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Faded Network Railcard

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marts

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Hi all, I bought a Network Railcard from Faversham Station back in January and the print has faded so bad it almost looks blank!

I'm going to Faversham this week, will I be able to get the card re printed? I have the receipt and the receipt part of the application form.
 
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tony_mac

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There shouldn't be a problem; although apparently some staff try and charge for it.
I had no problem getting mine replaced without charge because it was faded (without a receipt).
 
craigwilson

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marts said:
Hi all, I bought a Network Railcard from Faversham Station back in January and the print has faded so bad it almost looks blank!

I'm going to Faversham this week, will I be able to get the card re printed? I have the receipt and the receipt part of the application form.
Click to expand...

I had this problem about a year ago with mine - I thought they'd got on top of it!! Evidently not...
 
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Carefree

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Had the same problem. FCC station staff refused to replace railcard because I didn't have a receipt (why would I keep a receipt for a railcard?), and said even if I had one it would be a fiver.

Called the FCC contact centre, and they insisted it was not possible for a railcard to fade unless mistreated contrary to terms & conditions (hah!). Also insisted that the £5 replacement fee was mandatory. I asked for the MD's email address, which they refused to give: I said I'd find the address and contact him about this clear breach of consumer rights. The call centre manager responded: "You will get no response from the MD."

Emailed FCC MD, and had a free new railcard within 48 hours. Why do some TOCs (especially this one) treat paying passengers as such an inconvenience?
 
Flamingo

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Carefree said:
Emailed FCC MD, and had a free new railcard within 48 hours. Why do some TOCs (especially this one) treat paying passengers as such an inconvenience?
Click to expand...
What you had was call-centre staff who didn't know the rules, not a TOC actively pursuing a policy of inconveniencing customers. Hopefully, your e-mail would result in some retraining.

The fact that the card was returned to you within 48 hours might demonstrate that it is not TOC policy (if it was, then the MD would have given you the same answer), why are you presenting it as such?
 
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marts

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Thanks for your replies, this is my second card and I can't recall the first one fading like this.
 
Flamingo

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The thermal printing on all the cards fade.

WARNING: DON'T DO THIS AT HOME KIDS

A trick (but I never old you to do this) is wave a naked flame under it, the rest of the unprinted area goes dark, and a negative image of the print comes out.

But technically this counts as defacing the card. ;)
 
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Intermodal

Intermodal

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I wonder how long I can make my location on this f
Flamingo said:
The thermal printing on all the cards fade.

A trick (but I never old you to do this) is wave a naked flame under it, the rest of the unprinted area goes dark, and a negative image of the print comes out.

But technically this counts as defacing the card. ;)
Click to expand...

I just tried this and it's totally ruined my railcard :@

What am I gunna do now!
 

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Flamingo

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Whoops. :oops:

I said that if it is waved over a naked flame. A bit too much effort there.

What's the procedure for replacement DSB railcards, anyone?
 
Greenback

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Flamingo said:
Whoops. :oops:

I said that if it is waved over a naked flame. A bit too much effort there.

What's the procedure for replacement DSB railcards, anyone?
Click to expand...

Go to any manned station, refuse to accept that stations can't issue them, shout loudly that 'that bloke said I could', refuse to explain who that bloke is, and start filming the discussion in order to post on YouTube and send to the Daily Mail as evidence that everyone connected with the railway is a useless, rude and unehlpful jobsworth bar steward.

Or alternatively

What do I do if my Railcard is lost, stolen or damaged?

You should contact the Disabled Persons Railcard Office. There is an administration fee - £5 for a one-year Railcard and £10 for a three-year Railcard - to replace a lost or damaged Railcard. If your card has been stolen and you have a police crime reference number or documentation, then you can obtain a free replacement card.
http://www.disabledpersons-railcard...led-persons-railcard/faqs/refundsreplacements
 
SS4

SS4

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Greenback said:
Go to any manned station, refuse to accept that stations can't issue them, shout loudly that 'that bloke said I could', refuse to explain who that bloke is, and start filming the discussion in order to post on YouTube and send to the Daily Mail as evidence that everyone connected with the railway is a useless, rude and unehlpful jobsworth bar steward.
Click to expand...

