Picked up my tickets today for my trip next month from Glasgow to Euston, bought from Trainsplit. The booking correctly stated one coupon would be printed and the screen on the GWR machine at Exeter Central correctly showed 2 adults and 1 child with 3 seat reservations. Unfortunately out came the attached ticket showing one adult, with a C marking and only one seat reservation. The ticket title and cost are correct but that is about it. Obviously, given all the current issues with Avanti, I raised this at the ticket office and said they couldn't help as the coupon had been printed and if incorrect there is nothing they can do and they said to contact Trainsplit. The Trainsplit phone team were also unable to help and I have emailed them, but is this a known issue and how can I resolve it, as I don't live near any Avanti stations (even if that would help).
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Trainsplit Ticket Isssuing Problem with Avanti WC Family Single Ticket
- Thread starter embers25
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Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Knowing how awkward some guards are (and the Euston barrier) I wouldn't. The people behind Trainsplit post here, though (unlike the call centre which I believe is contracted out) so I'm sure they will help soon.
I half recall only Avanti TVMs can print them properly but might be wrong.
I half recall only Avanti TVMs can print them properly but might be wrong.
This post kind of sums up well everything that's wrong with the way the industry treats consumers.
If it wasn't Avanti I'd agree, but becuase it is Avanti I'm sure the ticket will cause issues and the full single fare to Euston for three is not cheap. If they can only be printed on Avanti TVM's then surely Trainsplit should warn people (as should Avanti) and also surely it should only be offered in etikcet or pdf form to avoid this issue. I don't fancy being out of pocket here, depending on the common sense of the Avanti guard. I'm not knocking Trainsplit here as I'm assuming this is a ticket machine issue and I can't recommend them enough and have had no previous issues and indeed bought from them yesterday and picked up those tickets just fine. Indeed, I used them for those tickets as the functionality offered on trainsplit meant I could force the route a certain way meaning a much lower fare. That being said, this situation is ridiculous as Starmill says.
If there were a genuine failure of printing in cases of ToD delivery, then it is rightly for the operator of the ticket machine to assist in the first instance. The retailer might be able to correct for the problem if that doesn't happen.
It's not clear what's actually happened with the printing here.
It's not clear what's actually happened with the printing here.
JBuchananGB
Member
When I booked one of those tickets last year from Virgin, I had it posted to me, and it came in the old format as two coupons, one for travel for one adult and one child, and the other with two seat reservations. It looks as though there is a problem with the TVM, trying to issue the ticket in the new format and getting it completely wrong. I still have the image of it I used to claim delay repay.
SickyNicky
Verified Rep - FastJP
We'd like to check our data on this one. Would you email us at feedback at trainsplit.com with the booking reference please?
Thanks.
Thanks.
I orinigally sent the details to [email protected] but have just forwarded that email to [email protected] too. If you can shed any light on this that would be greatly appreciated. Luckily I have a couple of weeks before I travel and so hopefully this can be resolved.
SickyNicky
Verified Rep - FastJP
Thanks. I've got the email and have passed it on to the right person.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Thinking on, to the OP, if these are normally issued as multiple pieces (as someone else suggests) did it show "printing 1/3, 2/3 then 3/3" but only spit one out (in which case it may well simply be stuck in the machine) or did it say "printing 1/1" thus suggesting it only knew to print one ticket?
The booking states it as one coupon for the 2 adults and one childe combined, the ticket machine showed it as one coupon for the two addults and one child combined, it printed one coupon...just without the necessary information on it!
trainophile
Established Member
I have booked some tickets on the Avanti website, just ordinary Advances no splitting, and with this thread in mind I was wondering whether it will be straightforward to collect them from a non-Avanti ToD machine? Is it only splits that are giving problems?
Also I was trying to find a list of all Avanti operated stations but had no success. Is there such a thing? Same question for other TOC operated stations?
Also I was trying to find a list of all Avanti operated stations but had no success. Is there such a thing? Same question for other TOC operated stations?
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Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Normal Advances will issue fine from any TVM.
trainophile
Established Member
Thanks. No-one knows of any station operators lists then? I know you can look them up individually but that’s a bit of a pain.
It might be slightly out of date, but Schedule 17 is one place that stations are listed by who operates them from a ticketting perspsective.
Wallsendmag
Established Member
I would hazard a wild guess that the specific ticket format for the family ticket isn’t enabled for the TVM
It's unfortunately a well known issue with those S&B machines where it will only print one ticket.
Sam
Sam
trainophile
Established Member
That’s great, just what I was looking for. Thanks.
Fair enough, but in this case my actual booking says I should only expect 1 ticket and so I wasn't expecting more.
gray1404
Established Member
If it is a known issue then it is not unreasonable to expect the ticket to be accepted without issue then. The price of the ticket should indicate anyway how many people it covers. I would also recommend carrying a printed copy of the booking confirmation issued by Trainsplit (or at the very least being able to show this on your phone).
Normal Advances should be fine from any ticket machine.
I don't understand the question.
This hasn't got anything to do with using combinations of two or more tickets for one journey (aka "split ticketing"), so I think there has been a misunderstanding.
NRE states the operator of each station on the relevant station page.
It can depend on the TVM, for example a Northern Duo is one fare but can be issued with tickets for each passenger; also it would need to be set up correctly on the TVM regardless of the number of coupons that should be printed.
