Excellent response from MGM Timber to complaint

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
Kirst
Posts: 375
Joined: 16 Nov 2007, 7:38pm
Location: Edinburgh

Excellent response from MGM Timber to complaint

Post by Kirst »

Dear Sir or Madam

I wish to make a complaint about whoever was driving your vehicle MV55 EMJ at approximately 3.15pm today, Friday 10th June. He was male, with cropped dark hair, a dark top, and had a bluetooth earpiece on his right ear.

At about 3.15pm today I was cycling on St Mary's Street, heading towards the junction with the Royal Mile and then on to the junction with the Cowgate and up the Pleasance. St Mary's street is hilly and cobbled and the cobbles are very uneven. It's not easy to maintain a straight course on cobbles so uneven, so I was having to adjust my position to ensure I didn't come off the bike. In addition, there were parked cars at the kerb, so as advised in the Highway Code (rule 67), and in Cyclecraft (the government approved training manual for cyclists), I was in the centre of the lane to ensure I would not be hit by an opening door of a parked car.

I became aware of a lorry behind me, revving its engine. There was no room for me to move to let it pass, and the lights ahead were red, so I continued on my course. When I stopped at the red lights at the junction with the Royal Mile, the lorry driver shouted something at me. I asked him to repeat it and he said "keep to the left." I told him that there were parked cars so I couldn't move further left. He told me that the Highway Code says cyclists should keep to the left. I tried to explain that the Highway Code is clear that cyclists should position themselves so as to ensure their own safety, which in this case meant staying out of the "door zone." He then tried to tell me that I only had the right to be ahead of him at a junction if there was a red bx painted on the ground - an ASL box. I pointed out that I'd been ahead of him all the way along the road.

The driver continued to shout at me, aggressively and angrily, telling me to read the Highway Code and basically that I had no right to be in his way. When the lights changed we proceeded to the next set of red lights (at the junction with the Cowgate) and he revved his engine and made me feel threatened all the way along the road. When the lights changed and we both proceeded up the Pleasance I was in fear for my life as to how closely he might overtake me - in the end he did give me enough room.

I am disgusted that a man protected by a huge lorry would seek to intimidate, bully and harass a woman on a bike. I am very concerned that a professional driver has so little knowledge of the rules of the road, and that he thinks it's appropriate to bawl from the cab to express his impatience at having to wait ten seconds to get to a red light. Make no mistake, had I not been in front of him, he would still have got to the light on red.

As a regular cyclist in Edinburgh I have developed a reasonably thick skin, but your driver's behaviour was a disgrace. He doesn't know the Highway Code, he thinks it's ok to express his unjustified impatience by yelling at people, and he thinks vulnerable, squishy cyclists should risk their own safety to allow him to get to the next red light a few seconds earlier. I trust that you will ensure he is reminded of the parts of the Highway Code relating to cyclists, perhaps starting with Rule 67 and then 211-213, and that you will make it clear his behaviour was unacceptable. You might wish to know that I will be posting a copy of this letter and any response on internet cycling fora I use, so that other cyclists can take it into account when choosing their timber suppliers.

I await your early response


And as if that wasn't bad enough, the cobbles caused my bike computer to work loose and fall off, bounce across the road and get squashed by the lorry.
Last edited by Kirst on 15 Jun 2010, 1:38pm, edited 1 time in total.
I can handle bars and cycle paths but I can't handle cars and psychopaths

http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/page/s/notinmyname
User avatar
julk
Posts: 740
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 8:17pm
Location: Dalkeith

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by julk »

Kirst,
I am glad you survived the encounter without physical injury.
As you say a thick skin helps whilst cycling in Edinburgh.

I used to commute in by bike from Dalkeith and now being retired I miss that commute like a hole in the head. Luckily there are some really nice back roads in Midlothian to explore once you have the leisure time.
julk.
TwoPlusTen
Posts: 531
Joined: 12 Apr 2008, 9:02am
Location: Reading
Contact:

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by TwoPlusTen »

Hi Kirst,

Sorry to hear of your experience. Unfortunately an all too common experience.

Hopefully you'll get the result you deserve.
Tom Richardson
Posts: 772
Joined: 25 Jun 2007, 1:45pm

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by Tom Richardson »

what should happen: is that they take the drivers licence away along with all other motorists who are psychologically unable to cope with the demands of controlling a motor vehicle in a public place.

