People who have unresolved complaints with their bank, energy company or mobile phone provider can go to an independent Ombudsman, which can resolve it. From today, the same will apply for rail.
This is a guest post by Kevin Grix, Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman at the Rail Ombudsman. All views expressed are Kevin’s own and not necessarily shared by Which?.
After years of campaigning by consumer groups, including Which?, we have launched Britain’s first Rail Ombudsman – offering a free, independent and expert service that will investigate rail complaints for consumers who have not been able to resolve them directly with a rail company.
We cover rail journeys throughout Britain and will help consumers and rail companies to reach a fair resolution. And crucially our decisions are binding on rail companies.
We can consider any complaint into quality of service based on the commitments a rail company has made to you, and your consumer rights.
This includes complaints about delays and cancellations, customer service, information given about journeys or engineering works, station facilities, on-train services, and issues arising from the Equality Act 2010.
Fair and balanced outcomes
We cannot look into complaints to do with industry policies or regulations. But we will suggest alternative options for these kinds of complaints and transfer passengers to organisations that can help, such as Transport Focus and London TravelWatch.
Once we receive a complaint, we will impartially investigate it to ensure a fair and balanced outcome. This will be based on the evidence given to us by both the consumer and the rail company – and where possible we will encourage both sides to reach an agreement.
But where an agreement is not reached, we can make a decision that will be binding on the rail company, if accepted by the consumer.
We want our service to help the rail industry to improve the service they offer. We will proactively identify issues – and the data we produce will help to challenge rail companies to tackle them at source.
Holding the industry to account
We will also publish quarterly reports so that a complete picture of rail industry complaints handling and dispute resolution is presented to the public. We fully expect Which? and other passenger groups to use this information to hold the industry to account.
With a track record of resolving disputes in the high-profile retail and home improvement sectors – including for Which? Trusted Traders – I am now looking forward to expanding my role as an Ombudsman to the rail industry.
We want the Rail Ombudsman to be easy to use. We’ve worked hard to make it accessible. And we’re now looking forward to passengers contacting us online, by phone and by post.
So from today, if you have a complaint with a rail company and you are struggling to get it resolved, then you know where you can turn for help. And we’re looking forward to helping you, as well as supporting the rail industry to better listen to their customers and improve their services.
This is a guest post by Kevin Grix, Chief Executive and Chief Ombudsman at the Rail Ombudsman. All views expressed are Kevin’s own and not necessarily shared by Which?.
Which? response
Alex Hayman, Which? Managing Director of Public Markets:
The launch of the independent rail ombudsman is a positive step for passengers, who have felt for too long like their complaints are not being taken seriously.
It should be a wake-up call for train companies to step up and start delivering good customer service when things go wrong. Then passengers will have no need to escalate their complaints.
We’ve been calling for this new body to address underlying problems in the complaints system for some time. Now it’s here, how do you feel about the announcement? Have you used an ombudsman to resolve a compalint before?
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