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Ticket offices unable to sell change of route excess?

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Muzer

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Yesterday I went to from London to Birmingham to visit relatives in Sutton Coldfield, and today I'm going back home with CrossCountry. For ticketing I bought a London Terminals to Sutton Coldfield route Via High Wycombe off-peak return (SVR) for me and my dad. So I would get a Change of Route Excess on the return portion to Any Permitted.

However, I tried to get this excess at the ticket office at Marylebone (at the same time as I bought the tickets) but she said the button "was greyed out" and it wouldn't let here sell it. I tried again at Sutton Coldfield, and the ticket office staff after trying his best for a couple of minutes told me exactly the same thing that the Marylebone person had.

In the end I got on the train, knowing I was entitled to an excess on the train, but bought a weekend first without mentioning anything about needing an excess (having had poor experiences with CrossCountry guards knowing this rule in the past). The guard either didn't notice or didn't care that the route was wrong, so no problems there.

But I'm curious as to why the ticket office staff might not have been able to sell this excess.
 
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yorkie

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They can do it; they may either be choosing not to do it or not have received training on how to do it.

Unless the barriers won't accept the ticket, or you need a cross-London marker, I wouldn't bother trying to get it done at a ticket office, as the excess does not cost any more on the train.
 

Muzer

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They can do it; they may either be choosing not to do it or not have received training on how to do it.

Unless the barriers won't accept the ticket, or you need a cross-London marker, I wouldn't bother trying to get it done at a ticket office, as the excess does not cost any more on the train.
As I said, I was just struck by how odd it was that both attempted to do it and reported the same thing. I've definitely experienced the "choosing not to do it" before and this was not like that; it appeared in both cases that they were generally trying but that "the system" wouldn't let them.

I was more curious as to if there was some anomaly about this fare, that it was coded wrong or something. As I said, I wanted to try to buy it in advance because of issues I've had with CrossCountry guards not knowing about the rules about excessing in the past.
 

Hadders

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I had problems getting a change of route excess issued at Marylebone last year. I'd heard this was a good station for this sort of thing but so was disappointed that they couldn't do it - the clerk didn't even know what a change of route excess was...

A clerk at Aylesbury was able to do it for me with no problems whatsoever.
 

ForTheLoveOf

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Is it always possible to do excesses without additional charges on the train - so for example, can you board a VTWC BHM to EUS with a WMT-only ticket and then upgrade to an ''any permitted route" without having to pay for a whole new ticket?
 

higthomas

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Is it always possible to do excesses without additional charges on the train - so for example, can you board a VTWC BHM to EUS with a WMT-only ticket and then upgrade to an ''any permitted route" without having to pay for a whole new ticket?

Yes, but no. If you are allowed to do an excess, you can do it with no additional charge on the train.
But, in the case you mention, because it is a TOC specific ticket, not a route specific ticket, you are not able to excess it full stop.
 

ForTheLoveOf

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Yes, but no. If you are allowed to do an excess, you can do it with no additional charge on the train.
But, in the case you mention, because it is a TOC specific ticket, not a route specific ticket, you are not able to excess it full stop.

Oh, I see, so you can excess route specific tickets but not TOC specific tickets. Are there any other types you can or can't excess?
 

Muzer

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I believe the only one you're entitled to get on the train (rather than it being discretionary) is the change of route. Overdistance is certainly discretionary, as is railcard; I'm not sure about an excess from (eg) off-peak to anytime.
 

yorkie

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Obtaining any excess fare at a ticket office can be problematical; you may need to 'shop around'.
I believe the only one you're entitled to get on the train (rather than it being discretionary) is the change of route. Overdistance is certainly discretionary, as is railcard; I'm not sure about an excess from (eg) off-peak to anytime.
Change of route excess fares are the same price regardless of whether or not there was an opportunity to pay before boarding.

I won't go into other types of excess fares here; the rules can vary depending on circumstances and the train company you travel with.

