Can't collect tickets - again !

[moonrakerz]

Yet again I have purchased Advance tickets on line and have been unable to collect them.

I ordered and paid for them last night, went to my local station to collect them this morning - to find both ticket machines U/S and the ticket office empty and locked up; at 10am and again at about 2pm.
Now, being a "switched-on" bunny I didn't need the tickets today, but I am getting rather hacked off with having to make multiple wasted trips to the station purely because FGW appear to be happy to take my money on line but then have a cavalier attitude to their side of the "contract" when it comes to giving me my tickets.

Has anyone actually experienced this on the day of travel ? I would be interested to hear the experiences of someone who has boarded their train when unable to collect the tickets - through NO fault of their own - or rail employees who have encountered ticketless passengers caused by this.

 

[Ferret]

Yet again I have purchased Advance tickets on line and have been unable to collect them.

I ordered and paid for them last night, went to my local station to collect them this morning - to find both ticket machines U/S and the ticket office empty and locked up; at 10am and again at about 2pm.
Now, being a "switched-on" bunny I didn't need the tickets today, but I am getting rather hacked off with having to make multiple wasted trips to the station purely because FGW appear to be happy to take my money on line but then have a cavalier attitude to their side of the "contract" when it comes to giving me my tickets.

Has anyone actually experienced this on the day of travel ? I would be interested to hear the experiences of someone who has boarded their train when unable to collect the tickets - through NO fault of their own - or rail employees who have encountered ticketless passengers caused by this.

There exists a facility for on board crew to check reservations in this situation. Tends to happen to me once every couple of months or so. Quite often the station staff issue an authority to travel, but of course that isn't always possible. To be honest, from a Guard's point of view, although it's a bit of a pain in the arse having to ring up and verify the details, in the grand scheme of things it's not a massive problem to us!

 

[Solent&Wessex]

There exists a facility for on board crew to check reservations in this situation. !

The only one I am aware about is the Fujitsu Help Desk, which is only open normal office hours, and can only give the start time of the journey that is booked - not any intermediate changes and times for connecting trains. Therefore it is not desperately helpful. Unless there is another one...???

 

[TEW]

Most guards will be happy with an explanation and a print out of your booking confirmation if you have not had the chance to get your tickets but check with them before you board that it will be OK.

 

[JKJimar53]

I once had this the machine at my local station wouldnt accept cards so couldnt get tickets from machine got on train as i had confirmation walked up to the guard on train who claimed he could fine me £1500 because the machines ''never break down'' so got off and waited or next one, finally got to Shortlands who also had machines where no working card readers were working and a member of staff who refused to print my tickets at the ticket office as he said they was in the tfl area and did not have the facility too, so in the end had to walk to Elmers End where they had a machine with no cards that would accept cards but they did have a member of staff who very easily printed off my tickets.

Its times like this i lose sympathy with ticket office staff especially in offices threatened with closure when they are kindly asked to do something but make up an excuse not to do it.

 

[Sapphire Blue]

I once had this the machine at my local station wouldnt accept cards so couldnt get tickets from machine got on train as i had confirmation walked up to the guard on train who claimed he could fine me £1500 because the machines ''never break down'' so got off and waited or next one, finally got to Shortlands who also had machines where no working card readers were working and a member of staff who refused to print my tickets at the ticket office as he said they was in the tfl area and did not have the facility too, so in the end had to walk to Elmers End where they had a machine with no cards that would accept cards but they did have a member of staff who very easily printed off my tickets.

Its times like this i lose sympathy with ticket office staff especially in offices threatened with closure when they are kindly asked to do something but make up an excuse not to do it.

Did he actually use the word fine?

I hope that one "fine" day a guard uses that term to someone who really knows the law!

 

[First class]

Did he actually use the word fine?

I hope that one "fine" day a guard uses that term to someone who really knows the law!

The guard COULD report you for prosecution (attempted/breach of the byelaws) which carries an actual fine

24. Enforcement
(1) Offence and level of fines
Any person who breaches any of these Byelaws commits an offence and, with the exception of Byelaw 17, may be liable for each such offence to a penalty not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

I make this point solely to point out that you can receive a fine for offences on the railway. Most of the time you will have to go to court, but some TOCs now employ 'BTP Accredited Enforcement Officers' who can issue FPNs which are effectively on the spot fines, just like BTP would issue.

 

[wibble]

The only one I am aware about is the Fujitsu Help Desk, which is only open normal office hours, and can only give the start time of the journey that is booked - not any intermediate changes and times for connecting trains. Therefore it is not desperately helpful. Unless there is another one...???

