American Airlines (ex. AMR, now AAMRQ) is probably too busy merging with US Air but in any case, it's no surprise they went busy given the way they treat their customers. It's day four, and the responses we're getting are still "contact that other department" or "your fare is no longer available". That's not good enough, as per my email below.
If you've missed the beggining of the saga, here's the start: American Airlines, give me my booking back!
Check also this Facebook thread.
Re your latest email AA Ref#1-808589557, it is still my intimate conviction that there's a mistake on AA's part.
I would very much like you to recognise this and rebook my flights at the original price. Passing back the parcel to reservations doesn't help because they don't have the authority to do this.
1. We have been in touch with you re. this booking, but at no point AA said there was a problem.
2. I dispute the fact AA has tried to contact me. Actually, I know AA haven't called. And I am convinced AA did not send those emails about a credit card problem.
3. I heard back from my credit card company who says you HAVE NOT tried to resubmit this transaction. See below.
Do the right thing please. Own up. Rebook us.
LL>
Dear *****
Thanks for your message.
I have checked your account and can confirm that there are no Outstanding Authorisations for the amounts you specified on your account at present. This could be because the transaction has either completed, which you can view under 'Recent Transactions', or it may have dropped off your account.
Outstanding Authorisations are usually held on an account for seven to 10 days before they are either removed or are fully debited upon receipt of the sales voucher receipt from the company or merchant who your account is being debited to.
An account can only legally be debited once the credit card company is in receipt of the Sales Voucher Receipt. Sales Voucher Receipts are usually received within 7 to 10 days. However, merchants do have six years and one day in which they
can legally produce the sales voucher receipt. Therefore, an outstanding authorisation could be pending on an account for anytime within that period and then debited to the account.
I trust this information is of assistance.
Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me again.
Kind Regards,
****
Customer Service Advisor
Barclaycard Customer Services
13/2/13 UPDATE: to my great surprised, BarclayCard actually called me back after my tweet and confirmed that AA did not retry to submit the transaction. My conclusion? AA failed their duties of caring for their customers. And lied. They look bad. Someone screwed up there and they should really own up rather than burying their head in the sand.
Top marks for the @barclaycard web team anyway. At least someone's doing their job.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
American Airlines, give me my booking back!
Here's my letter to AA tonight, has anyone experienced the same?
Hello,
This is a formal complaint after I feel I have exhausted all avenues via different channels. I can't even start to explain how frustrated I am about your customer service procedures, or the lack thereof.
Here's my story of how AA screwed up our family holidays of a lifetime.
Until recently, I was really looking forward to taking our two young daughters and my wife into the Wild West, through the Grand Canyon to see the Big Landscapes. The tickets were dear but heck we've saved and we booked long in advance to ensure we'd get a good price.
CHAPTER ONE: THE ORIGINAL BOOKING
So, right after Christmas I went onto aa.com and booked some flights. Took us quite a while to figure out the options but it was done and we bought the travel guides.
CHAPTER TWO: BOOKING NUMBER TWO
Alas, the next day my credit card company left me a voice mail saying they had a case of suspected fraud. I called them back, confirmed all was OK and they said they'd authorise the transaction. In the evening, I called AA's reservation line -I guess using the **** number because we were staying there with family for the holidays. Ahah, they said, we need to rebook you because the payment was not processed. Which they did. It took a painfully long call to do this but then the agent was nice and I did not yet know it would be the first of a series of calls.
At that point, they gave me a different booking number: ******. I did not make a note of the first one but I did not think much about it.
CHAPTER THREE: EVERYTHING'S OKAY
I logged in the day after and saw my flight as purchased but not ticketed. Hum, I thought. And so I called again to check all was OK with the payments. After all, I used my **** card and it's a small provincial building society which might not get on with a US large company?
The agent told me that "everything was OK with my booking". I was reassured. And wrong.
CHAPTER FOUR: COMPUTER SAYS YES
On the week of the 7th January, I checked on the website out of instinct and saw the reservation status was still "purchased". I'm quite busy with my day job that week and so I send a few emails around to AAdvantage, who tell me to contact reservations by phone. Quite useless you'd admit. So I ask my wife to call. Why? Because I'm busy -you were not paying attention. She can't get through to an agent but the robot tells her the reservation is OK, lists all the flights and so on. Hum. So it must be surely?
CHAPTER FIVE: WHAT, NOTHING ON THE CREDIT CARD STATEMENT?