While it would not be unreasonable to expect that, and of course in any other industry you would absolutely expect it, it's not an exception I would have at Euston, given their reputation.
gray1404
Established Member
I had to double check the thread to confirm the OP was not starting their journey at Euston. If they were I would expect problems. Thankfully they are starting at Glasgow Central heading to Euston so should at least be able to get onto the train.
It is also worth noting that a passenger could even book their ticket with Avanti and collect it from a station served by Avanti and it still be printed incorrectly. For example, there are Scotrail TVMs at Glasgow Central, Northern ones at Liverpool Lime Street, WMT ones at Euston.
It is also worth noting that a passenger could even book their ticket with Avanti and collect it from a station served by Avanti and it still be printed incorrectly. For example, there are Scotrail TVMs at Glasgow Central, Northern ones at Liverpool Lime Street, WMT ones at Euston.
I've also had a ticket check at Glasgow quite a few times before boarding Avanti and several times I've had issues with ticket staff who tried to stop me boarding with perfectly valid tickets and so even there it's not straightforward, albeit much easier than the nightmare of Euston who don't even accept a London-Crewe ticket is valid via Stoke and last time wrote in marker in large capital letters on my ticket "Stoke" before finally letting me board!
gray1404
Established Member
I've never encountered a ticket check at Glasgow Central so sorry I wasn't aware this is something they did there. You of course travel on the route more often then me so you will have a better idea. Let us hope there isn't one on the day of travel above. As I say, it is a valid ticket and a known issue. The correct fare has been paid and do travel with a printed copy of the booking confirmation.
ianbale
Verified Rep - Hazardous Frog
Hi Embers25
The ticket was issued using Smartix software. Having looked into your booking I have identified a small fault - which has now been corrected. The fault was connected to the reservations data. The three reservations were present, but a separate field that contains the number of reservations was erroneously set to zero.
My guess is that the screen view ignored the field and just displayed all the reservations in the data, whereas the printing part uses the counter and got confused... Hopefully with the correction I have put in place, the ticket machine at your local station will be able to print it correctly.
I've arranged with TrainSplit to make a new booking for you. If you can return the ticket to them, they will then provide you with a new booking reference to collect the new ticket.
I suspect this fault may have gone unnoticed for some time if you had not reported it. So by way of a thank you and for your inconvenience, I've also arranged to cover a 50% (£40) refund which will be paid to you once you've returned the original ticket and they have processed the cancellation for it.
Someone should be in touch to arrange that in the next day or two.
The ticket was issued using Smartix software. Having looked into your booking I have identified a small fault - which has now been corrected. The fault was connected to the reservations data. The three reservations were present, but a separate field that contains the number of reservations was erroneously set to zero.
My guess is that the screen view ignored the field and just displayed all the reservations in the data, whereas the printing part uses the counter and got confused... Hopefully with the correction I have put in place, the ticket machine at your local station will be able to print it correctly.
I've arranged with TrainSplit to make a new booking for you. If you can return the ticket to them, they will then provide you with a new booking reference to collect the new ticket.
I suspect this fault may have gone unnoticed for some time if you had not reported it. So by way of a thank you and for your inconvenience, I've also arranged to cover a 50% (£40) refund which will be paid to you once you've returned the original ticket and they have processed the cancellation for it.
Someone should be in touch to arrange that in the next day or two.
Thanks very much for getting to the bottom of this and for the resolution provided which is very much appreciated. Reaaly happy I booked through Trainsplit now as I wouldn't have fancied my chances of getting any resolution to this if I'd booked through most normal TOC booking sites. I'll return the ticket as soon as I get their email with the details.
Thanks again for all your investigations.
ianbale
Verified Rep - Hazardous Frog
Many of you will know that group tickets are not really supported by ToD. They are a kludge in the CTR data.
As a result, TVM don't always print them correctly. In this case, Avanti have added specific logic to their machines to print their ticket slightly differently. Other TVMs are not going to do this. All the TOCs are aware of this and so there should not be any problem with such ticket being accepted for travel.
Ember25's ticket is fine. I have confirmed that directly with Avanti.
However, as a result of looking into this I did find a small fault in Smartix code which put an incorrect value into the CTR data. This could affect printing on a small number of TVMs. It did not cause a problem in this case. That has fault has now been corrected. Since it was Ember25's query that brought this to my attention, I've provided a partial refund on behalf of Hazardous Frog (We built and operate the Smartix fulfilment software used by Raileasy, TrainSplit and associated sites).
NOTE: Hazardous Frog is not a licensee, so we only issue tickets on behalf of someone that is. Generally it is the licensee (in this case, Raileasy) that are responsible for refunds.
As a result, TVM don't always print them correctly. In this case, Avanti have added specific logic to their machines to print their ticket slightly differently. Other TVMs are not going to do this. All the TOCs are aware of this and so there should not be any problem with such ticket being accepted for travel.
Ember25's ticket is fine. I have confirmed that directly with Avanti.
However, as a result of looking into this I did find a small fault in Smartix code which put an incorrect value into the CTR data. This could affect printing on a small number of TVMs. It did not cause a problem in this case. That has fault has now been corrected. Since it was Ember25's query that brought this to my attention, I've provided a partial refund on behalf of Hazardous Frog (We built and operate the Smartix fulfilment software used by Raileasy, TrainSplit and associated sites).
NOTE: Hazardous Frog is not a licensee, so we only issue tickets on behalf of someone that is. Generally it is the licensee (in this case, Raileasy) that are responsible for refunds.
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