GWR Ticket Office Commission

[dutchbedford]

In my experience, the only thing GWR members of staff may ‘upsell’ is first class and/or railcards. Two things which are scored by the DfT in terms of service quality, through mystery shops. As others have said, no commission for ticket office colleagues.

 

[50039]

My experience of GWR ticket offices has been excellent. Admittedly, I've only used them in Devon and Cornwall, but I've witnessed the staff helping out customers with pre-booking of complex journeys with multiple tickets, writing it down, offering cheaper options. And they've sold me cheaper tickets than the ticket machine would allow me to buy at the time...
Maybe it's a west country thing - but I've found them excellent

 

[father_jack]

OP still hasn't come back to spill da beans on where this is happening which makes me wonder......

 

[FY4]

Are staff at ticket offices at GWR paid commission based on sales they make?

I have never seen such aggressive upselling.

Firstly, I have had a few instances where staff try to convince me that tickets cost substantially more than they do, then get abusive when they're caught out and I buy one from a machine at the correct price instead.

I often split tickets to save money and staff at GWR spend over a minute trying to convince me to not do this, even to such extremes as the ticket costing £45 when split and £90 when it isn't, as the more expensive ticket offers greater flexibility and it's 'definitely worth paying twice as much to arrive ten minutes earlier'.

A month back they lied to my wife that it would be cheaper to buy two singles than a period return and unfortunately she believed them.

Today I have had a woman trying to convince me that I should buy a period return, rather than a day return, as this offers greater flexibility should I change my mind and decide to stay overnight at the last minute. As usual, she didn't just drop this when I politely declined and went on for over a minute attempting to convince me to spend more money.

I haven't experienced this with any other rail company and the only explanation I can think of for such aggressive upselling is that these guys are being paid commission.

I wonder if it's about the amount of money the office takes especially if not so long ago offices were risking closure

 

[Haywain]

I wonder if it's about the amount of money the office takes especially if not so long ago offices were risking closure

I doubt many staff have much idea about how much there office takes.

 

[The exile]

I wonder if it's about the amount of money the office takes especially if not so long ago offices were risking closure

In the case of the split ticket it sounds a bit a clumsy attempt to explain that the split being asked for will require an extra change. Frequent announcements on my (London) train saying that anyone with a Didcot split will need to change at Swindon onto a train that stops there suggests that it’s a bit of an issue.

 

[RPI]

Just for clarity, GWR ticket office staff don't get commission, not is there any kind of incentive to do the things alleged by the OP, the only up selling I'm aware of is Railcards, First class and plus bus which is fed from the DfT.

IT would be helpful to know exactly what was asked for, I'd be very surprised if the exact alleged interactions were taking place across multiple ticket offices and if they are then some refresher training would definitely be desirable.

I only really interact with ticket offices in the West Country where the vast majority of staff take a real pride in their stations and the information they provide to their passengers, most of the locals are on first name terms.

 

[SwindonBert]

I've always found the GWR staff to be very helpful & only sell what I need / ask for (although, far from uniquely on this site I'm probably more aware than the usual customer of what's possible)

They have had a new system installed a few weeks ago the training was about a day & if the OP had an incident just after then that was possibly the cause.

As for writing to your MP, unless, like me you live in Swindon South you're not likely to get more than a sympathetic reply & little else

 

[Red Rover]

No, clerks, retailers, customer service assistance and all the names as well do not get commission, it’s their job to sell the appropriate ticket for the appropriate journey, they can also sell multiple permutations if they can but they can’t be expected to know all of them.
I’m quite surprised at such a militant attitude of some rail enthusiasts at the prospect of the closure of ticket offices on here, expected better, when they’re gone and stations are wrecked and looking like a scene from the warriors don’t say you weren’t warned from the unions.
The painful truth is for some is the railway will always lose money, it will always be a money pit and the greatest saving there is to be made is not to have one, that’s hardly progress is it?
DOO is a race to the bottom.

Some do, money isn’t in many ways the main driver, it’s tickets sold that is the core thing that’s pushes staffing, lots of ticket offices may take lots per shift but if they’re not selling their toc’s fare flow they’re only getting (9-10% approx) of the ticket, hence some toc’s clerks doing a complicated advance aren’t happy with the commission for the company received as they get £2 for a 30 minute transaction when 30 people have boarded their train and fare flow and lost £300.
Privatisation and all that…

In my experience Reading had some of the best clerks going, the people in the travel centre (guessing that’s long gone) really knew their stuff.

 

[185143]

No, clerks, retailers, customer service assistance and all the names as well do not get commission, it’s their job to sell the appropriate ticket for the appropriate journey, they can also sell multiple permutations if they can but they can’t be expected to know all of them.
I’m quite surprised at such a militant attitude of some rail enthusiasts at the prospect of the closure of ticket offices on here, expected better, when they’re gone and stations are wrecked and looking like a scene from the warriors don’t say you weren’t warned from the unions.
The painful truth is for some is the railway will always lose money, it will always be a money pit and the greatest saving there is to be made is not to have one, that’s hardly progress is it?
DOO is a race to the bottom.

