Keep the customer happy

Posted by Kate Betts on 5th May 2026

Tags Public Relations Crisis Comms

I was going to write a post about face-to-face versus online training. But a random 150-mile Uber ride with three strangers means it’s now about how some organisations deal with potential negative situations in a way that means you actually end up liking them even more. (And also means I have three nice new friends in a WhatsApp group called ‘the taxi’.)

After having run online training a couple of weeks ago, I headed off to Wakefield to get a train to London to run in-house training the next day. But we didn’t get further than Retford. That’s about 40 miles down the track, and it had taken us over three hours.

During that long, drawn-out first bit of the journey, LNER kept us informed, and we got free bottles of water, biscuits and crisps. When they came round with water the second time, we knew we were in for the long haul.

The delay was due to a trespasser on the line, which meant no trains were going north or south. This we were told by tannoy on the train, and we were updated regularly, even when there was nothing particularly new to say. This reminded me of the Krebs Framework, from the Government Communication Service best practice guides, which says (among other points) that you should:

  • Communicate what is known
  • Communicate what is not known yet
  • Explain what you are doing
  • Tell the public what they should do
  • Communicate consistently and frequently

It was a very different approach to another train journey, with another company, where we sat for 45 minutes, with no information about the delay at all.

But this time we were kept informed, we were fed and watered, we were apologised to many times, and we were told they would get us to where we wanted to be, somehow!

This showed Concern, Action and Reassurance, or the CARe model of dealing with a negative situation or a crisis.

So far, textbook stuff.

But as we sat at Retford, LNER staff started saying they were struggling to get us south and may end up taking us back further north instead.

It was nearly 11pm. A random stranger stood up and said: “Does anyone want to share an Uber to London?”

Panicking that everyone in the carriage might say yes and that Retford probably doesn’t have an unlimited supply of Uber drivers who want to trek down to London at that time of night, I jumped up and said: ‘count me in’.

That’s how I found myself on the platform at Retford saying: “Hello, I’m Kate”…

Two or three hours later, we knew a lot more about each other, but there was also quite a lot of dozing down the A1. (Not the excellent driver!)

A couple of days ago, I got the train fare and my share of the Uber fare back. It took one email to LNER to sort, and their reply was sympathetic and apologetic.

LNER, thank you for making what was a nightmare of a journey slightly less unbearable (and also thanks to my taxi pals), and I will travel again with you soon. But the fact that tomorrow’s CIPR course is on Zoom is rather nice. I can just commute to my home office and back. Sometimes I’ll admit I do prefer online!