First Great Western rebrands to Great Western Railway and related department changes

[whole diary]

[devonexpress]

Yes, the 165s are now going through the refurb with the new livery and disabled toilet mods.  A few more west units have been turned out as well I believe.  There's a good thread on the WNXX^▸ (Stored Unserviceable, Mainline Locos HQ All Classes) forum to keep up with exact unit numbers.

What about the new style interiors in the 165s and 166s anything yet or will that not happen until they move to Bristol?

[TaplowGreen]

To what extent (if at all) has customer service changed for the better since the "rebrand"?

[devonexpress]

To what extent (if at all) has customer service changed for the better since the "rebrand"?

To me things do seem better, staff seem more motivated, interested in their job and willing to help.  However I don't think this is the right place to talk about this but im sure a moderator will correct me if im wrong !

[old original]

Depends what bit of "Customer services" you are thinking of. If it's the face-to-face staff on the ground, I think   on the whole, it's not too bad. They do the best they can/allowed to do.
If it's the one at the end of the 'phone or email, which is contracted out to Capita, it's a bysmal. Obviously too understaffed by staff who don't know what they are meant to be doing. 2 months to answer an email?? Get real GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).

[johnneyw]

I have few complaints about the staff on the trains. Generally everything I would wish. The ticket staff that seemed to vanish into the back of the rear coach between stops on the Severn Beach line are now a thing of the past and are actually selling tickets.

[bobm]

For the record, I wrote to Caledonian Sleepers about a trip in June, and despite three reminders I am still waiting!

[TaplowGreen]

For the record, I wrote to Caledonian Sleepers about a trip in June, and despite three reminders I am still waiting!

.....maybe they're having a nap? 

[ChrisB]

Very unusual in my experience - dealt with my correspondence/feedback/refund/compensation within 10 days each time

[IndustryInsider]

To what extent (if at all) has customer service changed for the better since the "rebrand"?

Interesting to hear a couple of more positive experiences in reply to that question.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I got a bit of a power up following the launch of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) as it genuinely felt like a bit of a fresh start - I know some other colleagues also feel the same from speaking with them, though there's no doubt a large contingent that still feel, and consequently act, the same as ever.  Those who face redundancy such as the engineering teams, and those who face significant changes to their roles such as catering staff and train managers are no doubt still disillusioned and the delays in electrification and related diesel train cascades aren't helping. 

However...

GWR have recently embarked upon a company wide training program called Great Experience Makers which aims to achieve significant improvements in the journey experience.  They have enlisted the help of KPMG Nunwood who have produced a specific set of areas to target within the business, together with ways of improving the defined seven stages of a customers journey, from awareness and journey planning through to post-journey feelings.

Make no mistake, this is a big, far-reaching project, and big money is being spent on it.  The research from KPMG Nunwood has led to an organisation called Train4Change to be enlisted and using facilitators, coaches and professional actors they have run three day courses for managers that have been running for several months and will continue into the new year.  Two day courses for 'colleagues' (i.e. everyone else) have literally just started and will run throughout 2017.  The aim is to 'Revalue rail in the hearts and minds of the travelling public.'

I've been on several courses like this over my long railway career but I was amazed by how much I learnt in terms of meeting and exceeding customer (and staff) expectations when I attended, and have never heard such practically universal praise from others that have already attended.

I have no doubt that customer service will improve as a result and though it's a long, long road that still needs to be travelled I can clearly see a change in mentality now being adopted than was the case in the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) days.

[bobm]

I have heard the same positive comments from a couple of your "colleagues" but I don't think the programme extends to the outsourced customer service telephone agents and that is where a lot of the problems occur.

[IndustryInsider]

No it doesn't, Bob.  Not all of them anyway - I believe some places on the course are being taken by supervisors and managers of outsourced staff.  However, the manager(s) responsible for placing of those contracts will have been and the directors and senior management will be well aware that this is a particular weak point in the organisation so I wouldn't be surprised if changes occur there too over time.  After all, the whole emphasis on the course is on how a bad experience in one aspect of the journey can have a massive impact on the impression given, even if the rest of the experience was perfect.