Your TOC should have a procedure in place for this sort of situation. Either someone in your TOC should act as point of contact for this or you should be given the number for whomever handles your telesales/internet ticket sales.

 

[Ferret]

Your TOC should have a procedure in place for this sort of situation. Either someone in your TOC should act as point of contact for this or you should be given the number for whomever handles your telesales/internet ticket sales.

Yup, that's how it works for us!

 

[blacknight]

If you have a camera phone then I would suggest taking a picture showing the TVM out of order.

 

[wibble]

If you have a camera phone then I would suggest taking a picture showing the TVM out of order.

There should be a procedure for this too! A picture of a TVM showing 'out of service' is of no use to a guard as th picture could be of any TVM that's out of service.

 

[gordonthemoron]

There should be a procedure for this too! A picture of a TVM showing 'out of service' is of no use to a guard as th picture could be of any TVM that's out of service.

sure, but it could have been of use in the situation mentioned earlier of a guard claiming that TVMs were never out of service

 

[moonrakerz]

48 hours after my first wasted visit to the station - guess what ? Still two U/S machines and a locked booking office !

Just sent FGW an e-mail - probably have to wait 3 days for a reply to that.

There were a lot of concerned looking people there, waiting for the SWT service to Waterloo - not surprising, since SWT can be particularly aggressive to anyone without a ticket. They even informed me once that this station was a Penalty Fares station - when it isn't.

 

[sheff1]

48 hours after my first wasted visit to the station - guess what ? Still two U/S machines and a locked booking office !

I find it amazing that this antiquated system of collection from stations is still the norm in this country.

I have just returned from a few days in Germany and, prior to travel, booked my tickets (a combination of ordinary, saver (advance) and day rover tickets) online and then printed them off at home. Each home printed ticket has a bar code and the ticket inspectors on the trains use a hand held scanner which then displays validation info on a small screen. I assume part of the validation confirms that the ticket has not already been used, thus preventing anyone printing off and using multiple copies.

Clearly the technology is available and reliable (and is already widely used here for online airline check in) but, on the very few occasions I have had a home printed ticket in the UK (XC & TPE) the inspectors have never used bar code readers.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I have been using DB print at home tickets for several years. TPE do something similar but don't have a scanner

 

[moonrakerz]

I was being perhaps a little unkind to FGW when I said 3 days to get a reply - or was I ?

"Thank you for contacting First Great Western. We confirm receipt of your e-mail and aim to forward a full response within 5 working days. If you have a more urgent issue that needs resolving please telephone on 08457 000125 where we will try to give a faster resolution"

Certainly agree with the comments about the antiquated ticket technology we use.
I've been printing airline boarding passes and postage for years.

 

[Deerfold]

I find it amazing that this antiquated system of collection from stations is still the norm in this country.

I have just returned from a few days in Germany and, prior to travel, booked my tickets (a combination of ordinary, saver (advance) and day rover tickets) online and then printed them off at home. Each home printed ticket has a bar code and the ticket inspectors on the trains use a hand held scanner which then displays validation info on a small screen. I assume part of the validation confirms that the ticket has not already been used, thus preventing anyone printing off and using multiple copies.

Clearly the technology is available and reliable (and is already widely used here for online airline check in) but, on the very few occasions I have had a home printed ticket in the UK (XC & TPE) the inspectors have never used bar code readers.

I'm seeing an increasing number of these on East Coast trains (with barcode scanning taking place) - as I'd not been offered this option I was chatting to a lady using one and we worked out that I don't get the option as I have a connecting train into Leeds first. This is probably the biggest barrier to this sort of ticket - working out the arrangements for other operators to check them.

 

[sheff1]

I'm seeing an increasing number of these on East Coast trains (with barcode scanning taking place) - as I'd not been offered this option I was chatting to a lady using one and we worked out that I don't get the option as I have a connecting train into Leeds first. This is probably the biggest barrier to this sort of ticket - working out the arrangements for other operators to check them.

Shouldn't really be a problem. My German tickets involved travel with 3 different local operators as well as the core DB sections.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I don't think that german non-DB operators have the scanners

 

[Oswyntail]

.... This is probably the biggest barrier to this sort of ticket - working out the arrangements for other operators to check them.

The biggest barrier is the TOCs unwillingness to do anything to make a passenger's life easier . If all TOCs made this available, the initial costs would be reduced, and the technology is reliable; savings could be made in staffing; marketing information would blossom. All round no-brainer - which is why it will not happen just yet:roll: