(19 Aug 2013, 5:03 pm)aureolin wrote Nope. The response I got (without digging it out) was along the lines of any posts deemed offensive will be removed, but he's free to comment. I always say you shouldn't say on the Internet something you wouldn't say to their face. I guess he doesn't apply the same logic.

Why do they let him spout his mouth of, antagonising passengers?
What will a visitor to the region think, if they come on there to make a query?
This is a multimillion pound organisation, that has a page which often turns into a bitter slanging match after a snide comment or two from their 'out of hours' representatives.

I genuinely don't get him or Clifford's sense of importance, nor why GNE continue to let them post the stuff they do.

Warning Customer Service professional rant coming up

Hignett and Clifford....my favourite.

Right, cards on table. I work in a senior management position for one of our major brands here in the UK and I also do side consultancy, my role is Customer Service.

Social media is make or break these days and it can damage a brand but it can be an over reaction

Example -

I use the number 1A bus Monday-Friday. It is generally on time, the driver acknowledges me. It's fairly clean. Do I tell the company? No. They are providing the service I pay for

One day, the 1A is late by 15 minutes. The driver is abrupt and the bus is filthy. It's the first time in months I've seen anything like this. It's not the usual bus, its not easy access and is old. It looks like this may be a replacement bus, perhaps a breakdown. I consider whether the company should have better back up buses. I also note the timetable on the bus stop has not been corrected since some changes last week.

Now you don't see that I've had 50 perfectly reasonable journeys to my one but if I and 3 other passengers raise an issue your perception is 'oh that 1A is always late, its got grumpy drivers and dirty buses'. I then notice on my post a comment by Ian and one by Andy (examples)

Ian says - What would you prefer? For them not to run the bus? New buses are expensive, fares would rise

Andy says the driver was probably stressed and the bus wasn't planned to be in service. They did their best. Timetables are not GNE, Ring Nexus

Now Ian and Andy with the amount of posts come across as official representatives, especially if I make my post on a weekend or out of monitored times.

Now the Nexus response......If I ring BA with a complaint about Heathrow I won't be fobbed off with 'its BAA not BA' - They'll feed my complaint back to BAA. Thats what good service is, its simply bad practice that GNE don't have a working relationship with Nexus over issues which clearly affect their brand and reputation

Ian and Andy have no customer service training, they may know timetables, bus regs and tickets but they know nothing of brand, perception and quite frankly politeness (and no Mr Clifford, you should not call female posters 'hun')

In some cases a customer is paying GNE close to £1,000 a year on ticketing (something which GNE failed to note when refusing to add extra travel for Christmas and New Years Day) and they should expect a professional response no matter how trivial the complaint may be.

My personal P.O.A (plan of action) for GNE would be -

1) Close the Facebook wall to posters outside of Office Hours, direct links to journey planner, myjourney and Nexus should be made clear.

2) Sunday working should not be remote, an office based individual should be available for all queries. You are a multi multi million pound business. Act like one.

3) Hours should be extended past 6pm. The rush hour is still in force, buses remain busy until 7-8pm on some routes. There should be service.

4) Make it clear GNE are the only official response. Other posters (if you allow them) are expressing individual views, they are not representative of GNE. Yes it is an open forum but it is your page. Your brand and business, you control it not the users. You are there to help and support, not battle. Customer is King.

5) Make use of LiveChat and Twitter more effectively. Twitter is a lot less public and easy to navigate and minor complaints can be handled quicker without the audience. LiveChat should be promoted more for quicker first point resolution

6) Policies and above minor complaints should NEVER be discussed on a Facebook wall. The customer should receive a phone call or a letter. Telling a customer 'we haven't received this or taking a smarmy attitude (as they do) is not acceptable. Contact the customer. Empathise

7) For gods sake train your staff. To you it might not be a major thing that a 56 was 15 minutes late and someone had to get a taxi to hospital/work etc but THAT is the most important thing that will affect them that day. Treat it like that.