I got the credit card statements, and to my surprise nothing on it. Strange I think. I quickly log in, see the reservation is still "purchased" and have to go travel on business for a few days. Upon my return, I login yesterday night and see my reservation as "cancelled." Mouth opens, closes, opens again, heartbeats skip. Expletive follows. I pick-up the phone yesterday night (on Sunday 9th February of what still is 2013 but now feels 1984) and get told that reservation can rebook it (sigh) but, ah, the price now jumps up by something obscene like 2,000 quids. Yep. Two thousand British Pounds. TWO GRAND. I don't find that funny, at all, and explain the agent (remaining calm, after all she's just a cog in the machine speaking in an 8 hour shift to just another customer) that I just want my booking back. In the meantime, I email back AAdvantage. She tells me she's got no record of my emails asking for clarification because it's another department, nor from my previous calls. Great.
CHAPTER SIX: THE MORNING AFTER
We're Monday 10th February. 10/2/13 as we say here. I'm supposed to do the school run but tell the kids to be ready and to wait on the stairs landing while I call back the UK call centre. The agent can't do anything but they tell me they've sent me some emails saying that my credit card has been declined. It's interesting because I never got them despite checking my spam etc. I ask her to forward that email. The girls have now been waiting 40 minutes in the hall and we're getting late for school.
I hang up and glance at my email. The email I never received has been pasted into a new email but without the headers, so there's no mention of when it was really sent.
During the day I kick up a fuss on twitter, which comes to the same conclusion: although they own the planes and all, AA can't rebook me at the original price.
WHERE NOW?
Now, what's funny about you AA is that you seem to record the things you like. Or those that fit your version of the truth. Like the call in chapter 3 wasn't logged into your CRM system, maybe because the agent just peeked at the record but did not modify it. Or that emails suddenly pops in, no probs at all, except when they're supposed to (I never got your emails stating the CC transaction did not go through).
Because I actually don't believe you've tried to contact me about this booking. What I know for sure is that I've enquired many times about this booking. American Airlines, you did bad and need to apologise and own up to it. I want my booking back.
In addition to screwing up my booking, your "customer experience" is pretty poor too. As a customer, I don't want to be passed around between department who are are passing on the baby. I. Don't. Care. Which. Department. You're all American Airlines for what I know. And. Pon't. Put. Me. On. Hold. All. The. Time. It's especially annoying as you're speaking to folks who don't seem to have a last name, which means that when the line cuts -as it did several times during that whole story- you have to start all over again.
See, it's our holidays of a lifetime. A special treat for the girls. And I'd like to have it back. Please.
Cheers,
****
12/2/13 Update: go an inate response from customer relations telling me to call reservations. Clearly, they get neither customer nor relations. In the meantime, here's a link to this post on the AA Facebook page. Please "like" and "share".
On twitter, AA told me they could not help except rebooking me at the grossly inflated price. The story continues.
And tonight, I've called back my credit card company who assured me they did not decline any transactions. Someone's telling porkies, and given AA's track record at communicating and inventing emails, I know where my suspicions lie.
 |
| New logo. Old AA. |
This is a formal complaint after I feel I have exhausted all avenues via different channels. I can't even start to explain how frustrated I am about your customer service procedures, or the lack thereof.
Here's my story of how AA screwed up our family holidays of a lifetime.
Until recently, I was really looking forward to taking our two young daughters and my wife into the Wild West, through the Grand Canyon to see the Big Landscapes. The tickets were dear but heck we've saved and we booked long in advance to ensure we'd get a good price.
CHAPTER ONE: THE ORIGINAL BOOKING
So, right after Christmas I went onto aa.com and booked some flights. Took us quite a while to figure out the options but it was done and we bought the travel guides.
CHAPTER TWO: BOOKING NUMBER TWO
Alas, the next day my credit card company left me a voice mail saying they had a case of suspected fraud. I called them back, confirmed all was OK and they said they'd authorise the transaction. In the evening, I called AA's reservation line -I guess using the **** number because we were staying there with family for the holidays. Ahah, they said, we need to rebook you because the payment was not processed. Which they did. It took a painfully long call to do this but then the agent was nice and I did not yet know it would be the first of a series of calls.
At that point, they gave me a different booking number: ******. I did not make a note of the first one but I did not think much about it.
CHAPTER THREE: EVERYTHING'S OKAY
I logged in the day after and saw my flight as purchased but not ticketed. Hum, I thought. And so I called again to check all was OK with the payments. After all, I used my **** card and it's a small provincial building society which might not get on with a US large company?
The agent told me that "everything was OK with my booking". I was reassured. And wrong.
