SE23.com - The Official Forum for Forest Hill & Honor Oak, London SE23
Online since 2002   11,000+ members   72,000+ posts

Home | SE23 Topics | Businesses & Services | Wider Topics | Offered/Wanted/Lost/Found | About SE23.com | Advertising | Contact | |
 Armstrong & Co Solicitors



Poll: Should we have a queuing system at our stations
yes
no
That was truly a great anecdote
[Show Results]
 
Post Reply  Post Topic 
Queuing for the ticket office
Author Message
baggydave


Posts: 390
Joined: May 2004
Post: #1
29-02-2008 09:49 PM

This morning I did not get mugged on the train, no Eastern Europeans with babes in arms asked for money, no loud phone conversations or i-pods, not one annoying busker, nor was the train short, and there was plenty of space (08.29 as you will all be interested). I was not hassled by a big issue' seller, although the Metro (that I try to avoid) was particularly devoid of intereting news. I managed to find a mate to chat with. This was almost as civilised as cycling. Is this an unusual experience?

Sorry I digress.

There was three ticket booths open. Yes three. I could avoid the grumpy one. There was three people getting served and only two people queuing. Just as I went to get served, the older lady, queuing behind one chap who just finished his trasaction said to me "don't you know that there is a queue", ie she thought that I shoud step aside to let her move from the central booth. The ticket staff thought this was hilarious and said something to the effect that she was the local nutter.

So three questions.

Are you the local nutter?

Have you seen the said nutter?

Should there be queue management like you see at large stations, post office, bank etc?

BD - brightening even the most mudane of lives, with his every day stories of SE23 folk

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
vipes


Posts: 145
Joined: Oct 2006
Post: #2
01-03-2008 09:56 AM

Like the cut of your jib baggydave.

I've seen a fair few fall outs as the result of no sign saying "please form one queue". Some at the station. It invariably gets tricky when you get to the front of a central queue that no one else has joined. Then a new queuer comes along and approaches the cashier who's just finishing with a customer. But you haven't noticed this because you're so distracted by the competing beliefs that a) this new queuer has contemptous diregard for a brilliantly democratic and efficient waiting system - in which case an assertive intervention / early morning row becomes iminent or b) they just think you're queuing for the middle cashier.

A sign saying "please form one queue" would cure my neuroses.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
annsquire66


Posts: 105
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #3
01-03-2008 10:06 AM

A single queue would surely require a bigger ticket hall, or failing that, very thin people without bags, prams and other encumberances to fit into a flatpack style queuing system.
AND- a few more staff behind the counter to make it seem worthwhile (we need several grumpy people to glare/sigh/tap our feet at).
Carry on fighting- all in a morning's entertainment clearly! Wink

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #4
01-03-2008 10:49 AM

Whenever I queue up most people seem to work on single queue basis , otherwise you could get behing someone who wanted a senior citizen , weekend return to Kyle of Lochalsh with stopover in Inverness.
BD
I am not sure you are fare when you refer to the grumpy one. Not all customers ( passengers ) are a delight to serve as you . But I do know to whom you refer. Let us hope he does not read this site otherwise might refuse to serve Black Country people.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
shzl400


Posts: 729
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #5
01-03-2008 12:51 PM

Be grateful that you have the choice of grumpy or non-grumpy staff and can spend hours of entertainment debating whether to have one queue or many.

At Honor Oak, there is one window, one staff member, and one queue. The END!

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Red67


Posts: 141
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #6
01-03-2008 04:50 PM

forget the finer points of queuing etiquette, i'm more interested in 'the local nutter'??!! You mean there is only ONE local nutter??!!

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Sherwood


Posts: 1,412
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #7
01-03-2008 06:01 PM

We used to have arguements like this in the local Tesco Express until they put up the "One queue only" sign.

