Emails about problems:
How ÖBB drives its passengers crazy
A train journey to the Ski Opening from Vienna to Schladming and back proved to be a test of nerves: for two journeys with seat reservations - one outward journey on Saturday, one return journey on Sunday - ÖBB sent out no fewer than five emails between Friday and Sunday due to various problems.
All kinds of problems that ÖBB has in its daily operations and in dealing with its customers came to light during a simple train journey to the Sting concert at the ski opening in Schladming: the railroad sent out no fewer than five e-mails to its passengers due to various problems, causing uncertainty among passengers.
It started with an Intercity train from Vienna to Schladming at 10:24 on Saturday morning and a Eurocity train after a change in Leoben. Both trains had a major shortcoming when it came to seat reservations on Friday: Couples could not select seats next to each other in the ÖBB app, as there was no map of the trains. This means that it is often not possible for a couple to sit next to each other on ÖBB trains. If two people reserve seats - which is advisable in view of full trains - they are often allocated two seats that are separated.
Flood of e-mails
Then the flood of emails began: on Friday, ÖBB sent out an email stating that certain train journeys on the route were only possible to a limited extent due to repair work following a traffic accident (see screenshots).
However, it turned out that the traffic restriction only affected local services, not long-distance services. However, both the train from Vienna to Leoben and the connecting train from Leoben to Schladming were long-distance trains and - according to later information from the conductor on the train - were not affected by the disruptions anyway. In the short term, however, the mail caused uncertainty among passengers, as there were only six minutes between the arrival in Leoben at 12:24 and the onward journey to Schladming at 12:30. Early on Saturday morning, ÖBB then sent out exactly the same email again, even though the railroad company should have known that the passengers were not interested in their journey.
And it got even better: during the journey from Vienna to Leoben, a new e-mail arrived in the inbox stating that the change in Leoben would probably not be possible due to delays. The passengers panicked for a moment, but this was unfounded. Fortunately, the connecting train arrived late and the change was made.
The next email came on the return journey on Sunday: Due to limited vehicle availability, two carriages will be canceled and there may be fewer seats available. Passengers with reservations should contact the train team.
Then the next email in the afternoon: Only limited travel was possible due to repair work. And you should allow up to ten minutes more travel time.
It was fitting that some of the train's equipment was in need of repair: when trying to pull a drawer out of a table on the train, the whole drawer came out and was difficult to get back in.
Conclusion: ÖBB passengers sometimes feel they are treated no better than if they were passengers on the low-cost airline Ryanair. ÖBB has a lot of catching up to do in terms of customer service if it doesn't want to further unsettle and annoy its passengers.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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