CHAPTER FOUR: COMPUTER SAYS YES
On the week of the 7th January, I checked on the website out of instinct and saw the reservation status was still "purchased". I'm quite busy with my day job that week and so I send a few emails around to AAdvantage, who tell me to contact reservations by phone. Quite useless you'd admit. So I ask my wife to call. Why? Because I'm busy -you were not paying attention. She can't get through to an agent but the robot tells her the reservation is OK, lists all the flights and so on. Hum. So it must be surely?
CHAPTER FIVE: WHAT, NOTHING ON THE CREDIT CARD STATEMENT?
I got the credit card statements, and to my surprise nothing on it. Strange I think. I quickly log in, see the reservation is still "purchased" and have to go travel on business for a few days. Upon my return, I login yesterday night and see my reservation as "cancelled." Mouth opens, closes, opens again, heartbeats skip. Expletive follows. I pick-up the phone yesterday night (on Sunday 9th February of what still is 2013 but now feels 1984) and get told that reservation can rebook it (sigh) but, ah, the price now jumps up by something obscene like 2,000 quids. Yep. Two thousand British Pounds. TWO GRAND. I don't find that funny, at all, and explain the agent (remaining calm, after all she's just a cog in the machine speaking in an 8 hour shift to just another customer) that I just want my booking back. In the meantime, I email back AAdvantage. She tells me she's got no record of my emails asking for clarification because it's another department, nor from my previous calls. Great.
CHAPTER SIX: THE MORNING AFTER
We're Monday 10th February. 10/2/13 as we say here. I'm supposed to do the school run but tell the kids to be ready and to wait on the stairs landing while I call back the UK call centre. The agent can't do anything but they tell me they've sent me some emails saying that my credit card has been declined. It's interesting because I never got them despite checking my spam etc. I ask her to forward that email. The girls have now been waiting 40 minutes in the hall and we're getting late for school.
I hang up and glance at my email. The email I never received has been pasted into a new email but without the headers, so there's no mention of when it was really sent.
During the day I kick up a fuss on twitter, which comes to the same conclusion: although they own the planes and all, AA can't rebook me at the original price.
WHERE NOW?
Now, what's funny about you AA is that you seem to record the things you like. Or those that fit your version of the truth. Like the call in chapter 3 wasn't logged into your CRM system, maybe because the agent just peeked at the record but did not modify it. Or that emails suddenly pops in, no probs at all, except when they're supposed to (I never got your emails stating the CC transaction did not go through).
Because I actually don't believe you've tried to contact me about this booking. What I know for sure is that I've enquired many times about this booking. American Airlines, you did bad and need to apologise and own up to it. I want my booking back.
In addition to screwing up my booking, your "customer experience" is pretty poor too. As a customer, I don't want to be passed around between department who are are passing on the baby. I. Don't. Care. Which. Department. You're all American Airlines for what I know. And. Pon't. Put. Me. On. Hold. All. The. Time. It's especially annoying as you're speaking to folks who don't seem to have a last name, which means that when the line cuts -as it did several times during that whole story- you have to start all over again.
See, it's our holidays of a lifetime. A special treat for the girls. And I'd like to have it back. Please.
Cheers,
****
12/2/13 Update: go an inate response from customer relations telling me to call reservations. Clearly, they get neither customer nor relations. In the meantime, here's a link to this post on the AA Facebook page. Please "like" and "share".
On twitter, AA told me they could not help except rebooking me at the grossly inflated price. The story continues.
And tonight, I've called back my credit card company who assured me they did not decline any transactions. Someone's telling porkies, and given AA's track record at communicating and inventing emails, I know where my suspicions lie.
Monday, February 04, 2013
Boris Bikes, if you can find them?
Damning piece in the Evening Standard on @BarclaysCycle @borisbikes http://pic.twitter.com/nFwclGy9
See this discussion on the BorisBike Forum as well.
Read also:
See this discussion on the BorisBike Forum as well.
Read also:
- Boris Bikes, if you can find them?
- Response from TfL re. Barclays Cycle Hire update PRICE DOUBLING
- To TfL re. Barclays Cycle Hire update PRICE DOUBLING
- Liborate the Boris Bikes?
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Response from TfL re. Barclays Cycle Hire update PRICE DOUBLING
Hi,
It's all well and good except for regular users who I suspect make most of your revenues?
For instance, this morning there wasn't 2x more bikes at the Waterloo
docking stations. Cheers,
LW>
On 31/12/2012, BarclaysCycleHire barclayscyclehire@tfl.gov.uk wrote:
> Dear Mr Windsor
>
>Thank you for your email regarding the tariff changes for Barclays Cycle
>Hire in 2013.