Usually when I buy a ticket you are lucky to find one window open.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
benji


Posts: 10
Joined: Jun 2007
Post: #8
06-03-2008 07:49 PM

I have to say that my experience of the ticket staff at FH stn is at best down right rude/unhelpful. My season ticket wasn't working and although it was issued by the trainline on behalf of southern, the letter explicitly asking for any train station to issue a new ticket without causing inconvenience to the customer seemed totally lost on the customer service assistant.

and herein lies the problem, the customer service assistant, offers no service, I am a passenger not a customer and this means I have to be resigned to the fact that I will be treated as though my money means nothing. finally the whole experience was thoroughly inconvenient. In my world, poor performers don't last very long - hopefully one day southern will recognise the basic principle for rewarding people who achieve.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
bigbadwolf


Posts: 100
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #9
06-03-2008 09:23 PM

I persnonally abide by the Magna Carta clause of queuing refering to article 1 section 11 which quite clearly states
' Any queuer regardless of race, gender or age reserves the right to put anyone regardless of the above who pinches their turn in line
in the stocks'
Seriously though, I have a real problem with those that sell the tickets who in my opinion relish in the opportunity of making us late for work in case their employers fail to do so first. There's been many a time when I'm queuing to buy my ticket on a monday morning with a queue of 20 being handled by two members of staff while another sits with a mug of tea watching the close to bursting customers who have just watched their train pull out of the station.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
steveb


Posts: 113
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #10
07-03-2008 11:44 AM

I have to defend the ticket staff. My experience is usually good, they even suggest cheaper alternatives to the ticket I ask for. Serving commuters must be a pretty thankless task so its hardly surprising if smiles are in short supply.

That said, I do try to avoid the grumpy one!

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Sherwood


Posts: 1,412
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #11
07-03-2008 12:18 PM

Actually, the staff are very good at advising about the cheapest ticket.
In my experience it is the customers who cause the delays.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
MissD


Posts: 5
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #12
07-03-2008 04:37 PM

I think the staff is really good...never experienced anything rude/grumpy and always helpful... Thumbsup for them!

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
benji


Posts: 10
Joined: Jun 2007
Post: #13
09-03-2008 04:37 PM

my view tends to be that if people don't like working with the general public, then find a job that doesn't involve working with them. I have no problem with recognising and rewarding people who do their job well and the woman at London Bridge who resolved my ticket query was one of those. Unfortunately the Forest Hill staff did not display an attitude that was anything other than, 'what is the least I can get away with.' I admit that this is only my opinion and everyone is entitled to their off days.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
se23northener


Posts: 38
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #14
10-03-2008 12:15 PM

Don't use the ticket office! You can get season tickets on line, or from the ticket office several days before renewal; you can buy any ticket from the machines the day before travel; you can get travelcards in the newsagent; etc, etc. Why waste time queuing up in the morning and suffering at the hands of the unhelpful ticket office staff?

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #15
10-03-2008 12:22 PM

I too find the staff usually helpful and friendly if you are to them

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
benji


Posts: 10
Joined: Jun 2007
Post: #16
10-03-2008 12:22 PM

on this occassion I had bought my ticket online so as to avoid wasting my time at the ticket office - unfortunatley when your ticket gives up the ghost you have to use an office. anyway, may I now offically end my rant! Lets talk about the weather, another British obession, along with q'ing!

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
baggydave


Posts: 390
Joined: May 2004
Post: #17
10-03-2008 08:46 PM

So to sum up all of you people who have season tickets, buy them on-line and leave the ticket booths to occasional travellers like myself, and so I can avoid the slow miserable one (who has been there a number of years). I particularly liked it when I got my daughter, aged seven at the time, to buy her first ever ticket and he/she was rude/blunt to her.

And it is not only stations where those dealing with the public have no people skills. Although from long experience they are in the minority so we can not get off our collective soap boxes.

BD - A first class precis of the situation

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #18
11-03-2008 01:26 PM

I feel some people are being a bit hard on this individual ( I know to whom you refer ).
I appreciate that if you are in a service industry you should always be polite such as good morning Sir and have a nice day etc but although the purchasers are strictly speaking the client, I do think onus is also on them to be polite. I was served by this gentleman today and wished him goodmorning and goodbye and he was friendly back.
What I really detest is people on mobiles expecting to be served. Unless you are able to give undivided attention to the server you should go to the back of the queue.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply

Friends of Blythe Hill Fields


Possibly Related Topics ...
Topic: Author Replies: Views: Last Post
  Honor Oak Park ticket office cuts rbmartin 5 5,302 29-05-2020 11:39 PM
Last Post: oryx
  TfL reverses decision to close Honor Oak Park ticket office hillview 5 5,038 12-05-2019 09:14 PM
Last Post: johnfbw
  TFL consultation on ticket office closures including HOP pixysunflower 0 2,771 09-10-2018 04:15 PM
Last Post: pixysunflower