Some do, money isn’t in many ways the main driver, it’s tickets sold that is the core thing that’s pushes staffing, lots of ticket offices may take lots per shift but if they’re not selling their toc’s fare flow they’re only getting (9-10% approx) of the ticket, hence some toc’s clerks doing a complicated advance aren’t happy with the commission for the company received as they get £2 for a 30 minute transaction when 30 people have boarded their train and fare flow and lost £300.
Privatisation and all that…

In my experience Reading had some of the best clerks going, the people in the travel centre (guessing that’s long gone) really knew their stuff.

I bought a ranger from there once, think it was the Kennett Day Ranger.

The clerk hadn't heard of it, but once she'd found it, she was very keen to learn about it and find out what it was valid for. Which admittedly it shouldn't really have been down to me to pass on that knowledge, but a keenness to expand your knowledge absolutely has to be applauded in all walks of life.

The vast majority of times I've bought ranger/rover tickets from GWR ticket offices, if not every time though I'm not certain, I've been told to enjoy, have fun or something similar. My experiences of ticket offices is limited these days, and GWR are pretty low on the list of ticket offices I would have reason to use. But I certainly agree with comments above that they're certainly the better ones. Also Greater Anglia at Norwich and Ipswich I've had nothing but good experiences with. Buying a Spirit of Scotland at Norwich got a good conversation that's for sure.

 

[Red Rover]

Issuing a rover on star is a 5/6 button issue but many people don’t know of all the rovers available, there are an awful lot.

 

[Haywain]

if they’re not selling their toc’s fare flow they’re only getting (9-10% approx) of the ticket, hence some toc’s clerks doing a complicated advance aren’t happy with the commission for the company received as they get £2 for a 30 minute transaction when 30 people have boarded their train and fare flow and lost £300.

Ticket office staff should have no concerns over such matters. They are there to serve their customers impartially, regardless of which TOC they might be travelling with.

 

[Red Rover]

Of course, but as a “business” aren’t we best of serving our own customers and keeping our share of the revenue? The % of commission is ridiculously low for busy stations that do a lot of work for railheads nearby.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Of course, but as a “business” aren’t we best of serving our own customers and keeping our share of the revenue? The % of commission is ridiculously low for busy stations that do a lot of work for railheads nearby.

'Impartial Retailing' across all TOCs (unless at an explicitly labelled window and at a station that also has 'impartial' windows) has been an obligation right from the dawn of privatisation. It is 'best' to comply with the rules.

 

[Haywain]

Of course, but as a “business” aren’t we best of serving our own customers and keeping our share of the revenue? The % of commission is ridiculously low for busy stations that do a lot of work for railheads nearby.

"Our own customers" are the people buying tickets, regardless of who they travel with. What the company earns is a matter for people in a different area of the business (when I managed ticket offices the key figure was turnover). It should be noted that when ticket offices are proposed for closure the figures are on transactions per hour and not takings or earnings.

I know one example of an office closure being based on earnings but in that case it was not the primary office at the station and did not have to go through statutory consultation.

 

[Red Rover]

I bought a ranger from there once, think it was the Kennett Day Ranger.

The clerk hadn't heard of it, but once she'd found it, she was very keen to learn about it and find out what it was valid for. Which admittedly it shouldn't really have been down to me to pass on that knowledge, but a keenness to expand your knowledge absolutely has to be applauded in all walks of life.

The vast majority of times I've bought ranger/rover tickets from GWR ticket offices, if not every time though I'm not certain, I've been told to enjoy, have fun or something similar. My experiences of ticket offices is limited these days, and GWR are pretty low on the list of ticket offices I would have reason to use. But I certainly agree with comments above that they're certainly the better ones. Also Greater Anglia at Norwich and Ipswich I've had nothing but good experiences with. Buying a Spirit of Scotland at Norwich got a good conversation that's for sure.

"Our own customers" are the people buying tickets, regardless of who they travel with. What the company earns is a matter for people in a different area of the business (when I managed ticket offices the key figure was turnover). It should be noted that when ticket offices are proposed for closure the figures are on transactions per hour and not takings or earnings.

I know one example of an office closure being based on earnings but in that case it was not the primary office at the station and did not have to go through statutory consultation.

I think I wrote that above, a station on a mainline can take £5 million a year but have high fares and low issues, a busy suburban station close to destination can issue x10 what they do. They’re the grafters.
I’ve worked both.

"Our own customers" are the people buying tickets, regardless of who they travel with

Really? They don’t hold connections anymore and if there are delays toc’s are pretty quick at sending claims back to the toc at fault.
You’re correct in the BR sense but in the fragmented railways there has to be accountability, or the attempt to be.

 

[Haywain]

Really? They don’t hold connections anymore and if there are delays toc’s are pretty quick at sending claims back to the toc at fault.
You’re correct in the BR sense but in the fragmented railways there has to be accountability, or the attempt to be.

From a ticket office perspective, yes, there is no distinction. Connections and Delay Repay claims are not in any way relevant to this.

 

[Red Rover]

From a ticket office perspective, yes, there is no distinction. Connections and Delay Repay claims are not in any way relevant to this.

They are in the mindset of employees now, we’re separate, words and motifs written in marketing offices may say different but sadly we’re all different now.
Also in a reality, you try telling a customer a train left with them missing a connection due to right time railway and toc’s not concerned about customers from the elsewhere. That is a reality at all interchange stations with different operators.