>
>The scheme is regularly monitored and continually reviewed to identify any
>opportunities for improving users' experience.
>
>We are undertaking important system software upgrades and website
>improvements in 2013 to meet this goal. These include, for example:
>
>Enabling casual users to hire cycles with a single swipe of their payment
>card. This will greatly simplify (and thereby speed up) the process of
>hiring a bike on street
>
>Members will be able to hire bikes as casual users using their registered
>payment card. This will benefit members who may have forgotten to bring
>their key or who would like to casually hire cycles for friends and family
>to accompany them
>
>Changes to the BCH website to improve the user experience, including
>enhanced docking station status information, online account management and
>an improved BCH journey planner.
>
>The on-street experience will also be improved through a number of changes
>at docking stations, including:
>
>Enhancements to the terminal touch screen interface to provide better
>information about nearby docking stations and improved foreign-language
>information about using the scheme, as well as enabling the single-swipe
>payment process noted above
>
>Improvements and updates to the terminal panels themselves, with new and
>updated maps, nearest docking station information, and clearer information
>about tariffs and charges
>
>We will continue to focus on improved bike redistribution and cycle repair
>strategies to ensure that bikes and free docking points are as available to
>users as possible, and that cycles with reported faults are repaired swiftly
>and returned to the scheme. Ongoing maintenance of docking stations will
>also continue to be a priority.
>In addition to these system-wide improvements, the planning and roll-out of
>the Cycle Hire Expansion and Intensification (CHEI) programme into south
>west London is another key focus for us in the coming months. The Mayor has
>always viewed cycle hire as an expanding programme and has asked TfL to look
>at ways to expand and improve the scheme in a sustainable way into the
>future.
>
>Additional revenue generated from the increase in the tariff will be put
>towards the above developments as well as other improvement opportunities
>that may arise, and we are confident that the scheme will continue to grow
>and develop.
>
>Barclays Cycle Hire has been a fantastic success, introducing millions of
>people to the joys of cycling in the capital. Indeed we saw record highs of
>over 47,000 hires in one day, and 3 months of over a million hires during
>the summer.
>
>Kind regards
>
>Tristan John
>Barclays Cycle Hire
Thursday, December 20, 2012
To TfL re. Barclays Cycle Hire update PRICE DOUBLING
Hello,
I would like to know what the rationale is behind DOUBLING those fares and what plans you have to improve your service levels?
Cheers,
TFL - Service Changes
I would like to know what the rationale is behind DOUBLING those fares and what plans you have to improve your service levels?
Cheers,
LW>
From: Transport for London <Transport_for_London@info.tfl.gov.uk>
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 10:42 AM
Subject: Barclays Cycle Hire update
From: Transport for London <Transport_for_London@info.tfl.gov.uk>
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 10:42 AM
Subject: Barclays Cycle Hire update
|
Friday, December 07, 2012
Richmond pubs: the blog!
Some reading for the winter month, with this blog that reviews all Richmond pubs:
http://richmondpubguide.blogspot.co.uk/
Good reading, all the miss is the pub address and the name of the beers.
http://richmondpubguide.blogspot.co.uk/
Good reading, all the miss is the pub address and the name of the beers.
Monday, October 08, 2012
IKEA, flat packed house fires?
Melting transformer under the stairs, house fire narrowly avoided...
Thank you not #IKEA.
Wondering if that's a common occurence and a known fire hazard?
Ikea item reference S0303(SANSA)
Made in China by Tongxiang Yongda Telecomunications Co., Ltd under model YD-60A-2
Update 15/10/12
- Ikea called me yesterday (Sunday) to address the issue.
- A very nice lady asked me details as they were concerned by the fire risk
- The product appears discontinued so they can't withdraw it from sale
- She will send a £20 voucher to use in store
Bottom line: a late but very good reaction from IKEA, addressing both the safety aspect and the customer satisfaction aspects.
Friday, October 05, 2012
The catholic school issue
It's not hard to get lost in the Great School Debate that's filling in the RTT front page and letters column, let alone several Facebook groups -and even this blog: On the LBRUT's catholic obsession.
In the latest amazing twist, the council issued a press release with a very personal and combative langage against the opposition figurehead, Jeremy Rodell: Secretary of State for Education confirms Council decision on Catholic Schools is lawful - London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
Not quite what you'd expect from a lord...
What's the issue then?
