.

In which case grahame, little point putting them on the website 2/3 after the fact.

Does anyone know for definite if they were advertised locally? And not just at a membership group AGM. There are surely many hundreds of fed up Cotswold Line users who would have liked the opportunity to berate meet a manager.

Unsurprisingly less difficult if you happen to be an MP.

Video of Wera Hobhouse (Bath) talking with Dan Panes  (https://www.facebook.com/WeraHobhouse/videos/1085718261578471/)

(Hosted on facebook but no account needed to view.)

Sources in the area tell me:


And from a attendee of the Moreton-in-Marsh session

I look forward to the next "highly publicised" Meet the Manager session at Paddington.


Hopefully it won't have to wait for the intervention of an MP to apply the appropriate boot to the necessary posteriors


 :)

Any news on how the Cotswolds meet the manager events went?

Amazed that there's no feedback on this given the abysmal state of Cotswold services.

SWR senior management team at Waterloo this morning meeting customers - the MD (Andy Mellors?) offering 121 meetings with customers at times convenient for them.......what a contrast with the invisible man/men of GWR.

I was going to write similar on a Metrobus post that MH could take a leaf out of JF's book. I am told that very often Bath's customers are pleasantly surprised to board their bus to have JF at the wheel. I don't think MH would lower himself to take on the role of a ticket examiner if only to try and improve his public image.

I think it's more that it's not every MD's style to be like that. Doesn't make them a bad MD if being so public isn't something they either don't enjoy or just not a strong point.

I wouldn't want the job of any of the MDs that we're talking about - MH, AM, and JF - and I really doubt I could do the job a fifth as well as they do.  But, yes, their main job is managing and directing (goes with the title!) and that's where they are required to excel. Whether and how their way of working and character filters across the teams they run and though to interaction with the customers who interact with that team isn't necessarily the most-sought, most-required attribute of the job, even though it's the attribute which we as customers see.

The "main job" of an MD is to provide Leadership, as distinct from management. He is also accountable for the company's performance - judging by the current level at GWR, suggesting he does it "well" is a highly subjective judgement.

My MD isn't a huge fan of dealing with the public, but he respects them as his customers so he makes the effort to engage with them from time to time - it goes with the pay grade, and they respect him in turn because he makes the effort. It also gives him the sort of insight into perception of his Company that a thousand Board reports never could. Why join a public facing organisation if you never want to face the public?

An MD will generally set the tone for organisational culture as well and this permeates throughout the company -perhaps it's legitimate to suggest that, given his reluctance to leave his office and meet his customers, there might be a connection between that and a "filtering across his teams" with the outcome being the appallingly low levels of customer service which his Company provides......?

I used to love watching "Back to the shopfloor" on BBC2 years ago - the top management went back to the ground level to understand the impacts their decisions etc had. It was always interesting seeing how they had no idea about certain things, because it was filtered at every level of management and by the time it got to them at the top, everything was perfect and everyone was happy.

Having MH work as a customer service rep at any of the major GWR stations for a couple of days would soon bring a sense of reality to him. Either that or watch an episode of Paddington 24/7 :-)

He was involved with customer services early in his career.

I don;t often defend FGW but in large companies it can be hard to see the problems without getting bogged down in the detail.

I've seen my two page reports on a project I've been involved in slimmed down to 1 line for an exec member. I never know at which point do I use my one chance to see them (and it generally will only be one) to explain that technically it was 'delivered on time and hit savings targets' but has created complicated workflows and loads of additional costs and effort elsewhere. To a certain extent this is where the MD has to surround him/herself with a senior management team who don't only think about how things reflect on them rather but on  other staff/customers or the organisation.

From the dizzy heights of lower, middle management I am a big fan of the back to floor type exercises and may have occasionally made sure certain staff are on shift to express their opinions.

I'd imagine for MH he knows the performance indicators are bad but as there's a rational behind them (trains/training/network rail) it can be hard to see the intangible impact on passengers. It may be its a very top down lead organisation which makes delivering change difficult.

…….as over 6 months has gone by, I thought I'd drop GWR a line and ask for the details of the next "Meet the Manager" session at Paddington...……….had to chase them for a reply and when it came...….guess what?

"No date has been arranged yet"

Ah well, ask again in 6 months I guess?  ::)

It’s a model that has worked well for GWR for 4 years so I don’t see them upgrading to ‘keen to hear your views’ anytime soon.

Contemptuous.