If the TTC works to rule I will be...

[Tacoma]

...Comparing the service you receive at McDonald’s and the TTC is simply bizarre. McDonald’s cashier’s are paid/trained to provide a good service and McDonald’s charge you, as a customer, a cost plus its premium for the service that you receive. If similar cost + premiums are charged to TTC passengers for better customer service by their operators and collectors, then you as a transit raider will be paying much more than you are now and the tax burdens that the TTC place on the society as a whole will increase accordingly.

And if the TTC start providing customer service on top of simply providing transportation, then it would not be fulfilling its mandate, which should be to provide efficient transit with adequate coverage at the lowest cost possible. ...

Wow... I was meaning to stay out of this fray, but, with all due respect, this is ridiculous on many fronts. McDonalds cashiers are NOT being paid or are trained to provide good service. They are mostly kids being paid close to minimum wage to dispense food and collect cash as quickly and efficiently as possible to keep the line moving. TTC ticket collectors and drivers, on the other hand, are being paid wages not unlike those earned by Nurses, Pharmacists, Accountants and Engineers, so the expectation is that they be a little bit more professional (e.g., being courteous and not rude) than your average kid working at McDonald's.

A mandate is a command or authorization to do something that's usually specific in nature. It does not normally say how it should be done - that's a given. Like for example, the mandate of an accountant could be to keep your books and do your taxes, but that s/he must be able to use a computer isn't specified in the mandate because it's a given. Similarly, it's a given that front line workers who must deal directly with customers should have good CS skills and that needn't be stated in the mandate and nor is specific training always necessary and usually not provided.

And the idea that customers of the TTC must "pay much more than you are now" for good CS is, again, with all due respect, absurd. My retired mother was a bank branch manager for 20+ years and the stories I heard from her are no different than what bus drivers are saying. Tellers are low paying positions and they take a lot of crap from customers swearing at them, screaming at them, even being physically abusive. Some end up crying from the abuse but they suck it in or quit because it's part of the nature of the job. There are expectations to be professional, but no specific training on CS other than learning by fire and yet I don't recall one single incident ever where I saw a Teller being rude (sometimes they're not nice, but not rude) to a customer. However, I can cite at least 2 incidences where a driver was rude to a customer just in the past couple of months.

So, again, whether you're a TTC, Bank or McDonald's employee, good CS is a given where part of your job responsibilities are customer facing and lack of training doesn't excuse this given. Smiling is not the issue as I don't care if they don't smile. Being professional and not being rude is.

 

[DavidH]

My retired mother was a bank branch manager for 20+ years and the stories I heard from her are no different than what bus drivers are saying. Tellers are low paying positions and they take a lot of crap from customers swearing at them, screaming at them, even being physically abusive. Some end up crying from the abuse but they suck it in or quit because it's part of the nature of the job. There are expectations to be professional, but no specific training on CS other than learning by fire and yet I don't recall one single incident ever where I saw a Teller being rude (sometimes they're not nice, but not rude) to a customer. However, I can cite at least 2 incidences where a driver was rude to a customer just in the past couple of months.

Of course, the difference is that bank tellers and MacDonald's employees work in an environment where their manager is just steps away, and would immediately be available in the event of a problem. Both are also for-profit entities in which the competition is not far away.

Bus drivers, on the other hand, work physically apart from their supervisors for the vast majority of the day, and supervision is - from what I've seen - almost exclusively concerned about whether the driver is staying on schedule. It's hardly surprising in that situation that some drivers are going to feel far more enabled to lash out at customers than any bank teller or McDonald's employee ever would, simply because the likely consequences are so much lower.

Add to that the natural monopoly of the transit system and the feeling that some have that a Union membership guarantees their job for life, and the result is inevitable.

 

[Tacoma]

Bus drivers, on the other hand, work physically apart from their supervisors for the vast majority of the day, and supervision is - from what I've seen - almost exclusively concerned about whether the driver is staying on schedule. It's hardly surprising in that situation that some drivers are going to feel far more enabled to lash out at customers than any bank teller or McDonald's employee ever would, simply because the likely consequences are so much lower.

Don't buy this excuse at all. This is kids stuff, immature to act with disregard just because your mom or boss isn't there to watch over you. The bus driver or ticket taker is also likely to be paid 2 or 3 times or more your McDonald's cashier or bank teller, so they should be held to higher standards and not need to have his/her boss looking over his/her shoulders as well.

 

[kandaman]

If you think TTC drivers are overpaid you need to look deeper. As front line employees like any other organization we are actually the lowest paid in the system. Everyone from supervisors, office staff at hillcrest to the politicians in-charge make any where from several thousand to 2-4x more than we do. Of course as drivers we are well paid and we do need to improve, I wont argue that fact but please give us the tools and training (custy service is not a big component of the operator training process). Everyone blames the union but the union did not pick its members. All operators were "carefully" selected, hired and trained by the TTC brass. The union is not responsible for training or disciplining TTC employees. My union has one job and thats to protect my interests thats what I pay them for.

If you think exceptional custy service is having every driver sing show tunes while carrying a full load in T.O traffic (give me a BRT) than you need to move back to ottawa. Only thing I hope for at the end of the day is I make it A to B without someone getting hurt in my bus. SAFE OPERATION takes priority as a customer this would be the most important service to me. I'm not being rude or disgruntled but I prefer to drive my vehicle safely rather than dwell on the fact someones feelings were hurt because I forgot to say thank you (I still try to but just not possible) to the 10-20 ppl who get off and on my bus at every stop well checking their fair. Sorry Toronto just doesn't work that way. A transit strike in Ottawa lasted 1-3 months? Try that in Toronto. I might be well paid but at least you can see me doing a job (good or bad), can you say the same for the rest of the commission? I'm not trying to be a jerk just defending my point.

Anyways this is getting off topic, the whole "work to rule" never happened as the media trolls failed. Once again dont believe everything the trolls feed you.

This is my last post here. PEACE