I was travelling to London from Birmingham on a London Midland train last Friday afternoon when I came face to face with a thief. As I relaxed on the way home from a brain bustingly motivating meeting with Richard Baker, I became aware that my bag and I were parting company. I stood and turned as the guy sitting behind me on the train released my bag and sat back down in his seat. I didn’t know what to do, it really unnerved me. I just glowered at him and he got up and left the carriage. I sat down, my bag now tightly clasped, and shook. I felt nervous.
The train guard came through shortly after and asked to see my ticket. I blurted out ‘another passenger has just tried to steal my bag!’ The train guard introduced herself as Julie Knight and asked me to explain what happened. I told her and Julie calmly reassured me that the cctv cameras would have picked up the attempted theft. Was the thief still on the train we wondered? I described him and Julie went to make sure he was still aboard the train. He was.
Julie returned and we talked some more when the thief reappeared. He skulked around and Julie smartly turned the conversation to other things. He must have figured something was up because no sooner had the thief left the carriage, he reappeared and sat down right behind me. Julie asked what he was doing. ‘I just want to sit here in first class’ the thief replied. ‘Have you got a first class ticket? Julie asked. It turned out that he had no ticket of any kind.
Julie managed to phone ahead and arranged for the train to be met by security at Northampton. She explained to me that this was her stop too, she was due to board another train heading back north. After we pulled in the doors remained locked and after a bit of Keystone Kops to-ing and fro-ing, Julie and a colleague handed the thief over to the security team at the station. Julie ran back up the platform and hopped back on the train just to double check I was OK, and then ran off, keen to ensure the next train she was working on was not delayed.
The rest of my journey home unfolded uneventfully.
As I reflected on what happened, several things struck me about Julie:
She told me her name – straight away that reassured me
She took the matter seriously – and stayed very calm and relaxed throughout
She was courteous to the thief, to a fault, doing her level best not to arouse any suspicion or adverse reaction in him
She was determined to help apprehend the guy
She came back to see me, to say thanks and goodbye before dashing off to give good service to the passengers on the next train
Julie probably thinks she was just ‘doing my job’, and she would be right. And what a good job that is. It must be tough working on the railways. When things go to plan, i.e. when the trains run to time, well that’s just what we as customers expect. It’s hard to exceed expectations, it’s not like the train can arrive early is it? I imagine it’s a pretty thankless task. Thanks Julie.
I hope the good people at London Midland pick up on this heroic tale.
Wow! Doug, what a story. I think she was indeed “just doing her job” but the problem is that we have become so used to people not doing that, that when it happens it stands out for us. I should say straight off that Im not knocking everyone who doesnt or wouldnt do the same as Julie – These days, with a combination of the sometimes crazy legal system, the open use of weapons even in petty crimes and the unwillingness of bystanders to get involved – it’s a tough job especially in the public facing roles.
Julie understands what its like to be in your situation. Even though he never blagged your bag, he tried. And that is very unsettling. You forget how much it can effect you. I was at the front of a set of traffic lights once in london, waiting to cross the A4, in the days we used to have mobile phone kits in cars. As i was sitting there, this guy came from no where, opened the passenger door of my car,leaned in and ripped the phone from its mount in one moved, shut the door and ran off. Obviously he waited until just before the lights changed to do it so i had, as the good citizen, to drive off to avoid traffic chaos.
It affected me for months – i was violated! Helpless to do something about it. Luckily for me i had a good experience with the police – much like yours with Julie. They understood and made the effort.
Hi Gareth. Unsettling is about right. I’ve had a few comments on Twitter and one here telling me to man up, and that’s all well and good but I’m fortunate in that this kind of thing rarely goes on around me. It threw me, in the moment I didn’t think about whether or not the guy had a knife I was just surprised, shocked even that he’d tried it on.
Your car phone blagger exercised perfect timing eh! I know what you mean about feeling helpless. We’ve been burgled three times, and we know full well that the chances of the police catching anyone are slim (not a criticism – simply a fact). These things can stay with you a while and often like you say, it’s a bit of effort and understanding that makes the difference.
Lucky for him she came through the train because he’s only a grown man wtf man up protect your belongings from filth what were he going to do just sit if she never came through,well done to the lady though what a fantastic job you did/do
Thanks for sharing this story Doug. You are right – Julie was just doing her job but she had REAL concern for you which showed in all her actions. This is key to providing genuine and good customer service in this type of situation. I recently had a similar attempt to steal my laptop bag off the RER train in Paris (and the train was packed!) and of course no one did anything. Fortunately I was vigilant and when the bag was taken down from the luggage rack I noticed and swung around and grabbed it before the theif could make off with it. I glared at him and sat down (clutching my bag as you had). A couple of commuters gave me a look of satisfaction that somehow justice had been done but that guy is going to try it again and without any people manning those trains I don’t think he’ll be caught easily.
Hi Emilie – thanks for your visit. I love the smiley face the random avatar generator has given you! I’m delighted you picked up on the real concern thing, that is exactly how it felt and how all customer experiences should feel eh?
And I’m so pleased you and your bag are still together too.