[bobm]

After all, the whole emphasis on the course is on how a bad experience in one aspect of the journey can have a massive impact on the impression given, even if the rest of the experience was perfect.

That is so true and hopefully the course will, as you say, see an improvement in what is frankly a weak point in the chain at the moment.

[grahame]

From "the roots" of a local service with quite a high proportion of passengers who are not "rail savvy", and where staff are few and far between at times there's no trains around.

1. The day to day GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff that customers come into contact with - when they do - are extraordinarily good for the most part, and deserve a huge "Thank You". They have an incredible range of things to deal with, not always pleasant and sometimes very repetitive and for the most part do it with accuracy, with a smile and politeness, and with consideration for the customer's individual needs.

2a. The help point staff tend to give a highly scripted response and at times it feels like picking your way though a web site or online app looking for the information you want.  For example, even if you're getting in touch to ask where the 10:04 train is (it being 10:10 and the help point display being out of order), you're required to enquire about a journey to Swindon. If you tell the person you're talking to that you're going to Oxford, for example, you're likely to get a whole series of schedules and connections which you know anyway and wasn't what you were asking about.

2b. At times of disruption (and we have had far too many of late!), the information provided back by the contact person behind the help point is sometimes inaccurate and / or impractical.  This could be due to database errors, a situation which is yet to be resolved but the contact doesn't want to say so, or (I suspect) the need to meet targets of only passing a few queries on to other team members.  Recent examples include telling people to walk to the nearest bus stop on the "parallel" Trowbridge to Swindon bus route which is actually over 2 miles from Melksham Station, and telling people who were waiting for the cancelled 16:37 to Swindon that the 18:37 was cancelled too and they must wait for the 19:47. [[18:37 ran, and I would have hoped that it's not GWR policy to have passengers wait 3 hours if it could be avoided]]

2c. The help point screen is out of service ("communication difficulties") far too often - I would estimate it's only working between 50% and 75% of the time.  This shows up GWR in a very poor light, and means that the less-that-perfect call centre receives a lot of un-necessary calls.

2d. The help point display - when working - is very useful. There's a facility to add lines of text at the top and this could be more widely used. In particular, a train shown just as "delayed" needs further explanation, and a train shown "cancelled" that is then re-instated probably looses half of its passengers as people jump in their cars, call up lifts, take the bus on reading the news.

3. Social media feeds tend to be excellent - quick to respond and accurate as far as they can go. 140 characters for a tweet is restrictive, but we can hardly hold GWR to account for that.   Again - the politeness, speed, and ability to answer a far better range of questions than the help point people are very encouraging.

4. Printed signage and timetables at larger stations are now far less used, I understand - with electronic displays, announcements, apps, and staff often on hand; that comment from station managers at bigger places.  For smaller stations, where there is no announcement system and only a flakey display screen, printed posters remain the primary information source.   And whilst they're good and improved, there are elements of improvement which it would be practical (I feel) to make.  Much of this relates to relative poster positioning (only a smaller amount to needing different graphic art / data) but it's been indicated to me that such a re-arrangement is of very low priority.    Pity - newcomers to rail explore, find the station at Melksham, and then try and work out train times to Swindon from a Cardiff - Portsmouth sheet pair which take the "headline" frames at the station entrance, alongside the legally-required station information poster that tells you in the first paragraph there's no ticket buying facilities at the station, and in the second that there's a ticket machine for you to use ...

Rebranding?  Yes - it has made a difference in the pride of the GWR staff.  It has not sorted out the information screen or printed material issues, which seem to be on the back burner in the "too difficult" pile. Pity, really; if these issues were resolved even partially, we (as a community supporting our railway) would be able to generate so much more positive "vibe" with the newcomers / first time travellers for whom good, clean, available, correct information is vital.

[froome]

From "the roots" of a local service with quite a high proportion of passengers who are not "rail savvy", and where staff are few and far between at times there's no trains around.

