GWR postage fee "trial"

[Leisurefirst]

Hi,
Apologies if already posted.
Interesting spot on GWR Twitter today.
Customer asking why £1 postage fee added at checkout.
Reply is that it is (after customer has to ask again which stations) a trial on Plymouth & Penzance tickets (not sure if it said to or from or both).
Lucky Plymouth & Penzance!

 

[Merseysider]

Presumably they wish to encourage ToD pickup which would free up admin time at their end

 

[Leisurefirst]

Don't know if they have changed it by now but customer querying why it still said free postage then added £1 on at checkout without mention of trial.

 

[westv]

It annoys me that when TOCs change things for the worse they never bother to mention it unless asked.

 

[Leisurefirst]

Presumably they wish to encourage ToD pickup which would free up admin time at their end

Seems to have worked. The customer chose to collect at station instead.

 

[infobleep]

Seems to have worked. The customer chose to collect at station instead.

Don't know if they have changed it by now but customer querying why it still said free postage then added £1 on at checkout without mention of trial.

Although I can see why they would prefer passengers to use ToD, they shouldn't be claiming postage is free and then adding it at the end with no reason. I'm sure that breaks some law or regulation. The airlines got told to stop adding things at the end without telling passengers in advance.

That would throw me if I was booking tickets. There again I would use ToD so probably wouldn't come across it.

 

[edwin_m]

Do all the local stations in Cornwall have ticket machines with ToD facilities? If not then it's pretty mean to charge people who might have to travel a considerable distance to collect their ticket.

 

[Wirewiper]

GWR should get on with introducing print-at-home, smartcards and m-ticketing before pulling a stunt like this.

 

[Bill Badger]

Do all the local stations in Cornwall have ticket machines with ToD facilities? If not then it's pretty mean to charge people who might have to travel a considerable distance to collect their ticket.

Far from it. My local main line station St Erth certainly doesn't and I doubt anywhere on the Branch lines do.

 

[SAPhil]

Does that leave anyone who doesn't charge for postage? I only opened an account with GWR because postage was free!

 

[Leisurefirst]

Does that leave anyone who doesn't charge for postage? I only opened an account with GWR because postage was free!

Confusingly, I trawled back through Twitter and found the tweet...it's tickets from Penzance and Plymouth but I just made a dummy booking from one to the other and it didn't apply any fee at checkout. Wonder if scrapped already?

 

[Panceltic]

Does that leave anyone who doesn't charge for postage? I only opened an account with GWR because postage was free!

ATW has been free so far.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

Seems to have worked. The customer chose to collect at station instead.

It's not just Cornwall. Recently I was booking Marlow to Exeter and I noticed the new fee. There's no machine at Marlow, so to avoid a special trip I ask for tickets to be posted. From a previous journey I have an account with Hull Trains, so I used them instead.

 

[stuart100100]

Does that leave anyone who doesn't charge for postage? I only opened an account with GWR because postage was free!

Transpennine Express is free

 

[AY1975]

Far from it. My local main line station St Erth certainly doesn't and I doubt anywhere on the Branch lines do.

Does this £1 fee apply even if your local station doesn't have a ticket machine with ToD facilities, and you don't live within reasonable distance of one that does? I seem to recall that some other train operators that charge for postage will still post tickets for free to anyone in this situation. Otherwise it's effectively a tax on anyone wanting to start a long-distance journey at an unstaffed station without ToD facilities (and who doesn't have a working printer or smartphone, or lives in an area with poor or no broadband coverage).

If the fee does still apply under these circumstances, then your best bet is probably to book your ticket using the website of one of the few remaining operators that does still post tickets free of charge (such as TransPennine) even if this means forgoing any discount offered for using the incumbent operator's site.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Whatever GWR do now I would expect TPE to follow quite quickly.