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Thousands upon thousands of tweets vent their ire at the under-par service that Thameslink is currently providing its customers with. But now Poundland has joined the dogpile, lambasting the train operator for comparing its service to 'Poundland cooking chocolate'.
In a tongue-in-cheek-yet-legally-threatening tweet (the best kind), Poundland retail director Austin Cooke wrote: "Frankly you have no right to use our name to describe poor service. We served 8 million shoppers last week and didn't have to close any stores due to leaves on the roof, the wrong kind of rain, or a shortage of managers."
The chocolatey kerfuffle kicked off when a member of Thameslink staff replied to this tweet from a peeved customer:
Why, Ambassador @TLRailUK , with this fine service you are really spoiling us. pic.twitter.com/RZP9E0yF7k
— Kevin (@londonkro) May 30, 2018
The response from Thameslink came: "Very sorry Kevin. Appreciate at the moment the service is less Ferrero Rocher and more Poundland cooking chocolate."
All pretty harmless — even mildly amusing — you might think. Poundland obviously didn't think so. Or rather they did, but also spotted a chance to create a sweet free marketing opportunity, coated in a luscious legal threat:
.@TLRailUK You’re ‘off the rails’ #TLFail #Proudland pic.twitter.com/rago9G1zmh
— Poundland (@Poundland) May 30, 2018
Thameslink has since removed the 'offending' tweet, but you can be assured that the Chief Executive Officer of Govia Thameslink Railway Ltd — who earns almost half a million pounds a year — won't be spotted in a Poundland anytime soon.
