London North Eastern Railway (LNER) First Class service

[Butts]

Has anyone seen the post on The East Coast Forum about the afternoon tea-the guy was complaining that he was not offered a "hot alternative" to the measly fare that constituted East Coast's definition of the aforesaid - Devon Tea's have no fear

Apparently it was withdrawn due to "lack of take up"

In other words as with other aspects of the service the staff didn't bother to ask anyone if they would like to take advantage of it (creating more work no doubt)

I know it sounds petty but had I had the chance to pose the "toast" and "chaser" questions the whole charade would have been exposed for the money saving debacle it really is.:roll:

 

[ainsworth74]

Has anyone seen the post on The East Coast Forum about the afternoon tea-the guy was complaining that he was not offered a "hot alternative" to the measly fare that constituted East Coast's definition of the aforesaid - Devon Tea's have no fear

Apparently it was withdrawn due to "lack of take up"

Yes Barry Doe took them to the cleaners on this issue in the latest Rail (687) and strongly advised people to avoid the 1400, 1500, 1530 and 1600 from Kings Cross and the 1430 from Edinburgh as these only offer scones, tea and sandwiches for the whole journey.

 

[Blindtraveler]

is it just me or is the whole thing turning into more of a wripoff every week?

 

[calc7]

is it just me or is the whole thing turning into more of a wripoff every week?

Quite - it is the attrition DaveNewcastle has mentioned.

The best policy (indeed my current one) is to set yourself a limit of paying no more for First than £x more than the standard class fare, and have an absolute cap of £y.

x and y depend on your individual circumstances and entitlement to discounts, but, for all people, these parameters should be monotonically decreasing.

 

[ainsworth74]

is it just me or is the whole thing turning into more of a wripoff every week?

Well compared to how Virgin manage their catering it does look that way! They seem to have cracked the offer for passengers as far as Leeds and York but for those travelling further north to Newcastle/Edinburgh/Aberdeen/Inverness they're still failing to really meet expectations/demand.

 

[amcluesent]

PBO pax have always been forgotten about!!

 

[Blindtraveler]

i would argue that even yorkshire pax are being let down - example, in GNER days the 14:00 off the cross convayed a buffet, standard trolley, FC tea/coffee plus buffet items brougght to your seat and a restaurant for both FC and STD.

Later it offered at seat dining and now those same pax for stops to york are being offered... Tea and scones!
my views on0both TPE and voyagers are wel published elsewhere on the forum but Im putting up with both for the sake of a hot, tilting pendo dinner south of Ppreston! As for afternoon travel involving the 14:30 off EDB? its shocking on that length of trip!!

 

[calc7]

PBO pax have always been forgotten about!!

They don't do too well on breakfast trains, but due to either dishonesty or apathy from staff it is very easy to get a full meal and drinks on a northbound service out of London!

Much the same as for MK on Branson's route.

 

[Blindtraveler]

well if you think thats bad a friend of mine who is a photographer by traid did the 07:55 off INV this week
deliberately avoiding a travelodge breakfast and booking FC to be told that only pax for stations south of EDB would be offered breakfast, due to a shortage of said items. Wel done RG, Epick fail number......

 

[DaveNewcastle]

i would argue that even yorkshire pax are being let down - example, in GNER days . . . . .

Indeed they are.
There used to be a PA announcement (on leaving Doncaster on a northbound but can't remember if it was also at Donny on the southbound) asking passenger to join the second sitting for dinner/ lunch/ breakfast. First and Second Calss pax all invited, of course.

. . . to be told that only pax for stations south of EDB would be offered breakfast, due to a shortage of said items. Wel done RG, Epick fail number......

You'd think they might learn.
I would, you would, in fact any other business would. But EC?
Nope.

The myth of former losses (which included all sorts of notional cross-charging the Restaurant for an equivalent fare even for empty seats, and all sorts of access charges to stock and stations, some unused) only shows that they fail to understand how to run a viable business. The fact that they have to give away the food and drink for free (sometimes, somedays, some places) in an attempt to plug the losses just reinforces the obvious view that they don't know how to run a commercial business. Their Catering Director should go and run a High Street restaurant for a year and learn the hard way if his interviewers forgot to ask about previous experience at the time of appointment.

Seriously, if any other large institution appointed a Catering policy which claimed if could curb a £21m annual loss by giving it all away free - what do you think they'd say? Who else does this? A Theatre restaurant? A Sports stadium restaurant? A leisure park restaurant? An airport restaurant?