8) It is simply not acceptable to copy and paste the contact us form. Address the customer, apologise, explain (even on facebook) the procedure for contacting us and make it personal! . If a customer tells you to 'f off' simply respond calmly and say 'I am sorry you feel that way, if you want to get in touch with this incident which has obviously affected you please do so'

9) First Point of Contact Resolution. 99.9% of the time your customer wants an apology. Nothing more, nothing less. Apologise, empathise

Extremely valid points. I work in a technical role rather than a Customer Services role, but I work for an organisation that prides itself on the service it provides to it's customers. It's drilled into everyone to think that way.

(21 Aug 2013, 7:46 pm)gtomlinson wrote 1) Close the Facebook wall to posters outside of Office Hours, direct links to journey planner, myjourney and Nexus should be made clear.

Completely agree with this, and I've made a similar suggestion to them in the past. A timed post could be set-up in HootSuite at intervals until buses end service.

(21 Aug 2013, 7:46 pm)gtomlinson wrote 2) Sunday working should not be remote, an office based individual should be available for all queries. You are a multi multi million pound business. Act like one.

Something I've also previously mentioned to them. A customer really doesn't need to know that they're not in the office on a Sunday. They should have the same level of consistent service, no matter what time of the day they're contacted. I'm not going to say they need to be in the office. Certainly not in this day and age - what's wrong with VPN?

(21 Aug 2013, 7:46 pm)gtomlinson wrote 3) Hours should be extended past 6pm. The rush hour is still in force, buses remain busy until 7-8pm on some routes. There should be service.

It's certainly something they should look into, but every business should really. The traditional "9 to 5" is stuck in the past, and businesses really need to progress to meet their customer needs.

(21 Aug 2013, 7:46 pm)gtomlinson wrote 4) Make it clear GNE are the only official response. Other posters (if you allow them) are expressing individual views, they are not representative of GNE. Yes it is an open forum but it is your page. Your brand and business, you control it not the users. You are there to help and support, not battle. Customer is King.

Or put their foot down with the grouping of people on there that have absolutely no input other than to antagonise people. I don't buy that they "help loads of people when GNE are offline". Upsetting one customer is damaging enough for any business.

(21 Aug 2013, 7:46 pm)gtomlinson wrote 5) Make use of LiveChat and Twitter more effectively. Twitter is a lot less public and easy to navigate and minor complaints can be handled quicker without the audience. LiveChat should be promoted more for quicker first point resolution

The Openline facility they had for that was great. How many multimillion pound organisations can you think of that gave customers a direct line with the MD (or other senior managers). It should never have been withdrawn.

I agree with the twitter comments. It should be the primary social media focus for them, as it is becoming with many other organisations. East Coast being a good example of that.

LiveChat can be good, but only if done in a non-intrusive way. How annoying is it when you're browsing a website and someone keeps trying to invite you to chat with sales?

(21 Aug 2013, 7:46 pm)gtomlinson wrote 6) Policies and above minor complaints should NEVER be discussed on a Facebook wall. The customer should receive a phone call or a letter. Telling a customer 'we haven't received this or taking a smarmy attitude (as they do) is not acceptable. Contact the customer. Empathise

Whilst they may not have contact details for the customer, they have the ideal opportunity via either Facebook Message, or Direct Message on Twitter. A quick note asking for a contact number, and as you say, a quick call with empathy will do the trick!

I do find it alarming the amount of people that report missing emails. SMTP is not a complex protocol. Faults generally come down to misconfigured servers or relays. Saying that, it's even more alarming that people are completing their web form and the email isn't being received. That's completely within their control.

Why don't they put an auto-response in place? Just a quick reply to the customer to say the message has been received, along with setting the customer's expectations again on a response time frame.

(21 Aug 2013, 8:16 pm)aureolin wrote [
I do find it alarming the amount of people that report missing emails. SMTP is not a complex protocol. Faults generally come down to misconfigured servers or relays. Saying that, it's even more alarming that people are completing their web form and the email isn't being received. That's completely within their control.

Why don't they put an auto-response in place? Just a quick reply to the customer to say the message has been received, along with setting the customer's expectations again on a response time frame.

I actually find it worse that you can contact them and they don't respond as opposed to not being able to contact them.

Is their attitude towards customers and the general apathty towards decent customer service, borne out of the lack of competition?