In a nutshell, the council is spending £8.5 millions to buy a site for a catholic school, to be run by the Diocese of Westminster (with a dotted line to the pope in Rome then). The admission policy means that with 10% of catholics in the borough, over 70% of pupils will be from outside. The council argued that there's no NEED for secondary schools, and that therefore I'd be nice to have a catholic school, as there are primary catholic schools but the secondary ones had long been closed.
Maybe I'm being naive, but I view this as simple supply and demand question. If there were more good grammar schools, surely parents would put their children in state schools instead of going private?
In the latest amazing twist, the council issued a press release with a very personal and combative langage against the opposition figurehead, Jeremy Rodell: Secretary of State for Education confirms Council decision on Catholic Schools is lawful - London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
Not quite what you'd expect from a lord...
What's the issue then?
In a nutshell, the council is spending £8.5 millions to buy a site for a catholic school, to be run by the Diocese of Westminster (with a dotted line to the pope in Rome then). The admission policy means that with 10% of catholics in the borough, over 70% of pupils will be from outside. The council argued that there's no NEED for secondary schools, and that therefore I'd be nice to have a catholic school, as there are primary catholic schools but the secondary ones had long been closed.
Maybe I'm being naive, but I view this as simple supply and demand question. If there were more good grammar schools, surely parents would put their children in state schools instead of going private?
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Richmond park given a rebuke on parties
The park is a very special place indeed, but it seems not everyone is in agreement on what that means.
The Friends of Richmond Park like it quiet. Very quiet. This time, they were not ranting about cyclists but had a gripe about a party held by Range Rover at the Royal Lower Ballet school. I actually quite agree this was way over the top we should leave deers and runners alone in the dark... Good that they got their way. Mind you, they hold late night weddings at Pembroke Lodge -the extension disfigured it it to increase the capacity, not something the Friends care about apparently?
Royal Ballet School Range Rover Launch - YouTube
The Friends of Richmond Park like it quiet. Very quiet. This time, they were not ranting about cyclists but had a gripe about a party held by Range Rover at the Royal Lower Ballet school. I actually quite agree this was way over the top we should leave deers and runners alone in the dark... Good that they got their way. Mind you, they hold late night weddings at Pembroke Lodge -the extension disfigured it it to increase the capacity, not something the Friends care about apparently?
Royal Ballet School Range Rover Launch - YouTube
Thursday, September 20, 2012
On the LBRUT's catholic obsession
There's been much coverage about the London Borough of Richmond plan to open a catholic secondary school. It would be all well IF there was not a shortage of secondary school places in the borough, IF the council was not spending £8m to buy the site and hand it free to the diocese and IF catholics did not make just 10% of the borough's population.
Why this plan then? See my comment on Twickerati: Lord disappointed by acolyte
Why this plan then? See my comment on Twickerati: Lord disappointed by acolyte
The council spending £8m to create a faith-school that will provideSee also:endoctrinationquality education for catholic pupils, 70% coming OUT of the borough.
Where's the democracy in there?
By the way, why did Lord True not disclose his interests (see above, his wife is catholic and heads up the SIR HAROLD HOOD'S CHARITABLE TRUST, whose aim is quite vaguely "To benefit such Roman Catholic Charitable purposes as the Trustees shall in their absolute discretion from time to time think fit".
This trust has £30m in the bank...
- RISC web site
- RISC facebook group
- RTT: Catholic school debate will go to the High Court
- RTT: Clifden Road site cost Richmond Council £8.45m
- RTT:Campaigners push ahead with Catholic school challenge
- RTT:Catholic school consultation starts tomorrow
- RTT:Catholic school and sixth form plans get Richmond Council approval
- RTT:Peppercorn rate proposal for Catholic school
Monday, September 17, 2012
How often do plane stowaways fall from the sky?
The Beeb wakes up after under-reporting past cases with this article:
BBC News - How often do plane stowaways fall from the sky?
