coradiafan2000
Member
Hope this is the right place to put this... It's been bugging me for a while.
Back in October I purchased tickets online (through the GWR website, if that turns out to be somehow relevant), and had to collect them from the self service ticket machine at my local station (Merthyr Tydfil).
I have done this several times before with no issues, and when I got to the station I followed the instructions and inserted the card I used to pay for the ticket. However instead of asking me to enter my booking reference, it almost immediately asked me to remove the card, and then pretended like nothing happened. I tried this several more times, with the same result. It didn't even seem to try and read my card, it just asked me to remove it barely a second after I inserted it.
I gave up after a while and tried phoning the Transport for Wales helpline, but as it was about 6:20am the lines were closed, as was the staffed ticket office. I noticed another passenger try and use a card to purchase tickets from the machine, but the machine didn't seem to accept his card either, which presumably meant the issue wasn't with my debit card.
When my train arrived I explained the situation to the guard and he was very understanding. I showed him the booking reference on my phone and he allowed me on the train to Cardiff Central (I was travelling to London Paddington). He said that when I got to Cardiff I could go to the ticket office there and they would be able to print out the ticket if I gave them the booking reference.
When I got to Cardiff I explained my situation to the gateline staff, who directed me to the unpaid fares office. When I gave them the booking reference it apparently said the ticket had already been collected, which I found odd as I hadn't even had the chance to enter the reference. I went back to the ticket office and they were able to print the ticket out, and I had no further troubles with it.
The reason why this is troubling me so much is that I think the machine at Merthyr somehow damaged my debit card (the exact same thing happened to my father earlier this year, and he had to get his credit card replaced because of it). When I tried to insert my card into the chip and pin machine at Cardiff to get my ticket, it came up with an error message. Thankfully I was able to swipe it and it worked. I later found that I could still use my card to pay via contactless, however an error message would come up if I tried to insert it. This lead me to have to replace my debit card.
My father has sent a complaint on the behalf of both of us to Transport for Wales, although we haven't heard anything in over a month. I want to know if this is an issue at any other TfW ticket machines. I've used the one at Cardiff Central in the past with no issues, and until this incident the one at Merthyr was fine too (apart from damaging my father's card). Sorry this was such a long post, just wanted to know if this is a known issue.
Back in October I purchased tickets online (through the GWR website, if that turns out to be somehow relevant), and had to collect them from the self service ticket machine at my local station (Merthyr Tydfil).
I have done this several times before with no issues, and when I got to the station I followed the instructions and inserted the card I used to pay for the ticket. However instead of asking me to enter my booking reference, it almost immediately asked me to remove the card, and then pretended like nothing happened. I tried this several more times, with the same result. It didn't even seem to try and read my card, it just asked me to remove it barely a second after I inserted it.
I gave up after a while and tried phoning the Transport for Wales helpline, but as it was about 6:20am the lines were closed, as was the staffed ticket office. I noticed another passenger try and use a card to purchase tickets from the machine, but the machine didn't seem to accept his card either, which presumably meant the issue wasn't with my debit card.
When my train arrived I explained the situation to the guard and he was very understanding. I showed him the booking reference on my phone and he allowed me on the train to Cardiff Central (I was travelling to London Paddington). He said that when I got to Cardiff I could go to the ticket office there and they would be able to print out the ticket if I gave them the booking reference.
When I got to Cardiff I explained my situation to the gateline staff, who directed me to the unpaid fares office. When I gave them the booking reference it apparently said the ticket had already been collected, which I found odd as I hadn't even had the chance to enter the reference. I went back to the ticket office and they were able to print the ticket out, and I had no further troubles with it.
The reason why this is troubling me so much is that I think the machine at Merthyr somehow damaged my debit card (the exact same thing happened to my father earlier this year, and he had to get his credit card replaced because of it). When I tried to insert my card into the chip and pin machine at Cardiff to get my ticket, it came up with an error message. Thankfully I was able to swipe it and it worked. I later found that I could still use my card to pay via contactless, however an error message would come up if I tried to insert it. This lead me to have to replace my debit card.
My father has sent a complaint on the behalf of both of us to Transport for Wales, although we haven't heard anything in over a month. I want to know if this is an issue at any other TfW ticket machines. I've used the one at Cardiff Central in the past with no issues, and until this incident the one at Merthyr was fine too (apart from damaging my father's card). Sorry this was such a long post, just wanted to know if this is a known issue.
