Bought ticket I don't want

[mathmo]

I went to the TVM at my local station tonight to buy a ticket for tomorrow, as I may not have time to get a ticket tomorrow. The ticket office was closed. I pressed "Tickets for tomorrow" but due to pressing something wrongly it took me back to the start, and I accidentally bought a ticket for today, which I had no interest in using. I then had to go and buy another ticket for tomorrow. Each ticket cost £6.95 so it's not an awful waste of money, but do I have any hope of getting a refund? The FGW website says to return the ticket to the place of purchase but I'm not sure how that works for a TVM. (It was an FGW station and TVM.) Nowhere after the initial screen can you tell you're not getting a ticket for tomorrow, which is very annoying .

 

[142094]

Quite annoying that the office was shut, as they would probably have been the best option - especially if you went in straight away as and explained the situation. Still, send it off with a letter to customer services and you might be lucky.

 

[mullin]

I've done this before at Euston. Bought a ticket then realised I needed a travel card. Simply took the ticket to the ticket office and they cancelled the ticket and credited my card however much the ticket was with no fuss

 

[Greenback]

Yes, it's no problem if the ticket office is open, it's a bit trickier if it's shut, like in this example, or the station is unstaffed.

how many people accidentally buy the wrong ticket at TVM's? How many think 'it's only a couple of quid, and I must have doen something wrong' and don't bother to get a refund? No wonder TOC's prefer machines!

 

[jon0844]

Given that the two tickets will probably have sequential serial numbers, you should be fine if you keep both tickets and send the other one in with your appeal.

I've been told before that you can only get a refund within a certain time on a same-day ticket, but if you bought two identical tickets then they should believe you (even though you could have bought two because you made both journeys). An element of goodwill will play a part in such claims, but I'd expect any TOC to keep a record and spot you doing this regularly.

The TOC doesn't have much to lose, given that they'll pay you in rail vouchers anyway. They'd be stupid to refuse a refund the first time, but do it regularly and I guess they'll be wanting a bit more proof!!

 

[Royston Vasey]

I have had tickets for future travel refunded at FGW stations without fuss

However I wouldn't expect them to be obliged to refund you if you're trying to refund a ticket from yesterday. The reason being that it is entirely possible to use both portions of a ticket without ever being gripped or put through a barrier.

Good luck though.

 

[Greenback]

Given that the two tickets will probably have sequential serial numbers, you should be fine if you keep both tickets and send the other one in with your appeal.

I've been told before that you can only get a refund within a certain time on a same-day ticket, but if you bought two identical tickets then they should believe you (even though you could have bought two because you made both journeys). An element of goodwill will play a part in such claims, but I'd expect any TOC to keep a record and spot you doing this regularly.

The TOC doesn't have much to lose, given that they'll pay you in rail vouchers anyway. They'd be stupid to refuse a refund the first time, but do it regularly and I guess they'll be wanting a bit more proof!!

I'd try the ticket office first. I'd also explain that I asked for a ticket for tomorrow initially, the machine sent me back to an earlier screen and I didn't realise had overridden my earlier request.

I have had tickets for future travel refunded at FGW stations without fuss

However I wouldn't expect them to be obliged to refund you if you're trying to refund a ticket from yesterday. The reason being that it is entirely possible to use both portions of a ticket without ever being gripped or put through a barrier.

Good luck though.

II don't think they'd be obliged, but I think they would refund, unless it was a regular occurrence by someone they suspect of having travelled on the ticket.

 

[mathmo]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've been meaning to try the ticket office ever since Friday but keep being too busy at the times it's open. Nothing to lose though...

 

[Death]

Again: If ye can't get to the ticket office itself (Though any FGW ticket office should do, it doesn't necessarily have to be the one at the station in question) ye could always try submitting a claim to FGW by post, with both pairs of tickets and a letter explaining what went wrong.