Interestingly enough, they don't answer the question. I've done the maths though: it's one every four years. Just on Richmond borough.
| List of reported stowaways reported on Heathrow-bound planes | ||||||
| Year | Provenance | Airline | Number | Condition | Impact/Retrival | Source |
| 2010 | Austria | Dubai royal family private jet | 1 | Alive | LHR | link |
| 1996 | India | 2 | Dead | Sainsbury's building site? | link | |
| 2012 | South Africa | BA | 1 | Dead | LHR | link |
| 2001 | Bahrein | BA | 1 | Dead | Homebase car park, Richmond | link |
| 2012 | 1 | Dead | Portman avenue, East Sheen | link | ||
| 2002 | Ghana | Ghana Airways | 2 | Dead | LHR | link |
| 2002 | Ghana | BA | Dead | link | ||
| 2000 | 1 | Dead | Broadstone farm, Rudwick, Sussex? | link | ||
| 2002 | Uganda | DAS Air Cargo | 1 | Dead | LHR | link |
| 2007 | LHR | |||||
Monday, September 10, 2012
Stowaway death is a chilling reminder that the Heathrow runways point directly over London and 2 millions Londoners
UPDATE: 'I heard a monstrous bang', says woman after body found in street (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)
In 2001, a man fell from a British Airways Boeing 777 which was heading towards Heathrow and landed in a Homebase car park in Richmond.
Heathrow is in the wrong place, it's only a question of time before someone (or worse, a plane) falls on a house:
http://richmondtransits.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/heathrow-is-not-safe-chilling-crash-map.html
Friday, September 07, 2012
How to milk a captive market? Tap commuters
Rail commuters probably wonder what made them look so much like the golden eggs goose when reading pieces such as this one:
Rail fare rises: UK commuter train tickets 10 times the price of European equivalents | This is Money
Aren't they "carbon friendly" and part of the essential workforce of the nation after all?
The truth is that subsidy levels are decreasing, which means a commuter in the UK will pay about 70% of the costs -at least that's a stated government goal.
The problem though, is that years of under-investment and also deregulations have made this essential service costly to run.
If only the service was ten times better than on the continent...
Rail fare rises: UK commuter train tickets 10 times the price of European equivalents | This is Money
Aren't they "carbon friendly" and part of the essential workforce of the nation after all?
The truth is that subsidy levels are decreasing, which means a commuter in the UK will pay about 70% of the costs -at least that's a stated government goal.
The problem though, is that years of under-investment and also deregulations have made this essential service costly to run.
If only the service was ten times better than on the continent...
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Another accident at North Sheen level crossing
A vehicle smashed a barrier at the level crossing on Manor road. The barrier was lying on the pavement tonight (on the right on the picture) and all traffic was interrupted -including for pedestrians as there's no footbridge to the South side of Manor road (see posts below).
At the time of writing, three police patrol cars and a Network Rail engineer were on site.
This is the second incident in a week, as I saw the police at the same place on Monday apparently carrying checks for motorists running through the crossing lights...
See my previous posts on the subject:
- North Sheen Footbridge update
- At last: the North Sheen footbridge is coming... alas, this is not what you expected!
- Richmond Transits: Join the Facebook group "Stuck at North Sheen ...
- Richmond Transits: Airtrack and North Sheen Crossing
- Richmond Transits: Monday Mayhem at North Sheen level crossing
- Richmond Transits: Update on the North Sheen station footbridge
- Richmond Transits: Here's the new camera at North Sheen level crossing
- Richmond Transits: Update on the update on the North Sheen station ...
- Richmond Transits: Susan Kramer's progress on North Sheen Station ...
- Richmond Transits: Another train tragedy in waiting at North
- Richmond Transits: Still waiting at the level crossing...
- Traffic pandemonium: just a sign of things to come?
- More on Manor road and Heathrow
- Richmond Transits: Level crossing tragedy in Barnes
- Richmond Transits: Update on the North Sheen station footbridge
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Liborate the Boris Bikes?
Saw this picture on a BarclaysCycle bike (@barclayscycle) and it reminded me of this conversation on the BorisBike Forums (@twitter.com/borisbikes).
Read also:
Read also:
- Barclaycard, you're failing to provide a good customer experience to commuters
- My questions to Barclays Cycle Hire managers
- When will TfL realise they need more BorisBikes at Waterloo?
- Why pay for the gym when you've got the Boris Bikes
- Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms
- The Boris bike vs. the French vélib -unfair comparison?
Monday, July 02, 2012
Cyclist fatalities increase in London -I squarely blame TfL for not providing adequate infrastructure
Cyclists in the City just came up with this Boris-seeking missile: Outrageous: 33% more pedestrians killed, 60% more cyclists killed and 21% more cyclists seriously injured. Boris Johnson - your traffic smoothing policy is killing people.Personally, I'm not sure Boris or Ken made much improvements -or to put it correctly, they slowly gave in to pressure but both failed to redesign the city to put bikes first. Because you see, this is what the Dutch have done, something that even the LCC don't really recognise.
