"Customer Service"

[portarlington_user]

Yesterday evening arrived to Heuston to get the 20 to 7 train home. As per usual the boarding was delayed and we were still waiting at quarter to 7 to get on. The Q beside us for the 19:05 started boarding on platform 4 so me and the 3 people I was with decided to take our chances and get on that train and if we thought the 18:40 was going to go first we'd just run across the platform and hop on. While walking up alongside the 18:40 we noticed in the drivers car at the end of the train a conference taking place between about 5 luminous orange jackets. This never looks healthy so we saw another jacket walking towards us and thought we'd ask for some friendly advice from a reliable member of IE staff as to which train he thought would leave first.
My friend: " Hi, can you tell us what the delay with the 18:40 train is?"
Jacket: " No", served with a nice blank stare
Friend: " Do you have any idea which train will leave first?"
Jacket: "Are you going to Galway?"
Friend: "No, Portarlington"
His mobile rings, he rolls his eyes at us, 'shoos' us away with his hand while shaking head and walks away.

That pretty much sums up the level of so called Customer Service we can expect from Irish rail, totally unbelievable. My jaw actually dropped! Unfortunately he was gone so fast I never asked for his name.