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I have a rail travel voucher which is imminently expiring. I just took it to my local Thameslink station in order for it to be exchanged for cash (something that Thameslink and other GTR stations offer)
The ticket office clerk said “where’s the letter?” I said what letter he said “the letter that came with the voucher I need the letter to verify the voucher”
I do not have the letter any longer or at least I don’t know where it is.
try another station ticket office? (obviously if you can do that without incurring un reasonable expense to get to a different station)
I wonder what would happen if you went on a different day when a different clerk was on duty.
I've never been asked for the letter (I used a RTV issued by LNER about 4 weeks ago with EMR at an EMR ticket office to buy a ticket for travel), although funnily enough I usually keep the letter with the voucher 'just in case' as I think RTVs are becoming increasingly uncommon so I have encountered staff who have not seen them before or not seen them for a considerable length of time.
However, I've never tried to exchange one for cash at a station - and I think only some operators offer this - and it has to be with a voucher issued by the same train operator as operate the ticket office you are trying to exchange it for cash at - which I assume in your case was the situation.
I sent in a formal complaint about a ticket clerk on GTR who refused to sell an Off Peak ticket at a valid time (because in his view the evening was always peak on all tickets) and GTR ignored it, so not sure I'd bother.
Wonder why they wanted to see what the original matter was about... trying to work out if the voucher was issued for a matter / complaint related to them?
I sent in a formal complaint about a ticket clerk on GTR who refused to sell an Off Peak ticket at a valid time (because in his view the evening was always peak on all tickets) and GTR ignored it, so not sure I'd bother.
try another station ticket office? (obviously if you can do that without incurring un reasonable expense to get to a different station)
I wonder what would happen if you went on a different day when a different clerk was on duty.
I've never been asked for the letter (I used a RTV issued by LNER about 4 weeks ago with EMR at an EMR ticket office to buy a ticket for travel), although funnily enough I usually keep the letter with the voucher 'just in case' as I think RTVs are becoming increasingly uncommon so I have encountered staff who have not seen them before or not seen them for a considerable length of time.
However, I've never tried to exchange one for cash at a station - and I think only some operators offer this - and it has to be with a voucher issued by the same train operator as operate the ticket office you are trying to exchange it for cash at - which I assume in your case was the situation.
Yes, unfortunately, my station is of the type where it is part time opening hours for the ticket office and one clerk tends to cover all those hours unless they are unwell or on leave. I will think about another Thameslink station if possible.
Yes, my voucher was generated by GTR, and this was a Thameslink ticket office.
The clerk appeared to have no issue about the cash element, just wished to see the letter
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Wonder why they wanted to see what the original matter was about... trying to work out if the voucher was issued for a matter / complaint related to them?
It wasn’t so much this, he wanted to confirm (he said) that he could match the voucher number in the letter with the voucher number that I provided him with.
The voucher has a barcode, and one would hope that that barcode links to my original case in some way or at least confirmed that the voucher was genuine.
But he did not appear to think that this was sufficient.
He may well just be inquisitive. But unfortunately, that does not help the customer.
I've never heard of such nonsense. That the clerk feels so unempowered that he can't even act on the advice of his customer services team, suggests a management problem somewhere along the chain of command.
At both of my two local stations, staff have happily exchanged RTVs for cash (or paid out to debit card, which I learned more recently is now an option). Definitely sounds like an issue with your local ticket office clerk.
I would send an email complaint to GTR, and ask if they'd consider either rebriefing the ticket office staff, or funding a ticket to another station to redeem it there if that isn't possible for whatever reason. Knowing my experiences with GTR, maybe they'll even send you another RTV in the post as an apology!
Devils advocate... You'd be surprised, management may be the problem.
With some of the nonsense observed from toc management, he could be acting on instructions sent out in the latest holy memo, containing this week's retail shenanigans often looking like someone's poorly thought out GCSE project... but unlikely.
I've never heard of such nonsense. That the clerk feels so unempowered that he can't even act on the advice of his customer services team, suggests a management problem somewhere along the chain of command.
I must confess, I miss-read the original OP and had assumed it was to buy a ticket. I had no idea you could exchange an RTV for cash and have no idea what the correct procedure should be.
I believe it's a TOC-specific arrangement. GTR and Southeastern will allow you to redeem RTVs issued by them as cash or onto a debit card at their ticket offices, but I don't know if any other TOCs do the same. Most likely just issue cheques instead.
I believe it's a TOC-specific arrangement. GTR will allow you to redeem RTVs issued by them as cash or onto a debit card, but I don't know if any other TOCs do the same. Most likely just issue cheques instead.
Thanks. i must admit, I'm a bit sceptical about the whole cash for delay repay idea as it seems like an incentive for not giving it out in the first place, but plenty of passengers seem to like it.
His argument might be that he's not being told what to do by somebody who's probably a junior grade in a different department. "I take orders from my boss, and my boss only"
Obviously his stance is absolutely wrong, but the refusal to listen to someone from customer services is - to e at least - less surprising than him getting it so horribly wrong in the first place
I believe it's a TOC-specific arrangement. GTR and Southeastern will allow you to redeem RTVs issued by them as cash or onto a debit card at their ticket offices, but I don't know if any other TOCs do the same. Most likely just issue cheques instead.
Yes, that's correct. Those TOCs issue cashable RTVs as the "cash option" that they're required to give for compensation. In my experience, the expiry date for purchasing a ticket is longer than the expiry date for cashing it.
Yes, that's correct. Those TOCs issue cashable RTVs as the "cash option" that they're required to give for compensation. In my experience, the expiry date for purchasing a ticket is longer than the expiry date for cashing it.
Which station is this? GTR has some great staff but sadly this sort of behaviour is not uncommon with GTR ticket offices. I've had very similar situations - with staff refusing to sell tickets that customer services have told them they should sell.
The clerk is talking nonsense. Please do escalate the complaint with GTR. I echo the thoughts to try an alternative station.
Which station is this? GTR has some great staff but sadly this sort of behaviour is not uncommon with GTR ticket offices. I've had very similar situations - with staff refusing to sell tickets that customer services have told them they should sell.
The clerk is talking nonsense. Please do escalate the complaint with GTR. I echo the thoughts to try an alternative station.
Thanks, yes it is a shame when ticket office staff act in this way. It does a disservice to the railway, to the reputation of good ticket office staff and to the customer.
I won’t state this particular station here because it might unintentionally also identify the particular staff member due to how the station is staffed, but I will raise it again with the company.
unfortunately I don’t hold out much hope of you receiving anything from GTR customer services that even indicates they have comprehended what you have raised with them
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