In essence, the infrastructure is still grossly inadequate -something I've blogged about previously. In a nutshell, I think TfL has absolutely no idea whatsoever on what a "cycle track" is. I don't think any of their engineers actually cycles. Can't be. Or that would be an all time height for ineptitude.
And those sad numbers? As far as I am concerned, the fact there's been a huge increase in cycling can not play a contributing factor. Many of those cyclists are not that proficient either, nor are the drivers.
Related posts:
- Kennington People on Bikes: Why didn't we use the cycle path?
- Sustainable transportation in Richmond?
- Cycling in London: it's about time to do something!
- Has cycling reached a critical mass in London?
- Good to see cyclists campaigning against road planning
- Cyclists living in fear
- Cyclists to be given the right to ride the wrong way
- TfL still has little ideas about cycling lanes...
- Cycle superhighways: an expensive joke?
- When are we going to see this in London?
- Reversing the burden of the proof would encourage cycling
- Some hope for London cyclists?
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Works in Waterloo: an improvement or just a cash making scheme?
Waterloo station turns trendy as Carluccio's, Corney and Barrow, and Thomas Pink open up on new concourse - Transport - News - Evening Standard
Just to put things in perspective:
1. On congestion, Network Rail have made it worse by making the underground concourses longer and shut outside of peak hours
2. The Eurostar platform has been mothballed for the last 5 year... with four EMPTY platforms -quite a disgrace.
3. Finally, are they going to pull down that hideous screen/wall between the concourse and the plaforms? There's no reason Waterloo can't be as beautiful as the Gare du Nord in Paris.
To me it seems the only goal of this revamp is to provide more retail space, in other words it's a cash generating scheme that adds no benefits to the commuters.
Previous posts on Water-loo station:
- Waterloo plans mean no end of misery for commuters
- Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms
- Waterloo plans mean no end of misery for commuters
- Londonist: What Next For Waterloo?
- The Boris bike vs. the French vélib -unfair comparison?
- What if those who govern us had a long term view about strategic infrastructures?
- When will TfL realise they need more BorisBikes at Waterloo?
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Lobbies and lazy journalism
Here's a great example of lobbies taking over column inches, in this case on a subject that's close to my heart:
David Cameron told: Act now to save Heathrow Airport - Transport - News - Evening Standard
Prime example of lazy "journalism", writing up a quick piece straight off the press pack from BAA. Any proper newspaper article would have tried to show both sides of the story, with counterpoints.
I hope Jonathan and Lucy enjoyed a really nice lunch paid for by Ferrovial (BAA's Spanish owner) and a few nice gifts too.
Just a reminder to set the record straight, London has FIVE international airport (actually, now SEVEN if you count Manston and Southend), totalling seven runways (not including the unused backup one at Gatwick), most being under-used. Heathrow is a WWII planning mistake, its flight path goes over 2m people. Those five airports handle over 130 millions passengers on their six runways, about 150% of the traffic in Paris (LHR + CDG).
It's about time we stop comparing LHR to other European cities and instead do what they've done: build a new airport with enough room for expansion. If it needs to be in the Thames estuary, so be it.
Previous posts on the same subject:
- Some Heathrow news...
- Essential reading: 2M Group on Heathrow Expansion
- Monday -my letter to the MP's against Heathrow Expansion
- Glad I managed to land... (and Heathrow expansion lies)
- BA can spam you but you can't spam BA!
- BAA caught lying... again.
- Stanstead and City granted expansion: what does it mean for Heathrow?
- And yet another broken promise by DfT and BAA...
- Is Heathrow really out of capacity?
- More on Heathrow
- Is sustainability sacrificed on the Heathrow altar?
- Transported logic
- Heathrow is not safe: chilling crash map
- Happy new year and more foul play from the DfT on Heathrow Expansion
- BAA wakes up to the sound of locomotives?
- Stating the obvious: Heathrow expansion will pollute more
- Heathrow is just dangerous where it is
- Hoon's farce as Heathrow expansion is announced
- Economic case for Heathrow expansion 'flawed'
- Finally, high speed train gets national coverage
- Just a reminder: London has FIVE airports, all competing against Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris
- More on Manor road and Heathrow
- Environmental perversity...
- Why is the governement pushing to increase number of night flights?
- Heathrow is dangerous and should not be expanded, here's why
- T5 opens, shows BAA-Government hypocrisy and collusion
- Lyon-Paris vs. Manchester-London (from Euroblog by Jon Worth)
- Airplanes noise common sense?
- Politics and GreenWash
- I dreamt about doing this!!!!
Friday, May 04, 2012
Barclaycard, you're failing to provide a good customer experience to commuters
This is a follow-up from my previous post: Dear
BarclayCard...
