I doubt pricing managers are saying that. But some people who are training Guards probably are...
Quite possibly.
BoJ is not complicated.
If a ticket permitting BoJ is valid for two days, you can take two days to make the journey. If it is valid five days, you can take five days to make the journey. If it is valid one day, you can take one day to make the journey. That is all they need to know - what else you do other than travel by train, provided you make the journey in the right order and don't cover any sections of your route twice is irrelevant.
The "can't complete" nonsense on Off Peak tickets needs getting rid of, though. Off Peak Singles and the outward part of Off Peak Returns need simply to be valid for two days.
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I travelled on the return portion of an off-peak return yesterday (in Scotland) and the guard wrote the date on the ticket. I do think the location or headcode is more appropriate.
I'm not sure why writing the date on the ticket is an issue. What it certainly does is show that the journey was commenced, or a leg of it took place, on that date.
The stampers BR used to use, and DB still use, and no doubt that are still knocking around somewhere, used to stamp date, headcode and I think a guard's ID. All a guard writing a date on in pen is doing is replicating that, and it has no bearing on the ticket's validity, save that you know that on that date some of the journey was completed, so anyone trying to reuse from the start is clearly up to no good.
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I'm certainly in favour of mass simplification, and the removal of many complex products. This is the only way to combat the "fear, uncertainty and doubt" referenced to upthread. It's not an enthusiast's solution, but I think the positives outweigh the negatives.
I agree, but BoJ is not complex, therefore my rule would be "you can always start short, end short or break your journey on any ticket provided you stay within its validity period and use any compulsory-reserved trains on an Advance ticket". Simple.
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The problem with this is that there would be a huge increase in fares...
People keep saying so, but I see no evidence as to why there would.
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Does this **** happen in any other industry?
Don't know about industry, but I'm a volunteer in Scouting, and people making up their own rules that don't really exist is one of the organisation's biggest challenges. So on that basis yes.