Hi,

I renewed my annual travelcard at Finchley Central last weekend and
was expecting to get some sort of refund due to the problems after the
Camden Town derailment. But it seems I have to fill out a customer
charter form to get the refund and that I should have filled in the
form within 14 days of the delay.

I'm sure in the past I have just got a refund when the ticket was
renewed, but the staff at FC reckoned this would only be if there had
been any strike days and there were none in the past 12 months.

So if I fill in the form now what are my chances of getting a refund?

Also the form seems to be orientated towards single journey delays as
it asks for the date and length of the delay.

On an unrelated issues is there a reason why the driver of the train
needs to blow into their microphone when they make an announcement? On
my journey in this morning the driver preceded every announcement with
two blows into the microphone. Presumably they use it so infrequently
they need to blow the dust out

Thanks
Andrew

In article ,
(Andy Coleman) wrote:

Hi,

I renewed my annual travelcard at Finchley Central last weekend and
was expecting to get some sort of refund due to the problems after the
Camden Town derailment. But it seems I have to fill out a customer
charter form to get the refund and that I should have filled in the
form within 14 days of the delay.

I'm sure in the past I have just got a refund when the ticket was
renewed, but the staff at FC reckoned this would only be if there had
been any strike days and there were none in the past 12 months.

So if I fill in the form now what are my chances of getting a refund?

Also the form seems to be orientated towards single journey delays as
it asks for the date and length of the delay.

On an unrelated issues is there a reason why the driver of the train
needs to blow into their microphone when they make an announcement? On
my journey in this morning the driver preceded every announcement with
two blows into the microphone. Presumably they use it so infrequently
they need to blow the dust out

Thanks
Andrew

Probably checking to see if it is working. The 95 stock handsets are
notorious for not working/giving up part way through. Often this is an
intermittent fault that seems to be electronic rather than mechanical (I
think it uses electronic switching). Despite repeatedly being reported,
these defects are still occurring. It is particularly galling when, during
a period of delay/service disruption/station closure and having made all
the required announcements regarding alternative arrangements, the driver
is then accused at the next station of not making any announcements!

Roger

In message ,
writes

Probably checking to see if it is working. The 95 stock handsets are
notorious for not working/giving up part way through. Often this is an
intermittent fault that seems to be electronic rather than mechanical (I
think it uses electronic switching). Despite repeatedly being reported,
these defects are still occurring. It is particularly galling when, during
a period of delay/service disruption/station closure and having made all
the required announcements regarding alternative arrangements, the driver
is then accused at the next station of not making any announcements!

We have similar problems on the Picc., usually due to people not
listening though, even though I start important announcements with 'Can
I have your attention please Ladies and gentlemen.....'

--
Steve Fitzgerald has now left the building.
You will find him in London's Docklands, E16, UK
(please use the reply to address for email)

In message , Steve Fitzgerald
] writes
In message ,
writes

Probably checking to see if it is working. The 95 stock handsets are
notorious for not working/giving up part way through. Often this is an
intermittent fault that seems to be electronic rather than mechanical (I
think it uses electronic switching). Despite repeatedly being reported,
these defects are still occurring. It is particularly galling when, during
a period of delay/service disruption/station closure and having made all
the required announcements regarding alternative arrangements, the driver
is then accused at the next station of not making any announcements!

We have similar problems on the Picc., usually due to people not
listening though, even though I start important announcements with 'Can
I have your attention please Ladies and gentlemen.....'

There's a driver on the District who says "Ladies and Gents...."
I like that; she's managed to deformalise (if that's a word) the whole
thing and still say what she's meant to say... (or maybe she reserves
that for the east end of the District ;-))
--
Kat "bears, said the taxi driver, is sixpence extra,
sticky bears is ninepence"

Steve Fitzgerald wrote:
In message ,
writes

Probably checking to see if it is working. The 95 stock handsets are
notorious for not working/giving up part way through. Often this is
an intermittent fault that seems to be electronic rather than
mechanical (I think it uses electronic switching). Despite
repeatedly being reported, these defects are still occurring. It is
particularly galling when, during a period of delay/service
disruption/station closure and having made all the required
announcements regarding alternative arrangements, the driver is then
accused at the next station of not making any announcements!

We have similar problems on the Picc., usually due to people not
listening though, even though I start important announcements with
'Can I have your attention please Ladies and gentlemen.....'

