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New London Midland Booking Engine

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Hadders

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I haven't seen this posted anywhere else but London Midland have moved to the awful booking engine used by GTR.

Awful.
 
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matt

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I gave it a try yesterday. It couldn't find a return for a simple Rugby to Euston journey and most of the page is taken up by the pointless map. I think I'll purchase tickets elsewhere.
 

Bletchleyite

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I gave it a try yesterday. It couldn't find a return for a simple Rugby to Euston journey and most of the page is taken up by the pointless map. I think I'll purchase tickets elsewhere.

It clearly isn't working properly, as it doesn't seem to think you can go from MKC to Edinburgh either.

I'll find a TOC sticking with the Mixing Deck planner (anyone any suggestions?) I reckon.

It also doesn't appear to do SVHs. Useless.
 
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Hadders

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Webtis sites never did sell SVHs. I can't even get it to reset my password.
 

Bletchleyite

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Webtis sites never did sell SVHs.

So they don't. I thought they did, but must have been getting confused with VTEC's SSH that isn't really a SSH as it can be purchased alone.

It's about time the SVH was just replaced with a SVS for half the SVR. It must lose them, oh, £0.29 a week or something given how most people make return journeys rather than single ones.
 
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talldave

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It clearly isn't working properly, as it doesn't seem to think you can go from MKC to Edinburgh either.

I'll find a TOC sticking with the Mixing Deck planner (anyone any suggestions?) I reckon.

It also doesn't appear to do SVHs. Useless.

Hull Trains - quidco cashback and Nectar points. They now get all my ticket business as I don't have the time to struggle to actually buy a ticket on the "map" site. It was obviously designed by people with no consideration for the customer who knows exactly which ticket they want to buy. All the "select train" crap is patronising and irrelevant - I just want to buy the f***ing ticket.

If I go to a manned ticket office (remember those?!) and ask for an off peak return to London, the member of staff doesn't hold up an enormous map and ask me to confirm what trains I want to depart and return on! So why should the online experience be any different for the customer who just wants the same old ticket they know and love?
 

Hadders

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I have to use the old "mixing deck" the new booking engine does not have Bermuda Park (or Coventry Arena) in its database http://tickets.londonmidland.com/lm/en/JourneyPlanning/MixingDeck

Talking of which, I had a reply yesterday from LM to my query about Gold Card discounts not being available to Coventry Arena or Bermuda Park.

Their response was to use another booking website! I have replied stating that they have misunderstood my question and asked them to escalate it to someone in the fares team with more knowledge. I suppose I'll now have to wait another three weeks for a response.

How can something so simple be so difficult.
 

Camden

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Give them a call, but choose the option to speak to a customer service representative so you get through to Birmingham.
 

talldave

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Talking of which, I had a reply yesterday from LM to my query about Gold Card discounts not being available to Coventry Arena or Bermuda Park.

Their response was to use another booking website! I have replied stating that they have misunderstood my question and asked them to escalate it to someone in the fares team with more knowledge. I suppose I'll now have to wait another three weeks for a response.

How can something so simple be so difficult.

That question rings in my ears every time I have contact with a TOC. Do the DfT insist on franchisees being managed by total muppets who don't understand ticketing?!
 

tractakid

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It doesn't cope very well with situations when the same service calls at the same station twice- when expanding the view to show all stops it gives all the calling points until you reach the station for the second time- which is also what's shown on the map.

Found searching for a Llandudno to Ellesmere Port journey, Saturday at 06:34
 

Bletchleyite

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To be fair to them, the map does have a purpose - preventing people from confusing similarly named stations at opposite ends of the country.

Anyone for Hope to Hope, for instance?

(You used to be able to go Hope (N. Wales) to Hope (Derbys.) via Hope (Kreis Hannover), before DB closed the latter in 2000. Now there's no Hope in Germany. Sorry... :) )
 

infobleep

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To be fair to them, the map does have a purpose - preventing people from confusing similarly named stations at opposite ends of the country.

Anyone for Hope to Hope, for instance?

(You used to be able to go Hope (N. Wales) to Hope (Derbys.) via Hope (Kreis Hannover), before DB closed the latter in 2000. Now there's no Hope in Germany. Sorry... :) )
I seem to remember there is a valley of Hope in the Peak District but not sure if the railway runs through it.
 

infobleep

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It does, and that's Hope (Derbyshire) station.
I once almost got snowed in, in Castletown, in the Valley of Hope, back in January 1997 but it thawed ever so slightly and we got out. Which to me was a shame as I'd wanted to be snowed in at least once in my life.
 

Wolfie

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The mixing deck link posted above no longer works and the new 'improved' site seems to have zero capability to select LM only tickets (something which used to be under Advanced features) - what a load of rubbish!
 

CyrusWuff

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The new and "improved" site also appears to break TOD in new and interesting ways. All of the passengers with TOD issues at work today had booked through either London Midland, Southeastern or Southern.

Each one of them got an error message on the (Shere FAST) TVM when they tried to collecting their tickets. Trying to recall it in the office showed the booking as locked, and when the Helpdesk unlocked it, it just threw up an error and still couldn't be retrieved from the TVMs.
 

talldave

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It's sad that all this customer inconvenience comes as a result of replacing a fully functional site with no defects with a useless, apparently untested, pile of crap alternative.

Doubly unfortunate is that customers don't know that there are working alternatives they can use, run by TOCs who do actually want to do business.
 

gray1404

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The new and "improved" site also appears to break TOD in new and interesting ways. All of the passengers with TOD issues at work today had booked through either London Midland, Southeastern or Southern.

Each one of them got an error message on the (Shere FAST) TVM when they tried to collecting their tickets. Trying to recall it in the office showed the booking as locked, and when the Helpdesk unlocked it, it just threw up an error and still couldn't be retrieved from the TVMs.

So what was the outcome for these poor passengers?

I am sticking to webtis :) as the First group sites are still offering this and to appears to be the most reliable (when you take into account how soon after booking you can collect your TOD).
 

Class172

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Having tested out the new booking site, I quickly came to the conclusion that it is a complete pile of rubbish. The map offers no benefits to me (if I want to know where a station is, I'll search it myself in google), and I find it frustrating that it tries to force you to pick trains - give me back my Mixing Deck! You've had my custom until now London Midland, but alas no more - I shall use another site that appreciates an effective booking engine... :lol:
 

infobleep

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They got their tickets after completing a TOD Duplicate form...and the original retailer gets charged for them.
What do they get charged? An admin fee? I'd hate to miss an advanced purchase specific train due to this. I assume they would let you travel on a later train. Would be sensible.
 

CyrusWuff

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What do they get charged? An admin fee? I'd hate to miss an advanced purchase specific train due to this. I assume they would let you travel on a later train. Would be sensible.

We issue what's shown on the booking confirmation, unless it's something that can't be issued on a Desktop Ticket Issuing System (e.g. Virgin's web only Off-Peak Singles), with authority to travel on a later train if necessary.

The cost of said tickets is then billed back to the relevant TOC, unless it's a purely local problem, where the issuing TOC takes the hit.
 
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