 

[Butts]

well if you think thats bad a friend of mine who is a photographer by traid did the 07:55 off INV this week
deliberately avoiding a travelodge breakfast and booking FC to be told that only pax for stations south of EDB would be offered breakfast, due to a shortage of said items. Wel done RG, Epick fail number......

God almighty does enpowerment exist within that company....are people allowed to go the extra mile..... Ring ahead to Edinburgh and get the supplies topped up there. Or even source some bacon butties from somewhere locally or enroute or on arrival at Edinburgh.

Have these people got any imagination or abilty to think on their feet

It's hardly rocket science - anyone would think they don't give a toss !!

 

[jon0844]

It's hardly rocket science - everyone would think they don't give a toss !!

Corrected your typo.

 

[Butts]

Corrected your typo.

Very Good my sentiments precisely

 

[dave87016]

On Tuesday I did the 08:45am Leeds - Kings X and the 17:33pm Kings X - Leeds using my rewards, superb breakfast on the outward journey and on the return we were offered Tuna & Cucumber sandwiches or Smokewood Cheese & Chutney with the hot option being Chicken & Mushroom pie & fries followed by cake & crisps on both legs the tea/coffee were nice and hot and came round 4 times !!.....the alcoholic drinks were offered twice on the return journey

 

[ainsworth74]

deliberately avoiding a travelodge breakfast and booking FC to be told that only pax for stations south of EDB would be offered breakfast, due to a shortage of said items. Wel done RG, Epick fail number......

The problem with Inverness is that RG don't have a base there (or at least don't supply EC from there) so the catering for the morning southbound has to be loaded at Edinburgh the night before this means that if there is an issue with the refrigeration in the kitchen overnight they have to scrap all the food. Though they do normally try and grab bacon or something from a nearby shop so they can at least offer bacon sandwiches or some other breakfast food.

 

[Blindtraveler]

i told him to ask Re this aund apparently it was an RG prob rather than the fridges which I believe are now not breaking down so often.

Butts/john, agree with you both! im glad dave you had a good trip to London from LDS, proving I think the point that pax on
Some
of the Yorkshire trains are getting a service that is up to standard.

 

[Jeremy B]

Same old rants day after day in this thread (is there a yawn smiley one can apply here) A lot of these complainers seem to be travelling on ever cheaper tickets but will never be satisfied because the missed out on another drink or sandwich which they would have got on Virgin trains. Seduced by all this hype I looked forward to my recent return trip from Carlisle to Euston on Virgin with a trip on Northern's Tyne Valley line at the beginning & end to/from Newcastle to see what it was all about. I saw little difference between what I get on EC & what I was offered on VT - yes the grass is always greener until you actually get there & experience it for yourself.

 

[ainsworth74]

i told him to ask Re this aund apparently it was an RG prob rather than the fridges which I believe are now not breaking down so often.

Fair enough! In my defence the information I imparted is quite old now as I got it originally from silentone (a member of EC catering crew) before he seemingly left the forum and that was several months ago now.

 

[Blindtraveler]

yeh thought we hadnt seen him for a while. dont worry. The purpose of it was to show the inconsistancies.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
jeremy,
yeh there are some v cheep advances out there often cheeper than the combined cost of STD Tiket, wifi and a beer, panini and coffee from the buffet all bought seperately
however there are posters here and many more out there who iether directly or via expenses are paying full wack for there tikets and not getting value!
Imagion turning up for the 15:00 off the cross with a £200 plus tiket and being offered 2 sandwitches, a scone and a coffee?

There are at least 2 in this thread who iether run there own business or are self employed freelancers, myself being one and personally speeking I want to offer those I work for value for money and to me that means turning up for a job which iv had to travel for rested, refreshed and dependant on time of day, fed.

 

[John @ home]

They seem to have cracked the offer for passengers as far as Leeds

I strongly disagree. See my post #2170 in this thread.

 

[AlterEgo]

A lot of these complainers seem to be travelling on ever cheaper tickets but will never be satisfied because the missed out on another drink or sandwich which they would have got on Virgin trains.

Actually many people are complaining about the withdrawal of the restaurant last year. That's a totally different service with food paid for on demand - with the result that quality was higher and portions more generous.

I've sat on the fence for a long time and have tried food offerings (both complimentary and paid-for) on a number of train operators. I'm now firmly of the belief that a paid-for restaurant service is superior.

I have sympathy with posters like DaveNewcastle who mourn the loss of this service on East Coast. It is a shame, and having tried East Coast a couple of times I have to say I was disappointed with the food even from a complimentary perspective.

