More on my train ticket saga, they weren't as clever as I thought...
If you want to read from the start of this story then please go to the original post by clicking here. You probably won't understand what I am talking about if you haven't read it, sorry.
Two weeks ago, back again at my favourite airport train line, I arrived to find that not only was the ticket machine displaying "Exact Change Only", but this time the clever people were not as clever as I thought in my last post and had put the train fare up to $20.20. Luckily I had the extra 20 cents as well as my usual twenty dollar note and could catch the train coming in four minutes instead of joining the long queue at the ticket booth.
Returning this week I find they have installed specific ticket machines that are connected for credit card or ATM transactions, but only tickets to the City not anywhere else on the train network.
I wonder if the extra 20 cents was to;
- pay for the Credit Card machines
- because the ticket machines kept running out of change
- because they had outsourced their operation,
- because they were trying to save money,
possibly 20 cents a customer?
Meanwhile I had my $20:20 cents ready and was on my way.Riveting stuff I know :-),
Rob
2 comments:
Have you considered that the train you might be wanting to travel on is not actually taking you to where you want to go? Are you following the CEO train of change (referred to in your previous blog) with some "short change cycle tenure" - on a reluctant journey? Is this machine with changing demands, also a metaphor for today's CEO ie..as change agents? Doesn't everthing and everyone expect more from us all everyday, and sometimes we get less back than we expected? Should we be surprised? Isn't change inevitable but sometimes unreliable...therefore we should always carry some for currency in the physical and nonphysical sense/cents? Or, do we decline to participate in change for change sake and get the next train - or find another way to get to where we really want to go? Or... get off the bus/train altogether? hmmm
A few observations, firstly and simply ACCOUNTANTS, sales people would always come up with 19.99 not 20.20. Can't trust accountants. Can't trust sales people; you can't deliver 19.99 only 19.95 or 20.00! oh well.
Secondly and more importantly, change is a constant always was, always will be although now we seem to see it more! Corporate management have a job to control the message and the change in order to deliver bottom line results. Seems to have no resemblance to what is needed, who controls these people? Governance seems to be the issue, no one is accountable, oh idealism I hear you say! However something as simple as listening to what customers want is a start, from there service can flow and we can establish the right train to be on!
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