With the saga of bad customer service that is Skygate still raging, I thought I would post an example of how to do it right:
Irish Rail isn’t always known for its good customer service, tales of rude Irish Rail workers and bad communication abound, but I’m pleased to report that if that was once true, perhaps things are changing.
Yesterday I had to take the 8:20am train to Castlebar in Co. Mayo to photograph the launch of a new cafe/restaurant in Foxford (a lovely place it is too by the way, I strongly reccommend you pop into “It’So” in the Foxford Woolen Mills for a coffee and a bite to eat if you’re ever in the area!). When I arrived at the station I noticed that the 7am Cork train (conspicuous by it’s sleek fancy newness) was still sitting at the platform. I soon discovered that it wasn’t the only delayed train, in fact an announcement was made shortly afterwards to say that no trains were leaving or arriving anytime soon because of an incident on the line. A very friendly and patient Irish Rail worker, who showed no signs of being frustrated at what must have been his hundredth time doing so, explained to us that there had been a fatality on the line at Sallins and until they were given the all clear our trains would be delayed. He apologised for any inconvenience and we all sat down to wait. When faced with something like a fatality on the line, it has a tendency to put petty things like delayed appointments into perspective.
My train eventually left at 11:30am, a little over two hours late. We were merged with a couple of other routes like Galway and there was plenty of switching and changing. In the end we had to take a bus for the final 40 minutes of the journey. All along we were kept well-informed and everyone was very patient and helpful. I arrived in plenty of time for the launch and all was well, I put it down to “just one of those things.”
This morning I found the following email in my inbox:
Dear Passenger,
I would like to apologise to you for the disruption and inconvenience caused to you by the delays to train services to and from Heuston Station yesterday 21st June 2007.
Early yesterday morning, we became aware that there was a fatality near the rail line at Sallins in Co. Kildare. Gardai and emergency services were called. The scene was not very accessible by road and as a result it took some time to clear the site. All services were required to be stopped during this operation and delays of up to 2 hours were experienced by passengers. Whilst these delays were outside of our control we worked closely with the emergency services in order to get trains running again as quickly as possible.
I do understand that whatever the cause, delays of this length are highly inconvenient, so as a gesture of goodwill, I have credited your account with € 15.00.
Thank you for your patience on this occasion.
Yours sincerely,
Steve Murphy
General Manager
Southern and Western
I’m impressed with this because they weren’t to blame and I felt no need for compensation. I do appreciate that they are concerned with giving the customer more than they expect and I applaud them. I will be writing and telling them it’s not neccessary…I just don’t feel right about getting money because somebody died and inconvenienced me. Still I think Irish Rail are to be commended for how they handled the situation and it’s always nice to hear the good customer service stories as well as the bad ones.
14 replies on “Irish Rail Gets It Right”
Wow. That’s a surprisingly helpful reaction coming from Irish Rail. Good on them.
I stand by my comments about Greystones station however
Good story, nice to hear some good news. I guess you must have an online account with them. I suppose folks who pay cash would be impossible to contact. Another Interent benefit maybe.
I’m glad you are enjoying some freelance photographic work.
That is quite remarkabele. I had a similar instance on a ferry. They handed out food vouchers when the boat was delayed and then sent vouchers in the post redeemable against next journey. I can’t remember which company though!?
Well done on your commission to photograph the restaurant opening Claire. Is that your first time doing something like that?
Neil, I agree, it’s strange that the display has never worked at Greystones DART station, surely it’s just a matter of turning it on?
John, yes, I suppose cash payers would have been impossible to track down. I suppose as an internet customer I’m considered a regular.
Aisling, since doing the Irish Businesswomen’s conference I’ve been getting a few similar photography commissions. I really enjoy it although I never would have thought of myself as an event photographer before. I still love doing the portraits 🙂
Good stuff Claire,
I think you are right to highlight excellent customer service. If people did more of that, companies might try to get in on the act a bit more.
You can move mountains by pushing them and by pulling them, eh!
I’d love you to persuade you not to refuse the compensation from Irish Rail. First, it is good to encourage them to get into a good habit. Second, it gives you an opportunity to donate the money to a charity of your choice. It would be a nice income stream for charities if they were on the receiving end of such corporate compensation.
I’d like to offer my congratulations to
Steve Murphy
General Manager
Southern and Western.
I’ll look out for him when next there is a promotion to the main board.
Omani, I agree completely that it’s just as important to highlight the good customer service as well as the bad. Word of mouth is the best form of advertisement and it would be good to have companies vie for it.
I had the same thought about donating the compensation to charity. Considering what the cause of the delay was (a death on the line), if they can’t undo the refund for whatever reason I will be donating the money to Aware.
I had a really good experience (albeit of a different kind) earlier in the year when I boarded the wrong train and the train driver stopped at a station to let me off! Consider me impressed!
http://www.inter-actions.biz/blog/2006/12/thank_you_iarnrod_eireann.html
Claire
When the whole customer service thing you wrote about erupted I made a point that one of the key issues in customer satisfaction relates to how a business handles a problem. If they can handle it well a potential complainant can be converted to an advocate of the company concerned.
I was in the Foxford Woollen Mills to-day and what with the arrival of “It’So” in the restaurant area and the huge revamp of the Mill Shop area itself we are fortunate now to have a shopping and visitor attraction in Foxford that is absolutely top class and compares favourably with anything anywhere!
Hi Frank, I couldn’t agree more…I never thought I’d be singing the praises of Irish Rail but there you go!
The Woollen Mills and the restaurant are lovely aren’t they? I was very impressed with the whole place and would be a regular if only I lived a bit closer.
I’ve been away and just got back to you Claire. I’m delighted to read that you’ll donate to Aware. It’s not my job to say thanks for that but, since Aware helps me, I think it is right that I thank you for choosing that charity to support.
It seemed appropriate Omani, and you’ve really educated me (and many others I’m sure) on the great work that Aware does so you are a good spokesperson for them.
Oh I feel really touched. Thank you so much. You know you write away, not quite in a vacuum. You don’t know much about how others take your writing: there are so few comments. It’s a kind of act of faith. And every now and again, someone (like you) says something that makes you acutely aware that you are never an island.
Wow, customer service like that is rare. Not only did they send a letter of apology, they gave you a gift! This kind of effort makes for loyal customers. Brilliant.
whatever customer service is, in native Moscow it takes less than 10 mins (if it takes more – that’s a very serious accident) to make a rough clean of the site, they finish it later at night.
when there is 3 hrs delay, some ppl might already be not in hurry anymore 🙂