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Arriva Trains Wales guard told me using the virgin trains app invalidated my ticket.

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NextStopper

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I was on a Arriva trains Wales today, i had already purchsed my single ticket to Cardiff from my home station using the Virgin trains app.

The reason i bought my ticket using the virgin app is solely because i prefer the colour scheme and layout of it, compared to any other train apps.

When the guard asked to check my ticket, he was very hesistant at saying it was valid and then went on to lecture me at how not using the Arriva trains app to buy my ticket meant that he couldn't verify if my ticket was legit.

He then went on to say that he would let me off this time, but in the future use the arriva app and not the virgin one.
Is this correct .The ticket was valid and i showed him the flashing animation on it to prove it was legit
 
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gray1404

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He is totally wrong and is making up the rules as he goes along. You really do need to report what happened today to stop him giving bother to other customers travelling with valid tickets.
 
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gray1404 said:
He is totally wrong and is making up the rules as he goes along. You really do need to report what happened today to stop him giving bother to other customers travelling with valid tickets.
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Yes. I'll do that. He was pretty rude too even though i have him full control of my phone to prove my ticket was valid. He made it seem like he was doing me a favour by letting me travel
 
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yorkie

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NextStopper said:
Yes. I'll do that. He was pretty rude too even though i have him full control of my phone to prove my ticket was valid. He made it seem like he was doing me a favour by letting me travel
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Yes, this happens. I am not surprised; there are insufficient safeguards in place to ensure that all staff with responsibility for checking tickets act and behave appropriately, in my opinion.

Write and complain, and let us know what response you get.
 
kristiang85

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That is ridiculous. It does make you wonder what kind of training they get, considering this is pretty entry level UK rail travel knowledge.
 
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NextStopper

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Hi all. I've contacted TFW about what happened and they responded with a pretty generic "we are sorry that the guard did this, we will make sure all guards are trained properly about ticket acceptance"


At least they're now aware of what's happened, it is simply not good enough to be misleading fare paying customers like this.
 
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yorkie

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Ask them what actions they are taking and ask that they can confirm that the matter is being investigated by the Guard's manager.

They can't divulge the outcome of any disciplinary matter but they should be able to reassure you that they are taking appropriate steps to avoid a repeat incident.

If it happens again, it may actually be worth incurring the additional expenses as this is evidence of a breach of contract and consumer laws as well as the company's franchise agreement, and it would not be so easy for them to sweep it under the carpet.
 
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