PTO case studies provide an overview about the issues consumers raise with us, how we investigate complaints and the types of outcomes achieved.
When a complaint can't be resolved by agreement, the Ombudsman may resolve it by making a binding decision.
A mother contacted the PTO on behalf of her 17 year old daughter, who was approached by three AOs while on board a Metro train. The daughter had her feet resting on the edge of her seat and was asked to produce her ticket, which she did. She was then asked to produce further identification. The AOs reported her for having her feet on the seat. She was then issued with a ticket infringement notice, which was later withdrawn by the Department of Transport and replaced with a warning. The consumer's mother advised that her daughter felt intimidated and frightened by the incident and she felt that the AOs should have exercised their discretion not to report her as she provided a legitimate health reason for having her foot resting on the seat. The PTO investigated the incident, including reviewing Metro's internal investigation process for AO complaints. After an extensive investigation which considered both the circumstances of the event and Metro's investigation, the complaint was resolved with a letter of apology from Metro regarding the way in which the complaint was handled. Metro's letter also outlined the improvements they were implementing to customer feedback procedures and AO investigations, including a requirement for call centre staff to ask more probing questions when receiving a complaint, so that complaints could be effectively prioritised and actioned. The consumer was satisfied with this comprehensive response and the actions taken by Metro to improve its processes.
A consumer contacted the PTO as he was dissatisfied with Metro's offered compensation for delayed train services caused by an extreme weather event. The delay resulted in him missing a flight to Sydney and incurring additional travel expenses. He believed that had he been informed of the extent of the delays, he would have been better able to plan his journey and avoid incurring additional costs. Metro had acknowledged it could have better informed the consumer and offered a goodwill gesture of 8 daily Zone 1 Metcards. The consumer remained dissatisfied and sought compensation for several taxi rides and a Skybus ticket. The PTO's investigation was extensive and considered information from the Bureau of Meteorology and news services and found that public warnings had been issued on the morning of the incident, including advice of potential interruptions to train services. The investigation also identified that electricity and telecommunication regulators provided customer compensation exemptions in recognition of the extreme weather impacts on consumers. Also a range of flights was found to have been extensively delayed or cancelled, including this consumer's flight – so on time arrival at the airport would not have resulted in air travel. The PTO noted that Metro had acknowledged that its service could have been better and that its offer to resolve the consumer's complaint exceeded the amount the consumer was reasonably able to claim. Following a review of the file, the Ombudsman exercised her discretion to decline to investigate the complaint further on the basis that a fair and reasonable offer had been made.
A consumer topped up his myki with $50, but close to two months later, no top-up had beenloaded. In response to his complaint, myki advised that it would be available next touch-on. This did not occur so he again contacted the myki contact centre. Again, he was told it would be available next touch on. When this did not happen, he sought a PTO investigation. In response, the TTA provided the PTO with a detailed explanation about the consumer's complaint and the way the complaint was handled. TTA loaded the delayed top-up of $50 and a further $20 to the myki, recognising the poor customer service provided. TTA also wrote a formal letter of apology to the consumer, acknowledging the delay, inconvenience and poor complaint handling. As well as resolving the complaint, TTA took the time to review what went wrong during the complaints process and implemented process improvements to prevent recurrence of this type of incident.
The consumer advised that she and her 22-month old son were travelling on a bus when her son became very distressed. The bus driver stopped the bus on the side of the road and said that he would not continue driving until her son stopped crying. Embarrassed and unable to quieten the child, they disembarked. Dissatisfied with the bus company's response, she contacted the PTO. As well as an apology for her embarrassment, she stated that she would like the bus company to improve its customer service. The bus company provided detailed information about its customer-focused policies and procedures, and advised that this serious breach of customer service had been addressed with the bus driver, who then personally apologised to the consumer. The bus company also took the opportunity to deliver further training to all bus drivers about passenger safety and customer service.