1. The day to day GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) staff that customers come into contact with - when they do - are extraordinarily good for the most part, and deserve a huge "Thank You". They have an incredible range of things to deal with, not always pleasant and sometimes very repetitive and for the most part do it with accuracy, with a smile and politeness, and with consideration for the customer's individual needs.

2a. The help point staff tend to give a highly scripted response and at times it feels like picking your way though a web site or online app looking for the information you want.  For example, even if you're getting in touch to ask where the 10:04 train is (it being 10:10 and the help point display being out of order), you're required to enquire about a journey to Swindon. If you tell the person you're talking to that you're going to Oxford, for example, you're likely to get a whole series of schedules and connections which you know anyway and wasn't what you were asking about.

2b. At times of disruption (and we have had far too many of late!), the information provided back by the contact person behind the help point is sometimes inaccurate and / or impractical.  This could be due to database errors, a situation which is yet to be resolved but the contact doesn't want to say so, or (I suspect) the need to meet targets of only passing a few queries on to other team members.  Recent examples include telling people to walk to the nearest bus stop on the "parallel" Trowbridge to Swindon bus route which is actually over 2 miles from Melksham Station, and telling people who were waiting for the cancelled 16:37 to Swindon that the 18:37 was cancelled too and they must wait for the 19:47. [[18:37 ran, and I would have hoped that it's not GWR policy to have passengers wait 3 hours if it could be avoided]]

2c. The help point screen is out of service ("communication difficulties") far too often - I would estimate it's only working between 50% and 75% of the time.  This shows up GWR in a very poor light, and means that the less-that-perfect call centre receives a lot of un-necessary calls.

2d. The help point display - when working - is very useful. There's a facility to add lines of text at the top and this could be more widely used. In particular, a train shown just as "delayed" needs further explanation, and a train shown "cancelled" that is then re-instated probably looses half of its passengers as people jump in their cars, call up lifts, take the bus on reading the news.

3. Social media feeds tend to be excellent - quick to respond and accurate as far as they can go. 140 characters for a tweet is restrictive, but we can hardly hold GWR to account for that.   Again - the politeness, speed, and ability to answer a far better range of questions than the help point people are very encouraging.

4. Printed signage and timetables at larger stations are now far less used, I understand - with electronic displays, announcements, apps, and staff often on hand; that comment from station managers at bigger places.  For smaller stations, where there is no announcement system and only a flakey display screen, printed posters remain the primary information source.   And whilst they're good and improved, there are elements of improvement which it would be practical (I feel) to make.  Much of this relates to relative poster positioning (only a smaller amount to needing different graphic art / data) but it's been indicated to me that such a re-arrangement is of very low priority.    Pity - newcomers to rail explore, find the station at Melksham, and then try and work out train times to Swindon from a Cardiff - Portsmouth sheet pair which take the "headline" frames at the station entrance, alongside the legally-required station information poster that tells you in the first paragraph there's no ticket buying facilities at the station, and in the second that there's a ticket machine for you to use ...

Rebranding?  Yes - it has made a difference in the pride of the GWR staff.  It has not sorted out the information screen or printed material issues, which seem to be on the back burner in the "too difficult" pile. Pity, really; if these issues were resolved even partially, we (as a community supporting our railway) would be able to generate so much more positive "vibe" with the newcomers / first time travellers for whom good, clean, available, correct information is vital.

Just to back up what Graham has said, I agree with his points 1 and all four parts of 2. I have had exactly the same experience at Freshford station as he quotes in 2a, getting told information about a route rather than what has happened to a train that hasn't arrived. His comments in 2d are spot on - we need to be told more than just delayed or cancelled, especially as occasionally trains I've been waiting for do seem to mysteriously appear even when it is said they won't!

I don't use social media so can't comment on point 3, but on point 4 this is a real problem at stations which don't have any announcements or display screens, such as my local one at Oldfield Park, where I've often watched people just wander off because a train they are waiting for doesn't arrive and there is no way for them to find out why (and of course, at these stations, there is little protection from the elements, so people are less likely to want to hang around on the off chance).

[Steve Bray]

I am very patiently waiting for responses from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) for a couple of delayed journeys claimed for at the end of August and in September.