Ahead of National Customer Service Week, South Western Railway (SWR) asked its customers and crew to share their favourite examples of staff members going above and beyond to deliver outstanding customer service.
The response was truly heart-warming and served as a timely reminder of how many different ways there are to make a positive impact when you work on the railway.
Perhaps one of the most dramatic stories received involved Southampton Central station’s Ewan Smith-Wainwright, whose heroic actions helped save a customer’s life following a heart attack in June.
During a late shift, Ewan received an urgent call from one of his colleagues telling him that a man had collapsed on the station’s platform. Ewan and Welfare Officer, Dan Stephens, came to the man’s rescue by dialling 999 before performing life-saving CPR to resuscitate the customer and get his heart beating again.
Thankfully, the customer survived this ordeal and contacted Ewan personally to express his gratitude for saving his life. Ewan talks more about the incident below:
Another of SWR’s customers may not have needed someone to save their life, but they did need someone to save their holiday. Judith Baker, who works in the ticket office at Dorchester station, was praised for her ‘absolutely fantastic’ and ‘reassuring’ approach by a worried customer who left a bag containing their passport on an SWR train.
Quick-thinking Judith contacted the guard on the train, enabling the bag to be returned in time for the customer to catch her flight.
SWR’s employees weren’t just commended for saving the day in an emergency; Graeme Sinclair was nominated simply for his consistently cheerful disposition and willingness to go the extra mile every day. Graeme – who works at Eastleigh station – constantly has a ‘big smile on his face’, which has made him memorable for those travelling on SWR’s network.
In the nomination, he was described as ‘an amazing employee’ and ‘the friendliest and nicest public transport man I have ever had the pleasure of meeting’.
Graeme explains his customer service philosophy:
Each day during National Customer Service Week colleagues will be featured on twitter (@SW_Help) for going above and beyond in their dedication to delivering excellent customer service.
Alan Penlington, SWR’s Customer Experience Director, said:
“We really appreciate our customers taking the time to submit these nominations and commend the recipients on the impact they have clearly made on people’s lives.“These examples represent just a snapshot of the wonderful work I know our colleagues carry out across the route on a day-to-day basis, as we strive to put the customer at the heart of everything we do.”
Notes to editors
- Ewan's video was recorded in a non-passenger area and in accordance with current Public Health England guidelines
- Graeme's video was recorded in accordance with current Public Health England guidelines