A consumer and her daughter regularly travelled by V/Line to Melbourne and as her local station was unstaffed, her practice was to reserve her return journey ticket by phone and pay on arrival. If approached by a conductor she would quote her booking and seat allocation number. On the trip in question the conductor insisted that she pay for her tickets on the train. The consumer was reluctant, as she had done this once before and subsequently found her return journey cancelled. The booking office confirmed her arrangements over the phone in the presence of the conductor. The conductor was reluctant to act on phone advice which was inconsistent with his knowledge of ticketing processes and arranged to have the consumer and her daughter removed from the train. The consumer was dissatisfied with V/Line's response to her complaint and sought an independent PTO investigation. V/Line advised the PTO that the booking process requires upfront payments before travel and that it was the conductor's role to enforce the regulations requiring passengers to purchase a ticket if requested to do so. However, V/Line agreed that as the consumer had an existing arrangement in place, she should have been allowed to continue the journey. V/Line provided a letter of apology, four return tickets and a goodwill payment in recognition of the inconvenience caused and the time taken to resolve the complaint. V/Line also completed additional staff training so that this would not reoccur and enhanced its processes for staff adherence to policies.
Following an online top up, a consumer received three transaction confirmations via email. The consumer called the myki contact centre about the error and the contact centre representative advised that she would escalate the matter and have a myki staff member review the account and advise the consumer of the outcome. The representative suggested that the consumer also lodge a complaint with the PTO. The PTO advised the consumer about its role and process and provided general information about the myki top-up process. The PTO also advised that myki needed to be given a reasonable opportunity to respond to the complaint and resolve it directly with the consumer. The consumer accepted this, knowing her complaint had been escalated within myki, and was reassured to know that if she was dissatisfied with the response, or did not receive a timely response, she could recontact the PTO to have the matter investigated.
A consumer emailed the PTO seeking information about the height of steps on trams. The consumer advised that she used to be able to embark and disembark her usual tram with ease, but since having surgery is unable to do so. The PTO advised the consumer that the Citadis, Combino and Bumblebee trams have lower floors and would be more accessible for her. The PTO advised the consumer that she could find further information on the Yarra Trams website and that she was also welcome to telephone Yarra Trams to discuss the actual dimensions and measurements. Yarra Trams' telephone number and website were provided. PTO staff provide general information to consumers about public transport operators' services and infrastructure. We also give operators' contact information to consumers so that they may obtain more in-depth advice.
A consumer contacted the PTO to complain about a page on the V/Line website which stated that the 7.17am train service from South Geelong is only 97% full. The consumer advised that he boards this train at North Geelong on every working day and did not get a seat on any day in 2010. The consumer stated that he had written to V/Line to advise that their statistic was incorrect. V/Line responded by thanking him for his feedback and stated that capacity on train services is calculated using conductor tally sheet information and the website reflected the monthly average capacity. V/Line further advised that it would be validating its conductor patronage count via a survey. The consumer was not satisfied with this response and contacted the PTO. As part of the PTO's investigation into the complaint, the systemic impacts were considered and V/Line agreed to make changes to the wording on the relevant page to assist other commuters seeking train capacity information. V/Line changed the term 'seats' to 'average capacity', to further define 'average capacity' as seating and standing capacity and updated its website to include details of its reporting methodology. The PTO monitored V/Line's website until the updates were completed.
A consumer telephoned the PTO to advise that as a result of an upcoming local festival, temporary bus diversions were planned. The consumer said that in the past there had not been any signage or timetables advising commuters of bus diversions and with thousands of people relying on these bus services and seeking directions, she felt signage was required. She said that she had telephoned Metlink and was advised it was not possible. The consumer then contacted Metlink to lodge a complaint and was advised that information regarding timetable changes is available on Metlink's website, which she felt was insufficient. The consumer consented to the complaint being referred to the Metlink senior staff and as a result, was advised that Metlink had acted on feedback from prior festivals and its signage department had arranged for timetables to be installed at the temporary bus stops and directional maps at the temporarily closed bus stops. Metlink invited the consumer to provide feedback following the festival which could be taken into account when planning for future events incorporating public transport diversions.
