First (hmm) Great (Trades Descriptions Act) Western (Erm!)
So Long…Farewell….
I have a friend who is off to Gibraltar for two years today. On Wednesday he was going to jump on a train from North Camp (Farborough) to Reading so we could have a few beers and say cheerio. Train was due to leave North Camp at 21.29. By 21.45 I was at Reading station waiting…text from him saying it was delayed until 21.54…that was the time of the next scheduled service. Ok, he can still get that….what do I do, well a) I needed to powder my nose (sorry, if you need to pee you can’t use the toilets at that time in Reading station, they are all shuttered up) and then b) still needing nose powdering, nearest powdery nose place was the Three Guineas, could be worse.
Nose powdered, glass of wine bought…TEXT “f**king saying it’s 22.12 now!” Hmm, I could sense a little tenseness from this text!!
I called National Rail Enquiries 08457 48 49 50, after the numerous options I get through:
Me: “Hello, can you please tell me when the 21.29 from North Camp will be arriving”
NRE: “Where is North Camp?”
Me: “Farnborough”
NRE: “The next train from Farnborough is….”
Me: (I interrupt) There are two stations in Farnborough, I want North Camp
NRE: “Oh”
Me: “My friend was at the station to catch the 21.29, he is still there, what is the reason for the delay?”
NRE: ” The train is delayed by 59 mins”
Me: “Can you tell me why this is?”
NRE: “No”
Me: “Surely you must know why a train has been delayed by an hour and what happened to the intermittent train?”
NRE: “No I can’t, there is no information”
Me: ” I have to say I am surprised at the lack of information and the poor service and the fact that my friend has been waiting there for over 45 mins and you have no explanation”
SILENCE
Me: ” Hello, are you there?…..Can you speak to me?”
NRE: ” Yes I am here I was nodding in agreement with you”
Me: ” I am talking to you on the phone I cannot see you… nodding doesn’t help”
SILENCE (I presumed more nodding was taking place)
NRE: ” Is there anything else I can help you with?”
Me: “Erm, I think not”
TEXT “Fed up, pissed off, cold, wet, going home”
Thank you First Great Western for our farewell drink.
Chink Chink cheers to you!
I wonder if they’ll pay for my flight to Gibraltar?
SILENCE
Is that them nodding???
I love Gibraltar! It’s one of my favourite places and I once tried to find a job there as I wanted to live there though I didn’t have much luck, sadly.
Really need to go back there soon!
Missed that out in my first comment.
This is hilarious!
I mean, I’ve done callcentre stuff before, did they not train these people at all!?
Dreadful. And unsurprising.