My advice to Barclays? If your brand name is associated to
transportation services, you should ensure a good customer experience. Failing
to do so impacts negatively your brand.
Here's a quick summary:
-
I own a BarclayCard Visa that comes with an OysterCard built-in.
Barclays sent me a new card and the Oyster stopped working. Resolving this is
quite an annoyance. In the Twitterverse
we'd say #fail.
-
I also use Barclays Cyclehire, in fact another
TfL service, sponsored by the same bonus-happy
bank. I use it everyday but it turns out they can slap you a £150 fine just
because their processes are also a #fail. That's more than an annoyance
Failure number one: Barclays, when you send me a new
card, just make sure it works
-
I've got a Barclaycard VISA, coming with no less
than four payment mechanisms: a magnetic strip, a chip (and PIN), a contactless
payment chip (RFID) and an Oyster card.
-
It expired, so they sent me a new one.
-
Because I suspected their processes would be
sub-optimal, I called them up to ensure the Oyster would be transferred across
to the new card. They assured me it was or would be but I still did not trust
them. You see, when I wanted to move from a BarclayCard Platinum to that
BarclayCard Oyster, they got me to re-apply just like for a new card. I wasn't
impressed, after being a client for over 10 years. So, I did not destroy the
old card straight away, just in case…
-
As I feared, the Oyster card did not work.
-
I sent an email to complain and ask Barclays to
fix this. They tried to call me when I was at work and after several tries I
ended up to speaking to a Barclaycard call-centre agent (actually very nice and
patient) who could not solve my problem and had to transfer me to TfL.
-
In between those calls, I tried to register my
new Oyster card on the TfL website (turns out the number is on the back of the
Barclaycard) but that did not work either. See, Barclaycard registered my card
already but did not give me the password.
-
When I finally got to speak with TfL agents,
they were equally patient, well trained and polite. They transferred the
balance from the old virtual (because it's on my Barclaycard) Oyster card to
the new one. But then to complete it, I have to predict where I'll touch in
next as they me to tap my Oyster card on a specific tube station within 8 days.
I don't usually commute by tube, so it's hard to know where and when I'll next
start a tube journey.
-
The next process failure I have experienced,
still speaking with TfL is that once they transfer the balance of an Oyster
card and until you've tapped it on a reader at the designated station, you
can't transfer the 'auto top-up'. Which I had to do because my old Barclaycard
wasn't valid anymore, remember?
Failure number two: Barclays, the Borisbikes give you a
bad name
-
I should make clear that just like I am well
aware that TfL and Barclays are two distinct companies, I know Barclays only
sponsors the London
bike rental scheme, which is in fact sub-contracted to Serco –the guys who run the
prison vans and other stuff.
-
This is not to complain there's never
enough bikes or point that it's ridiculous to require buying a separate key
while they could use an Oyster card to unlock your bikes. Actually, given
what's above, one could think not using Oyster would be a good thing…
-
It's not. Here's what happened to me. To use
bikes, you need to buy a key for £3. You can then set it up and once you unlock
your bike you pay £1 for a 24h access period. The actual rental is free for 30
mn. Fair enough.
-
I've used it 3-5 times a week for almost a year,
with only hassles when
I can't find a bike (the un-predictability isn't great if you have a
morning meeting) or can't
return them (which means missing your train).
-
Trouble starts if you use your bike after the
'access period' has ended. The problem is that the access period isn't renewed
automatically if you're on the bike, resulting in a £150 fine! If you're like
me, you're thinking who's going to want to lug those heavy beasts for over 24
hours? But if for instance your train is late on day 1 (I hear it can happen
sometimes) and you pick a bike up at say 0830. If on day two you pick a bike up
at for instance 0829, cycle to your destination and dock it at 0834, you're
done. Bang, they've slapped you a £150 fine.
-
This happened to me. For 40 seconds.
-
Of course it doesn't make sense, but try to
explain common sense to TfL.
Bottom line: Barclays should ensure that customer
experience is good for services they lend their name to. Failing to do this
damages their reputation –exactly the point of this blog post.
Some conclusions for Barclays:
-
Don’t expect your customers to do the leg work:
I'm a customer and if break it, I expect you to fix it
-
Make sure you communicate all the information
you need (including passwords) on all the products you have on a given card
Some advice to TfL:
-
The obligation to touch in at a given tube
station to complete an action is impractical
-
The quality of service for the Boris Bikes is
not great but you should at least fix the processes that are plainly wrong
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