I fucking hate Virgin trains
Dec 6 2007 19:41
I really fucking do. I want to go from Ipswich to Manchester, see a ticket online for 50 quid (special saver offer, limited availability) which is pretty reasonable, and try to buy it. Except I can't, the Virgin system isn't working, and the next one up is about 75 quid. So I call up a guy on the end of a tinny line and ask why the 50 quid one won't work.
"There is no 50 pound offer sir" (at this point I still have it sitting there in black and white on my screen).
"Why not?"
"It probably got bought up sir."
"Okay what's the next cheapest?"
"86 pounds sir"
Cue me getting annoyed, asking him how the fuck all the cheap tickets mysteriously disappear when I try to buy them, and him making it worse by suggesting I phone someone to tell me how to work the internet because clearly I was doing it wrong. Tosser.
Fucking wanky fucking virgin
Dec 6 2007 19:56
#2
If I was the customer service guy I probably would've been a lot ruder than that guy.
A bunch of friends of mine used to work at a call center as operators for some shady company. They were basically completely unmonitored and regularly got into ridiculous fights with the callers, making fun of them, insulting them, and so forth. The callers also liked to threaten the operators, trying to get their address so they could go beat their ass, beckoning them to come across the US so they could fight, threatening to "karate kick" the pay phone they were on, and so forth.
It seemed kind of awesome until they all got laid off and the company moved to Mexico.
Dec 6 2007 22:44
#3
I've had periods of having to use virgin trains, and the thing that strikes me about them is that more often than not they're rdiculously overcrowded, so much so that it's obviously being done deliberately ie the company makes more money by not bothering to run enough trains and making everyone pay a full price ticket to stand in the aisle. More than once it's been so bad that those big toilets they have were choc full of people, including sitting on the toilet, on top of the sink etc and a few poor sods having to stand where the automatic sliding toilet door tries to shut and having to constantly press the button all through the journey to stop it shutting on them
start the fucking train!!
Dec 7 2007 09:52
#4
Quote:
The callers also liked to threaten the operators, trying to get their address so they could go beat their ass, beckoning them to come across the US so they could fight, threatening to "karate kick" the pay phone they were on, and so forth.
That's pretty much par for the course for any call centre staff. Or anyone in customer service, come to that. I worked in a supermarket once and got threatened by some yob because I made a mistake scanning his stuff - despite the fact that I corrected it, he decided I deserved a kicking and actually waited around the two hours until closing time! Unfortunately for him, I went out the other way - for all I know, he waits there still ...
When I worked in a call centre (not actually doing call centre work, thank god!), perverts of all descriptions would phone up all the time. The company favourite was a foot-fetishist who used to start his calls quite innocuously and work his way round to asking what shoes the CSA was wearing. The company used to flash up alerts like "He's back, keep your sandals on girls!".
Dec 7 2007 11:09
#5
It's a love/hate relationship, joe publics a fickle character (oh yeh and cunt too), so you want something from the company i work for and you're dealing with me, and you're being abusive you're not too clever are you...ha ha ha
Dec 7 2007 11:27
#6
I travel a lot to Leeds (GNER) and Manchester (Virgin). Similar kinds of journies, you might think. But no, because the Virgin trains are always fucking late getting into Manchester, which means they can't turn them around quickly enough to set off back to London on time, which means that they can't turn them around quickly enough to set off back to Manchester on time..... and so on. The lateness accumulates throughout the day to the extent that they start cancelling them. Cunts.
Dec 7 2007 11:31
#7
Demogorgon303 wrote:
Quote:
The callers also liked to threaten the operators, trying to get their address so they could go beat their ass, beckoning them to come across the US so they could fight, threatening to "karate kick" the pay phone they were on, and so forth.That's pretty much par for the course for any call centre staff. Or anyone in customer service, come to that. I worked in a supermarket once and got threatened by some yob because I made a mistake scanning his stuff - despite the fact that I corrected it, he decided I deserved a kicking and actually waited around the two hours until closing time! Unfortunately for him, I went out the other way - for all I know, he waits there still ...
When I worked in a call centre (not actually doing call centre work, thank god!), perverts of all descriptions would phone up all the time. The company favourite was a foot-fetishist who used to start his calls quite innocuously and work his way round to asking what shoes the CSA was wearing. The company used to flash up alerts like "He's back, keep your sandals on girls!".
I've worked in a few customer service jobs and I'm by far not the nicest of customer service reps (I'm always surprised I've never gotten fired from those jobs), but no one ever threatened to fight me. How strange, now that I think of it.
Its not virgin trains, its just the pricks who are on the end of the booking. I never get any luck with them. I travel frequently from London to the Midlands and my ticks are just abit above 44. Everytime i've gone to order or enquire, either on the phone or to a station ive been given different prices, inc. one over 200 pounds! From any Croydon station if you want to go anywere except for Brighton or central London they panic and give you the wrong ticket, i've had to fork out for a brand new set of tickets a few times on trains because i've been sold the wrong ones at the booth. I've found out you need to fully research where your going and how much it is likely to be and then tell them the price, like most GPs you need to tell them what is right for them to get it right.
When your on Virgin trains though they are nice, except I remember they only sell their own rubbish cola.