Would Tesco or Sainsburys manage their page like GNE do with regard to complaints, queries or trolls?
If they did, then I'm pretty sure customers would go elsewhere.

East Coast was mentioned earlier, their attitude to social media is great. Even the world famous response during the flooding last year, gained them publicity - although I believe the person at the time was later fired for the comments.

Here are some great examples of pr (some better than others) from corporate twitter accounts. www.thedrum.com/news/2012/10/10/wednesday-weirdness-best-examples-customer-service-twitter-o2-sainsbury-s-east-coast

(21 Aug 2013, 7:46 pm)gtomlinson wrote 7) For gods sake train your staff. To you it might not be a major thing that a 56 was 15 minutes late and someone had to get a taxi to hospital/work etc but THAT is the most important thing that will affect them that day. Treat it like that.

Completely agree with the whole of this post but especially the bit quoted above. The Green Flag (I think) TV advert sums this up perfectly highlighting that a breakdown might not be headline news to everyone else, but it is to you. GNE are pretty unprofessional and utterly non-empathetic in their responses to the huge number of complaints - many may be trivial, but they seem to fail to understand the impact a 20 min delay can have on (presumably the majority of fare paying) customers who need to get somewhere on time - appointment, interview, work, school etc. The out of hours trolls of course are even worse. Social media is important but I think is causing more harm than good for GNE. They'd be better off allowing only GNE to post at any time (to highlight offers, delays, service changes etc) and invest in other non-publicly viewable media to enable real time resolution of issues. Allowing comments will inevitably lead to public airing of complaints and public demonstration of an apparent attitude of contempt for customers (both by GNE and their wannabe trolls).

Agree with stuff pointed out above, GNE need to get there house and establish some ground rules for using the page,

1. Minor complaints can be dealt with on Facebook, anything serious goes through Customer Services by phone or email

2. It is good that people step in to answer, but some attitudes are just plain wrong...GNE should add a strong worded disclaimer stating replies from anyone but them is not representative of them.

3. If people want to help out, then fair enough, do it in a respectful way without bringing GNE into disrepute, anyone who continually Troll to be banned from posting and even banned from the page altogether.

What GNE could do is take on some voluntary help, train up a small group of people who can ve the GNE mouthpiece when they go offline

I don't have a huge problem with the likes of Hignett and Clifford, it is good that people are prepared to help out bu answering questions, but it is the way the post is put across, it is nasty at times.

I even used to answer questions, I am of the opinion that there is a place for the public to contribute, because of the sheer amount of posts they deal with it probably could take ages to rake through them, so someone with the right attitude can surely be alright for people to advise in certain circumstances

(21 Aug 2013, 10:59 pm)fozzovmurton wrote What GNE could do is take on some voluntary help, train up a small group of people who can ve the GNE mouthpiece when they go offline

If there's the need for that, then a proper vacancy should be advertised, and the person taking the role should get the rate of pay for the job.

(22 Aug 2013, 6:07 am)aureolin wrote If there's the need for that, then a proper vacancy should be advertised, and the person taking the role should get the rate of pay for the job.

Ok fair point, but should GNE pay someone a wage for a job title that would essentially be Social Media Administrator with a job description that would essentially say You will man the Facebook and Twitter out of hours, yes, people should be rewarded for work they do, but it would be aimed at people who would already actually be on Facebook anyway when GNE needed them, so it is not like people would be put out by it.

It is a good point you raise though mate

@gtomlinson - fancy sending that to Go North East?
Go for a direct e-mail to someone more official perhaps. I can't help but feel the usual customer service representatives by e-mail won't be of much use.

Ok fair point, but should GNE pay someone a wage for a job title that would essentially be Social Media Administrator with a job description that would essentially say You will man the Facebook and Twitter out of hours, yes, people should be rewarded for work they do, but it would be aimed at people who would already actually be on Facebook anyway when GNE needed them, so it is not like people would be put out by it.

Yes. Most major companies employ social media officers. The whole point of the GNE social presence is that's its unprofessional and very poorly handled, handing it over to a bunch of enthusiasts or busy bodies is not conducive to making things better.

