Thanks for Nuthin'

In typical but ever-so-frustrating fashion, NJ Transit is deferring complaints to an online form. So basically, I had a live human being on the phone who told me she could not accept my complaint. Now, hear me when I tell you the lady on the phone was very nice and professional to the extent that call-center operators can be. I mean to say that generally, folks in call centers have very little authority or discretion to make whole people who are dissatisfied. They follow a script and they follow direction unless you ratchet your complaint up to the level of a supervisor. Clearly, the direction she received was to send any fare-related issues to a highly impersonal, dialogue-deficient channel that is on the NJ Transit website. She did listen to me for a while, though -- that is, before she told me to go to the website. And I have to tell you, she was genuinely perplexed about why last night's free ride from New York would irritate me. Free is good, no? NO! Because it's not free!

But I digress. Here is what I had to say to NJ Transit about last night's junket:

A live human at your customer service call center directed me to this site. For the record, it should be the other way around. Authentic customer service is personal -- it engenders relationships. Writing on a form makes me feel like I am wasting my time. (And I have no reason to believe otherwise... given that these comments are not posted publicly -- where do they go? What happens to them? Who reads them? Will I hear from someone? Will that person be someone in authority?) You cannot call this 'customer service' when the customer is doing all the work and all the talking. Something more apposite would be 'customer disregard.'

Anyway, my issue: Last night, I rode the 5:54 from NY Penn all the way to Jersey Avenue and not a single fare was collected from anyone on that train. If NJ Transit is so strapped for revenue that it is proposing a double-digit fare increase, how is it that people on a very full rush hour train can ride the entire length of a route and not be asked for tickets?

How in the world can you justify taking more money from me when you have operational inefficiencies that allow hundreds of fares to go uncollected? Isn't this your primary and most consistent revenue stream? People who buy your tickets to ride from Point A to Point B? At least twice a week, I see how folks riding to Newark and Secaucus get on and off without having their fares collected. It's like a game - a game those of us father down the line have to finance.

I have put up with late trains, trains with doors that don't close, trains with conductors who make announcements starting with "you people...", post-hockey game trains with people so loaded they vomit on the seats and on the floor, and trains so overcrowded that I stand for more than half of the ride, even though your conductors can clearly see I am wearing a cast on my foot.

For the increases you are proposing, it is only slightly more expensive for me to drive to New York every day. Given the fact that I will arrive on time and will not run the risk of vomit on my shoes, I think that will indeed be my preference over paying higher fares for the minimal to mediocre service currently being offered by NJ Transit.

If you are prepared to address your current inefficiencies and answer to the fact that people routinely ride without being charged, I would love to know about it.

Also, you should know that I called customer service as soon as I got off the train last night. The auto-operator told me my wait would be less than five minutes. It was in fact, 43 minutes when I finally gave up. How would you read this situation if you were in my seat?

And here is the response I received back from NJ Transit, which basically confirms that there is to be no dialogue, no acknowledgement and ultimately, no accountability:

Dear Morgan,

Thank you for your feedback. Your comments have been received and will be entered into the public record. You will not receive a further response to this submission.

If you wish to comment on an issue other than the fare/service proposal, please click here to contact NJ TRANSIT Customer Service.

Sincerely,
NJ TRANSIT

Nothing like a form letter to cultivate the alignment and engagement of your customer base, eh?