Consumer democracy : Transport for London

Ken Livingstone is a classic example of a "left-wing" politician with right-wing policies. Under his guise as a progressive thinker he has evolved TFL (Transport for London) to a massive ticket collection machine.

To his credit ticket collection has not only increased but the majority of TFL is now working on collecting tickets and issuing fines. This has resulted in great monetary gains for his track record and the organisation.

However you need to ask yourself the following 10 questions to see if his term has had a real effect on the poor business travellers:

1. Are trains and buses running better?
2. Have platform services improved?
3. Are you getting to work faster and safer?
4. When you need help, do you find staff to help you at stations?
5. Do you feel like an appreciated customer when your ticket is checked several times on multiple locations on a single journey?
6. Do you find a seat when you travel?
7. Is sweating, pushing people and cursing still part of daily routine?
8. Do you feel you are getting value for money?
9. Has the price for your ticket decreased?
10. Do you like using TFL to get to work or would you prefer any other method instead?

If the results are positive then you should consult your doctor... :)
Otherwise please realise that apart from ultra-modern ticket machines, ticket police that treat you like a criminal and more ticket collection offices, there is hardly anything better (if not worse) about transport in London.

Thanks Ken.

Consumer democracy: Gorton’s Fisherman

Continuing the Consumer Democracy series the Resident Alien blog by James Kew exposes Gorton’s Fisherman packaging tactics over here.

Consumer democracy: Alitalia Sucks.com

You never really realise how bad corporations can be, until you come across one. Most of the time, even then, you never learn or often quickly forget.
Recently, after a flight between Italy and the UK my buggage was lost. The evil corporation?
Fiasco budget carrier Alitalia. After their staff showered me with lies about it at the airport, my first reaction when I got home was to research them online.

I typed in 'Alitalia lost luggage' in Google. What caught my eye was a website called AlitaliaSucks.com. I started reading and then it dawned on me. I was in for a tough ride.
The person that set up the website had an identical experience to mine. Lost his luggage, tried to get a refund and came up against the beauracratic wall of Alitalia Group. He was ignored and never refunded. In addition to all this, when he tried to speak out by launching a complaint website he was threatened and sued by Alitalia who tried to remove the website.

I started looking further and discovered many more places where people were citing very similar Alitalia nightmares across the web. There is even a new blog dedicated to Alitalia.

I am not going to get into detail but my modest claim was not directly rejected but I was asked to provide receipts for all my socks, underware and T-shirts. Some people might keep them, I certainly don't.

Alitalia looses thousands of luggage every year, so this unofficial no-refund policy on lost property saves them millions, which they then spend on bad management.

So all I am saying is, when you are mistreated don't keep your head down. Speak out. You have the power to make a difference. Share your experience with others and help them. This is part of the foundation of internet and consumer democracy. You can freely voice your complaints without the fear of prosecution. Enjoy your rights, enjoy the web, celebrate democracy.