 

[sidmouth]

And I'm complaining at the at the loss of the at-seat / trolley service for PBO - KGX passengers travelling 1st class, particularly when I've forked out £124 return for a stale croissant and left hungry and annoyed. I know the £124 fare had probably increased since, but as i have said in previos posts i have given up travelling 1st class to KGX with EC purely because of the down turn / loss of service. And yes I could trot down to the buffet car, but i would rather not leave my laptop around (being able to work on the train is my justification for
travelling 1st; if I'm hungry / cannot use my laptop then I travel cattle class).

Come back NEx, and I never thought I would ever say that.

 

[calc7]

Same old rants day after day in this thread (is there a yawn smiley one can apply here) A lot of these complainers seem to be travelling on ever cheaper tickets but will never be satisfied because the missed out on another drink or sandwich which they would have got on Virgin trains. Seduced by all this hype I looked forward to my recent return trip from Carlisle to Euston on Virgin with a trip on Northern's Tyne Valley line at the beginning & end to/from Newcastle to see what it was all about. I saw little difference between what I get on EC & what I was offered on VT - yes the grass is always greener until you actually get there & experience it for yourself.

By all accounts the Scottish VT crews are the most stingy. I was on a EUS-BHM dinner service last Friday. Drinks served before we'd even left the station throat at Euston, dinner (reasonable portions) along swiftly and followed by desserts. The trolley wally said "drink up, I'll be back soon!" Great - I have a choice. 90% of passengers are content with a reasonable meal, a small dessert and a steady supply of drinks. The EC bean counters really need to realise that not everybody is out to eat and drink them out of house and home.

 

[HST Power]

This thread is still going! Heck! :P

My next 1st Class trip with East Coast won't be for a while yet, but I agree with the points raised by sidmouth. Whilst in retrospect, I intend to keep travelling First Class, I don't like to leave my laptop around on any train service. I sometimes get around this by asking someone to watch my things if I have to leave the coach, but you can never be to careful.

 

[marks87]

It must be awkward not leaving your laptop when, er, "nature calls"!

 

[ainsworth74]

I strongly disagree. See my post #2170 in this thread.

My apologies I meant from a theoretical view point in that if the offer were delivered as one might actually expect it to be on journeys of that length it would be about right (as in no catering difficulties and the trolleys coming through at the frequency we're told their supposed to). Though of course due to EC's seeming inability to consistently offer everything they're supposed to we still have issues :roll:

 

[Butts]

And I'm complaining at the at the loss of the at-seat / trolley service for PBO - KGX passengers travelling 1st class, particularly when I've forked out £124 return for a stale croissant and left hungry and annoyed. I know the £124 fare had probably increased since, but as i have said in previos posts i have given up travelling 1st class to KGX with EC purely because of the down turn / loss of service. And yes I could trot down to the buffet car, but i would rather not leave my laptop around (being able to work on the train is my justification for
travelling 1st; if I'm hungry / cannot use my laptop then I travel cattle class).

Come back NEx, and I never thought I would ever say that.

I'll think of you when I'm munching through my complimentary breakfast ex-Edinburgh on a trip from Falkirk to Berwick Upon Tweed that cost me the princely sum of £7.85

 

[Marton]

There are at least 2 in this thread who iether run there own business or are self employed freelancers, myself being one and personally speaking I want to offer those I work for value for money and to me that means turning up for a job which iv had to travel for rested, refreshed and dependent on time of day, fed.

Actually many people are complaining about the withdrawal of the restaurant last year. That's a totally different service with food paid for on demand - with the result that quality was higher and portions more generous.

... I'm now firmly of the belief that a paid-for restaurant service is superior.

That's me summed up. Work all day at home in the North East, then want to get to London for early the next day. Paying flexible fares [off peak £285 to £308 depending on the journey] to be treated as an inconvenience by many of the catering staff, especially on the **** from York.

I still see some of the catering crew I have seen for years, most seem rather embarrassed at what they are expected to do.

 

[amcluesent]

Inconsistency is the issue for sure, but there's no doubt it's best to avoid the HST. I now aim for certain trains and avoid others, but it does change. The 18:03 out of KGX for Skipton used to be the pits, but it's now a 91 and FC service is pretty good. The 17:19 to Hull now seems to be the runt of the litter.

 

[gazthomas]

No hot food in 18.33 KGX to Bradford due to "operational health and safety issues"

What the bye-ek does that mean?