Don't forget to accuse them of discriminating against the disabled :lol:
 
Flamingo

Flamingo

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and crash their disabled scooter into something whilst leaving the station!
 
bb21

bb21

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I would think that it would not be too much hassle getting it replaced. Accidents happen and you can still clearly see the railcard number. If you still have the original receipt then |I'm confident that it can get replaced.
 
Yew

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Flamingo said:
Whoops. :oops:

I said that if it is waved over a naked flame. A bit too much effort there.

What's the procedure for replacement DSB railcards, anyone?
Click to expand...

Hmmm, Usually I have no problem doing it, however some recent tickets Ive got dont seem to work, is there new ticket stock?

Edit, just done an old ticket fine. Maybe its new stock, or the printers at Lincoln TVM's
 
Flamingo

Flamingo

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Yew said:
Hmmm, Usually I have no problem doing it, however some recent tickets Ive got dont seem to work, is there new ticket stock?

Edit, just done an old ticket fine. Maybe its new stock, or the printers at Lincoln TVM's
Click to expand...

Read the whole thread. It was a (successful) wind-up :lol:
 
Yew

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Flamingo said:
Read the whole thread. It was a (successful) wind-up :lol:
Click to expand...

I was talking about my tickets (old ones)

One from a few months ago (avantix issued) had no problems, however some from the TVM in lincoln didnt work

(also i got an edit in after you quoted flamingo :)
 
Flamingo

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OK, I misread you, sorry!

I'm not aware of any new stock that it doesn't work with. To be honest, I only do it when all other methods have been tried and failed.
 
C

Carefree

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Flamingo said:
What you had was call-centre staff who didn't know the rules, not a TOC actively pursuing a policy of inconveniencing customers. Hopefully, your e-mail would result in some retraining.

The fact that the card was returned to you within 48 hours might demonstrate that it is not TOC policy (if it was, then the MD would have given you the same answer), why are you presenting it as such?
Click to expand...

Not so. The 'call centre staff who didn't know the rules' was actually the call centre floor manager. And I'm yet to receive any apology or explanation from anyone at FCC about why its staff are told by management to behave in a way that breaches consumer law. I take all of this as evidence that FCC as a TOC largely treats its paying passengers as an inconvenience. And the lack of any apology or explanation from the MD rather proves it is a top-down issue.
 
Greenback

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Carefree said:
Not so. The 'call centre staff who didn't know the rules' was actually the call centre floor manager. And I'm yet to receive any apology or explanation from anyone at FCC about why its staff are told by management to behave in a way that breaches consumer law. I take all of this as evidence that FCC as a TOC largely treats its paying passengers as an inconvenience. And the lack of any apology or explanation from the MD rather proves it is a top-down issue.
Click to expand...

There has been quite a bit of evidence that FCC are not in the best way at present. I would agree that it is probably from the top - good leadership and good orgnaisation normally inspires good training and good service.

Just to be a little pedantic, the fact that the person was a floor manager still means they are call centre staff! And as they clearly didn't know the rules, which indicates that poor training within the organisation, as opposed to just the call centre, is part of the problem.
 
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exile

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Had a similar experience with a season ticket, ordered online. After a month it had faded to almost unreadability. The regular train crew knew who I was so continued to accept it but someone on the station said I had to get it replaced. Easier said than done.

The online retailer had to send instructions to the station ticket office to get them to set up a new record.... (for some reason the retailer was not using the same system as the TOCs) which they eventually agreed to do. Not sure why they were reluctant to do so, it wasn't going to cost them anything other than a few minutes time, whereas I was staring down the barrel of a loss of £1,200 for something that was not my fault.

New ticket has faded somewhat but hopefully will last till December. There does seem to be a lot of variability in the ink used - sometimes my ticket won't fade, other times it does (though it usually lasts the year out more or less).

Any ideas about the reluctance? Merseytravel also seem reluctant to replace lost seasons - they will only do it once. Why? They have a record of you paying money for the ticket which is linked via the photocard to you as an individual. OK, maybe they're punishing you for being careless but since this can set you back up to £1,000 it's a bit of a harsh punishment.
 
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island

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As mentioned elsewhere there is no ink used on the tickets; they are thermal print. If the printer is badly maintained or the stock is bad then there may be printing issues.
 
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