Tidings of comfort and joy
When I became a commuter, a few years ago now, I soon realised that I had also become a bit of a bore, because talking about our horrible commute is what commuters do. A lot. And probably quite angrily. So it's always nice to find others in the same boat, who can share their stories about "the day it took 17 hours to get home from work", or "the night I went to prison after finally punching the drunk man on the late train who wouldn't stop talking loudly and incomprehensibly into his mobile phone".
In that spirit, here are two other blogs you might find sympathetic to your complaining needs. Thanks to Lee from the First Great Western Coffee Shop, who is also a useful port of call when your nearest and dearest tell you if you mention First Great Western one more time, you'll be banished to bed with no supper.
I'll add these to my links list too. It seems the number of places to go when you're fed up with FGW is growing. Soon, you'll only have to switch on your computer to hear a collective "Aaaargh! Wait until I tell you what happened on the way to work/from work/at the station."
I imagine we make up quite a varied and disparate bunch of people, coming as we do from up and down the Thames Valley and the West. But with just one voice: "I Hate First Great Western!" Someone should write a blog about it I reckon.
9 comments:
How come there isn't a 'I Hate Networkrail' Website? It would even things up a bit
Perhaps the employees of FGW could get together and start one - I admit we're at fault for only criticising the people we see, but unfortunately, it's FGW's name emblazoned all across the train, so that's where we're bound to point our fingers of ire. Of course, this blog always welcomes those who want to even up the score and put their point of view across. Especially when you're telling us interesting things we didn't know before. So please add your comments, just no bad language please!
Hi,
I’m producing a TV programme fronted by Dom Joly which is a hybrid consumer/entertainment show.
One way of describing it is “watchdog with uzi’s” – we point out scandalous rip-off and scams, but we actually do something about them.
So far we have tackled some of the biggest gripes affecting the British public including Recycling confusion, Heathrow’s lost luggage nightmare and Utilities rip-offs.
With each of these subjects we have combined intensive research and investigative journalism with wit and humour to make a programme which is both hard-hitting and entertaining.
The next target on our list is public transport. We’d like to find some of the worst train services in the country and take their owners to task.
Obviously it didn’t take much research to discover that First Great Western are amongst the worst if not the worst service providers in this area.
I’m looking for someone to meet Dom as part of our programme and show him first hand the horrors that FGW customers have to face on a daily basis.
Dom will then hopefully gain an audience with a FGW representative and ask them about their service.
This subject matter has clearly been covered before but never in the way that we are doing and I hope that you are interested in this idea.
I'd love to talk to you about it in more detail so please get in touch.
All the best,
Ed
Another journalist looking to put a one sided view on things. How about a programme about the good things that happen, there are plenty of them. I am sick of all the lies the media puts out.
Is Dom joly including Network Rail in this? I hope so
A bit of helpful advice to customers fed up with long queues at the FGW ticket offices at Maidenhead from an FGW spokesman " customers should try to obtain their season tickets at off peak times" ie instead of providing something like a decent service it is down to customers to make an extra journey-just one minor problem-when customers are "off peak" so are the ticketing staff. Monday Dec 31st 2pm-one ticket desk out of three open-not too surprising on New Years Eve I suppose. Then it happenned-the "difficult customer". A man with so many refund vouchers from FGW opiss poor service during 2007 that the "system" refuses to accept them as credit for his 2008 season ticket. No doubt the poor chap reasoned that "off peak" was a good time to sort this out. After 15 min another member of staff was called from home to help. After a further 15min he arrived and started trying to help. After a further 15min during which time the original clerk was unoccuppied I politely suggested she opened a counter and served some of those behind in the queue. She politely declined. It took me longer to buy a ticket than FGW worst journey time into Paddington-45 more minutes of my life-wasted by FGW incompetence-they can't blame Network Rail for this one
"Anonymous Anonymous said...
Another journalist looking to put a one sided view on things. How about a programme about the good things that happen, there are plenty of them. I am sick of all the lies the media puts out. "
Good things about commuting into London? please name 3 as i've not noticed any in all the years i've been doing it.
As for Maidenhead station, they're a bunch of useless jobsworth...*****
I can't count the number of times i've got on the train at Cookham when the ticket office is closed; alighted at Maidenhead - approached the ticket stasi to ask to buy a ticket and been threatened with a £20 fine... ffs
Also the new timetable is a joke,
why is it that the 8am from Cookham can't connect with a fast service into Paddington in the mornings?
On the occasion that a fast train is running late from Oxford, you can get lucky and dive onboard... plenty of empty seats.
Why can't we have a more joined up service?
More gripes.. where are the ticket inspectors / guards in the evenings on trains from Paddington... i'm sick of drunk and anti-social yobs on trains after 8pm... throw them off!!
Dom won't be so Joly once hes spent a week commuting with FGW....
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