Whilst I appreciate the idea of guides on forums and chat room moderators its a bit different when directly representing a business

(22 Aug 2013, 7:49 am)Daniel wrote @gtomlinson - fancy sending that to Go North East?
Go for a direct e-mail to someone more official perhaps. I can't help but feel the usual customer service representatives by e-mail won't be of much use.

I would happily send it if it were not likely to go straight in the 'Deleted Items' folder

(22 Aug 2013, 5:58 pm)gtomlinson wrote I would happily send it if it were not likely to go straight in the 'Deleted Items' folder

I'm happy to supply 'better' contact details if you want to ensure that doesn't happen. PM me if you want them.

Ian Hignett once again.

John Lavender
I wish You wouldn't withdraw services at the drop of a hat. Evening Peak journey Ser. 97 from MCE to WHM withdrawn without notice last Month, no explanation and no reply from you to an email. Annoying thing is, it still runs SO when there is no Commuter-demand. *Annoyed*
Like · · 4 hours ago

Ian Hignett Without notice? plenty of info online and in buses that the service was being changed and the new timetables were online approx a month before the change.
3 hours ago · Like · 1

John Lavender No, not to my Knowledge.. No mention of why, on the website.
3 hours ago via mobile · Like

Ian Hignett Clearly because of low passenger numbers, midweek. If you think that there is a need for that particular service, then ask Nexus to subsidise it.

-----
I'm sorry but does he use every bus in the north east?, he seems to think he knows everything about the routes and i agree with John on hes post... the timing of the bus he gets was probley's wasn't advertised like the minor changes for September, u have to compare timetables....

Can't they just ban him?

(25 Aug 2013, 3:34 pm)Michael wrote Ian Hignett once again.

John Lavender
I wish You wouldn't withdraw services at the drop of a hat. Evening Peak journey Ser. 97 from MCE to WHM withdrawn without notice last Month, no explanation and no reply from you to an email. Annoying thing is, it still runs SO when there is no Commuter-demand. *Annoyed*
Like · · 4 hours ago

Ian Hignett Without notice? plenty of info online and in buses that the service was being changed and the new timetables were online approx a month before the change.
3 hours ago · Like · 1

John Lavender No, not to my Knowledge.. No mention of why, on the website.
3 hours ago via mobile · Like

Ian Hignett Clearly because of low passenger numbers, midweek. If you think that there is a need for that particular service, then ask Nexus to subsidise it.

-----
I'm sorry but does he use every bus in the north east?, he seems to think he knows everything about the routes and i agree with John on hes post... the timing of the bus he gets was probley's wasn't advertised like the minor changes for September, u have to compare timetables....

Can't they just ban him?

Yeah I've noticed they've changed tactic. 'Minor changes' instead of previously, when they'd say which individual runs have been removed or re-timed.

(25 Aug 2013, 3:38 pm)aureolin wrote Yeah I've noticed they've changed tactic. 'Minor changes' instead of previously, when they'd say which individual runs have been removed or re-timed.

Ive just posted on Johns post.. id like to see what Ian says.

Him and Andy Clifford seem to like each others post to..

GNE should provide info on each change even if its just a 2 min time change etc.. it would help alot of people

(25 Aug 2013, 3:42 pm)Michael wrote Ive just posted on Johns post.. id like to see what Ian says.

Him and Andy Clifford seem to like each others post to..

GNE should provide info on each change even if its just a 2 min time change etc.. it would help alot of people

Good on you Michael.

Have you seen the response?

Ian Hignett
True, but I downloaded the new timetable 3 weeks before the change. So there was ample time to compare the two.
Like · 1 hour ago

Yeh iv'e just posted back to him

Some people don't compare the timetables from the old and new - he might of but the bloke who posted he didn't and neither did most of the people

(25 Aug 2013, 7:41 pm)Michael wrote Yeh iv'e just posted back to him

Some people don't compare the timetables from the old and new - he might of but the bloke who posted he didn't and neither did most of the people

Totally agree with you.
People don't always sit and compare old with new (if they even have an old timetable).

If services or runs are going to be withdrawn, then surely the operator has an obligation to make its customers/passengers aware of those changes.

