TOD collection problem: best retailer who provides assistance?

In light of this thread:

The topic of this post and the fact it is not the first time passengers have had problem with tickets printing begs this question:

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/tod-collection-problem-return-portion-not-printed.189276/

Which is the best retailer to buy tickets from who you assist you and ensure you are not out of pocket should you have problems with TOD printing. It would be useful to know.

It depends on the nature of the problem. In general, however, sites using Trainline as the backend (e.g. EMR and Virgin) tend to have the most flexibility when it comes to resolving things like forgotten/lost payment cards as they can change the collection flag to permit any card to be used.

Sadly, as good as the interface is, sites using WebTIS (e.g. GWR and TPE) don't have that facility, and nor do Chiltern or Grand Central.

Can't comment on other providers, however, as I've never had to contact them to resolve issues.

What about when it comes to tickets not printing etc... and the booking office don't help. Which retailer is most helpful to their customers in those circumstances?

I would hope that we all would. I know that we do. After all, good customer service is always in our interest. In any case, if we didn't, you'd just chargeback the payment, wouldn't you?

gray1404 said:

What about when it comes to tickets not printing etc... and the booking office don't help. Which retailer is most helpful to their customers in those circumstances?

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The Southern and SouthEastern Booking Offices that Ive approached when experiencing problems have always been really helpful tbh.

SickyNicky said:

I would hope that we all would. I know that we do. After all, good customer service is always in our interest. In any case, if we didn't, you'd just chargeback the payment, wouldn't you?

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Always better if a problem can be resolved with the retailer first. A bank chargeback is not a first resort and is not gaunerteed if the bank disagree or if you don't have enough evidence /documentation.

Besides when physically on the ground abs your ticket won't print or has not printed or there's been some sort of problem (stuck in machine), system says printed but it hasn't in reality and the booking office won't help, even if they should, it would be nice to know if theres a retailer thst will provide real help on the ground if you call them. Be that giving you another collection reference to reprint the tickets or getting another ticket to you... Or even one that will be prompt at refunding fee free the purchase of any additional tickets you're forced to purchase.

gray1404 said:

...
Which is the best retailer to buy tickets from who you assist you and ensure you are not out of pocket should you have problems with TOD printing. It would be useful to know.

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In light of the thread on the Caledonian Sleeper only offering e-tickets, and your take on that, one could suggest that providing support for TOD collection problems is another reason why retailers would find e-tickets attractive (and so seek to push customers towards them).

Joe Paxton said:

In light of the thread on the Caledonian Sleeper only offering e-tickets, and your take on that, one could suggest that providing support for TOD collection problems is another reason why retailers would find e-tickets attractive (and so seek to push customers towards them).

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I am happy to discuss my views on e-ticketing and the importance of providing customers with choice in a separate thread on the matter. Please keep this thread on topic. I created this post in light of reading about a customer having problems with TOD and not getting help afterwards, in an attempt to see which retailer(s) are the most helpful to their customer when there are problems and thus the safest to buy from in the event of problems.

gray1404 said:

What about when it comes to tickets not printing etc... and the booking office don't help. Which retailer is most helpful to their customers in those circumstances?

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Probably easiest to buy from whichever TOC runs the station you are collecting the tickets from. Then if there is a problem, at least you only have one company to deal with.

gray1404 said:

I am happy to discuss my views on e-ticketing and the importance of providing customers with choice in a separate thread on the matter. Please keep this thread on topic. I created this post in light of reading about a customer having problems with TOD and not getting help afterwards, in an attempt to see which retailer(s) are the most helpful to their customer when there are problems and thus the safest to buy from in the event of problems.

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Its a difficult question to answer because over the years it seems that people have had various issues with all TOCs not assisting as quickly or as well as they should