Comments on: Irish Rail Gets It Right

By: Alexander

Alexander — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:20:12 +0000

whatever customer service is, in native Moscow it takes less than 10 mins (if it takes more – that’s a very serious accident) to make a rough clean of the site, they finish it later at night.
when there is 3 hrs delay, some ppl might already be not in hurry anymore

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:47:51 +0000

Wow, customer service like that is rare. Not only did they send a letter of apology, they gave you a gift! This kind of effort makes for loyal customers. Brilliant.

By: omaniblog

omaniblog — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:38:58 +0000

Oh I feel really touched. Thank you so much. You know you write away, not quite in a vacuum. You don’t know much about how others take your writing: there are so few comments. It’s a kind of act of faith. And every now and again, someone (like you) says something that makes you acutely aware that you are never an island.

By: gingerpixel

gingerpixel — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 11:26:57 +0000

It seemed appropriate Omani, and you’ve really educated me (and many others I’m sure) on the great work that Aware does so you are a good spokesperson for them.

By: omaniblog

omaniblog — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 08:25:54 +0000

I’ve been away and just got back to you Claire. I’m delighted to read that you’ll donate to Aware. It’s not my job to say thanks for that but, since Aware helps me, I think it is right that I thank you for choosing that charity to support.

By: gingerpixel

gingerpixel — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:00:45 +0000

Hi Frank, I couldn’t agree more…I never thought I’d be singing the praises of Irish Rail but there you go!

The Woollen Mills and the restaurant are lovely aren’t they? I was very impressed with the whole place and would be a regular if only I lived a bit closer.

By: Frank Fullard

Frank Fullard — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:44:27 +0000

Claire
When the whole customer service thing you wrote about erupted I made a point that one of the key issues in customer satisfaction relates to how a business handles a problem. If they can handle it well a potential complainant can be converted to an advocate of the company concerned.
I was in the Foxford Woollen Mills to-day and what with the arrival of “It’So” in the restaurant area and the huge revamp of the Mill Shop area itself we are fortunate now to have a shopping and visitor attraction in Foxford that is absolutely top class and compares favourably with anything anywhere!

By: annette

annette — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 23:08:17 +0000

I had a really good experience (albeit of a different kind) earlier in the year when I boarded the wrong train and the train driver stopped at a station to let me off! Consider me impressed!

http://www.inter-actions.biz/blog/2006/12/thank_you_iarnrod_eireann.html

By: gingerpixel

gingerpixel — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 15:23:03 +0000

Omani, I agree completely that it’s just as important to highlight the good customer service as well as the bad. Word of mouth is the best form of advertisement and it would be good to have companies vie for it.

I had the same thought about donating the compensation to charity. Considering what the cause of the delay was (a death on the line), if they can’t undo the refund for whatever reason I will be donating the money to Aware.

By: omaniblog

omaniblog — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 13:35:11 +0000

Good stuff Claire,
I think you are right to highlight excellent customer service. If people did more of that, companies might try to get in on the act a bit more.

You can move mountains by pushing them and by pulling them, eh!

I’d love you to persuade you not to refuse the compensation from Irish Rail. First, it is good to encourage them to get into a good habit. Second, it gives you an opportunity to donate the money to a charity of your choice. It would be a nice income stream for charities if they were on the receiving end of such corporate compensation.

I’d like to offer my congratulations to
Steve Murphy
General Manager
Southern and Western.

I’ll look out for him when next there is a promotion to the main board.