Ticket Office Mystery Shop Survey on 23/01/2012
Research Undertaken by London TravelWatch following the reduction of ticket office opening hours at a range of Underground stations in February 2011 shows that London Underground appears to be falling short of its customer service aspirations in several key areas. The research found inadequate staffing at gatelines and ticket offices and a lack of real time information despite TfL Commissioner Peter Hendy’s comments in October 2010 that he wanted ‘people in hi-vis jackets on the gatelines and on the platform’.
The mystery shopping surveys, conducted in October and November 2011, found a wide variety of situations, ranging from stations which had fully functioning and staffed ticket offices, when they should have been closed through to some stations with no apparent staff presence at all. In the later cases, there was potential for inconvenience to passengers arriving with a valid but faulty ticket.
There was inconsistency in the appearance of ticket offices, with windows sometimes apparently open, but with no staff immediately around. When staff were found, they were generally polite, but many did not take a helpful interest in the passenger’s requirements.
The research also found that although many platforms have dot matrix indicators, they did not all provide effective ‘real time’ information, often showing only the time and name of the line, but not the waiting time until the next train.
Sharon Grant, Chair, London TravelWatch said: “The closure of ticket offices was and is a controversial issue, very unpopular with the travelling public, who valued them as a source of help and information. However the promise of a highly visible, customer friendly, uniformed staff presence at gatelines was held out as an attractive alternative by London Underground Limited.”
“It is therefore very disappointing to find that in a proportion of cases, this commitment is not being fulfilled. There is a need for consistency in ensuring that gatelines are safe in the event of emergency, but also that fare evasion is not encouraged or achieved.”
“While it is pleasing that all stations surveyed were clean and graffiti free, with up-to-date rainbow boards and plenty of ticket machines, it is deeply frustrating when passengers who, for a variety of reasons require customer service assistance, can see no staff around. Customers cannot always purchase the ticket they need at a machine and it is often hard to determine what the best value fare is, especially if they aren’t frequent travellers around London.”
The Mystery Shopper report is available on our website.
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For more information, please contact the London TravelWatch press office on 020 7726 9953 or 07734 055494.
