Connex Complaints System

EDM number 1007 in 1999-00, proposed by John Austin on 20/07/2000.

That this House believes that train operating companies should be accountable to their customers by making it as easy as possible for their customers to register complaints about, for instance, reliability, punctuality and cleanliness of train services; is disturbed, therefore, that Connex, whose overall performance has fallen by 5 per cent. in the last year, has apparently scrapped its direct e-mail address for such purposes and replaced it with an e-mail on web site which requires customers first to download the site, which can often be time-consuming, and then to fill in a host of details, including the type of ticket purchased and how, which may be useful to Connex marketing, but which is not relevant to its customer's complaint; fears that such a complicated procedure will inevitably deter legitimate complaints and reduce the volume of such complaints and thereby reduce the complaints statistics in the run-up to the renewal of the Connex franchise; and urges Connex, and any other train operating company which follows the same practice, to reinstate its direct e-mail service so that its customers may readily make their views known via all types of communications media, including e-mail, which is increasingly a preferred route for those with access at home or work to electronic mail.

This motion has been signed by a total of 21 MPs.