That's a good technique, but the trouble is that there are now far too many
announcements, recently increased by the "good service" announcements every
few minutes. People just switch off after a bit and don't listen to any of
them. It would help if they replaced "This train is ready to depart.
Please stand clear of the closing" by "Mind the".
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

In message , Richard J.
writes

That's a good technique, but the trouble is that there are now far too many
announcements, recently increased by the "good service" announcements every
few minutes. People just switch off after a bit and don't listen to any of
them. It would help if they replaced "This train is ready to depart.
Please stand clear of the closing" by "Mind the".

To be fair, I don't have any truck with all that. I say what I think I
would want to hear as a passenger. Safety critical ('mind the gap') and
important traffic announcements- oh, and major interchanges.

Don't forget, on the Picc, we have to make all the announcements
ourselves, not like the other lines that have all this auto stuff :-)
--
Steve Fitzgerald has now left the building.
You will find him in London's Docklands, E16, UK
(please use the reply to address for email)

On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 01:05:58 +0000, Steve Fitzgerald ]
wrote:

Don't forget, on the Picc, we have to make all the announcements
ourselves, not like the other lines that have all this auto stuff :-)

Not strictly true. I've heard automated announcements on Piccadilly Line
trains before, such as the Victoria Line/National Rail interchange at
Finsbury Park and the Met/Circle/H&C/Norther/Vic and Nat Rail at Kings
Cross. And, of course, "Stand Clear of the Doors Please".

Cya,

Barry

--
Barry Salter, barry at southie dot me dot uk
Read uk.* newsgroups? Read uk.net.news.announce!

DISCLAIMER: The above comments do not necessarily represent the
views of my employers.

"Richard J." wrote in message
...


That's a good technique, but the trouble is that there are now far too
many
announcements, recently increased by the "good service" announcements
every
few minutes. People just switch off after a bit and don't listen to any
of
them. It would help if they replaced "This train is ready to depart.
Please stand clear of the closing" by "Mind the".

Please, please, please, forward those comments to the customer services
centre for the attention of the "Quality Service Information" (sic) team!

"Barry Salter" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 01:05:58 +0000, Steve Fitzgerald ]
wrote:

Don't forget, on the Picc, we have to make all the announcements
ourselves, not like the other lines that have all this auto stuff :-)

Not strictly true. I've heard automated announcements on Piccadilly Line
trains before, such as the Victoria Line/National Rail interchange at
Finsbury Park and the Met/Circle/H&C/Norther/Vic and Nat Rail at Kings
Cross. And, of course, "Stand Clear of the Doors Please".

Cya,

Barry

You are of course correct Barry, that you have heard something that sounds
like an automated PA. (It's a recording of a genuine Arnos Grove T/Op BTW)
The problem is, that on the Picc. (due to the ever popular "LUL massive
cock-up"(TM)) in order to get the "automated" announcement that he or she
requires the driver to key in a 3 digit code & hit enter on a piece of kit
in the cab (refered to as "The Toblerone" for those that are interested).
The anouncement then plays about 5 seconds later. Most drivers find it
easier to just use the standard PA than dick about with crap like that. (I
know I did:-)) So to all intents and purposes, "Automated PA" is not
something we use on the Picc.
--
Cheers, Steve.
If The Good Lord had meant for us to be fiscally prudent, He would not have
given us the platinum credit card...
Change colour to PC Plod's lights to reply.

Steve Dulieu wrote:
"Barry Salter" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Dec 2003 01:05:58 +0000, Steve Fitzgerald
] wrote:

Don't forget, on the Picc, we have to make all the announcements
ourselves, not like the other lines that have all this auto stuff
:-)

Not strictly true. I've heard automated announcements on Piccadilly
Line trains before, such as the Victoria Line/National Rail
interchange at Finsbury Park and the Met/Circle/H&C/Norther/Vic and
Nat Rail at Kings Cross. And, of course, "Stand Clear of the Doors
Please".

You are of course correct Barry, that you have heard something that
sounds like an automated PA. (It's a recording of a genuine Arnos
Grove T/Op BTW) The problem is, that on the Picc. (due to the ever
popular "LUL massive cock-up"(TM)) in order to get the "automated"
announcement that he or she requires the driver to key in a 3 digit
code & hit enter on a piece of kit in the cab (refered to as "The
Toblerone" for those that are interested). The anouncement then plays
about 5 seconds later. Most drivers find it easier to just use the
standard PA than dick about with crap like that. (I know I did:-)) So
to all intents and purposes, "Automated PA" is not something we use
on the Picc.

On the contrary, I quite often hear those announcements on the Picc, but
they seem to blank out the scrolling displays afterwards. They are however
a lot clearer than most drivers (present company excepted of course).
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)