A Hilarious and Casuistic Response to "Why aren't staffed ticketoffices allowed to sell tickets?"
 

This is from the latest TfL in-company mag. A queston was asked by the
Station Supervisor Multi-Functional at Ravenscourt Park:

Why when it’s saving the company no
money – because a suitably-trained
person is on duty 24 hours a day – are
we not allowed to use the ticket office
machine (TOM) and provide a service for
people for the issues the machines will
not let us do?
For example, when customers want
to return their Oysters and we have to
say ‘no'. Recently, a customer said to me:
“Why weren’t we warned it would be
such a hassle to get the credit and deposit
back? That’s tantamount to theft.”
Or when they ask us what’s the logic
behind not being able to use the till?
As staff we just don’t know the logic,
and have never been told it. When
customers are accusing us of theft,
is that really going with our mantra of
‘world-class service’?

[The SS is referring to the current situation where there is always
someone in the ticket office but he or she has been warned that on no
account must he or she do any ticket transactions whatsoever.]

And this was the head-spinning answer:

Arthur Borkwood, Head of Staff &
Ticketing replies:
Thank you for your letter. The issue you
raise appears relatively frequently and,
at first sight, it does seem odd that we
actively require staff to work in a way
which does not seem customer friendly.
WHERE’S THE LOGIC?
Essentially, we are moving from a
position where ticket sales involved a
lot of transactions on our premises, a lot
of cash handling and a lot of queues on
some days of the week, to one where
modern technology allows customers
greater flexibility around when and how
they purchase their travel. Eventually,
assisted self-service by customers will
be the norm and they will be able to
access the tools to do that in a number
of ways. While we are in this transitional
phase, we need to satisfy the needs of
those whose adoption of these means
is slower than others and to recognise
that some customer transactions can
only be done at a ticket office. So, at
this time, we maintain ticket offices for
that reason.
However, generally speaking,
having a member of staff behind a
window is not the way forward for a
customer-facing service. Only three
per cent of journeys involve a ticket
office. We know from customer
research that passengers want staff to
be approachable and accessible either
by the Passenger Operated Machines,
on the gate line or somewhere in the
ticket hall. If the default position is
to return to the ticket office on the
odd occasion when it is needed,
we deprive the rest of our users the
opportunity to interact with you and
your colleagues in the most effective
way for them. I agree that we need to
manage this carefully because if I was
the customer wanting the refund I too
would be upset. We acknowledge the
need to work hard to find solutions
for transactions that remain tied to
the ticket office. In the meantime
current guidance is that you use your
judgement, considering the needs of
other customers, about when it would
be appropriate to activate your TOM
outside of advertised hours.

(And that was the end of the answer. Best wishes, Alan.)