Tyne Tunnel complaints process must improve - watchdog

Some 1.6m vehicles use the tunnels each month, which connect North and South Tyneside

Tyne Tunnel bosses must handle complaints better following an outcry when it switched to cashless toll payments, a watchdog has said.

A review found wording on fines was "threatening" and managers from operator TT2 should be "more empathetic and less defensive".

Transport Focus said improvements were needed to road signs and TT2's website.

TT2 said changes had been made to its appeals process and more "customer-focused enhancements" were on the way.

The Tyne Tunnel's old toll booths and barriers were ditched in 2021 when the crossing introduced a "free flow" system using number plate recognition cameras, in a bid to reduce journey times and emissions.

Drivers must pay either online, with a pre-paid account, over the phone, or in certain shops by a deadline of midnight on the day after their journey.

The controversial move led to a slew of complaints, enforcement notices threatening legal action, and fines being wrongly issued - in some cases to people living hundreds of miles away.

Some 1.6m vehicles use the tunnels each month.

'Little empathy'

Transport Focus conducted a study of 40 complaint cases after TT2 asked it to undertake an independent review, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

It criticised the operator for using "hollow" language in correspondence but praised it for having "responded quickly" to its concerns.

Recommendations include making it easier to find the complaints section of TT2's website

The watchdog's report, published this week, found "many elements of good practice" in TT2's handling of complaints - but said in many cases it "did not demonstrate that it had listened to all the points being made by the complainant, or that it truly empathised with the customer's predicament".

Transport Focus said that responses "tended to display little empathy" to tunnel users unfamiliar with the toll and "did not always give a compelling reason" for rejecting appeals against unpaid fines.

Recommendations include making it easier to find the complaints section of TT2's website and enhancing arrangements to apply discretion in cases when drivers can show reasonable mitigating circumstances.

"We felt that some of TT2's template paragraphs, which dominate most responses, risk coming across inappropriately," the report said.

"Some wording intended to be courteous can jar in some circumstances, for example 'always happy to hear from our customers' after advising that an appeal is likely to be rejected and then rejecting a complaint." 

However, the operator was praised for "quick turnaround times" in complaint cases and how it handled follow-up letters.

Shaun Simmons, TT2's chief operating officer, called the report "an incredibly valuable exercise" in improving its customer service.

Transport Focus' chief executive Anthony Smith added: "While we saw many elements of good practice in the way TT2 dealt with complaints, we have recommended improvements in some areas.

"We are pleased to see that TT2 has responded quickly and already implemented several of these, with others in the pipeline."