tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2720533319314375578.post1957155014349805841..comments2023-09-22T09:04:08.445+01:00Comments on I Hate First Great Western: Are you sitting comfortably?Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04370668804468208750noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2720533319314375578.post-36792659626122198642007-09-25T16:37:00.000+01:002007-09-25T16:37:00.000+01:00Thanks for your comment. Of course a loss of £300...Thanks for your comment. Of course a loss of £3000 will not cause FGW to go bust but If the 9% commission is payable on say half their fares and say half their customers book with someone else they could be looking at a revenue drop of say 1% to 5%. This loss would go straight to their bottom line and they would notice it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2720533319314375578.post-29997457981609769912007-09-25T15:58:00.000+01:002007-09-25T15:58:00.000+01:00Bob, I don't mean to be rude, but do you really th...Bob, I don't mean to be rude, but do you really think a loss of £3000 pounds will hurt FGW (the most profitable TOC in the country)?<BR/><BR/>Also, if everybody booked their tickets via other websites FGW wouldn't go bust as they get the majority of the revenue from ticket sales through ORCATS (FGW are now the sole provider on a number of routes!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2720533319314375578.post-53927489719278081812007-09-21T12:02:00.000+01:002007-09-21T12:02:00.000+01:00I've always thought about a gym carriage too. It w...I've always thought about a gym carriage too. It would be ingenious. <BR/><BR/>In fact, two birds could be killed with one stone if they kitted out 20 commuters with saddlery and got them to pull an HST, chariot style. Benefits all round: we'd get trains that run faster than they currently do and we'd get fit to boot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2720533319314375578.post-851545780725672732007-09-19T14:40:00.000+01:002007-09-19T14:40:00.000+01:00I work for a company with offices in Bath, Cardiff...I work for a company with offices in Bath, Cardiff and London. In a typical year we spend about £30,000 on train fares between these offices. All of our fares to London are open returns and fares between Cardiff and Bath are mainly day returns.<BR/><BR/>Appart from some last minutes at station purchases most of these tickets are booked centrally online using the firm's credit card. It has come to my attention that FGW will get 9% commission from all of our ticket purchases if we continue to use FGW's website to buy tickets. We are of the opinion that FGW is not a deserving recipent of our money and from now on we will purchase tickkets from the Chiltern Railway's website and let a more deserving company get the commission. I reckon that this change will cost FGW almost £3,000 of lost profits every year.<BR/><BR/>Do you think that this is a sensible move or are we denying our local raileay of much needed funds? Do you think that this sort of action could be used as a protest (one which would be legal as opposed to another fare strike)? I think that seasons don't attract the same commision arrangement, but if everyone else brought their tickets in a way to deny FGW their commsion they could be looking at a 5% drop in revenue. nothing would delight me more than FGW going bust or giving up and packing up.<BR/><BR/>BobAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2720533319314375578.post-82554681643418195722007-09-13T15:38:00.000+01:002007-09-13T15:38:00.000+01:00Just the other day I was talking to a fellow commu...Just the other day I was talking to a fellow commuter about the idea of a gym carriage. We thought it was an ace idea. In an ideal world were trains were more than long enough to carry everyone this would be an awesome idea. I'd also like free wireless internet access.<BR/><BR/>But as you say... Sit Down, Arrive on-time, I think that's what we all want. Speaking of which, the South Wales - South Coast route has been back to it's terrbile self this week.<BR/><BR/>After all, this blog didn't start because people didn't have somewhere to plug their laptops in!Billyohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02156807131425886620noreply@blogger.com