Skymonster
Established Member
- Joined
- 7 Feb 2012
- Messages
- 1,739
Bit of a rant really...
I had a very nice day out in Crewe yesterday and in all respects bar one the railway performed very well... Everything was on time, the staff were pleasant and helpful, and although it was on a combination of XC Turbonasty and EMT 153, the trains were comfortable and clean - even the other passengers were pleasant and the prices for beer in the pub at Crewe station weren't too excessive!!
BUT (didn't you know a but was coming):
According to NationalRail:
Let's be clear about this - I know about he prospect of saving money by using splits and combinations, and maybe some clever person here could find an even cheaper way of doing it. Rather, in this case I just couldn't be bothered to look at combinations of tickets, and this laziness on my part cost me £0.90. OK, £0.90 isn't world changing, but more fool me for not checking this simplest of combinations. Of course, I suspect not that many casual travellers think of buying a combination of tickets (nor are they likely to offered such by TVMs or Booking Office staff) so they buy the end-to-end product without even thinking, blissfully unaware they could have saved money. I contend that it is the ignorance of the general customer that the railway capitalises on - and arguably even preys on.
If I was in a restaurant and I bought a starter and a main course and later found out there was a combined starter and a main course price that cost less than the two individually that the restaurant had concealed from me - and their response was that it was up to me to investigate all of their pricing options before ordering - I'd feel annoyed and probably not use that restaurant again. Many restaurants would charge me the lower two-course price automatically even if I didnt specifically ask for it - in the name of good customer service in an industry that knows each that adverse customer reaction can badly damage reputation and thus future business.
But of course I really don't have much choice but to use the railway again... My questions are thus as follows (addressed to anyone, but particularly to the rail / TOC fanbois):
Again let me be clear - no doubt someone will chime in and claim being charged £0.90 more than I need have been hardly constitutes being "ripped off". But I do feel aggrieved (at the industry for not automatically offering me its best prices, not at my laziness in not checking). It is the principle I'm raising - £0.90 isn't much but it potentially represents much larger discrepancies elsewhere.
Andy
I had a very nice day out in Crewe yesterday and in all respects bar one the railway performed very well... Everything was on time, the staff were pleasant and helpful, and although it was on a combination of XC Turbonasty and EMT 153, the trains were comfortable and clean - even the other passengers were pleasant and the prices for beer in the pub at Crewe station weren't too excessive!!
BUT (didn't you know a but was coming):
According to NationalRail:
- Nottingham-Crewe - standard offpeak day return £17.20 valid via Stoke on Trent, change at Derby (and this is indeed what the TVM charged me for an offpeak day return)
- Nottingham-Derby - standard offpeak day return £6.40
- Derby-Crewe - standard offpeak day return £9.90 valid via Stoke on Trent
Let's be clear about this - I know about he prospect of saving money by using splits and combinations, and maybe some clever person here could find an even cheaper way of doing it. Rather, in this case I just couldn't be bothered to look at combinations of tickets, and this laziness on my part cost me £0.90. OK, £0.90 isn't world changing, but more fool me for not checking this simplest of combinations. Of course, I suspect not that many casual travellers think of buying a combination of tickets (nor are they likely to offered such by TVMs or Booking Office staff) so they buy the end-to-end product without even thinking, blissfully unaware they could have saved money. I contend that it is the ignorance of the general customer that the railway capitalises on - and arguably even preys on.
If I was in a restaurant and I bought a starter and a main course and later found out there was a combined starter and a main course price that cost less than the two individually that the restaurant had concealed from me - and their response was that it was up to me to investigate all of their pricing options before ordering - I'd feel annoyed and probably not use that restaurant again. Many restaurants would charge me the lower two-course price automatically even if I didnt specifically ask for it - in the name of good customer service in an industry that knows each that adverse customer reaction can badly damage reputation and thus future business.
But of course I really don't have much choice but to use the railway again... My questions are thus as follows (addressed to anyone, but particularly to the rail / TOC fanbois):
- Why does the industry hide its cheapest fare options from its customers? No, don't answer that question - I know the answer!
- How can the industry so shamelessly get away with charging a customer more for a single product than it charges for two individual products that together add up the whole and nothing more than the single product?
- Why has no one yet challenged these situations in consumer law with trading standards?
Again let me be clear - no doubt someone will chime in and claim being charged £0.90 more than I need have been hardly constitutes being "ripped off". But I do feel aggrieved (at the industry for not automatically offering me its best prices, not at my laziness in not checking). It is the principle I'm raising - £0.90 isn't much but it potentially represents much larger discrepancies elsewhere.
Andy