I had problems getting a change of route excess issued at Marylebone last year. I'd heard this was a good station for this sort of thing but so was disappointed that they couldn't do it - the clerk didn't even know what a change of route excess was...
It's only some staff at Marylebone who are particularly good, not all of them.
 

gray1404

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It is a shame here because it shows that the staff involved were really trying their best to sell you the excess. You were not meet with a straight "no" from the start. However, it is due to a lack of training and also experience (as they do not issue many such excess tickets) that they were unable to do it.
 

LondonJohn

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I have a not dissimilar situation. I thought I had selected a railcard discount for my journey however it appears that I haven’t. The fare that I paid for the journey is actually 30p MORE than the discounted First class journey I intended to take. I didn’t query the fare when booking online as it was the first time I had bought this ticket since the fares increase in January and it was a little more than I would have paid for this journey.

I sat in first class, explained what happens to the guard and asked if she could issue a zero excess which is what I thought would be the solution. She advised the system wouldn’t allow it to happen as she needed to refund me 30p.. I wasn’t fussed about that and she told me to do it at a station, when I tried to do it at the station they said they weren’t allowed to excess tickets bought online and I should go back to point of sale. I have gone to TOC point of sale and they can’t/don’t know how to do it either.

My return journey will be in a week and I’d ideally like to travel first class but don’t want any grief onboard. Any suggestions.

Journey is Brighton to Woolston route not London and I paid £28.60 and I do have a valid annual gold card. Want to travel between Southampton and Clapham Junction in First class ideally as train will likely be very busy.
 

najaB

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However, it is due to a lack of training and also experience (as they do not issue many such excess tickets) that they were unable to do it.
We seem to be discounting the OP's report that the relevant button was grayed out. Maybe it was a lack of training, but equally it might be an error or omission in the TIS. Especially given that two clerks had exactly the same problem.
 

Clip

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We seem to be discounting the OP's report that the relevant button was grayed out. Maybe it was a lack of training, but equally it might be an error or omission in the TIS. Especially given that two clerks had exactly the same problem.

Indeed and I'm not sure if they both use the same system either so its a bit harsh to solely blame the ticket clerks if the system wont let them proceed with the transaction
 

Muzer

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We seem to be discounting the OP's report that the relevant button was grayed out. Maybe it was a lack of training, but equally it might be an error or omission in the TIS. Especially given that two clerks had exactly the same problem.
Indeed, both clerks at different stations told me that the button was greyed out, which is why I was wondering whether it might have been an error in the fares database or some other technical issue. I'm certainly not discounting lack of training as a possibility though!
 

yorkie

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I have a not dissimilar situation. I thought I had selected a railcard discount for my journey however it appears that I haven’t. The fare that I paid for the journey is actually 30p MORE than the discounted First class journey I intended to take. I didn’t query the fare when booking online as it was the first time I had bought this ticket since the fares increase in January and it was a little more than I would have paid for this journey.
If the fare you are excessing to is cheaper, it should be a zero fare excess. No refund is due.
I sat in first class, explained what happens to the guard and asked if she could issue a zero excess which is what I thought would be the solution. She advised the system wouldn’t allow it to happen as she needed to refund me 30p.. I wasn’t fussed about that and she told me to do it at a station, when I tried to do it at the station they said they weren’t allowed to excess tickets bought online and I should go back to point of sale. I have gone to TOC point of sale and they can’t/don’t know how to do it either.
The ticket office should be able to do it; there is no such rule that they are not "allowed to excess tickets bought online"
My return journey will be in a week and I’d ideally like to travel first class but don’t want any grief onboard. Any suggestions.
Journey is Brighton to Woolston route not London and I paid £28.60 and I do have a valid annual gold card. Want to travel between Southampton and Clapham Junction in First class ideally as train will likely be very busy.
If the ticket office won't do it, have a word with staff on the train if these trains have an OBS or Guard.
 

Haywain

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If the fare you are excessing to is cheaper, it should be a zero fare excess. No refund is due.
True, but you can't excess from a full price standard class ticket to a railcard discounted first class ticket which is what I read LondonJohn as wanting to do.
 
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