Forgot railcard, tried to get an excess, not easy!

[Howardh]

Short story long, day trip Bolton/Stalybridge/Huddersfield and back, off peak.

On the first leg realised I'd left my senior railcard at home (senior moment etc) but had bought a discounted ticket online.

1. Asked the guard could I pay the difference between the discount and full fare. "Can't do it, try at Stalybridge ticket ofice".
2. Went to Stalybridge office, the chap tried all sorts but could only come up with "we can excess but only with a peak ticket, ask the guard on the train".
3. Got on the second leg and asked said guard. "Oh, ignore that, just carry on".
4. Arrived at Huddersfield, went to office there and after a few calls and ticket supervisiors attention, the helpful TPE lady finally managed to get me an excess of around £7 so I could get home without any fuss (see final sentence!).

Now you are allowed to be forgetful once, pay a "penalty fare" and claim it back (presumably off the company that you paid the PF?) but that's hassle I could do without. So, basic question, why is it so difficult to pay the difference between two tickets? Ie if someone had an o/p ticket but realised they were travelling on a peak train??

Anyway, apart from that, what an excellent town Huddersfield is for real ale fans, found a lovely bar tucked away off Byron Court, one of many. Stalybridge's bar ain't too bad either!!

 

[Haywain]

why is it so difficult to pay the difference between two tickets?

Because there is no right to pay an excess in these circumstances, and so nothing is set up in ticketing systems to allow it. You should have bought a new full fare ticket and refunded the discounted ticket.

 

[Adam Williams]

@Haywain is correct.

IMPORTANT: A discounted ticket should not be excessed to an undiscounted ticket. This includes Railcards, Priv Rate and Child Rate discount (full list of discounts in Concessionary Travel section). When a ticket is discounted and the holder is not eligible for that discount (e.g. forgotten Railcard, Child Rate applied in error) the correct course of action is 'refund-and-replace', using the value from the discounted ticket as credit towards the correct, undiscounted, ticket(s). You should follow your normal refund procedure.

 

[Kilopylae]

Is there an actual reason for that?

 

[Howardh]

Because there is no right to pay an excess in these circumstances, and so nothing is set up in ticketing systems to allow it.

That's really odd! Can you excess an off-peak ticket??

You should have bought a new full fare ticket and refunded the discounted ticket.

Possibly, but how do you get a refund on the original once through the first gate?

 

[Tetchytyke]

Is there an actual reason for that?

It gets the railway a £10 administration fee on a refund.

Customer service? Nah. No wonder most people try and wing it.

Can you excess an off-peak ticket??

Yes, an off-peak ticket isn't a discounted ticket.

 

[Haywain]

That's really odd! Can you excess an off-peak ticket??

Yes, when I said full fare I meant undiscounted.

Possibly, but how do you get a refund on the original once through the first gate?

A ticket having been through a gate does not prevent it being refunded.

 

[Howardh]

A ticket having been through a gate does not prevent it being refunded.

Thanks, didn't know that, I suppose there are times when you go through the gate and the train fails to turn up and you abandon the intended journey.

Customer service? Nah. No wonder most people try and wing it.

Could have easily done that yesterday, the guards were happy for me to travel on the original ticket once I'd explained myself and asked for that excess.