What will happen: is that they will send you the usual fob off letter from the company's transport manager who will say they sympathise but has interviewed the driver who has a different version of events so intend no further action but will monitor them in the future. (I think they use letter templates from a book of standard motoring excuses).
User avatar
anothereye
Posts: 750
Joined: 8 Mar 2009, 4:56pm
Location: Haringey, North London

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by anothereye »

Kirst. A very well crafted letter.
_______________________________________________________________
http://www.roadusers.net/
reducing danger for all road users
broadway
Posts: 788
Joined: 9 Mar 2010, 1:49pm
Location: Cheshire

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by broadway »

Have you sent it to the local paper as well to give it a wider readership :twisted:

Sounds like horrible experience. You now appear on the first page of google for MGM timber so it will be interesting to see if they respond. It is now much more difficult to ignore problems and complaints as they they come up so easily once reported on the internet.
eltonioni
Posts: 171
Joined: 22 Aug 2009, 11:53am

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by eltonioni »

broadway wrote:Have you sent it to the local paper as well to give it a wider readership :twisted:

Sounds like horrible experience. You now appear on the first page of google for MGM timber so it will be interesting to see if they respond.


How does that work then? do you mean that MGM TIMBER,Scotland's largest independent timber merchant Edinburgh branch has visible complaints in the internet because a member of their staff has anger management problems?

Does the complaint get a higher google rating if the company details and activities of MGM Timber and builders merchants of Edinburgh get mentioned lots? It's like an SEO hammer :twisted:
gilesjuk
Posts: 3270
Joined: 17 Mar 2008, 10:10pm

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by gilesjuk »

Some more keywords to help Google :D

MGM Timber, Edinburgh, problem, delivery, contact details, address, phone number.
kwackers
Posts: 15643
Joined: 4 Jun 2008, 9:29pm
Location: Warrington

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by kwackers »

I think the more sites that link to something the higher the google rating too, so if you've a facebook page etc then dropping in a link to this thread might have the unfortunate tendency to lift it's ranking...
Kirst
Posts: 375
Joined: 16 Nov 2007, 7:38pm
Location: Edinburgh

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by Kirst »

Do you think I really need to draw more attention to my complaint about the bullying behaviour of an MGM Timber employee?
I can handle bars and cycle paths but I can't handle cars and psychopaths

http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/page/s/notinmyname
cjchambers
Posts: 855
Joined: 29 Jun 2008, 9:55pm
Location: Hartlepool

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by cjchambers »

Is that MGM Timber of

Unit 5, Eastern Ind. Est.
Newcraighall Road
Edinburgh
EH15 3HS
http://www.mgmtimber.co.uk/

Branch Manager - Peter Gourley
Tel - 0131 669 1970
Fax - 0131 669 7498
Email - peter.gourley@mgmtimber.com

???? :wink: :D
Kirst
Posts: 375
Joined: 16 Nov 2007, 7:38pm
Location: Edinburgh

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by Kirst »

As he was heading up the Pleasance, that's probably where he was going. So, yes. :)
I can handle bars and cycle paths but I can't handle cars and psychopaths

http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/page/s/notinmyname
eltonioni
Posts: 171
Joined: 22 Aug 2009, 11:53am

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by eltonioni »

Kirst wrote:As he was heading up the Pleasance, that's probably where he was going. So, yes. :)


Is that the Pleasence in Edinburgh? Do MGM Timber Merchants deliver wood and other building materials to Edinburgh builders and contractors such as bricks, blocks, concrete, plumbing supplies, bathrooms, kitchens and electrical goods? You could always call the branch manager, Peter Gourley @mgmtimber to ask him and while on the telephone 0131 669 1970 you could ask about his driver that bullies cyclists on Edinburgh roads with his delivery lorry.
Kirst
Posts: 375
Joined: 16 Nov 2007, 7:38pm
Location: Edinburgh

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by Kirst »

Well, I emailed them yesterday, so I'm willing to give MGM Timber a couple of days to respond to my complaint about the appalling behaviour of their shouty driver.
I can handle bars and cycle paths but I can't handle cars and psychopaths

http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/page/s/notinmyname
User avatar
[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: MGM Timber lorry - letter of complaint

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Kirst wrote:Well, I emailed them yesterday, so I'm willing to give MGM Timber a couple of days to respond to my complaint about the appalling behaviour of their shouty driver.


Email complaints should get a response in hours, not days (working hours of course)

My latest email complaint got a response very rapidly, by a senior staff member who was out of his office. The driver in question was clearly spoken too as they are MUCH better now.

Of course it helps that I see them twice most days...
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
Post Reply