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Altrincham to Hale excess

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VauxhallandI

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I've read the guide on Excess fares but I'm obviously a bit too daft to get it.

Yesterday while travelling from Euston to Altrincham on an advance fare I decided I wanted to stay on the Stockport to Altrincham train for an extra stop so I could drop my bag off at my hotel rather than carry it to the football match.

On leaving the train at Stockport I went down to the ticket off and asked for an excess to Hale.

The ticket staff member said they couldn't do that and I would have to buy a new ticket (Alty to Hale).

What have I misunderstood please?
 
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VauxhallandI

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You can't excess an Advance, roger that.

On another note, was this an opportunity to buy? Or was I within my right to pay on the train? Most people do on that line but I've heard of the North and its land of £80 opportunity...
 

bb21

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Since you had time to go to the ticket office, it may well be argued that it was an opportunity.
 

Merseysider

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Could I however sight that the ticket office was the other side of the barrier?
You could argue it unsuccessfully in court, if you were caught. Euston and Stockport both have fully functioning machines and ticket offices. A Byelaw offence would stick if you didn't hold tickets for your full journey before boarding at Stockport.
 

neilmc

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John could have bought a ticket on the train provided he sought out the guard prior to arriving in Altrincham, as his advance already covered the Stockport-Altrincham section. But, yes, best go to the ticket office if you have time then you're not worrying.
 

VauxhallandI

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I don't think I'd be arguing anything in court, probably just getting blackmailed into an £80 payment :D

Begs the question, there is a minimum connection time for TOC responsibility for their duty of care. However where is the line in the sand for this situation?

Especially where you add the fact that on every experience I have had on this service is you can buy a ticket on the train.
 

miami

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Were you staying at the Bowdon hotel on Marlborough road? Not much further to walk from Alty if so.

Can't believe anyone would travel from London to watch Alteincham vs Macclrsfield. I wouldn't travel from hale to do that!


If you were on an off peak return would you have been able to excess (for zero quid I believe)?
 

VauxhallandI

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Were you staying at the Bowdon hotel on Marlborough road? Not much further to walk from Alty if so.

Can't believe anyone would travel from London to watch Alteincham vs Macclrsfield. I wouldn't travel from hale to do that!


If you were on an off peak return would you have been able to excess (for zero quid I believe)?

I was indeed staying there. No it's not much further but if you are already on the train and time is now of the essence....

I see no difference in travelling to watch Alty than anyone travelling to watch anyone else.

What would be the result if you couldn't get the Stockport people to zero excess, I wouldn't want to pay for something I didn't have to pay for.
 

Merseysider

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Johngill100 said:
What would be the result if you couldn't get the Stockport people to zero excess, I wouldn't want to pay for something I didn't have to pay for.
A nicely worded letter to customer service explaining the situation would probably yield a 50/50 chance of getting the extra couple of quid refunded.
 

miami

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If you can find someone prepared to do it, yes.

But once you arrived at Altrincham is it that you can't excess the return half?

What would be the result if you couldn't get the Stockport people to zero excess, I wouldn't want to pay for something I didn't have to pay for.

Well in the case of an excessable ticket, the conditions of carriage say nothing about what happens when a ticket office refuses to sell a ticket. It would seem as you made an attempt to buy a ticket you wouldn't be guilty of a RORA offence, and as there were no facilities able to sell you a ticket you'd have a defence under the byelaws.

In practice I would imagine talking to the guard between Stockport and Altrincham would result in him telling you that you could stay on until Hale without him bothering to issue an excess.
 

323235

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I've had many instances where I've needed an excess to an unstaffed station and the guard has said it doesn't matter and walked off.
 

pemma

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One guard (who doesn't still work for Northern) made a massive fuss when someone who boarded at Stockport had a ticket to Altrincham and they asked for a zero excess to Hale. In the end he just walked away from the passenger without either saying she could travel to Hale on her ticket or giving a zero excess. However, most guards wouldn't react like that even if she should have sorted out the excess before she boarded.

The next time I saw the same guard he was chatting to his mate on the platform at Piccadilly when the dispatcher was ready to dispatch his service and a crew member from another operator shouted at him to get on with his job, so not a typical guard and no surprise he doesn't still work for Northern.
 
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bb21

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But once you arrived at Altrincham is it that you can't excess the return half?

Once you arrive at your destination, the outward half may no longer be excessed, seeing that there was an opportunity to pay before starting the journey at Euston. The return half still may.

I leave the readers to work out where you stand should the clerk refuse to issue a zero-fare excess incorrectly.
 
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