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Wymondham station - Faulty TVM

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Yesterday I booked and paid for two (disabled persons railcard) off-peak return tickets from Wymondham to London Terminals via Cambridge with LNER for travel on the 22.01.2019 for myself and my mother. I have visited Wymondham station today and attempted to collect these tickets from the TVM. The machine failed to dispense them due to a fault, there are no other TVMs at Wymondham and it is an unstaffed station.

I spoke to LNER today who have spoken to Greater Anglia. They have confirmed that the TVM at Wymondham is faulty and GA has authorised me and my mother to travel to Cambridge without a ticket and to then collect the tickets from Cambridge station. However I have no written evidence of this authorisation. I have emailed GA to request confirmation that I have been authorised to travel without a ticket but am worried that they might not get back to me on time. What should I do?
 
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MPotter said:
Yesterday I booked and paid for two (disabled persons railcard) off-peak return tickets from Wymondham to London Terminals via Cambridge with LNER for travel on the 22.09.2019 for myself and my mother. I have visited Wymondham station today and attempted to collect these tickets from the TVM. The machine failed to dispense them due to a fault, there are no other TVMs at Wymondham and it is an unstaffed station.

I spoke to LNER today who have spoken to Greater Anglia. They have confirmed that the TVM at Wymondham is faulty and GA has authorised me and my mother to travel to Cambridge without a ticket and to then collect the tickets from Cambridge station. However I have no written evidence of this authorisation. I have emailed GA to request confirmation that I have been authorised to travel without a ticket but am worried that they might not get back to me on time. What should I do?
Click to expand...
How did you speak to LNER? By phone?

Did you mean 22/01/2019?
 
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MPotter said:
1) Correct.
2) Yes.
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Well, the easiest solution may be to phone LNER again and to record the call that time (this is legally permissible, even if you do not previously ask - you are acting in a domestic capacity and thus GDPR does not apply). That way, if there is any issue with permission to board, you have clear documentary evidence of it.

If the above is not possible (or, for whatever reason, you are not given the permission that time), you'll need to find a legitimate way of boarding without a ticket. Does the TVM at Wymondham accept cash? If not, have the cash for the fare ready in case the guard decides not to let you pick up your ticket at Cambridge. Or if it takes cash, do you have any RTVs? You could use those, too.
 
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ForTheLoveOf said:
Well, the easiest solution may be to phone LNER again and to record the call that time (this is legally permissible, even if you do not previously ask - you are acting in a domestic capacity and thus GDPR does not apply). That way, if there is any issue with permission to board, you have clear documentary evidence of it.

If the above is not possible (or, for whatever reason, you are not given the permission that time), you'll need to find a legitimate way of boarding without a ticket. Does the TVM at Wymondham accept cash? If not, have the cash for the fare ready in case the guard decides not to let you pick up your ticket at Cambridge. Or if it takes cash, do you have any RTVs? You could use those, too.
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1) Good idea but I would like to go one better. Permission to board is not an issue as Wymondham station has a sign stating that any person may board a train without a ticket and buy one onboard. In addition to that I have already been given permission to board by email from GA at any time (unless Wymondham becomes a penalty fare station in the future) but the email states that I will have to buy a ticket onboard the train.
2) The TVM at Wymondham does not accept cash due to Wymondham being an unstaffed station. I'll make sure to have the cash for the fare ready just in case the guard insists on us buying tickets and his/her card machine is broken. That said I reckon that the guard would just let us travel without a ticket in such a scenario.
 
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As an update I telephoned Greater Anglia (the TOC operating the first train in my itinerary) and requested permission to travel without a ticket. The person I spoke to actually explained that he wasn't allowed to authorise it due to not being an authorised person. He said that I would have to contact LNER, apply for a full refund of the tickets and then purchase new ones from the GA TVM at Wymondham station or failing that from the conductor onboard the train. He initially suggested asking LNER for an m-ticket but then retracted that suggestion after I said that my mother's phone has a history of breaking down and I don't a suitable phone.
 
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I've telephoned LNER again whilst recorded and asked whether I can travel without a ticket. I was told that my booking reference was invalid and they couldn't help me.
 
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I've telephoned LNER for a third time and been told that my booking reference was actually valid along. They have said that as I have permission from GA, I will be fine boarding the first train without a ticket and I might even be able to travel to Cambridge without buying another ticket providing that I have my booking confirmation. I can then collect my ticket from one of the TVMs at Cambridge station. Failing that the guard might choose to charge me and my mother for another ticket, in which case I could either 1) Buy new return tickets to London Terminals and then claim a refund on the original ticket from LNER. 2) Buy new single tickets to Cambridge and then claim a refund on the new tickets from GA. I think I will go for option number 2 on the basis that it is the cheapest.
 
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With any luck the TVM will be fixed before the 22nd and you'll be able to collect your tickets before you travel.
 
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Hadders said:
With any luck the TVM will be fixed before the 22nd and you'll be able to collect your tickets before you travel.
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The annoying thing is that whilst the TVM works, it doesn't allow you to collect tickets or speak to staff using the "Ticket Assistance" function. Therefore I'm not sure that they will fix the TVM before then, I'm pretty sure that completely out of service TVMs will take priority!
 
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Do you have access to Twitter? If so, can you send both LNER and GA a tweet explaining the situation. I've often seen them say you can travel on the email until you get to a working machine. You can then show the guard if any queries.
 
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iphone76 said:
Do you have access to Twitter? If so, can you send both LNER and GA a tweet explaining the situation. I've often seen them say you can travel on the email until you get to a working machine. You can then show the guard if any queries.
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Thank you, will do.
 
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iphone76 said:
Do you have access to Twitter? If so, can you send both LNER and GA a tweet explaining the situation. I've often seen them say you can travel on the email until you get to a working machine. You can then show the guard if any queries.
Click to expand...
In response to my Tweet, GA tweeted the following:

KC said:
Hi Marcus, yes if the machine isn't working you will be able to. Will you not pass another station before the 22/01 to collect the tickets? KC
Click to expand...

No response from LNER yet.
 
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