Rivetting stuff ... Tram commuter Jonathan Rivett's original complaint. Read Jonathan's original email here

And Yarra Trams' response here He was particularly bowled over by Yarra Trams customer relations officer Sam Marshall's response to his anecdote about another disruptive regular, known somewhat affectionately as Biff Pelican, who delivered a loaf of bread down the tram aisle “like a cricket ball" and "hit a woman hard in the leg”. Mr Marshall wrote: “Notwithstanding my concern for Mr Pelican's disruptive behaviour, I would like to think Biff was bowling his baked goods from somewhere near the centre of a B-class tram towards either end – there is a hatch in the floor at each end just behind each of the driver's cabins. “While hitting the sides of the hatch would send the unsliced wholemeal delivery off towards point or square leg . . . pitching the loaf on the front or rear edges of the hatch could certainly be regarded as landing it in a 'good area'.”

Mr Rivett told theage.com.au he couldn't believe that he got such a human and witty response. "I initially got the standard letter that they would get back to me within seven days and I thought I would get a template in the post so I was not expecting something quite so well written," he said. "It was probably better written than my one to be honest." Mr Marshall said he was just doing his job and took each bit of feedback seriously, only in this case “what was deemed an appropriate response was different to what normally warranted an appropriate response”. “I made the response like I did because I was invited to do so, so that gave me a lot more freedom in what kind of response to give him. “I can't promise that I can pull that out every time,” he said with a chuckle.

Mr Rivett had challenged Yarra Trams in his letter to explain why passengers were forced to endure a particularly nasty drunk's rants "like a stale bottle of p***" for more than an hour aboard the tram. “I look forward to hearing your explanation – and if you could respond as entertainingly as I have complained, I would be most grateful,” he wrote. And he got his wish, with Mr Marshall explaining the course of events in "Dick-Tracy-esque" style. As for Mr Rivett, he was, well, riveted. “What I got was nothing short of genius… A real letter written by a real person. A talented person,” he wrote on his blog.

“A person I now want to meet and drink beer with and possibly give a little kiss to at the end of the evening (and I fully realise Sam may well be a man). “Brilliant.” He said that he had started the blog after details of a confrontation between a Gasp customer and an insulting shop assistant went viral. "[Gasp's] response to customers was disgusting," Mr Rivett said. "I was disappointed in the idea going around that any publicity was good publicity and it would work in a company's favour." He said he realised people connected much more readily with his letters of complaints to big companies than when he simply blogged about his everday life.

His exchange with Yarra Trams has drawn positive feedback on Twitter. One comment included: "Fantastic response by @yarratrams to a humorous complaint email. Wish all customer services responses were this good." Another Tweeter posted: "This, most surely, is the reason for the invention of email." While another wrote: "In a world going mad, a small ray of sanity. :)" Mr Marshall said he was very flattered by the Twitter responses but admitted that he hadn't any plans to take up Mr Rivett on his online offer of a beer.

“I hadn't really thought about it,” he said. Follow The Age on Twitter @The Age