"We covered much of this in our story about rude and ignorant staff within Irish Rail. We've even reproduced the Top 10 tips for good customer service in the hope that Irish Rail management get the message. (They do read this site. We know for a fact.)
Irish Rail customers expect some very basic things in terms of customer service. Sadly many of these basics are lacking in Irish Rail. The Luas is a different story as the only staff that customers see, tend to be ticket checkers. They are all well presented and know how to say thank you. So we will concentrate on Irish Rail which is a bigger organisation with more frontline staff.
The biggest problem on Irish Rail is actually making a complaint. Despite previous promises there is still no dedicated free call number. You would think that the massive increase in passenger journies over the last 10 years would justify the establishment of a dedicated call centre that deals with complaints and information. What we are talking about here is along the lines of call centres you would find in the banking and insurance sectors. You know what we mean.. for this, press one.. for that, press two. Hardly rocket science and we believe that Irish Rail could address a huge percentage of its negative image if it took this very basic step into 21st century customer service.
Information is something us humans really love. If we didn't then we'd still be living in caves. So when a train stops in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason, then we expect an announcement to be made. We welcome the fact that this particular aspect of information is improving, but alas there are still too many reports of "silence". Rail Users Ireland knows that some of this silence is due to train drivers not being given the information. So once again we remind management to make sure that all links in the chain are working. Alternatively drivers can just apologise and say that they are awaiting information on the delay. It's the least a passenger can expect. Another problem is the electronic info system (PIS) on suburban and Cork line trains. They don't always work. Not much of a problem if you are a regular user, but a potential time bomb if you are a casual user or tourist. In the event of a failure the driver should make the announcements. Sometimes this happens and sometimes it doesn't. Consistency is required.
The Irish Rail Customer Charter sets out some very important passenger rights. This charter should be promoted intensely and on a continuous basis. One aspect of it is the right to full and partial refunds in the event of late running trains. The refund form should be promoted by way of announcement on every late train. We also believe that the on board info system should be used to promote the availibility of the customer charter."