I have said it before, but how many of these changes are actually to do with the revenue the service brings in, rather than drivers hours, staff shortages or other associated cost savings, such as getting things ready for the depot moves.

Just as an example (haven't looked at timings, workings, connections etc). If a service leaves the Metrocentre and is due a driver handover by the time it gets to Gateshead - then by taking off that service/run, you are also reducing the need to pay that additional driver for his shift.

There are also the running costs which will be saved ie fuel, general wear and tear etc

This guy needs a thumbs up LOL

Robert O'Byrne
6035, Bishop Auckland - Newcastle was late by 8 mins in Spennymoor this morning. What's the point in drafting timetables if your drivers don't keep to them? Yet another complaint that'll not get listened to about the X21's timekeeping.
Like · · 2 hours ago

Ian Hignett So the traffic would have no effect on bus times would it not?
47 minutes ago · Like

Robert O'Byrne Why do you have to be snotty? Of course I'm aware that the traffic has an effect. As a passenger though, I'd expect a reliable timekept service which the X21 is not. As a passenger, I would have expect after the numerous complaints about timekeeping, a review would have been put in place to explore what causes it to be late so often & adjust the service or the times accordingly.

George William Stewart is a new one starting...

with comments like -

what did people do before there was easy access fold em up
try coming out 4 a earlier bus ????

(30 Aug 2013, 3:43 pm)Michael wrote George William Stewart is a new one starting...

with comments like -

what did people do before there was easy access fold em up
try coming out 4 a earlier bus ????

What did people do before they could be tools on the Internet?

Sanctimonious tit

with comments like -

what did people do before there was easy access fold em up
try coming out 4 a earlier bus ????

I find that funny especially when I heard it once from a little old dear i Park Lane who had a better beard and tash than me, just a random thought, lol

The amount of people who would rather wait than fold a pushchair down is absolutely mental. They then usually have the audacity to complain the driver won't let them on!!

(30 Aug 2013, 8:26 pm)tyresmoke wrote The amount of people who would rather wait than fold a pushchair down is absolutely mental. They then usually have the audacity to complain the driver won't let them on!!

Yes I can understand that, but the other end of the stick is if the driver refused them on when the pushchair is more often than not overloaded with bags. I know GNE's policy states they'll be refused if they do, but it's never enforced.

Whilst I don't condone vexatious complaints in the slightest, I have seen quite a few examples of drivers refusing to wait whilst a pram is folded down. More often than not when the bus is already late.

(30 Aug 2013, 3:43 pm)Michael wrote George William Stewart is a new one starting...

with comments like -

what did people do before there was easy access fold em up
try coming out 4 a earlier bus ????

I agree with him on the "what did people do?" comment, because I think that unless you're a wheelchair-bound passenger, you don't need the space - it's just something nice to have, rather than having to fold the buggy down.

But, there's no need for his second comment - "try coming out earlier" - understandably if you live on a route with a service every few minutes, it's something you could think about, just in case the vehicle isn't low floor or one/both (depending on vehicle type) spaces are taken, but it isn't going to work if it's an hourly/half-hourly service or a service with a small PVR.

https://www.facebook.com/215880875709/ti...tory?ut=44&hash=6451864070024567804&wstart=0&wend=1378018799&pagefilter=2&ustart&refid=17

would love to know what he said to be called an 'absolute creature' haha

(31 Aug 2013, 5:45 pm)Andreos1 wrote https://www.facebook.com/215880875709/ti...tory?ut=44&hash=6451864070024567804&wstart=0&wend=1378018799&pagefilter=2&ustart&refid=17

would love to know what he said to be called an 'absolute creature' haha

His mere presence on that Facebook page is good enough reason for him to be called an 'absolute creature' if you ask me.

(31 Aug 2013, 5:45 pm)Andreos1 wrote https://www.facebook.com/215880875709/ti...tory?ut=44&hash=6451864070024567804&wstart=0&wend=1378018799&pagefilter=2&ustart&refid=17

would love to know what he said to be called an 'absolute creature' haha

LOL comment of the day by far.

He's as creepy calling everyone darl and hun.

Still it comes to Go North East social media acting like a small provincial hick company with the power of a national brand