[Travel] F**K SOUTHERN FAIL. Help?!

West Hoathly Seagull said:

This is not related to JC Denton's experience, but is relevant. Last September, I went on an architecture tour of Weymouth. I found a nice pub in Dorset to stay overnight. However, having been tailgated all the way back from Billingshurst after taking my mother to an appointment, I decided I couldn't face the drive. I therefore looked up train options. The best one was to stay in Southampton, travelling from Three Bridges, then getting another train to Weymouth. This was very convenient, as there was a direct train, taking about an hour and 40 minutes, and it's a lovely run down the Arun Valley. However, I checked on left luggage facilities at Southampton, Bournemouth and Weymouth Stations, and there aren't any. This meant a second night in Southampton, as I didn't want to carry my bag all around Weymouth - a bit annoying, but it meant I got a decent break; okay I could have asked the hotel to keep my bag, but that would have meant taking the train back to Southampton, walking/taxi-ing to the hotel and then back to the station; not Southern's fault, as those stations come under South Western Railway. It was a good trip, and the journey home was equally enjoyable.

Recently, I was reading an article in a railway magazine about the changes Southern have made to the West Coastway timetable. They have axed the direct Southampton service in the Arun Valley and redirected it to Portsmouth Harbour. The reason given is that the unit used to go to Southampton often had to be turned back early and was also regularly late. The article said that those wanting Southampton could change at Barnham, to the enhanced Brighton to Southampton service, as Barnham had waiting rooms and coffee shops. Fine, except that they have timed the Southampton service to run six minutes from Barnham before the Arun Valley train gets there, so you have to wait 24 minutes to get that train; the journey now takes over two hours. It is actually quicker to go from Three Bridges to Clapham Junction and then get a South Western Railway service, but that costs almost twice as much. The only alternative is to go to Haywards Heath, which I can equally easily use as Three Bridges, and change at Brighton. It seems to me this decision has been taken purely for operational reasons. When will the rail companies realise that if you want people not to travel by car, you have to make it as easy as possible? It used to be possible to get a direct Haywards Heath to Bournemouth service. Now you have at least two changes, hardly convenient if you are travelling with bags.

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Couldn't Be Hyypia said:

I spent years ss a commuter to London. I always followed a piece of advice I had in the early days and generally it lessened the aggro: go as far as you can, as soon as you can.

No use now, but for future situations, I hope it helps. For now I hope you're feeling less upset this morning and try not to let it ruin another day.

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West Hoathly Seagull said:

I went on an architecture tour of Weymouth.

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Papak said:

I know Weymouth fairly well and would be interested to hear what this involved.

Was it an organised tour or did you follow a pre-existing itinerary you found or did you make it up yourself?

Thanks!!

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Papak said:

I know Weymouth fairly well and would be interested to hear what this involved.

Was it an organised tour or did you follow a pre-existing itinerary you found or did you make it up yourself?

Thanks!!

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jcdenton08 said:

Okay, expert advice time please…

Should I a) wait for either a reply (they are outside of their time frame of resolutions within their complaints procedure - 11 working days have now passed).

b) go to the ombudsman - although they likely won’t take my case without a letter of deadlock or 28 days passing from the date of complaint (currently 18 days).

or c) send a letter before action and go through small claims court?

I am very tempted to go with option c although I realise this is probably stupid. I get the feeling they aren’t taking my complaint at all seriously and think a court summons might.

I have written to my MP though about my experience

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Brian Fantana said:

My advice would be to currently avoid option c. I think you want to exhaust all of the other options before you do that, so that you can show that you've done everything by the book.

In your previous post you mentioned that there was the possibility of the investigation extending to 20 working days - if I was in your shoes, I'd be waiting a couple more days and then sending another chaser.

As frustrating as it is, I think biding your time and going through all the hoops is probably the best course of action right now.

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Brian Fantana said:

My advice would be to currently avoid option c. I think you want to exhaust all of the other options before you do that, so that you can show that you've done everything by the book.

In your previous post you mentioned that there was the possibility of the investigation extending to 20 working days - if I was in your shoes, I'd be waiting a couple more days and then sending another chaser.

As frustrating as it is, I think biding your time and going through all the hoops is probably the best course of action right now.

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jcdenton08 said:

So far I’ve kept my replies (included in the thread for reference) very polite. The problem is I fear they see me as a soft touch. I don’t want to be a dick so that they get their backs up and won’t want to help me, but similarly they clearly aren’t taking this seriously.

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Tom Hark Preston Park said:

I think you have to step back a bit and give them a proper length of time to properly investigate and reply. Maybe put it on the back burner and not let it overly consume your life?

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jcdenton08 said:

it’s annoying.

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Audax said:

Yup. But being patient and letting them over run the clock works in your favour. Gets you closer to the point the Ombudsman will take the case on. Longer it runs the better for you IMO.

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jcdenton08 said:

Cheers for the tips. I’ll sit on it for another week

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Brian Fantana said:

If it puts your mind at ease somewhat, my experience when having had to go through complaint processes is actually that being polite, reasonable, measured and factual have always served me well.

If I was someone dealing with complaints for a living, I think I'd definitely look more favourable on those that were polite.

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