I have a sneaking suspicion that I may be treading old ground here, and apologise if that's the case.
Yesterday I purchased two single tickets from a machine at Epsom, from Epsom to London Euston via any permitted route. Printed on the tickets was:
From Epsom
To London Terminals
I was a bit suspicious but let it go because I had a train to catch.
The tickets didn't get us through the barriers at Vauxhall tube station but a member of staff waved us through without comment. They also didn't get us through the barriers at Euston, but a member of staff let us through after arguing half-heartedly for a couple of minutes. The crux of the argument was something like "The machine assumes that you've got an Oyster card", which he agreed was a strange assumption to make (and an incorrect one in my case). He was also unable to advise on the alternate route that we should have taken to get from Epsom to Euston without using the tube.
On the return journey today, we used our debit cards to get from Euston to Waterloo, then purchased two single tickets from Waterloo to Epsom. Printed on the tickets was:
From London Terminals
To Epsom
The price was the same as what we paid yesterday for the tickets supposedly from Epsom to Euston.
I contend that this is a bit mad. If I enter Epsom as the departure station and London Euston as the arrival station, and for some reason the tube isn't a valid route, would it not make sense to state as much? Especially as both the TfL journey planner and the NRE journey planner suggest the same route that we actually took (i.e. using the tube).
Anyway, if this is a known problem and not a weird error on my part, who do I complain to? Southern for selling me a ticket that doesn't work, or TfL for not honouring the ticket?
Yesterday I purchased two single tickets from a machine at Epsom, from Epsom to London Euston via any permitted route. Printed on the tickets was:
From Epsom
To London Terminals
I was a bit suspicious but let it go because I had a train to catch.
The tickets didn't get us through the barriers at Vauxhall tube station but a member of staff waved us through without comment. They also didn't get us through the barriers at Euston, but a member of staff let us through after arguing half-heartedly for a couple of minutes. The crux of the argument was something like "The machine assumes that you've got an Oyster card", which he agreed was a strange assumption to make (and an incorrect one in my case). He was also unable to advise on the alternate route that we should have taken to get from Epsom to Euston without using the tube.
On the return journey today, we used our debit cards to get from Euston to Waterloo, then purchased two single tickets from Waterloo to Epsom. Printed on the tickets was:
From London Terminals
To Epsom
The price was the same as what we paid yesterday for the tickets supposedly from Epsom to Euston.
I contend that this is a bit mad. If I enter Epsom as the departure station and London Euston as the arrival station, and for some reason the tube isn't a valid route, would it not make sense to state as much? Especially as both the TfL journey planner and the NRE journey planner suggest the same route that we actually took (i.e. using the tube).
Anyway, if this is a known problem and not a weird error on my part, who do I complain to? Southern for selling me a ticket that doesn't work, or TfL for not honouring the ticket?